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LIGHT + CURRENT
Transformer order for South Africa’s
expanding electric rail fleet
ABB, power and automation technology group, won an order worth
around $50 M fromBombardierTransportation for traction transformers
and associated products for 240 freight locomotives that will help form
the backbone of South Africa’s electric rail fleet.The order was booked
in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The traction units, to be installed in Bombardier’s TRAXX locomo-
tives to be built in South Africa, will reliably transform electricity for
trains running on the country’s dual 3 kV direct-current (dc) and 25 kV
alternating-current (ac) overhead voltage network. ABB has supplied
traction transformers for several of Bombardier’s electrical locomotives
since 1998. Designed for their versatility and ruggedness, ABB traction
transformers already power more than half the world’s electric locomo-
tives and train sets.
South Africa, with the continent’s most-comprehensive railway
system, is investing nearly $5 billion to renew and expand its rail fleet,
not only to boost passenger travel but also to increase its ability to
efficiently ship freight including iron ore for export around the world.
South Africa aims to boost the share of freight shipped by rail signifi-
cantly over the next decade.
“Compact design and exceptional reliability make ABB traction
transformers ideal for powering freight loads under challenging condi-
tions, ensuring both high performance and energy efficient rail opera-
tions,” said Bernhard Jucker, head of ABB’s Power Products division.
Enquiries: Email
‘Just Imagine’ – a future focused blog
Imagine a world where the physical and digital interact
seamlessly; where creativity is the new corporate currency;
and where business minds take lessons from children when
it comes to innovation. Aurecon’s new blog, Just Imagine,
provides a glimpse into the future for curious readers. “If
businesses are to thrive in a future that is as yet unwritten,
creativity must shape how they operate, and design and
innovation are the tools that offers the solution,” says John
McGuire, Aurecon’s Chief Innovation Officer.
For Aurecon, this means finding new ways to transform
clients’ businesses and help them become more competitive
through innovation.
“Innovation is grounded on deep technical expertise, but
it’s not enough to invest in being ‘smart’. We need to foster
creativity, challenge the ‘status quo’, explore and experiment
to envision what’s possible,” believes McGuire.
In line with this, the company’s new blog, Just Imagine,
explores ideas that are probable, possible and for the imagina-
tion. Forward thinking, imaginative and innovative, the content
is everything but the ordinary. It seeks to push the boundaries
and imagine what might be possible if we challenge the sta-
tus quo, asking ‘What if…?’ and ‘Why not…?’ across a broad
spectrum of leadership and business theories and ideologies,
technological innovations and processes.
Enquiries: Email
Visit
World’s first thermal imaging clamp meter
In the new FLIR CM174, the world’s first
thermal imaging clamp meter with IGM
(Infrared Guided Measurement), electri-
cians have a highly effective tool for quick
and efficient troubleshooting.
For a long time, electricians investi-
gated complex compounded problems by
chasing down the cause – one electrical
measurement at a time. A lot of the time
the true source of the problem was never
found, leading to call-backs from customers
asking the electrician to fix the same issue
over and over again.
Not only did they waste time trouble-
shooting problems they thought they had
resolved, but they also put their safety at
risk without knowing what dangers they
faced.The FLIR CM174 puts an end to any
uncertainty.
The FLIR CM174 600A ac/dc ClampMeter
has a built-in thermal camera that powers
the FLIR IGM technology, which visually
guides users to temperature differences
and pinpoints anomalies, so they can fix
the system, not just the fault, to get the
equipment up and running and ensure that
it will not go down again.
Electricians may even find new issues
they didn’t expect to see, expanding their
scope of work and resulting in more busi-
ness. For instance, theymight have a hunch
that a faulty motor controller caused an
equipment failure, but after using FLIR
CM174 they discover that an overheating
motor or a loose connection was to blame.
Enquiries: Email
53 March ‘16 Electricity+Control