Electricity + Control April 2015

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ENERGY + ENVIROFICIENCY ROUND UP
Light at the end of the tunnel for SA energy crisis
Afrox has been awarded a long-term
contract to supply high-purity nitrogen,
and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), to the
US$ 565-million Bokpoort CSP Project
located approximately 125 km south-east
of Upington. Afrox business manager for
bulk ASU gases, Carte Lubbe explains
that the company is supplying Bokpoort
CSP (approximately 125 km south-east of
Upington) with a fully-customised turn-
key solution unique to the local market.
“LPG will be used by the CSP during the
start-up phase for melting of salts for the
Thermal Energy Storage system, whereby
the transfer medium is heated to the point
that it transforms from a solid state into a
molten state.”The Bokpoort CSP will boast
a 50 MWe generating capacity with nine
hours of thermal storage once it is fully
commissioned by end-2015.
The substantial amount of LPG is, how-
ever, only required during the heating
phase of the project. As a result, Afrox has
designed an innovative modular supply
system that will be installed and can be
dismantled and removed from site within
days, thereby ensuring minimal project
disruption.
Lubbe continues: “Following the heating
period, the entire LPG supply plant will be
removed from site. Similar projects in the
past have made use of fixed installations
that become redundant after the start-up
phase and take up unnecessary space,
while costing a fortune to maintain. Upon
service completion, our unique modular
plant can be removed by a fleet of dedicated
and specialised vehicles in under a week –
an unrivalled turnaround time.”
Enquiries: Simon Miller.Tel. 011 490 0466 or
email
Techlyn turns 30
On 1 March 2015 Techlyn (Pty) Ltd turned
30 – the founder is Glyn Craig.The company
initially concentrated on manufacturing
electronic measurement and control units
for OEM customers.This is still an important
Part ofTechlyn’s activities. In the late eight-
ies, the availability of economically priced
computer aided draughting programs re-
sulted in a major productivity improvement
to the design cycle.
In the nineties, power electronics and
mechatronics were added to the product
line-up. Initially all components were im-
ported. At present, Techlyn manufactures
stepmotor drives, brushed servo drives and
brushless positioning drives locally. In ad-
dition, the company produces its
own systemcontrollers.Advanced
system controllers, if needed, are
sourced fromGalil Motion Control
in North California, USA. Their
controllers can control up to eight
axes simultaneously. Together,
these components allow Techlyn
to function as a system integrator.
Techlyn has a well-equipped
mechanical facility which has fa-
cilitated the production of special
purpose machinery. The photo
shows an automated pan and
tilt mechanism used for solar
research by a university. Enquiries: Email
When it comes to nuclear disaster, safety really is in numbers
The safety of nuclear plants, as well as the
medical management of acute radiation
syndrome, could soon be dramatically
improved thanks to a new mathematical
equation developed by Japan’s Nuclear
Safety Research Centre. A recent study on
the behaviour of nuclear fuels in atomic
blasts, published in the Journal of Nuclear
Science andTechnology (Taylor & Francis),
suggests a formula that offers a rigorous
yet straightforward way to measure the im-
pact of radioactive emissions on humans.
As accurate as complex kinetic calculations,
yet devoid of all their numerical intricacies,
it promises to be a highly effective tool for
the planning of safer nuclear facilities, as
well as for the safeguard of individuals.
Yuichi Yamane states that: ‘In a criticality
accident, the first peak power is useful and
important information to estimate the scale
of the accident and employees' dose of
direct radiation from the fissions in the nu-
clear fuel.’There is no doubt that the safety
of nuclear energy is a highly divisive issue,
with the wellbeing of those living in the
proximity of atomic plants being at the core
of the controversy. Scientists have strived
to improve the performances of reactors
at critical times and developed a series of
complex calculations to analyse them with
precision. However, to set the parameters
for these computations, a high level of
knowledge of nuclear disasters is required.
This study aims to develop a measuring
tool neither dependant on China syndrome
expertise nor on elaborate arithmetic. ‘Such
method can make it easy to design shields
against radiations and to perform a safety
review of fuel facilities, in addition to the
planning of evacuation zones’, adds the
author. While leading scientists have an-
nounced that nuclear power is the greenest
form of energy, Japan is holding off on
reopening its plants in the anniversary of
the Fukushima disaster and Germany has
recently announced the closer of its reac-
tors by 2020. So what does the future hold
for atomic power?
Read the full article online:
080/00223131.2015.1005718
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