MechChem Africa March 2017

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38 ¦ MechChem Africa • March 2017
⎪ Products and industry news ⎪
Floor grating must be well engineered
Walkways can be aptly described as the
‘arteries’ of most minerals beneficiation and
industrial plants, providing functional access
while bearing substantial loads and allowing
air and light intoworking areas. It is essential
that thefloor gratingused for suchwalkways
be well engineered to ensure long life
and optimum safety for users.
Leading local floor grating manufac-
turer Andrew Mentis operates an ex-
tensive facility that produces significant
volumes of itsRS40Rectagrid, whichhas
long been the benchmark for walkways
in southern Africa.
Elaine van Rooyen, marketing man-
ager at Andrew Mentis, says that apart
from supplying a standard floor grating
product, the company is also able to pro-
vide a fit-for-purpose floor grating solu-
tion based on customers’ requirements.
“A technical representative from
Andrew Mentis meets with customers
to determine their precise needs and
ensure that the structural integrity of
the chosen product is maximised,” she
explains.
“While taking into account the cus-
tomer’s application needs, there are
specific non-negotiable factors that Andrew
Mentis applies in the production of all
its floor grating products,” she says. “The
manufacturingmethodwe use, for instance,
ensures that the transversals are positively
and permanently locked to the bearer bars.”
The locking method is based on com-
pressive pressure at the intersections, engi-
neered touse the full depthof thebearer bar.
The grating panels – with a pitch of 40 mm
by 40 mm – are flat, square and untwisted,
so there areno cracks or crevices at intersec-
tions where corrosion could take place.
“We undertake all manufacturing at our
worldclass facility inElandsfonteinnear
Johannesburg, where the most strin-
gent standards areapplied,”VanRooyen
says. “These quality processes allow
the combination of high load-bearing
capacity with a low relative quantity of
metal. Filler bars distribute the load and
stiffen the construction, while support-
ing bars take the load and transmit it to
the bearing support.”
Andrew Mentis’ RS40 floor grating
is engineered to take a specific loading,
ensuring the safety of people walking
or working on mezzanines, catwalks,
platforms and ramps. The grating’s non-
slip characteristics are created by the
positive raised sections that produce
multi-directional obstructions on the
top of each bearer bar, allowing for a far
larger surface contact area.
Hudaco company component, equipment
and system specialist, Powermite, is a
leader in the southern African market in
the supply of a fully comprehensive range
of highquality, locallymanufactured, elec-
trical products for a wide range of mining,
marine and industrial machinery compris-
ing mobile generators, pumps, welding
machines, continuousminers, shuttle cars,
tunnel borers, and transformers.
According to Powermite’s marketing
director, Donovan Marks, quality and
reliability are prerequisites for extending
the lifecycle of products operating in the
notoriously stringent mining environ-
ment. “Increased product lifecycle goes
hand in hand with optimised uptime and
productivity, thus quality therefore takes
centre stage when it comes to our range
of electrical products and components.”
Powermite’s ISO 9001:2008-compli-
ant electrical products are manufac-
tured locally by sister companies, Proof
Engineering and Ampco, under one roof
in a new, advanced manufacturing facility
on Johannesburg’sWest Rand. Both com-
panies carry SABS approval to IEC 60079
Part 1 and 2, and SANS 1489 – 2005, and
to 60309 Part 1 and 2 respectively.
“Pooling the talents and resources
across both businesses has created the
largest plug and socket manufacturer
under one roof in Africa,” statesMarks.
“In addition to lowering our cost base,
combiningthestrengthsandsynergiesof
the two companies has improved efficien-
cies across the board and has resulted in
more streamlined processes and logistics.
Proof Engineering is a flame- and ex-
plosion-proof product specialistwithover
45years’experienceinthemanufactureof
world class components, equipment and
systems for southern African industries.
The company produces PLM366 and
PLM415/515 plugs and sockets as well
Powermite produces PLM 366 and
PLM 415/515 plugs and sockets.
Up the uptime with high quality products as an 11 kV, 800 A tunnel coupler and
adaptor for open cast applications, 22 kV
400A couplers for draglines. More recent
additions include a new 35 kV, 400 A
coupler and adaptor for overhead line
skids. Anextensive series of plugs, sockets,
couplers and adaptors, is also available
from Proof, for underground equipment.
The company’s unique phase-to-phase
segregation eliminates the risk of faults
which can cause costly downtime and lead
to serious injury to personnel.
Another innovation from Proof
Engineering is the unique ProAlloy cou-
pler. Manufactured from a non-theft
zinc, copper and aluminium combination
material, the coupler is a remarkable 33%
lighter than its brass counterpart and
perhapsmore importantly, holds no resale
value. “The subsequent reduction in theft
risk lowers the potential for unplanned
downtime and subsequent production
losses,” explains Marks.
Available from the Ampco stable are
plugs and sockets suitable for certain
underground operations. The company
also manufactures a range of products
that focuses primarily on industrial ap-
plications and is ideally suited for mobile
generators, pumps, weldingmachines, and
factory installations, for example.
Mentis Rectagrid RS40 floor grating has proved itself over
years of application in the construction and mining sectors.