Electricity + Control April 2017

17 / 48

ROUND UP
New automation division
The BBE Group, specialists in mine ventila-
tion, refrigeration and energy optimisation
engineering, have established a new auto-
mation division to extend its services. BBE
Automation primarily supports the Group’s
consulting services and turnkey projects,
but also provides automation and electrical
services to mining and process plants in all
commodities.
Launched in November 2016, BBE Auto-
mation comprises a teamof experts skilled in
medium and low voltage electrical systems,
field instrumentation and equipment auto-
mation in mine ventilation, refrigeration and
energy engineering. Other markets include
mining process plants, water and waste wa-
ter systems and the manufacturing industry.
“Automation has always been part of the BBE
competency, particularly under our Projects
umbrella. BBE Automation division was a
natural extension of our business and part
of a growth strategy to develop an electrical
and automation division, giving us focused
expertise and greater capacity,” says Deon
Nolan, Business Development Manager
for the BBE Group. “Energy savings, smart
control systems, cost-effective solutions
that are the best available in the market,
and automating plants in the Big Data and
IoT (Internet of Things) era we live in are
key services to our customers,” says Nolan.
“The new division is a good fit with what
we already offer in mine ventilation and
refrigeration. Clients can expect the same ex-
cellent service from BBE but also extended
to new areas of their mines or plants,” adds
Christo Visagie, GM of the new division.
Enquiries: Deon Nolan.
Email
E-chainsystem safely guides
control devices
More andmore companies in crane technology rely onmodern cable guid-
ance with energy chains. With the new guidefast control e-chainsystem,
themotion-plastics specialistigus has developed an energy supply system
that can also power a manual control on the indoor crane. Quick and easy
to assemble, the guidefast control needs only a small installation space
and can be adapted to the most varied conditions, thanks to the largest
selection of cables for motion.
While e-chainsystems are increasingly becoming the standard for energy
supply on port cranes, they are also being increasingly used in indoor
cranes.The advantages compared to pure trailing cables are obvious: the
e-chain protects the cables inside them, they are not compressed and are
thus safely guided when in motion. This is also the case for the manual
control of the indoor crane, where the new guidefast control energy chain
system safely transmits signals via control cable. A trough reliably guides
the energy chain and cables as well as the moving end arm, even with a
short-term high tensile load. As with the guidefast guide trough for the
cable guidance of the trolley (lifting gear), the guidefast control can also
be installed quickly and easily: in the first step of the assembly, the guide
trough is fastened to the side of the crane girder to save space. A welding
of consoles is not necessary. It is then hooked and bolted into the support,
which saves additional installation time. In operation, the moving end
arm can be easily moved and positioned by the control device along the
entire crane girder, regardless of the position of the lifting gear thanks to
the lubrication-free and maintenance-free xiros polymer ball bearings.
Enquiries: Ian Hewit. Email
Innovative coating process
photochromic lenses
The coating technology developed by Shyre makes it possi-
ble for large eyeglass retailers or labs to produce customised
photochromic lenses made of all kinds of materials for their
customers, making the need to keep large amounts of expensive
pre-made photochromic lenses in stock a thing of the past.The
process developed by Shyre produces photochromic lenses at
one-tenth the cost of typical big brand photochromic lenses.The
coatings can be applied in all colours and even with gradients,
while the classic process produces lenses that turn either grey or
brown.“We first saw Beckhoff’s solutions at the Drives &Controls
Show in Birmingham in 2014,” recalls founder Lee Gough. “What
impressed us initially was the One Cable Technology (OCT) for
Beckhoff’s servo motors.We had been looking for a compact so-
lution since the drives had to be integrated into the machine. By
implementing AM8100 servo motors with OCT we were able to
save a lot of space, because the control cabinet needs to be only
20 centimetres deep. Since lab facilities are generally expensive
and space is at a premium, this was a decisive criterion.”
A CX5120 Embedded PC with an IntelR Atom processor run-
ning TwinCAT 3 automation software functions as the central
controller. A CP2912 multitouch panel is used for operator inter-
action and 'recipe' control.With IP 65 protection at the front and
IP 20 at the rear, the panel is ideally suited for this application.
Lee Gough is also thrilled with the control system’s flexibility,
which allowed the company to upgrade from TwinCAT 2 to
TwinCAT 3 still during the design phase.
Enquiries: Kenneth McPherson. Email
CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION
15 April ‘17 Electricity+Control