Mechanical Technology February 2015

Mechanical Technology — February 2015

⎪

Proactive maintenance, lubrication and contamination management

⎪

From both operational and safety perspec-

tives, servicing and maintenance should be

carried out by qualified technical personnel.

Paint solutions for Africa

lobal paint giant Beckers is turning its

attention to developing a wide range

of paint products to especially suit

African conditions. The company intends

working closely with all-manner of manufac-

turing clients across the continent and to use

its substantial research and development ca-

pabilities to produce paints that can enhance

these manufacturers’ products. Whether

designing coatings to protect earth-moving

equipment in tropical Africa, or providing

lower-cost coatings for roof sheets used in

the development of low-cost housing in West

Africa, the company is focused on finding

the right solutions for specific applications.

In South Africa, Beckers is best known for

its leadership in the provision of advanced

coil coatings. These are used by the coun-

try’s steel and aluminium mills to provide

finishes for a variety of flat sheet products

that are supplied to local manufacturers to

make everyday goods such as roofing, ap-

pliances, automotive and other products.

But, according to Beckers Group man-

aging director, Willem van Heerden, the

company’s expertise goes far beyond coil

coatings. Worldwide the company also

develops special coating technologies for

trains, agricultural, construction, earthmov-

ing equipment and even consumer devices

such as cell phones. “These range from

coatings for making tractors more durable

to providing attractive cladding that assists

architects to build “greener” structures and

phone manufacturers to introduce trendy

new designs.

“In order to expand our reach in Africa, we

have recently begun to mobilise our techni-

cal staff to work closely with key industrial

manufacturers and assist them to enhance

their product offerings. This has already

led to us developing Beckry

Save, a cost

effective coil coatings for roof sheeting in

West Africa, and we now supply coatings for

PRASA’s rolling stock and corrosion resistant

paints for Eskom’s new power stations. This

shows that our technically advanced coat-

ings are beyond the ordinary and can be

developed for use in a wide range of indus-

tries. The challenge that we now face is to

familiarise industry with our service offering

and to introduce our specialised coatings to

a far wider potential client base,” says Van

Heerden.

He adds that at present the company’s

strategy is to work closely with engineers,

specifiers and architects to develop solutions

for their own specific requirements. With as-

sistance from the company’s global research

and development centres and long-term de-

velopment groups, the company is commit-

ted to work with these specialised industrial

customers to develop new products and find

solutions for manufacturing dilemmas.

Extending its success with its steel mill

customers, Beckers now wants “to work with

other large-scale manufacturers to find solu-

tions that will give them an edge and enable

them to better meet their own customers’

requirements,” Van Heerden concludes.

A view of the South African coil coating operation at the Vereeniging facilities of the Beckers Group.

batteries and power storage units. Weak

or undercharged batteries are among the

most common causes of standby power

system failures. Even when kept in tip-top

condition – fully charged and maintained

– lead acid batteries are subject to dete-

rioration over time.

Only regular maintenance and a rigid

schedule of inspection and testing under

load can prevent premature battery fail-

ure and consequent generator starting

and power provisioning problems. It’s

important to note that merely checking

the output voltage of the batteries is

not indicative of their ability to deliver

adequate starting or standby power. As

batteries age, their internal resistance to

current flow goes up. Therefore, the only

accurate measure of terminal voltage is

achieved under load.

Like their human counterparts, diesel

generators need regular exercise. Units

that are on continuous standby must be

able to go from a cold start to fully opera-

tional status in seconds. This imposes a

severe burden on engine parts. However,

regular exercise keeps engine parts well

lubricated, fluid lines unclogged and

prevents harmful oxidation of electrical

contacts.

Against this background it’s criti-

cal, from both operational and safety

perspectives, that servicing and mainte-

nance be carried out by qualified techni-

cal personnel. Ideally, the task should

be outsourced to a specialist firm well

versed in diesel generator technology,

which differs significantly from petrol

engines and engines used in automotive

or trucking applications.

Remember to maintain records and

take precautionary measures for safety

as suggested by the manufactures. When

performing routine maintenance, each

action should be logged and the read-

ings and various parameters should be

recorded along with the date of inspec-

tion and the hour meter reading of the

generator.

These readings should be compared

with the next set of data collected. A

marked variation would most likely indi-

cate faulty performance.