Electricity + Control January 2015

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Composite insulators for instrument transformers developed
ACTOM High Voltage (HV) Equipment has developed a composite
insulator for its 132 kV instrument transformers, following its suc-
cessful introduction of anACTOM-branded composite post insulator
for its 132 kV disconnectors in early 2014.
The division’s move to develop composite insulators was
prompted mainly by the need to provide insulators with improved
pollution performance, which silicon insulators provide.
The latest ACTOM-branded offerings are for the division’s 132 kV
current and voltage transformers.
As with the porcelain-core insulators for its 132 kV disconnectors
introduced earlier in 2014, these glass-core composite insulators
are designed and manufactured according to global best practice.
Terry Lawrenson, ACTOMHV Equipment’s divisional chief executive
officer, said the ACTOM-branded insulators have been developed
in response to customer demand.
“We are progressively developing our own designs of insulators
for our equipment with the goal of offering our markets the options
they prefer when it comes to insulators, eventually supplying all
the various types of high voltage equipment we manufacture fitted
with ACTOM-branded silicon-coated composite insulators specifi-
cally designed to suit each type,” he explained.
Lawrenson.Tel. 011 820-5369 or email
User-friendly motor protection
Locally designed and manufactured, New-
Elec’s MB relay is ISO 9001:2000 compliant
and is fully configurable with the aid of
free front-end software or a man-machine-
interface unit (MMI). Up to 1 440 event
records can be date and time stamped and
downloaded and viewed in MS Excel. Es-
sential statistical data ensures information
retrieved from the relay can be used for
maintenance purposes before drive failure.
The three-phase recorder allows the user to
record motor currents, voltages, thermal
capacity and power factor which can be
monitored and analysed in real time. This
is particularly useful when tripping occurs
for no obvious reason. The user-friendly
MB relay provides advanced protection
features that include starter logic and
logic function blocks which, coupled with
its multi protocol communication options,
make it an ideal solution for plant automa-
tion.The expansion module plugs into the
basic unit and caters for Profibus DPV 1,
Modbus RTU and CANbus communication
modules. The base unit comes complete
with an integrated CTMB and CBCT cur-
rent measurement range from 0.5 to 250
A.The relay is fitted with seven field inputs
and four relay outputs with individual fault
and I/O status indicating LEDs.Temperature
measurement of the motor winding is pos-
sible utilising PT100, PTC and NTC sensors
on a four-channel configurable module
with HiHi, Hi,Lo, LoLo set points. The MB
range can be retrofitted into the MA range
footprint so that upgrading to the MB from
the MA is a simple matter.
Enquiries: EmailToll or
visit
‘Switched on’ switchgear
Tshwane-based Rand Technical Service’s
(RTS), a company which specialises in
innovative technologies and solutions to
industrial problems, is realising themultiple
benefits of its new spin filter technology
in a variety of industries, notably mining.
RTS has recently supplied spin filters to
JB Switchgear Solutions for the variable
speed drive (VSD) panels the company has
installed for a mining project in the North-
ern Cape. These spin filters are purpose-
designed to accommodate a variety of ap-
plications, and offer an extremely efficient
answer to the problem of heat and dust
build-up, according to Ian Fraser, managing
director of RTS.
“Spin filter technology is finding wide
application in coal, gold, diamond and
other mining environments, which include
MCC rooms, control rooms, substations,
transformer rooms, machinery spaces and
workshops, as a cost-effective solution in
both ventilation and filtration,” notes Fraser.
JB Switchgear approached RTS to supply
dedicated back channel cooling to the VSD
panels on the mine, and, according to John
Balsdon, projects director of JB Switchgear,
the company has not looked back.
“RTS’s spin filter technology is a unique
ventilation and filtration system that is ex-
tremely efficient and ideally suited to many
of the items that we manufacture. Electri-
cal and electronic equipment require both
cooling − through adequate movement
of air − and a high degree of filtration to
ensure an environment that is suitable for
the sophisticated equipment used in our
panels,” says Balsdon.
Enquiries: Email
CABLES + ACCESSORIES ROUND UP DRIVES, MOTORS + WITCHGEAR
Nick de Beer (right), ACTOM HV Equipment’s product manager,
Instrument Transformers, with Jan Venter, supervisor (insulators)
with one of the new 132 kV current transformers equipped with
composite insulators and a new design secondary terminal block.
Electricity+Control January ‘15 16