Electricity + Control August 2016

TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT

ROUND UP

Customised calibration container for Africa’s DRC

Endress+Hauser South Africa has designed and built a portable calibration hub, the first of its kind, bringing its world-class process calibration technology to Mutanda Mine SARL (Mumi mine), an open-pit copper mine located within a remote area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ghislain Mbayo, process control super- intendent at Mumi, says that the project began when the mine urgently required a state-of-the art calibration and maintenance facility to ensure quality and production uptime and reduce unplanned shutdowns and cost. However, it did not want to build a facility due to the time it took to obtain building rights. “Because we are situated so remotely, there had been no daily assistance with proper calibration at our process plant, something that we knew posed a great threat to our production target,” adds Mbayo. T h e m i n e c omm i s s i o n e d t h e Endress+Hauser South African office to design, build and supply its calibration and maintenance needs in one 3 m x 6 m container. The completed container had to fulfil the mine’s objectives to obtain accurate measurements via advanced calibration and verification technology, conduct train- ing on specific instruments and calibration methods, and enable both testing and fault finding. “The best process plants must be able to identify their own performance strengths and weaknesses, then take that information and learn from those mistakes,” explains Mbayo. “We decided that if we wanted to learn from a workstation, the best solution was a container workstation.” Wouter Carstens, head of the service department at Endress+Hauser SouthAfrica led the project. He points out that the entire solution was customised to fit the purpose, as set out by the customer.The internal and external layout of the container was key to fulfilling all requirements. “This means that everything – from the grids to the desks, plugpoints, windows and door was fitted”,” highlights Carstens. “The container we chose is also resistant to corrosion. This, together with its lowmaintenance and high quality, makes it an ideal product in the often harsh African territory and climate.” Enquiries:Wouter Carstens.Tel. +27 (0) 11 262 8000 or email outer.carstens@za.endress. com or visit http://bit.ly/1TbZvzY

Wouter Carstens (Head of Department – Service at Endress+Hauser) and Ghislain Mbayo (Process Control Superintendent at Mumi).

New controller range Instrotech – local designer and manufacturer of high quality process control instrumenta- tion and industrial electronics – has four new controllers on offer to the market, under the Calog brand. All feature an intuitive interface, with scrolling text prompts and up to four setpoints. The Calog Quad Process Controller – an advanced quad channel process controller with a virtually endless range of possible applications. The Calog Quad RTD Controller – an advanced quad channel RTD controller, ideal for numerous industrial temperature applications. The Calog Quad Thermocouple Controller – an advanced quad channel thermocouple controller, ideal for numerous industrial temperature applications. The Calog Counter/Rate Batching Controller – an advanced controller with three independent counters, ideal for rate monitoring and batching applications. Optional features on all of the models are the 4-20 mA or 0-10 V analog output, the RS232/ RS485 serial port and data logging function. In operation since 1981, Instrotech manufacturers and distributes process control instrumentation and specialised systems under the Calog brand to a worldwide market. CALOG and Instrotech are COMTEST Group companies Enquiries: Instrotech.Tel. +27 (0) 10 595 1831 or email sales@instrotech.co.za

August ‘16 Electricity+Control

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