Electricity and Control June 2020

FEATURES: · Industry 4.0 + IIoT · Energy management + the industrial environment

· Measurement + instrumentation · Transformers, substations + cables

FEATURES: · Industry4.0+ IIoT · Energymanagement+ the industrial environment

· Measurement+ instrumentation · Transformers, substations+ cables

COMMENT

Is there opportunity in a time of crisis?

energy + information in industry

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5/28/2020 1:30:01PM

I have had contact with many of our colleagues ‘in industry’. The phrase itself is an interesting one at these times, isn’t it? This what I hear: much of our economy is stagnant and unquestionably struggling. It seems large swathes of various industries are in this predicament – and I have no doubt that it is terrifying. Others are saying they are overwhelmingly busy – and hardly touching ground. This, by the way, does not necessarily translate into making any profits. But they are busy. What is particularly interesting is to see how some industries have been able to capitalise on the circumstances. And that is good. In an area in which I am very closely involved, for instance, online education has become a necessary reality for many learners in this country. Such reorientation of an enterprise may well be providing a temporary solution to a crisis – but at the same time we see announcements for the launch of new, exclusively online schools, for example. The message here is that nothing will ever be the same again. And surely that does provide opportunity. In a previous comment I observed how the online circulation of this magazine went from a few hundred in January, to almost five thousand now – a reaction to the reality of the environment we find ourselves in. Will we print again? Of course! And we are. But the online circulation is now verging on being at the peak of our highest print run. I recognise that many of us will never fully appreciate the trauma, the angst, and the anger experienced by so many whose businesses have been irreparably damaged by this situation. I guess we were all wrong when we predicted where we would be at this point in this year, weren’t we? But some interesting things have emerged. I have been fortunate to have been party to a number of discussions in this regard, with colleagues all over the globe. Prior to this pandemic there was always a certain scepticism about meeting where you were not eyeball-to-eyeball and shaking hands – and so on. On that first flight to Cape Town or Durban for a one-

hour mid-morning meeting, and possibly a site visit. Now we are attending meetings with international colleagues, viewing issues on a plant through the lens of an onsite colleague – and speaking on equal terms. It seems the fact one cannot attend the site meeting (on site, after a flight or a few hours’ drive…) is no longer a problem – we simply join the meeting and we interact. The meeting could be in California, Edinburgh or Freiburg – and on we go. Another issue that emerges is the role of local industry – and the essential need to be able to supply and serve local industry. I fully accept that goods may well be moved about internationally – but we see interesting possibilities emerging locally too. Those greenhouse gases are way down; nature is taking over in some areas again – yet we know we can turn that back almost instantly. Will we be comfortable doing that? I suspect more folk than before will be questioning this. Should we be revisiting where we manufacture, and from where we serve industry? My suspicion is that some things will evolve using digital transformation, and others will have to be reconsidered based on the fact that – seriously – things will never be the same again. Somewhere in this, I see a renewed opportunity for local – and regional – manufacturers. Let’s see how things return to a new ‘normal’…

Greater safety, lower maintenance require- ments and reduced energy consumption are factors driving the popularity of dry-type transformers in Africa, according to local specialist Trafo Power Solutions. (Read more on page 3).

Editor: Leigh Darroll Design & Layout: Adél JvR Bothma Advertising Managers: Helen Couvaras, Heidi Jandrell Circulation: Karen Smith EditorialTechnical Director: Ian Jandrell Publisher: Karen Grant Deputy Publisher: Wilhelm du Plessis

Circulation: Quarter 1 (Jan – Mar) 2020 Total print circulation: 4 139

Published monthly by: Crown Publications (Pty) Ltd Cnr Theunis and Sovereign Sts, Bedford Gardens, PO Box 140, Bedfordview 2008 Printed by: Tandym Print Telephone: +27 (0) 11 622 4770 E-mail: e-mail: ec@crown.co.za; admin@crown.co.za Website: www.crown.co.za www.electricityandcontrolmagazine.co.za

CROSS PLATFORM CONTENT INTEGRATION: * Electricity+Control Magazine * Online Edition * Bi-monthly Newsletter * Website

Publisher of the year 2018 (Trade Publications)

Electricity+Control is supported by

Ian Jandrell PrEng IntPE(SA), BSc(Eng) GDE PhD, FSAAE FSAIEE SMIEEE

Electricity + Control JUNE 2020

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The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor, SAAEs, SAEE, CESA or the Copper Development Association Africa

CONTENTS

Features

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIoT 4 Reducing the carbon footprint of artificial intelligence Rob Matheson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

6 Products + Services

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT 12 Mining the opportunities of the energy transition Simon Yacoub, Evan Boyle, and Greg Miller, Worley

14 Call to lift limitations on private power generation Wido Schnabel, SAPVIA

16 Products + Services

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MEASUREMENT + INSTRUMENTATION 19 Remote support for system operators Florian Kraftschik, MarCom Manager, Endress+Hauser

21 Products + Services

TRANSFORMERS, SUBSTATIONS + CABLES 24 Dry-type transformers to suit specialised applications Leigh Darroll, Electricity + Control 27 A new high-performance bio-based transformer fluid Carl Wolmarans, Nynas

28 Products + Services

12

Regulars

1

Comment Is there opportunity in a time of crisis?

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Cover article Enthusiastic uptake of dry-type transformers in Africa Reskilling, upskilling + training Training moves online at virtual event Cybersecurity Leading edge, pay-as-you-use cybersecurity Write @ the back Preparing for the Carbon Tax Act in the mining sector

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COVER ARTICLE

FEATURES: · Industry4.0+ IIoT · Energymanagement+ the industrial environment

· Measurement+ instrumentation · Transformers, substations+ cables

Enthusiastic uptake of dry-type transformers in Africa

EC June 2020 cover.indd 1

5/28/2020 1:30:01PM

G reater safety, lower maintenance requirements and reduced energy consumption are among the factors driving the popularity of dry-type transformers in Africa, according to local specialist Trafo Power Solutions. “Advances in the design and manufacturing of dry-type or cast-resin transformers in recent decades have also meant that there is now close price parity with conventional oil-cooled transformers,” says David Claassen, Managing Director of Trafo Power Solutions. Cooled by air rather than oil, dry-type transformers are more versatile in terms of where they can be located. They can be installed indoors, in basements and in other confined spaces. They can even be used in underground coal mining environments. “They are low-risk in relation to fire, as they are categorised as fire protection class F1 in terms of international fire resistance ratings,” says Claassen. “This demonstrates that they are both flame-retardant and self-extinguishing.” The risk of oil spills from an oil-cooled unit requires the building of specific infrastructure to prevent possible environmental pollution. Dry-type alternatives incur fewer costs as they require no such infrastructure to be provided. He notes that the safer, oil-free design of dry-type transformers allows them to be incorporated in modular

substations – a convenient and cost-effective option for projects and sites around Africa. The modular format requires that the transformer operates safely in proximity to personnel and to other equipment. The modular substations – suitable for underground or surface applications – include features such as temperature protection, surge protection, cooling, ventilation and earth fault protection. Markets in which these solutions are being enthusiastically adopted include mining, oil and gas, power generation and general infrastructure, including water treatment facilities. “With our experience in Africa and our design capacity, we work with leading Italy-based manufacturer TMC Transformers to develop bespoke solutions,” Claassen says. “Through our exclusive engineering partnership with TMC, our customers can be confident of world-class design and manufacturing standards.” A solution-focused approach is shared by Trafo Power Solutions and TMC, based on close collaboration with customers to meet their precise requirements. Claassen emphasises the importance of all parties working together at every stage of a project, from application engineering through to design, manufacture and customer support.

Trafo Power Solutions offers a wide selection of cast resin transformers. These range from 160 kVA to 25 MVA, with system voltages up to 52 kV and Class F or Class H insulation systems. The company also provides custom-designed mini substations.

Aerial view of TMC Transformers manufacturing headquarters located in Milan, Italy.

For more information contact Trafo Power Solutions. www.trafo.co.za

Electricity + Control JUNE 2020

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INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT

Reducing the carbon footprint of artificial intelligence

Rob Matheson, MIT News Office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Artificial intelligence has become a focus of certain ethical concerns, but it also has some major sustainability issues.

L ast June, researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst released a startling report estimating that the amount of power required for training and searching a certain neural network architecture involves the emissions of roughly 626 000 pounds of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to nearly five times the lifetime emissions of the average US car, including its manufacturing. The issue becomes even more severe in the model deployment phase, where deep neural networks need to be deployed on diverse hardware platforms, each with different properties and computational resources. MIT researchers have developed a new automated AI system for training and running certain neural networks. Results indicate that, by improving the computational efficiency of the system in some key ways, the system can cut down the weight of carbon emissions involved – in some cases, down to low triple digits. The researchers’ system, which they call a “once-for- all network”, trains one large neural network comprising many pre-trained subnetworks of different sizes that can be tailored to diverse hardware platforms without retraining. This dramatically reduces the energy usually required to train each specialised neural network for new platforms – which can include billions of internet of things (IoT) devices. Using the system to train a computer-vision model, they estimated that the process required roughly 1/1 300 the carbon emissions compared to today’s state-of-the-art neural architecture search approaches, while reducing the inference time by 1.5-2.6 times. “The aim is smaller, greener neural networks,” says Song Han, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “Searching efficient neural network architectures has until now had a huge carbon footprint. But we reduced that footprint by orders of magnitude with these new methods.”

The work was carried out on Satori, an efficient computing cluster donated to MIT by IBM that is capable of performing 2 quadrillion calculations per second. The paper was due to be presented in late April at the International Conference on Learning Representations. Joining Han on the paper are four undergraduate and graduate students from EECS, MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Creating a “once-for-all” network The researchers built the system on a recent AI advance called AutoML (for automatic machine learning), which eliminates manual network design. Neural networks automatically search massive design spaces for network architectures tailored, for instance, to specific hardware platforms. But there’s still a training efficiency issue: each model has to be selected then trained from scratch for its platform architecture. “How do we train all those networks efficiently for such a broad spectrum of devices – from a $10 IoT device to a $600 smartphone? Given the diversity of IoT devices, the computation cost of neural architecture search will explode,” Han says. The researchers invented an AutoML system that trains only a single, large once-for-all (OFA) network that serves as a ‘mother’ network, nesting an extremely high number of subnetworks that are sparsely activated from the mother network. OFA shares all its learned weights with all subnetworks – meaning they come essentially pre-trained. Thus, each subnetwork can operate independently at inference time without retraining. The team trained an OFA convolutional neural network (CNN) – commonly used for image-processing tasks – with versatile architectural configurations, including different numbers of layers and ‘neurons’, diverse filter sizes, and diverse input image resolutions. Given a specific platform, the system uses the OFA as the search space to find the

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INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT

best subnetwork based on the accuracy and latency trade-offs that correlate to the platform’s power and speed limits. For an IoT device, for instance, the system will find a smaller subnetwork. For smartphones, it will select larger subnetworks, but with different structures depending on individual battery lifetimes and computation resources. OFA decouples model training and architecture search, and spreads the one-time training cost across many inference hardware platforms and resource constraints. This relies on a “progressive shrinking” algorithm that efficiently trains the OFA network to support all the subnetworks simultaneously. It starts with training the full network with the maximum size, then progressively shrinks the sizes of the network to include smaller subnetworks. Smaller subnetworks are trained with the help of large subnetworks to grow together. In the end, all the subnetworks with different sizes are supported, allowing fast specialisation based on the platform’s power and speed limits. It supports many hardware devices with zero training cost when adding a new device. In total, one OFA, the researchers found, can comprise more than 10 quintillion – that’s a 1 followed by 19 zeroes – architectural settings, covering probably all platforms ever needed. But training the OFA and searching it ends up being far more efficient than spending hours training each neural network per platform. Moreover, OFA does not compromise accuracy or inference efficiency. Instead, it provides state-of-the-art ImageNet accuracy on mobile devices. And, compared with state-of-the-art industry-

leading CNN models, the researchers say OFA provides 1.5-2.6 times speedup, with superior accuracy. “That’s a breakthrough technology,” Han says. “If we want to run powerful AI on consumer devices, we have to figure out how to shrink AI down to size.” “The model is really compact. I am very excited to see that OFA can keep pushing the boundary of efficient deep learning on edge devices,” says Chuang Gan, a researcher at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and co-author of the paper. “If rapid progress in AI is to continue, we need to reduce its environmental impact,” says John Cohn, an IBM fellow and member of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. “The upside of developing methods to make AI models smaller and more efficient is that the models may also perform better.” □ At a glance ■  Training and searching efficient neural network architectures has until now had a huge carbon footprint.The aim is to create smaller, greener neural networks. ■  MIT researchers have developed a new automated AI system for training and running certain neural networks.  ■ Results indicate that, by improving the computational efficiency of the system in some key ways, the system can cut down the weight of carbon emissions involved.

For more information visit: www.mit.edu

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

IO-Link multi-turn encoders The new multiturn encoder from ifm, with a total resolution of 31bits,offersabroadrangeofpositionandspeedcapacities. With its robust and battery-free magnetic measurement

need for the PLC to interfere. This avoids time delays and mechanical displacements. In order to allow for requirement-oriented maintenance, the sensor also provides information on temperature, switch-on and off activity, total operating hours and bearing operating time. In addition, the integrated speed monitor permanently monitors the shaft speed, thus ensuring high plant uptime. For more information contact ifm South Africa. Tel: +27 (0)12 450 0400, e-mail: info.za@ifm.com, visit: www.ifm.com

technology, the sensor also detects movement even if the machine is deactivated. The digital input and output allow for process communication in real time: the position sensors can signal end positions directly to the encoder – without any

The new multi-turn encoders with IO-Link ensure consistent communication, monitoring positioning and other factors on machines.

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CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION : PRODUCTS + SERVICES INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

High-speed WRAP system for underground communication Becker Mining South Africa’s Electronics segment specialises in automation and communication systems designed to enhance productivity and improve safety in the mining sector. Becker Mining Systems has designed a dependable Wi-Fi system which is recognised by the mining sector globally for reliable, safe and efficient high- speed communication underground.

small form factor, and a weight of less than five kg, ensures easy installation and maintenance.” WRAP is designed to allow for a combination of communications’ backbones to be used to optimise the system. For example, fibre can be used for high-data throughput, and in working sections of a coal mine where activity is intense, Becker Mining specialists recommend a wireless mesh topology. WRAP is the primary component in the Becker Wi-Fi IS backbone. The internal layer 3 router contains the logic to route all network traffic to the correct interface card or to the correct fibre point. The route of network traffic is based on the rules configured into the router itself. Firewall rules can also be configured to control bandwidth usage of protocols and to provide security to the network. WRAP supports various configuration implementations – from traditional distributed antenna backbones, interconnected via a redundant fibre optic loop, to mixed configurations using redundant WDS (wireless distribution systems) and redundant fibre optic loops. All systems are designed to facilitate future upgrades if the need arises. Other systems available from Becker Mining South Africa include Smartsense environmental monitoring and leaky feeder systems, as well as Wi-Fi and underground tracking of personnel and vehicles. Fibre optic and digital radio networks, belt rip detection for overland conveyors and SCADA and Ethernet networks are also available. For more information contact Becker Mining South Africa.Tel: +27 (0)11 617 6300, email: info@za.becker-mining.com or visit: www.za.becker-mining.com

Andrew Trentelman, Senior General Manager, Electronics Division at Becker Mining South Africa, says, “The company has made a substantial investment in researching and testing underground Wi-Fi systems to overcome the problems associated with conventional Wi- Fi systems in arduous underground conditions. A critical feature of this advanced system is its intrinsically safe (IS) design, which enables safe use in harsh and potentially explosive mining conditions. Another important feature of Becker’s systems – each of which can be customised to exact requirements – is that each product can be installed as a stand-alone system, or can be deployed using a phased approach to minimise the initial capital outlay. “The Becker WRAP (Wireless Router Access Point) provides a high-speed backbone for wireless VoIP, seamless roaming of devices, advanced vehicular dispatch systems, process automation, as well as any device that can use a wireless, serial or fibre backbone. The system does not

The Becker WRAP (Wireless Router Access Point) is intrinsically safe and designed to ensure reliable and efficient Wi-Fi communication underground.

limit usage to a single technology but encompasses the migration and integration of many technologies. “It incorporates on board tag readers, reducing the equipment necessary in a full tagging and tracking solution. The IS WRAP unit’s

Custom cable creator for tailored cable solutions Mouser Electronics Inc., authorised global distributor with the newest semiconductors and electronic components, has introduced a new online Custom Cable Creator solution in collaboration with Molex. The Custom Cable Creator allows designers to develop cable solutions to meet their exact needs. It offers a broad range of options for customisation, enabling designers to create their own pinout and simplify cable management and routing. The Custom Cable Creator is suitable for many major industry applications, including home appliances, consumer goods, data computing, and medical applications. The Molex Custom Cable Creator allows designers to choose from a variety of customisable options, including connector families, wire gauges, circuit sizes, UL styles, and cable lengths. The intuitive online tool produces a tailor-made design within minutes, and customers can receive a concept drawing, 3D model, quote, and product sample within 48 hours. The proprietary pinout configurator offers the option to select individual connections and wire

colour, and designers can also customise the cable with assembly options including tape, woven braid, cable ties, or heat shrink tubing.

For more information contact Mouser Electronics. Visit: www.mouser.com

The new Custom Cable Creator allows designers to develop cable solutions to meet their exact needs.

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INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Ultra-compact industrial PC The new C7015 ultra-compact industrial PC from Beckhoff enables direct integration into machine environments. In the C7015 industrial PC, Beckhoff combines its extensive expertise with PC-based machine control and IP 65/67 components. The result is an industrial PC (IPC) designed with IP 65/67 protection for direct installation on the machine or other equipment. The edge device is ideal for decentralised installation and provides powerful multi-core computing performance. When used as a fully- fledged control computer, the device also reduces the required control cabinet space. This simplifies machine design as well as subsequent system expansions. The C7015 IPC, which measures 85 x 167 x 43 mm, is an economical yet high-performance IP 65/67 device designed for installation within machine environments. The space-saving, fanless device is universally suited to high- performance automation, visualisation and communication purposes. Its applications range from classic machine control to the decentralised edge computing used in advanced Industry 4.0 concepts. The C7015 is equipped with a powerful Intel Atom ® multi- core CPU with up to four processor cores. Compared to conventional ARM-based edge devices, it is able to support more demanding applications as well as decentralised data pre-processing and the acquisition of large data volumes. The device housing with IP 65/67 protection rating is another feature that makes the C7015 ideal for use in modern edge applications, even in harsh production environments.

The IPC also serves as a highly functional machine controller. Installing it directly in the field can save valuable electrical cabinet space and reduce machine footprints significantly, especially when combined with other Beckhoff components with a high protection rating, such as the AMP8000 distributed servo drive system and the EPP series of EtherCAT P I/O modules. These solutions can simplify machine design while also minimising the effort of subsequent system expansions, such as the addition of an energy data acquisition system. The integrated EtherCAT P connection of the C7015 creates a range of new options for efficient sensor/ actuator connection via the IP 67 protected EPPmodules. In this way, even complex diagnostic or condition monitoring tasks can be decentralised and supported with minimal installation effort. For that purpose, a special mounting plate enables direct attachment of an

The IP 65/67 rated C7015 ultra-compact control device (left) can be installed on machines even in confined spaces and further minimises footprint requirements with directly attached EPP series EtherCAT I/O modules (as shown right).

EPP module to the C7015. If required, additional EPP modules can be connected via EtherCAT P for specific applications.

For more information contact Dane Potter at Beckhoff Automation.

Mobile: +27 (0)79 493 2288, email: danep@beckhoff.com, visit: www.beckhoff.co.za

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION : PRODUCTS + SERVICES INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Configurable LED strip light for the ‘visual’ factory The new WLS27 Pro from Turck Banner is available in distinct IO-Link and discrete controlled Pro Editor compatible models. Banner’s Pro Editor software allows users to program device status, colours and animations for control via three discrete inputs. The application- based interface makes it easy to configure a light for a wide range of applications, such as displaying machine warm-up time, indicating unique steps in an assembly process, showing distance and position information and communicating multiple machine states. Pro Editor models are discretely controlled and ideal for users who do not have IO-Link but need control and customisation to communicate information visually. Key features include: - Colour and animation options allow for more intuitive indication in the visual factory - Capability to control supply chain and delivery through model standardisation - Display advanced functions like distance, time and count without a controller. The IO-Link models allow for dynamic control – reacting to inputs from other devices – and have additional modes not available on the discrete controlled units. IO- Link enables users to change device parameters from the control system as needed, such as during product changeovers, which reduces downtime and allows

reduce costs, increase process efficiency, and improve machine availability. Key features of the IO-Link models include: - Individual control of LEDs for fully customised operation - Use of available ports to provide illumination and dimming without added hardware - Dynamic illumination and indication based on changing statuses. For challenging applications The WLS27 Pro provides bright, high-quality light, with RGBW LEDs ensuring clean, flicker-free white light, compared to the mixed white that comes from only RGB LEDs. The WLS27 Pro offers a total of nineteen colours, thirteen colours plus six whites. It can be programmed to show bright white light for safety or efficiency during normal operation, and then to indicate other machine statuses, such as red for a stop condition. Additionally, advanced options allow the work light to indicate alarm states, show temperature, display position information, and count for process verification. The rugged IP69K design allows for the WLS27 Pro to be used in various conditions, including harsh washdown, machining and outdoor environments. The sealed lights are constructed with sturdy aluminium frames in a shatterproof polyester housing, making them resistant to wet environments, impact and breakage. The WLS27 Pro with IO-Link has programmable RGBW LEDs for use in indication, illumination, and inspection applications in production and assembly processes. For more information contact Brandon Topham at Turck Banner.Tel: + 27 (0)11 453 2468, email: brandon.topham@turckbanner.co.za Visit: www.turckbanner.co.za

machines to accommodate greater product diversity. These models can be divided in up to 10 segments, for applications like assembly guidance or pick-to-light. They also offer

unique LED colour control to provide advanced users with greater control. The WLS27 Pro with IO-Link connects cleanly to IO-Link architecture and helps

The WLS27 Pro can be programmed to show machine status

and other measures in the manufacturing environment.

Unmanaged switches for Profinet and EtherNet/IP Phoenix Contact has launched two new unmanaged switches for EtherNet/IP and Profinet. Products with the suffix ‘PNE’ are designed for automation applications where Profinet and EtherNet/IP data needs to be prioritised with respect to other Ethernet packets. They offer the same multicast filtering as the existing Profinet switches (PN variants), and also support the specific UDP prioritisation of EtherNet/IP data traffic. The switches enable users to benefit from seamless integration without additional configuration.

For more information contact Phoenix Contact SA. Tel:+27 (0)11 801 8200,

email: info@phoenixcontact.co.za or visit: www.phoenixcontact.co.za

Phoenix Contact has launched two new unmanaged switches to support the prioritisation of data traffic.

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Side-mounted energy chain with chainflex cables Twice as fast and half as heavy: this is what makes the linear motor robot from FIBRO LÄPPLE TECHNOLOGY (FLT) different from other solutions. In order for the linear robot to get production up and running quickly and reliably, a compact, durable and quiet energy supply was required. A side-mounted igus energy chain systemwith pre-harnessed chainflex cables proved to be the optimal solution. Linear robots are used in automation for machine or press loading, order picking and high-bay warehouse loading, or transport and handling tasks. Due to production demands for faster, more intelligent and economically profitable solutions, FLT has developed a linear robot which meets the aim to maximise production performance. In a new carbon design, the linear motor robot saves up to 50% in weight compared to conventional solutions. The weight reduction enables twice the speed, accelerations of up to 26 m/s 2 and

the designers chose a linear motor because it allows very high dynamics. An unsupported energy chain of the E4.1 series from igus ensures a secure energy supply for the z-axis. The integration of a suitable energy chain solution in the compact installation space of the x-axis was a challenge, because a classic gliding or unsupported solution was out of the question due to the high forces. "Together with igus, we therefore decided on a side- mounted energy chain", explains Boris Bind, Head of Mechanical Design and Development at FLT. An E4.1 series energy chain is used with additional sliding elements that further reduce wear. The designers also used the igus range for the cables. They chose pre- harnessed chainflex cables – so-called ‘readycables’ – that are specifically designed for use in the energy chain. The igus chainflex cables, comprehensively tested in the company's own 3 800 m 2 test laboratory, are supplied with a guarantee for 36 months. The complete system is housed in a special guide trough which further minimises noise and increases the reliability of the system. For more information contact Ian Hewat, MD, at igus SA. Mobile: +27 (0)82 655 8579, email: ihewat@igus.co.za, or visit: www.igus.co.za

twice the positioning accuracy. Instead of a rack and pinion drive, A side-mounted igus energy chain system, ensures safe cable guiding of the x-axis for the linear motor robot. (Source: igus GmbH)

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION : PRODUCTS + SERVICES INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

EPLAN services online: webcasts, training and consulting Working at home is what many people are doing right now. To meet this shift, EPLAN is offering a number of online services, including webcasts that provide users with specific practical support. Remote consulting and meetings with its consultants via video conferencing is another service EPLAN is offering companies – augmented by helpful online sessions from the EPLAN technical teams. Around four hundred participants took part in the first three German webcasts on the topic ‘EPLAN and working at home’, indicating the demand for customer support. EPLAN is reacting positively to the changing market conditions by putting together a whole package of digital offerings, now being implemented. These include the webcasts, where users receive very practical support in their changed everyday working world. Topics such as remote access to EPLAN software, VPN connections to company networks, or cloned master data were covered in the one- hour webcasts. These are now available as video streams, accessible via the EPLAN website. Another webcast series on the topic ‘More efficient use of EPLAN Platform and new engineering methods’ is also on the agenda, covering topics such as automation in panel building and switchgear system engineering, PLM A new software solution for network management With the new Sinec software family, Siemens offers a range of functions in the field of network management. Sinec software meets the diverse requirements of modern industrial networks and helps users to overcome the challenges of digitalisation, such as the ever-growing number of network devices as well as the security and clarity of increasingly complex networks. Alongside the Sinec NMS Network Management System, two additional Sinec tools – Sinec INS and Sinec PNI – offer more options for comprehensive network management. The new Sinec INS (Infrastructure Network Services) is a software tool for central network services. It provides customers with a quick and easy overview of all network services via a unified user interface. The tool offers general network services, which specifically benefit operational technology (OT). Using Sinec INS, the OT can create an autonomous network – independent of IT services – and the network can, for example, be hosted in an OT data centre. This includes various servers such as DHCP (IP address management), Syslog (collection of events in the network), NTP (time management), Radius (authentication in the network) and TFTP (for firmware updates on network components). The new Sinec PNI (Primary Network Initialisation) commissioning tool enables the quick and easy initialisation of Scalance and Ruggedcom network components. Controllers/CPUs (central processing units)

integration, and macro technology in EPLAN Electric P8. EPLAN is offering these webcasts free of charge to give users the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the topics or to take a deeper dive into them. Until recently, onsite personal consultation has been the standard, especially for services such as training and consulting. EPLAN customers now take advantage of consulting services digitally via video conference. Remote consulting services can be used to take a closer look at a company´s processes and to be proactive in implementing optimisation that may be long overdue. Bernd Schewior, EPLAN Vice President Professional Services, says, “Our goal is to be available for EPLAN users at any time. Right now we’re offering online meetings and remote services where we are answering customers’ questions in real time. This service was added at the start of the year and has already become an integral part of our training programme to become an EPLAN Certified Engineer.”

Bernd Schewior, EPLAN Vice President Professional Services.

For more information contact Johan Reyneke at EPLAN. Mobile: +27 (0)83 925 2054 email: Reyneke.J@eplan.co.za visit: www.eplan.co.za

can also be initialised with this tool. This expansion of the Sinec family portfolio to include the Sinec PNI tool offers convenient basic initialisation and ensures the availability of network components. Both new tools are ideal additions to the efficient Sinec NMS. The new version V1.0 SP1 of Sinec NMS can also be used to manage security-related aspects in the network. This includes, for example, firewall and NAT (Network Address Translation) management with device- specific rules as well as the policy-based configuration of the network infrastructure and Syslog client. Firewall components can be configured conveniently and efficiently from a central point. For more information visit: www.siemens.com/sinec

The new Sinec software family offers a range of functions for efficient network management.

10 Electricity + Control JUNE 2020

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

High-speed automatic print inspection system SICK Automation, in collaboration with AutoCoding Systems, has introduced what it describes as the world’s first fully automated, smart vision inspection system for printed coding and marking on food, pharmaceutical and general consumer goods packaging. The 4Sight Automatic Print Inspection System reduces day-to-day production stoppages significantly for producers by delivering an error-proof, high-speed inspection system for printed codes such as dates, batch and line numbers. This innovation, achieved with the AutoCoding 4Sight software operating a SICK InspectorP 2D vision camera, enables direct closed-loop communication of the printed message from any brand of printer using standard inkjet, laser or thermal transfer technologies. The direct communication removes costly ‘nuisance stops’ and saves production time compared to conventional vision systems. As conventional systems take time in learning thousands of images and fonts as well as the surrounding packaging design context there is typically a lengthy process before production inspections can take place. The system is one of the first to be developed using SICK’s AppSpace eco-system. Mike Hughes, Managing Director of AutoCoding Systems says, “With the power of the SICK AppSpace development environment, we were able to draw on the strengths of AutoCoding to think about print inspection systems in a completely new way.

The result is a directly-networked connection between the printer and the 2D vision camera, coupled with the 4Sight software’s unique ability to self-optimise the code inspection process.” As the artificial intelligence is already pre-trained in the application, the AutoCoding system knows exactly the printed message it is looking for. This means the system adjusts automatically when the printer changes to a new job. The 4Sight software can check simultaneously if the printed code is correct, present and legible, and users have the flexibility to define what is recognised as a ‘good read, bad read or no read’ on a per product basis. Driven by the SICK AppSpace, on board the high-resolution SICK InspectorP 2D vision camera, the application needs no lineside PC. Enabled by the high-resolution and processing power of SICK vision technology, the solution can process inspection images in extremely short cycle times. It can operate in high line speed applications such as bottling and canning lines. For more information contact SICK Automation SA. Tel: +27 10 060-0558, email: Grant.Joyce@sickautomation.co.za visit: www.sickautomation.co.za

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

Mining the opportunities of the energy transition

Concern about the environmental impact of the mining industry has been growing for some time. Despite big strides in technology, according to theWorld Bank, over 11% of global energy consumption comes from the mining, minerals and metals value chain. Changing this demands a serious rethink of the way minerals and metals are processed and mined. A number of consultants in the Mining, Minerals and Metals team at global engineering company Worley, consider the opportunities presented by the energy transition and, in parallel, the digital transformation in mining – and the link between the two.

M ining companies worldwide find themselves under scrutiny with concerns raised on issues ranging from corporate stewardship to the commodity mix. Shareholders are demanding better returns on less capital with a smaller environmental footprint. Change is inevitable. The temptation is to jump straight to the conclusion that the energy transition is an existential threat to an emissions- intensive industry. After all, meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement depends on retiring carbon-intensive activities. However, the movement towards low emissions technologies, such as battery storage, electrification, microgrids, wind and solar power, depends on the mining industry to provide the materials needed for this shift. Simon Yacoub,Vice-President Strategy & Transformation Americas, Mining, Minerals and Metals at Worley, explains why. “As we head down the electrification and energy storage path, we will require a different mineral mix. We’re witnessing considerable shifts in demand for new energy minerals and these will be used for applications in the energy transition that we can’t even foresee yet. “The minerals of the low emissions future include lithium, cobalt, iron ore, manganese, aluminium, nickel, lead and graphite. But the single most important mineral that will enable electrification and electron mobility is copper. "Copper is critical in low emission and electric vehicles, energy transmission and storage, and renewable energy technologies that harness the sun and the wind. “Essentially, our sustainable development scenario cannot be achieved without these minerals. The mining industry is called on to supply them responsibly, and this is guiding our direction going forward.” So, we know which minerals we need. How do we access and process them responsibly?

“Understanding that mining underpins the future energy mix (and potentially the fate of the planet), we need to consider less energy intensive ways of extracting and processing these minerals. We also need to power the process with energy that comes from renewable sources. This is where expectations around social licence come into play. These are very powerful levers that are vitally important to our customers and hence, to us. “Our customers have a growing demand for our new energy expertise to establish affordable, reliable power to their mine sites with technology at the forefront of the power sector. Technology is the biggest enabler to make the energy transition a commercially viable pathway. It's also a key ingredient in developing remote regional areas close to mining sites and in mining provinces. “It's exciting to shape a future where decentralised energy supply enables the growth of new economic regions.” Evan Boyle, Senior Director Technology Solutions for Mining, Minerals & Metals APAC at Worley, outlines the current state of digital transformation in mining. Digital transformation is offering opportunities for the progressive thinkers – and causing grey hair among the hesitant. The goalposts are always shifting in digital, but like the energy transition, digital transformation will enable some companies to evolve into mining majors, moving ahead of those who choose not to act. “In spite of positive statements about digital technologies and digital transformation, investment hasn’t always backed up the excitement. It’s the adage of: you don’t know what you don’t know. Plus, while it pays off in the long term, innovation is time-consuming and requires change, so quantifying investment cost is hard and returns are slow. “That has created some hesitation to make big decisions in case the wrong path or tool is selected. This encourages

12 Electricity + Control JUNE 2020

DRIVES, MOTORS + SWITCHGEAR : PRODUCTS + SERVICES ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

delays and endless testing of the market, which limits collaboration or investment in digital and data-centric approaches as miners wait for a magic pill or silver bullet.” However, there is little choice but to go for it. Boyle offers a glimpse of where the opportunities lie. “It’s a shift in mindset that’s required. Companies need to see technology as the glue that joins all elements of the physical entity: the data, knowledge components and the people who envision, create, build, test and operate the facility. There is no other glue that can hold these things together, and this integration, this working together, is essential for success. “Technology is already at the stage where we can tap into a virtual world and use digital twinning to build and view an end result. New parts or facilities can be incorporated into the existing world to view, test and optimise the blend of components, as well as the processes and systems used to create and operate the facility. All this can be envisaged before even committing to the development of a project. "This technology can help make better investment and operating decisions and improve process controls prior to final investment decision (FID). But we must be accustomed to investing in the technology upfront. This means the probable outcomes of embracing technology, and predicting a balanced, safe, net zero future, can be debated as part of the FID. “Once a facility is up and running, technology also enables the owner to monitor its operation, make informed decisions with real-time data and allow many tasks to be performed directly by the control system, improving its own performance over time with machine learning. The assessment speed and response time helps companies to keep on track, adjust performance outputs and avoid failures, all of which can contribute to a safer, cleaner and greener outcome. But it needs to be incorporated in the design phase, requiring substantial collaboration with the end user. “These technologies also offer rational, algorithmic responses, based on many data points. This means responses are better informed, faster and safer than traditional human or manual intervention.” Where there is uncertainty, there is opportunity. When the energy transition and digital transformation are considered together, they have the potential to transform the mining industry completely.

The transition to clean energy depends on the mining industry to provide the materials needed for this shift.

At a glance ■  The energy transition presents considerable shifts in demand for new energy minerals which may be used for applications we can’t even foresee yet. ■  We need to consider less energy intensive ways of extracting and processing these minerals and to power the process with energy that comes from renewable sources. ■  Technology is the biggest enabler to make the energy transition a commercially viable pathway. And technologies that aid mining productivity can have a similarly large impact on the energy transition.

elements that contribute to any sort of environmental or energy goal. Knowing what you’ve achieved is almost as powerful as achieving it. In a world where knowledge is king, a data-centric solution is key to making the right decisions towards achieving a net zero impact.” As Miller explains, technologies that aid productivity can have a similarly large impact on the energy transition. “We’re already seeing the successful implementation of digital tools such as our NextOre mineral sensing technology that can help pinpoint the highest-grade material from a conveyor belt or truck and provide real-time grade readings in seconds. “If we can use technology to better analyse ore bodies, it’s going to minimise the removal, transport or processing of unusable or low-grade ore, which in turn provides consistency of grade for processing. That means we can run fewer diesel trucks and consistently improve the grade of what we’re supplying to the market, resulting in energy savings, potential process improvements and an overall reduction of the carbon footprint. “The opportunities for technological advances in a mining setting are endless. We can now use virtual reality for site training, 3D printing for spare parts manufacturing, predictive analytics platforms to manage safety, and drones to conduct aerial inspections of mine sites. These are just some examples of digital processes that are enabling us to optimise mine operations. “They contribute to increased safety and productivity and lower carbon emissions, and assist the sector to play its part in reaching the targets of the Paris Agreement and decarbonise the mining process.” □

Greg Miller,Senior Vice President for Mining,Minerals and Metals in APAC at Worley, explains the link between the two.

“The energy transition can’t happen at the speed we need it to unless we embrace better technologies to design and run mines. At the same time, the need to improve overall sustainability and uphold the social licence to operate remains paramount. “These technologies can assist mining companies to assess, track, collate and present the complex mix of

For more information visit: www.worley.com

Electricity + Control JUNE 2020

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