MechChem Africa January 2018

Mech Chem JANUARY 2018 AFRICA

Are your Lawyers Engineers too? We are™

This month: Towards a low-carbon jet fuel future

Minerals processing: from ROM to tailings

Automation Perspectives 2017 from Houston USA

Pneumatic innovations reduce C-footprint

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Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals 8 Industrial geared drives see steady advances MechChemAfrica talks to Raymond Obermeyer, MD of SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa, about the expansion of the role and range of the company’s X-series helical and bevel helical gear units. 10 Mill products rebranded as Metso Gears and Pinions 12 Plug-and-play bearing for condition monitoring 13 High performance chains for severe applications Hydraulic and pneumatic systems 14 Pneumatic innovations for reduced carbon footprint BrianAbbott,product manager for SMC Pneumatics SouthAfrica,takes us on a tour of some of his company’s energy-efficient product displays at its Midrand showroom. 16 Total process, filtration and lubrication management solutions 18 New ‘Fluid Power Fitter’ qualification 19 Mining, OTR tyres and nitrogen generators Computer-aided engineering 20 Augmented reality and the IIoT Ross Anderson of productONE demonstrates how easily augmented reality (AR) experiences can be created and the advantages of PTC’s ThingWorx AR platform. 23 Design innovation for packaging Automation, process control and instrumentation 24 Automation Perspectives 2017 MechChemAfrica visits the Rockwell Automation Fair, summarises the opening address of president and CEO, Blake Moret, and highlights some of the key takeouts from the Automation Perspectives media forum. 26 New intelligent solution for Tele-Remote portfolio 27 OR Tambo luggage ID scanners updated Weir Minerals Africa’s JD Singleton talks about the extensive range of products, services, solutions and technical expertise the company offers to help process plant operators reduce bottlenecking, improve uptime and optimise plant performance. 32 Solvent extraction: extracting more for less 34 MYLAB opens in Johannesburg 36 Changes in process safety and risk legislation in SA Innovative engineering 42 A low-carbon jet fuel future Innovators in the fields of steel and aviation reveal how a low-carbon jet fuel made with steel process gases could revolu- tionise air travel. Regulars 2 Comment: For transformation and empowerment, think careers 4 On the cover: The proudly South Africa law firm protecting African IP MechChem Africa talks to Janusz Luterek of Hahn & Hahn about his company’s experience of protecting IP and Trade Mark rights. 6 SAIChE News: Member profile MechChem Africa profiles clean production champion, Hamied Mazema. 40 Product and industry news 44 Back page: Smart windows channel magnetic fluids 28 Leveraging experience to provide sensor solutions in packaging Minerals processing, metallurgy and materials 30 Minerals processing solutions: From run-of-mine to tailings

P U B L I C A T I O N S CR O WN

Published monthly by Crown Publications cc Cnr Theunis and Sovereign Streets Bedford Gardens 2007 PO Box 140, Bedfordview, 2008 Tel: +27 11 622 4770 e-mail: mechchemafrica@crown.co.za www.mechchemafricamagazine.co.za Editors: Peter Middleton e-mail: peterm@crown.co.za Glynnis Koch e-mail: glynnisk@crown.co.za Advertising: Brenda Karathanasis e-mail: brendak@crown.co.za Design: Darryl James Publisher: Karen Grant Deputy publisher: Wilhelm du Plessis Circulation: Karen Smith The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the publisher or the editors. P U B L I C A T I O N S CR O WN P U B L I C A T I O N S CR O WN 2015/02/10 01:17:09PM

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Transparency You Can See Average circulation July-September 2017: 4 481

Printed by: Tandym Print, Cape Town

Cover story: Hahn & Hahn Contact: Janusz F. Luterek

+27 12 342 1774 janusz@hahn.co.za www.hahn.co.za Cover images: © 123RF

January 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 1

Peter Middleton For transformation and empowerment, think careers F rom 1994 to 1996, I worked for PROTEC, an NGO trying to increase the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering university level engineering courses. nesses, the supply chain into state-owned enterprises, and the transfer of ‘monopoly capital’ out of the hands of its current ‘white’ owners –has become the replace- ment transformational obsession.

The transformation of our whole society, which remains necessary and increasingly urgent, depends on people becoming genuinely empowered. But empowerment depends on people having a set of necessary skills to help our industries and businesses to thrive: soft skills that come from a good basic edu- cation, such as communication, numeracy, problem- solving, independence, work ethic, timemanagement, positive attitudes, team work and self-confidence; along with job- and trade-related skills, such as IT, plumbing, electrical wiring, motor car assembly, weld- ing, carpentry, construction and myriad others. The value of a trade-based career remains un- dervalued, while the need is acute – and the current over-focus on university-education is not helping. Hamied Mazema in this month’s SAIChE IChemE member profile talks about teaching his “pet subject” at Cape Town College in the early 1980s: N1, N2 and N3 level courses in water and wastewater treatment. The course targeted operating personnel from public and private water facilities, who had to be registered and certified toN3 level in thefield.Mazemadescribes this experience as “very rewarding because some of the individuals I taught have developed fromoperator level to seniormanagement positions in thewater and wastewater sectors.” A successful career does not depend on a person having a university degree. Many high-level managers of today began their careers in the practical trades. Today, Mazema’s ex-students are dealing with a crisis of note, and surely in need of many more well trained people with practical problem-solving skills to help them overcome the province’s water woes. Skills lead to employment and successful careers, and people with successful careers are empowered, economically andwith respect to opportunity. In addi- tion,empoweredpeoplewithskillsareidealcandidates for starting their own successful businesses. Thereareno short cuts, though.Wehave to reapply our minds to school-based education, career training anduniversity courses –especially in the technological fields. We must find ways to transform our schools, training colleges and universities into efficient and affordable development facilities, expand the number of employment opportunities andmake careers more attractive and accessible to our modern youngsters. By empowering people in this way, our nation will transform far faster than it will by shuffling company share and land ownership. q

PROTEC runs a three-year Saturday school pro- gramme for learners takingmathematics and physical sciences to matric level, a programme that includes as essential supporting subjects, English and career/ workplace studies. The idea is to prepare youngsters for entry into engineering courses at university, first, by helping them to achieve the necessary admis- sion grades, and second, to give them some life and problem-solving skills in order to help them cope at university and in the future. Having trained as a school-based technology teacher in Scotland, I returned to South Africa at that time to add a technology component to the PROTEC programme and to develop a practical, problem-driven extra-curricular technology course. At the outset, we identified themission of the course as: ‘To encourage and enable more and more of our young learners to take up technological careers’. In principal, the activities we developed had to be rich in terms of advocacy and motivation for technical careers and developmental in terms of practical and problem-solving skills. It was an exciting time. Nelson Mandela became president in April of 1994, and we were part of a new SouthAfrica, transformingeducationandempowering our youth – transformation and empowerment have long been entrenched as powerful and emotive goals for the success of our new nation. Technologywas adopted as a school-based subject by the first outcomes-based curriculum for South African schools and through PROTEC I was involved in thedevelopment of this early curriculum. The imple- mentation of outcomes-based education, however, was a spectacular failure, leading to an early andmore prescriptive curriculum rewrite. While technology remains on the curriculum, its transformational na- ture as an open-ended, solutions-driven subject that empowers people to learn on a need-to-know basis, has been almost completely lost. Weare fast approaching25years since the rainbow times of NelsonMandela’s first government and from an empowerment point of view, it seems that little progress has been made. The words ‘transformation’ and ‘empowerment’ stubbornly remain at the centre of current compound phrases: ‘broad-based black economic empowerment’; and ‘radical economic trans- formation’; but their use is skewed fromthe education, skills, career and employment focus of old. Ownership of the economy – of land, shares, busi-

MechChem Africa is endorsed by:

2 ¦ MechChem Africa • January 2018

MechChem Africa talks to Janusz Luterek of Intellectual Property specialist, Hahn & Hahn about his company’s experience of obtaining and protecting patent, design and Trade Mark rights in South Africa and the entire African continent. The proudly South African law firm protecting African IP

D octor WA Hahn arrived in South Africa fromEurope during 1948, after having previously accumulated 20 years of patent expertise in the chemical industry. “While qualifying as a South African patent agent, Hahn senior spent several years working for Sasol, heading up international license negotiations and setting up Sasol’s patent and documentation department,” Luterek tells MechChem Africa . In 1951 he founded his own law firm, WA Hahn, near to the South African Patents and TradeMarks’ office and lawcourts inPretoria. “For someyears thefirmcontinued tomanage Sasol’s patent department ona contract basis, while also working for other local industries such as ISCOR. In building up the firm Hahn re-established contacts with industry and colleagues all over the world. “In 1957, he was joined by his son, Hans Helmut (HH) Hahn, who had just completed his doctorate in oil and coal chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany,” Luterek relates. HHHahnqualifiedas apatent agent in 1959and,during1961,onbecomingapartner of the firm, the company was renamed Drs WAHahn&HHHahn, fromwhich the current name Hahn & Hahn emerged. Hans & Hahn’s technical experience in- cludes all aspects of mechanical engineering and chemistry including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and petrochemistry; chemical engineering; conventional and alternative energy; natural and synthetic oils; bituminous substances;woodandpulp technologies;min- ing, prospecting, and mineral beneficiation; metallurgy; separation methods and appa- ratus; ecology; energy saving and industrial buildings. HH Hahn was also highly skilled in tech- nical translation and is fluent in English, German, Afrikaans and Dutch, while having a reading knowledge of French. “During his years with us – and he is still with us today – heexpandedHahn&Hahn intoa fullyfledged Africa practice for filing patent and trade mark applications in South Africa, Angola, Nigeria, Egypt and other African coun- tries through bodies such ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual PropertyOrganisation) and OAPI (Organisation Africaine de la

electronic andmechanical engineers; organic chemists; biotechnologists; and electrical engineers, whoareall qualifiedattorneys spe- cialising in intellectual property,” Luterek says. “We can now boast over 65 years of ex- perience in patent and trade mark prosecu- tion and litigation throughout the African Continent and we have French-, German-, English- and Korean-speaking patent attor- neys who can prepare translations between French, German and English as well as cor- respond in those languages,” he adds. IP for catalysts and fuel He says that companies have cut down on IP development in recent times preferring to focus on cost-saving and sustainability. “We currentlydoalotmoreworkthroughuniversi- ties and research institutes such as the CSIR, which patent their work so as to generate income through licensing their technologies,” Luterek notes. “For the past five or ten years, industries such as mining have been cutting back on de- veloping their ownpatents, preferring instead to buy technologies that are fully developed and read for direct implementation. “And even then, they often prefer to stick to their trusted processes and methodolo- gies, even when a new technology is proven to be better, more energy efficient or more reliable,” he says, citing explosives in mining. “Developments that can make mining safer and more efficient now exist, but they are still seen as new, even though the explosives and systems have been approved by the relevant directorates and the systems are safety accredited.”

At this year’s New Food and Beverage products Awards, a Future Life Cereal with Probiotics won in the food category. Propriété Intellectuelle),” says Luterek. Janusz Luterek, now one of the seven directors of Hahn &Hahn Inc, studied chemi- cal engineering at the University of Pretoria before starting his career at the CSIR with the Chemical Engineering Research Group. Following restructuring, he was assigned to Food Science and Technology, which led to a period in industry building breweries, dairies and fruit juice factories. “Many of the world’s chemical engineers end up in the food industry and, in South Africa at the time when I qualified as an en- gineer, South African Breweries employed more chemical engineers than Sasol,” he says. “As well as all of the pumps and valves needed for processing, the food andbeverage industries are the largest users of plate heat exchangers and evaporators in the world,” he says, adding: “I designed and built quite a few clean-in-place (CIP) systems during my early career as an engineer and I was recently pleased to see that one of my systems was still being used by the Cape Town dairy it was built for.” Luterek went on to study law and to be- come a patent attorney. He joined Hahn & Hahn 20 years ago, in 1997. “With four quali- fied chemical engineers, servicing clients such as BASF, Sasol and Sapref, a large percentage of our work still has a chemical focus, but our professional staff now includes chemical,

4 ¦ MechChem Africa • January 2018

⎪ Cover story ⎪

“It’smuch easier for less experienced peo- ple to copy what has always been done in the past – and no one want to become the blade of grass sticking up when the lawnmower comes,” he quips. Whenaskedaboutnotablepatentsuccess- es, he says that a lot of the work done “is not very sexy”, citing catalysts for fuel production as an example. “Developments such as these are important for people who routinely have The Lesira water

management system is a smart metering solution that communicates water consumption per user per line via GSM transmission.

Across Africa, there is a move to reinvent traditional foods such as sorghum beer made frommaize and sorghummalt, along with non-alcoholic Mageu.

directly from refinery processes.” Luterek says that, from a synfuels per- spective, South Africa is a world leader in this technology, with PetroSA, previously Mossgas, and Sasol having had “slick techni- cal operations for producing fuels from gas”. Water inventions “During drought periods, we usually get sev- eral newpatent applications for inventions on how to save and purify water and reuse grey water. These tend to come from relatively small companies involved in the industry,” Luterek continues. One such invention is on the metering side. This smart metering solution, which is vandal-resistant for our society, consists of a usagemonitoring systemthat communicates water consumption per user per line viaGSM transmission. By continuouslymonitoring us- age,water restrictions areeasilyenforcedand wastage and leaks can be quickly indentified and repaired,” he explains. With conventional water meters and bill- ing, he says: “one might pick up a water leak if you notice excessive consumption on a bill, but this might be six weeks after the problem arose. With an online, app-driven metering system, withArtificial Intelligence (AI) built in, the systemcan identify a leaking pipe as soon as it develops, notify the user and identify which pipe is leaking. “Water is in serious crisis in several parts of the country and any solution that helps reducewastage is likely tobe taken seriously,” he adds.

morenutritious, while retaining its traditional character.” As a consequence of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Act, knowledge about indigenous plants, their medicinal use, how to grow these crops, and how to overcome infestationsusing traditionalmethods isbeing brought to the fore. “In thepast, indigenous people got nothing for the knowledge they passedon todevelop- ers.Theywereperhapspaidforproducingand harvesting the crops, but they seldom shared the benefits of a successful product. “As protectors of IP, we are involved in findingwayof restoring theownershipof such knowledge, by identifying the communities from which the knowledge emerged and at- tempting to identifywho andhowto pay back what is owed to them. While this is only right, it is far from easy,” he notes. A policy of growing the bio economy has also emerged, as a direct result of Africa hav- ing such a huge pool of natural bio resources anddiversity. “Everything frombacteria, fungi and moulds are now being considered as im- portant factors in the economy and bio pros- pecting is an official termused in regulations. At this year’s New Food and Beverage products Awards, a Future Life Cereal with Probioticswon in the food category. “The key IP involved is keeping the probiotic available up to the point of use. It must still be ‘alive’ af- ter processing, packaging, transportation and following a long shelf life,” Luterek explains. Concluding, he reminds inventors and de- velopers: “once aproduct is successful, it’s too late to then get IPprotection. It is vital to start the patenting process before it is certain that the product or solutions will be successful.” “And if money is a concern, then file for a provisional patent early. It is not that ex- pensive and a fully developed principle is not needed to start the process. This will buy a year’s grace before having to complete the process,” he advises. q

to refuel their cars, but the patents involved seldom reach the public eye. “We have been working on a patent for a multi-use fuel, for example, that can be used in petrol and diesel engines and turbines. Called a battlefield fuel, the idea is that, for military operations, a single fuel can be used for all of the different types of vehicles de- ployed. This has significant logistics, supply and storage implications and, while this is an ongoing development, amazing progress is being made,” Luterek informs MechChem Africa . He also notes the modern fuel-blending trend, withbiofuels, synfuels and convention- al fuels being carefully blended to produce consistent and efficient burning characteris- tics. “Abiofuel blendwas recently successfully tested in flight, on one of the engines of a commercial aeroplane,” he says. “The big advantage of the Fischer-Tropsch synfuel productionprocess is that it produces clean and efficient burning fuels with unique characteristics. Synfuels not only have lower impurity levels such as sulphur, but their structureonamolecularlevelismoreregular,” he explains. “Blending recipes from different fuel types enable various slate compositions to be produced to suit the combustion require- ments of different engines,” he says. “While the traditional automotive industry still likes to see additives being used in fuels, it is now possible to produce fuels that no longer need them,” Luterek points out. “Catalysts nowex- ist to enable specific slates with the required molecular chain lengths to be obtained

Africanisation and indigenous knowledge

“Across Africa, there is a move to reinvent traditional foods such as sorghumbeer made from maize and sorghum malt, along with non-alcoholic Mageu,” Luterek continues. “Usingmodern recipes, local food developers are fortifying Mageu, for example, to make it

January 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 5

The champion of a sustainable cleaner environment

In this first SAIChE IChemE Member Profile for 2018, MechChem Africa talks to Hamied Mazema, a chartered engineer, chartered environmentalist and chartered scientist who has been a member of the Institution for over 40 years.

M azema’s career started at the UniversityofCapeTownbackin 1969, where he enrolled for an electrical engineering degree. “But electrical engineering wasn’t for me, so in my second year, I switched to chemical engineering. I have always been fascinatedby physics and chemistry, so the change made sense at that time – and I never looked back,” he tells MechChem Africa . He graduated from UCT in June 1975 with a BSc Chem Eng and was immediately recruitedbyAfricanExplosives andChemical Industries (now AECI) in Somerset West. “In my first assignment I was thrown in at the deep end to commission newsulphurmelters for the sulphuric acid plant along with a new exhaust gas scrubbing unit. This setme on the path to specialising in cleaning technologies for environmental protection,” he notes. “The system worked very well for that time. The old stacks which billowed white sulphurous fumes were replaced by a single stack with an exhaust gas scrubber, which completely eliminated the white sulphurous haze, with 99% efficiency – much to the de- light of the residents on the hills in Somerset West. The liquid effluent from the scrubber was reprocessed into product and hence improved the overall process efficiency as well,” he notes. Quickly promoted to head upAECI’s com- missioning team,Mazema thencommissioned several projects in the Cape region: liquefied SO 2 filling plants for 72 kg cylinders and one- tonne drums, usedmainly as a preservative in thewineindustry;andbulkbreakingplantsfor refrigerant gas, caustic soda and battery acid. “AECI sulphuric acid plants produce acid for the explosives, fertiliser and for the local chemical industries, so I soon transferred to the Blasting Explosives department, where I was the superintendent of the detonating fuse plant, which we remodelled during my time, alongwithcommissioninganewnitrator unit,” he says. Then, in June 1977, he was seconded to the London Head Office of AECI’s parent, ICI plc, where he spent three years supporting the company’s global explosives business. “I had a dual role as assistant to the business co-ordinator, an ex-ICI Explosives employee,

and the research coordinator, who was a Canadian seconded from CIL (Canadian Industries Limited).We co-ordinatedmarket, research, competition, technology and safety informationandactivities for all of our subsid- iaries, which afforded me the opportunity to meet senior management all over the world,” Mazema informs MechChem Africa .“This was one of themost exciting and rewarding three years of my life. As well as seeing the world, I was directly involved in monitoring develop- ments of new products, technologies, trends and equipment in the mining, construction and logging industries, which all use industrial explosives. Mazema returned to South Africa in June of1980,“eventhoughIhadbeengivennumer- ous opportunities to relocate,” and rejoined AECI in Modderfontein, Gauteng. “The laws and ethos in Gauteng at that time were very restrictive for non-white people, though. One ridiculous aspect was that I couldn’t use the Modderfontein squashclub facilities, because the liquor licensing laws forbade inter-racial drinking and socialising – even though I never consumed alcohol. “So I transferred to Cape Town to take up a postwithSANylonSpinners, whichwas also an AECI-owned company. There, I started to do polymer development work, optimising the polyester plant in Bellville,” he says. “We were supplying the local market with trans- parent polymer for manufacturing bottles for the soft drinks industry, and polyester and nylon for fabrics and tyres. My roles were to debottleneck the process, look after product quality and implement process optimisation,” he explains. In 1983, Mazema joined the Department of Education to become a lecturer at Cape TownCollege. “There, I taughtmy pet subject, water and wastewater treatment. Operating personnel from public and private facilities had to be registered and certificated to N3 level in the field. I taught N1, N2 and N3 level courses. I am still an accredited assessor for the Energy &Water SETA (EWSETA) and the Local Government SETA (LGSETA), as well as a certified facilitator,” he reveals. “This was very rewarding because some of the individuals I taught have developed from operator level to senior management

positions in the water and wastewater sec- tors and, when I meet them today, they still show appreciation for the guidance I had given them.” Regarding the water crises in Cape Town he argues: “We should have started prepar- ing for a water crisis in the Western Cape a long time ago, based on predictions and dam level trends over the past few years. Withmy current consultancy, Pro & RM cc (Process Optimisation and Resource Management) we focus on areas for optimisation, which include materials, energy, waste, industrial effluent and water as the prime resource. We investigate various water technology solutions as well as the integration of vari- ous sources from groundwater abstraction, treated wastewater, rainwater harvesting, surfacewater and desalination for industrial, agricultural and domestic uses. “Since the natural cycle has failed us we shoulduse theexisting technology toabstract water from the sea to at least augment our freshwater reserves. The standard argument is that desalination is too expensive and my counter-argument is: can we risk being with- out water and possibly face socio-economic collapse of the region?”Turning attention back to his career, he reveals that he joined the City of Cape Town’s Scientific Services Laboratories in1988. Hewas appointedman- ager of theMaterials Sectiondoing consulting work for various departments of the City on: water, wastewater, materials testing and air pollution monitoring. “I was then promoted to head of the Industrial Effluent sectionwith responsibility formonitoring and regulating theCity’s storm water and industrial effluent in accordance with the relevant by-laws.“It was then that I became involved with Denmark’s Industrial Development Agency, Danida, who invited meandanumber of government stakeholders tovisitDenmark for a two-week introductory tour on Cleaner Production Initiatives in the clothing and textiles sector –andalso later for themetal finishing sector. Cleaner production

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⎪ SAIChE IChemE news ⎪

Inspecting an evaporator and condenser heat exchange unit. “Cleaner production is all about how to work smarter so as to use resources more sparingly and hence minimise waste and environmental pollution,” Mazema says.

Evaluating the efficiency of a boiler. Through his consultancy, Pro & RM, Mazema remains connected to the UNIDO initiative on the Energy Optimisation Programme for steam systems.

is all about how to work smarter so as to use resourcesmore sparingly andhenceminimise waste and environmental pollution. “Then, from 2000 to 2001, I was award- ed the prestigious Hubert H Humphrey Fulbright Fellowship for professional de- velopment in the fields of environmental planning, emergency response and environ- mental engineering. I was placed at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, where I did academic studies and an internship with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, as well as received training by theUS EPA inBrownfield assessment and re- mediation and practical emergency response procedures,” he says. Back in Cape Town, Mazema became the council’s go-to person for ground pollution and the remediation of contaminated land. “I also rendered specialist services to deal with hazardous chemicals, chemical contamina- tion, water pollution, oil-spills in rivers and on land, etc. “Contamination needs to be planned for and dealt with at the onset. If not dealt with immediately, it comes back to haunt us later as a complex and costly issue. Before set- ting up any production facility, all aspects of waste disposal and contamination need to be thought through and resolved to prevent anypossibilityof their occurrence. Otherwise damage can be extensive and reparation very expensive,” Mazema suggests. HamiedMazema has also been involved in many of the City of Cape Town’s emergency response planning initiatives, including the Koeberg Nuclear Emergency Programme. “The City is now clued up on what action to take for a number of disaster scenarios. People should now know what to do and how to coordinate responses when disaster strikes,” he assures. Through his consultancy, Pro&RM, which was founded in 1999 to provide employment and experience for unemployed chemical

“Modern human life and the future of the Earth depends on responsible chemical engi- neering,” Mazema concludes. q

engineers, Mazema now offers consultancy services across thebroad spectrumof cleaner production, resource efficiency and environ- mental engineering. He remains connected to the UNIDO initiative, which he first joined at its inception in 1995, andwas the head of the Energy Optimisation Programme, for steam systems.“Iamstillmentoringyounggraduates in resourceefficiency and cleaner production, as and when requested,” he says. With respect to his SAIChE IChemEwork, Mazema is presently the chairperson for the second time in 30 years and on a mission to re-energize the Western Cape branch. “This revival started about four years ago when I discovered that the Western Cape branch had collapsed. So I rallied a group of enthusi- astic like-minded people to re-establish the branch. We had the good fortune of hosting the IChemE past president and his team and a number of subsequent IChemE visitors. We also had an overwhelming response from our students who established a very active student chapter. “This year we are on a drive to increase corporate and general membership,” he says. “We are greatly in debt to the excellent and generous support we are receiving from SAIChE national office, without which this would not have been possible.” Whydoes he think chemical engineering is such a great career? “Some people think that chemical engineers are half-baked chemists and half-baked engineers. But it is the most diverse form of engineering, covering every- thing fromnuclear energy to food processing and involving the production of all materials for every purpose. “Power stations, water treatment plants, mines, minerals processing facilities, food and beverage industries,metal smelters andmany more all employ chemical process engineer- ing and, on the environmental side, we need chemical engineers to solve problems and keep our planet healthy.

SAIChE IChemE

SAIChE Board members: President: C Sheridan Imm. Past President D van Vuuren Honorary Treasurer L van Dyk + Vice President: Honorary Secretary: EMObwaka Vice President: D Lokhat Council member: JJ Scholtz Council member: AB Hlatshwayo Council member: K Harding Council Member: M Low Council member: BK Ferreira Council Member: HMazema Council Member: MChetty Council Member: A de Bondt Council Member: MMabaso Council Member NN Coni Member (co-opted): MD Heydenrych Chair Gauteng: C Sandrock Chair KZN: D Lokhat Chair Western Cape: HMazema Contact details SAIChE PO Box 2125, North Riding, 2162 South Africa

Tel: +27 11 704 5915 Fax: +27 86 672 9430 email: saiche@mweb.co.za saiche@icheme.org website: www.saiche.co.za

January 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 7

MechChem Africa talks to Raymond Obermeyer, MD of SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa, about the expansion of the role and range of the company’s X-series helical and bevel helical gear units and his outlook following his first few years of leading the local entity. Industrial geared drives see steady advances

“ W hile the mining industry is not running at 100%, many mines still rely on old equipment that is get- ting to the stage where it has to be replaced,” begins Obermeyer. “We are picking up a lot of service and replacement work on old and inefficient technologies such as wormdrives, which we are replacing with our proven X‑series bevel boxes, for example. “We now have a significant installed base of these X-series industrial gear units, which have been very well received in a number of different markets and this gives us service work that goes hand in hand with any instal- lation,” he tells MechChem Africa . Accompanying the gearbox business, SEW-EURODRIVE also now has its IE3 high-efficiency lowvoltage (LV) motor range, further enhancing its high-efficiency replace- ment offering. “We are now able to offer cli- ents a drive train that includes our own 0,37 to 350 kW IE3 motor units: for conveyors, mixers, pumps, fans and a host of other sys- tems,” he says. “And while we are a relatively small new player in the motor market, we can offer quality, flexibility and competitive pricing, which gives our gearbox customers a

single-supplier alternative,” he adds. Further supporting the company’s high- efficiency, single-supplier drive train offering are SEW-EURODRIVE’s variable speed drive (VSD) range. “VSD use is always a trade off. The younger generation likes them, while older hands tend to be suspicious, prefer- ring soft starters and fluid couplings. There is definitely a trend towards electronics, though, even in harsh mining environments,” Obermeyer says. “Currently,” he notes, “the market is still shrinking, skills are being lost and many companies are finding it difficult to survive. We assemble our own units, which helps us to remain strong. At any time, our component stock enables us to offer excellent delivery times for locally assembled units. Instead of 30 weeks, we can supply a replacement unit in three weeks – and down to one day, depending on the urgency and our backlog,” he assures. SEW-EURODRIVE’s X-series helical and bevel industrial gear units are currently assembled in its Mpumalanga factory in Nelpruit. “We are approaching40% local con- tent on these units, andwe are expanding the locally assembled range. We are adding new

ratios and both two- and three-stage units to further improve drive efficiencies. Our two stage IG units are more compact and they offer better thermals, whichadds to theother well established features of these boxes:

the modular nature of the design, with its streamlined range of gear wheels,

which gives us the ratio

flexibility from a set of four or five different gear wheel sizes; and the fact these units are invertible, whichmeanswe can use a single output shaft on one side – users who keep spare units need not worry about whether a left-side or right-side unit is needed,” Obermeyer tells MechChem Africa . “And while these units very successful in mine conveyor applications, we are alsodoing exceptionally well with mixers in the mining and minerals processing industries,” he says. “A significant percentage of our current business involves replacing older boxes from other original suppliers. As part of our service package, wehave the skills todesignandbuild dedicated faceplates and to put the required shaft sizes into our boxes to make a like-for- like swap out possible. These systems will do everything that the old box was doing, with better reliabilityandwithmuchbetter energy efficiency,” Obermeyer notes.

Under test at its Nelspruit assembly plant factory are some of SEW-EURODRIVE’s X-series IG units.

8 ¦ MechChem Africa • January 2018

⎪ Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals ⎪

SEW EURODRIVE is also finding alterna- tive markets for its IG units: in the water industry, for example, where municipalities are under pressure to replace ailing infra- structure. “While the R50-milion projects are no longer available, we are now servicing 20 or so R2-million projects instead. The big projects are being broken down into several stages being implemented over longer time periods,” Obermeyer notes. “Underground, for example, inclines are beingupgradedsectionby section, so that less capex andmore opex can be used. For us, this means that we tend to start off with a feasi- bility study and a pilot project, followed by replication projects based on initial success. “This is more manageable, for operators andus, andwe aremuchmore involvedon the service side, firstly installing, thenmonitoring to prove value and into ongoingmaintenance to ensure that reliability is kept high and costs are minimised,” he explains, adding that this approach helps to justify the next refurbishment. “We were recently awarded an X-series project for a local diamond mine along these lines, whichwas split into three separateproj- ects – andwe are also receiving an expanding share of the conveyor market in open cast mines such as those in the Northern Cape,” reveals Obermeyer. He says that condition-monitoring op- tions are attracting more interest, with permanently installed vibration and oil temperature and pressure sensors being available for SEW- EURODRIVE gearboxes.

Locally, planetary XP units with up to 120 000 Nm of torque will be held in stock, but bigger units with speed ratios of one to a million and torques of up to 1.2 MNm are available in the range.

term cost advantages,” Obermeyer says. “We use a plug-in system and we have already got a dedicated condition monitor- ing team going around collecting data. By routinely monitoring the condition of our equipment, we can generally extend service intervals and ensure that service interven- tions are done as soon as needed, but not before. When done properly, much better reliability, availability and longer equipment life results, which can make the initial invest- ment seem insignificant,” he argues. “Thewaymaintenance is done is changing. It’s not yet aboutWi-Fi routers underground and managers getting SMSs in the middle of the night, but we are moving in that direc- tion. More andmore operators are looking to improve reliability using modern techniques such as vibrationmonitoring and thermogra- phy,” he notes. Responding to a question about new products, Obermeyer says: “We are releas- ing newly designed thermal housings for the X-series, specifically designed for high heat dissipation where the temperatures of the operating environment cause high thermal loading. “We are also releasing a new planetary range, the XP range. Our planetary drives are not well known in South Africa, but they do well overseas in countries such as Brazil for its sugar industry. We will be showcas- ing this product at Electra Mining later this year. These drives are ideal for mixing at very high torque at low speed. The physical size and weight of these units is significantly lower thanbevel andhelical gearboxes andon equipment such as bucket wheel reclaimers, they offer an alternative to hydraulic drives,” he explains. Locally, XP units with up to 120 000 Nm of torque will be held in stock, but bigger units with speed ratios of one to a million

and torques of up to 1.2 MNm are available in the range. On the geared motor side, SEW-EURO­ DRIVE SA is leveraging its global success in the automotive, food and bottling industries. “We enjoyed another big order for our MoviGear solution for a glass manufacturer in 2017 and sold 65 of these units to an abat- toir in Gauteng. Local breweries and bottling plants are also adopting our distributed MoviGear solutions. Globally, aglobal bottling plant specialist has chosen our system for its plants all over theworld, andwhile local plants are generally installed from Germany, we benefitfromtheservicebusiness,”Obermeyer informs MechChem Africa . “We have also finalised an agreement to implement three more MOVITRANS ® contactless energy transfer AGVs for a wax packaging application, based on the original pilot installed in 2016. “Wearenowmuchmorethanagearedmo- tor company. Aswell as our inverters automa- tion and smart drive solutions, we nowoffer a verywideproduct range, includinggirthgears; industrial gearboxes, our own LV motors, electronics and turnkey automation systems. “We also strive to offer the best possible service experience. We want customers to find it easy to do business with us, because of attractive costing, better value andhigh levels of confidence inour sales, support and service staff. To maintain our position as a preferred supplier, our customers must enjoy interact- ing with us,” Obermeyer believes. “All of our dedicatedandexperiencedSEW EURODRIVE employees take the long-term interests of the company seriously, along with the interests of customers. They do this by always ensuring that we select and supply equipment for our customers thatwill provide the best possible returns on investment for the users of our equipment,” he concludes. q

SEW-EURO­ DRIVE has

the skills to design and build dedicated

faceplates and to put the required shaft sizes into its gearboxes to make a like-for-like swap out of existing units from other manufacturers possible. “In Australia, this it the norm and condition- based services are bigger part of the drives business than selling the unit. Its growing fast here too but project houses are not yet in a position to specifymore expensive equip- ment. Mine operators, however, are keener because they see the reliability and longer

January 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 9

⎪ Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals ⎪

Mill products rebranded as Metso Gears and Pinions

expect the same quality and reliability, only the name will be different. Known for driving the world’s most demanding applications, Metso Gears and Pinions represent the industry’s smoothest running, longest lasting gear sets. Withmini- mal noise and vibration, they are designed to perform under challenging conditions. Customers can trust Metso Gears and Pinions’ rugged gears and pinions because they are engineered for reliable operation and maximised service life. The intellectual property included in the purchase includes original drawings, knowl- edge and personnel fromRexnord Industries LLC for ring gears, pinions, foundry casings for ring gears as well as replacement parts and spares for all such Metso Gears and Pinions products related to the industries that Metso serves. The company now meets the quality requirements and has the right people to produce these components and ensure compatibility with existing spares. Metso’s knowledge and manufacturing is built on years of experience of getting specific prod- ucts to meet exact needs at the right price. Metso’s field service options are also available to help keep gears and pinions up and running. Troubleshooting field issues and managing on-site gear inspections to ensure trouble-free, extended run timeareadditional services the company can provide as a total solution, going well beyond simply offering the correct replacement part. As the leading supplier of grinding mills, Metso designs gear sets to the latest stan- dards for maximum service life and the high- est performance levels and can support a variety of products and brands with its gears and pinions. q www.metso.com

I n 2015, Metso acquired from the US- based company Rexnord Industries, certain intellectual property rights related to Rexnord’s Falk Mill Products business. This acquisition allows Metso to provide replacement gears and pinions for its customers who have purchased mills and kilns through Metso. With access to the original equipment manufacturer drawings, specifications and technology, Metso is able

to replicate the exact design parameters of proprietary Falk Mill Products with respect to materials and tooth forms. As of December 11, 2017, Metso is re- branding this offering under a new name – Metso Gears and Pinions. There will be no changes to the products offered and Metso will continue to use the original drawings and specifications from the earlier acquisi- tion. Metso assures customers that they can

With access to the original equipment manufacturer drawings, specifications and technology, Metso is able to replicate the exact design parameters of proprietary Falk Mill Products with respect to materials and tooth forms.

Low inertia, high torsion zero backlash coupling A new ServoClass Model 55 coupling from Zero-Max is nowavailable inboth single and doubleflexmodels. Providing high torsional stiffness with low inertia, these ServoClass couplings are designed tohandle high speed reversing loads and precise positioning requirements in today’s demanding servo- motor applications. As abetter choiceover bellows andbeam style couplings, Zero-Max ServoClass cou- plings perform reliably in 24/7 servomotor applications. When the application cycle becomes faster, they outperform beam couplings, which are subject to wind up, and bellows couplings, which have a fragile design. Proof of their superiority is in their operating specifications available on the Zero-Max website.

For complete operating instructions, specifications, 3DCADfiles, sizing software, and dimensions see www.zero-max.com. Zero-Max products are available in South Africa from Sprockets & Chains www.sprocketsandchains.co.za Zero-Max ServoClass couplings perform reliably in 24/7 servomotor applications.

The new Model 55 in single and double disc models handles bore diameters from 10 mm to 30 mm. The couplings are light- weight and are designed with 304 stainless steel discpacks andhighstrengthaluminium hubs and centre members. All models and sizes feature clamp style hubs with corro- sion resistant socket head cap screws – and all materials are RoHS compliant.

Fourteen sizes of standard off-the-shelf ServoClass couplings are now available in both inch and metric sizes. These couplings are ideal for applications in automation, packaging, semi-conductor assembly, labo- ratory automation, and for most products that use ball screws and servomotors.

10 ¦ MechChem Africa • January 2018

⎪ Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals ⎪

Plug-and-play bearing for condition monitoring

A multi-channel, complete plug-and-play solution for condition monitoring of equipment in industries such as cement, paper, steel, water management, machinery, and plant engineering, is available from FAG, distributed locally by Bearings International (BI).

T heFAGSmartQB isa ready-to-use, preconfigured conditionmonitor- ing system for electric motors, fans, compressors, and gearboxes. The system is ideal for industries such as cement, paper, steel, water management, machinery, and plant engineering. Commissioning takes a mere five min- utes, and requires no special skills or un- derstanding of vibration diagnosis. Clearly understood, plain text messages relating to the causes of any possible defects are generated on the touch-screen display when changes occur in the condition of the equipment, with the option of over 15 languages. The system allows for 24/7 monitor-

ing for maximum plant availability, and is preconfigured for the capture of various anomalies, withup to six sensors. Output of five error states is possible, namely: bear- ing damage, imbalance, friction/cavitation, temperature increases andbasic variations. Additional features include a livedisplay of current values, trend pattern and dam- age development, and an RJ45 Ethernet interface for service technicians, and static information regarding operating hours, defect frequency (yesterday/today/overall), maximumvalues, andmeanvalues since the last evaluation. FAG is a flagship brand for BI, which fo- cuses on top-quality products from leading internationalmanufacturers involved in the

inflow of input components to the delivery of the product to the end user. In addition, next-generation mobile infrastructure is combined with the manufacturing process, in order to enhance efficiency. “The new production unit will open up newpossibilities for us to reduce lead times and to improve flexibility and efficiency in our production,” says StenKarlsson, project manager for the new production unit. ParalleltotheinvestmentinGothenburg, similar investments are planned for Schweinfurt in Germany, Nilai in Malaysia and Flowery Branch in the USA. Over a million bearings per year are manufactured in the Gothenburg facility. The majority of these are exported. The products are used in heavy industry, such asmining, steelworks, papermachines, wind turbines, traingearboxes, fans andpumps. q “We recognise the constraints of high energy prices, low productivity, skills shortages, and a highly-competitive eco- nomic environment. BI and Schaeffler’s engineering and reliability divisions offer a highly-flexible rangeof predictive, planned, and breakdown maintenance services,” van Deventer adds. Engineering services include application design, evaluation, and optimisation. q industrial aftermarket, OEM, manufactur- ing, and mining sectors. “BI’s premium products offer our customers the best cost-to-performance ratio. Our customers can also count on leading technical support and service,” product manager, Coenie van Deventer, comments.

SKF enters the world of digital technology SKF’s operations in Sweden are set to be given a boost with the inauguration of a completely new, fully automated, digital productionprocess inGothenburg, adapted for themanufactureof spherical roller bear- ings. The new production unit is the first of its type to be put into operation within the SKF Group and is part of a programme of next generation manufacturing technology within the company. “The production flow is totally unique within thebearings industry, andconstitutes

a new manufacturing standard for us, which we will replicate into numerous facilities within the Group. The invest- ment programme is important for us if we are to utilise our manufacturing capacity even more efficiently, as well as increasing our global competitive- ness and the flexibility we can offer our customers,” says Luc Graux, director of manufacturing for the SKF Group. Using the help of digital technology, the entire value chain in the produc- tion process is connected, from the

SKF operations Gothenburg Sweden has inaugurated a fully automated digital production process for the manufacture of spherical roller bearings.

12 ¦ MechChem Africa • January 2018