MechChem Africa July-August 2022

MechChem JUL-AUG 2022 AFRICA

This month: Parallel pipes and the size of pizzas

Extracting best possible value from steam turbines

Sustainability and energy efficiency for automation

Energy Efficiency, Sonderborg and ProjectZero

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CONTENTS Water, wastewater and pumping solutions 6 Parallel pipes and the size of pizzas Pump expert Harry Rosen unravels the relationship between flow rate, pipe area and velocity, and the dramatic effect these values can have on friction losses. 9 Easy access to pump and hose flotation devices 10 Technology to remotely monitor and manage pumps 11 WearCheck acquires Set PointWater Laboratories 13 KSB calls for joint efforts to treat coastal waste Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals 14 Electrification of the construction industry showcased in Sonderborg During the IEA’s2022conferenceonenergy efficiency, MechChemAfrica visits anall-electric construction siteand talks toEricAlströmof Danfoss. 17 Bonfiglioli engineers set new group standards 18 Steel and heat treatment raises performance in wind turbines 19 Modular drives for power generation Minerals processing and materials handling 20 Sandvik customers welcome new crushing solutions Quarry owners have given an enthusiastic reception to two new Sandvik static crushing solutions, the Reborn plant and the FastPlant TM . 22 Cameroon exploration progresses with Multotec pilot plant 23 Weir MineralsAfrica benefits as mining surges 24 Kwatani casts the spotlight on innovation and digitalisation Hydraulic, pneumatic and compressed air solutions 26 Locally engineered hydraulic, lubrication and pneumatic solutions BMG’s Regional Service Centres (RSC) throughout SouthAfrica play a critical role by providing engineered hydraulics and pneumatics services to optimise productivity for local industries. 28 Hydraulic design and simulation capabilities fromHYDAC 30 Hydraulic rock drill: efficient, fast, accurate, clean and safe 31 IntegratedAir Solutions partners with global piping and fittings specialist PowerGen, PetroChem and sustainable energy management 32 Extracting best possible value from steam turbines MechChem Africa talks to Rudolf van Pype of Zest WEG Steam Turbines about the maintenance of steam turbines and some key mistakes operators should avoid. 34 Overcoming boiler failures 35 Hybrid and flexible power plants essential for supply security Automation, process control and CAE 36 Sustainability and energy efficiency: key priorities for automation systems MechChemAfrica talks to Skye Prato of Festo about how to improve the energy efficiency of automation systems. 38 Fuel for the future: trends in fuel cell production Environmental management, waste and cleaning technologies 40 VSSA promotes healthy ecosystem and rich biodiversity Veolia Services SouthernAfrica presents its circular economy approach to environmental management. 41 Plastics recycling growth promising Innovative engineering 46 Energy Efficiency, Sonderborg and ProjectZero From the International Energy Agency’s 2022 Energy Efficiency conference in Sonderborg, Peter Middleton highlights some notable efficiency and decarbonisation successes. Regulars 2 Peter’s comment:MeetingAfrica’s energy-related goals. 4

Published bimonthly by Crown Publications (Pty) Ltd 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 Editor: Peter Middleton Design: Katlego Montsho Publisher: Karen Grant Deputy publisher: Wilhelm du Plessis Circulation: Brenda Grossmann The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the publisher or the editors. e-mail: peterm@crown.co.za Advertising: Elmarie Stonell e-mail: elmaries@crown.co.za

Transparency You Can See Average circulation Jan to Mar 2022: 8 881 Printed by: Tandym Print, Cape Town

Front cover: Weir Minerals’ Mudflo pump Contact: Marnus Koorts Tel: +27 11 929 2792 marnus.koorts@mail.weir www.minerals.weir

On the cover:Weir Minerals’ Mudflo pump shows value of ETO solution: Marnus Koorts talks aboutWeir Minerals’ growing range of engineered to order solutions. 42 Products and industry news 48 Back page: Red DotAward for SA-designed camper-trailer

July-August 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 1

Meeting Africa’s energy-related goals

Peter Middleton

During the second week of June, I attended the International Energy Agency’s IEA Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency, which was held in a small Danish city called Sonderborg. This to showcase the impact that integrated district wide energy-efficiency initiatives, coupled with invest ment in a full suite of green technologies, can have on reducing carbon emissions to net-zero. In summary, through its ProjectZero initiative that began in 2007, the Sonderborg municipality, in partnership with local industry, businesses and its residents, has reduced its carbon emissions by 52% and is on track to be a carbon-neutral region by 2029. Much of the world has changed in these 15 years. The almost forgotten global financial crises that began in 2007/2008; Eskom started load shedding in that year; and in South Africa, the state-capture years followed. CO 2 levels in the atmosphere have risen from around 385 ppm to 421 ppm, only 9 ppm away from the ‘safe’ 1.5° warming threshold; the COVID pandemic hit and continues to threaten every country on the planet; and nowwe have a war in Ukraine that is creating global energy, food and cost of living crises. The IEA has more recently released a special report entitled; ‘The Africa Energy Outlook 2022’. Citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the report notes that food, energy and other commodity prices are soaring, increasing the strains on African econo mies already hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Overlapping crises are affecting many parts of Africa’s energy systems, including reversing positive energy-access trends, with 25-million more people in Africa living without electricity today compared with before the COVID pandemic. Africa, the IEA notes, is also already facing more severe effects from climate change than most other parts of the world – including massive droughts – despite bearing the least responsibility for the problem. “Africa accounts for less than 3% of the world’s energy-related CO 2 emissions to date and has the lowest emissions per capita of any region.” The IEA suggests that the global clean energy transition holds new promise for Africa’s economic and social development, with solar, other renew ables and emerging areas such as critical minerals and green hydrogen, offering strong growth poten tial if managed well. “Africa has had the raw end of the deal from the fossil fuel-based economy, receiving the smallest benefits and the biggest drawbacks, as underlined by the current energy crisis,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA executive director. “The new global energy

economy that is emerging offers a more hopeful future for Africa, with huge potential for solar and other renewables to power its development – and new industrial opportunities in critical minerals and green hydrogen.” “The immediate and absolute priority for Africa and the international community is to bring mod ern and affordable energy to all Africans – and our new report shows this can be achieved by the end of this decade through annual investment of $25-billion, the same amount needed to build just one new LNG terminal a year,” Dr Birol added. “It is morally unacceptable that the ongoing injustice of energy poverty in Africa isn’t being resolved when it is so clearly well within our means to do so.” Hear! hear! The report explores a Sustainable Africa Scenario in which all African energy-related development goals are achieved on time and in full. This includes universal access tomodern energy services by 2030 and the full implementation of all African climate pledges. Ensuring affordability is cited as an urgent prior ity, with increased energy efficiency essential, since it reduces fuel imports, eases strains on existing infrastructure and keeps consumer bills affordable. From a generation perspective, Africa is noted to have 60% of the best solar resources in the world but currently only 1% of the installed PV capacity, which is already the cheapest source of power in many parts of Africa. For the continent’s industrialisation, however, the IEA points towards expanding natural gas use. More than 5 000-billion m 3 (bcm) of natural gas resources have been discovered to date in Africa that have not yet been approved for development. These resources could provide an additional 90 bcm of gas per year by 2030, which may well be vital for Africa’s domestic fertiliser, steel, cement and water desalination industries. Cumulative CO 2 emissions from the use of these gas resources over the next 30 years would be around 10-billion tonnes, but If added to Africa’s cumulative total today, they would bring its share of global emissions to a mere 3.5%. From a resource perspective, Africa’s minerals are critical for multiple clean energy technologies and new export markets and, if managed well, these could more than double Africa’s export revenues by 2030. Overcoming difficulties can lead to opportuni ties. Wouldn’t it be great to see Africa emerge from these troubled times as a Sonderborg-like success story.

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2 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2022

Weir Minerals’ Mudflo pump shows value of ETO solution

Launched globally last year, Weir Minerals’ dredge/excavator-mounted Multiflo ® Mudflo™pump is a telling example of how the company has leveraged its growing range of products to integrate diverse offerings into solutions that are engineered to order (ETO).

M arnus Koorts, general man ager of pump products at Weir Minerals Africa, points to this hydraulic submersible slurry pump as indicative of the company’s journey from equipment supplier to solution pro vider. The Multiflo ® Mudflo™ pump has been engineered for abrasive applications and large particle handling. Its key features are a hydraulically driven wet-end, specifically designed to efficiently and safely reprocess and relocate tailings ponds, maintain water retentiondams andmanage slimes and sludge ponds. “Initially developed by our colleagues in Australia for a mining customer in Indonesia, the Multiflo Mudflo pump addressed their constant challenge with mud on site, which was causedbyhigh rainfall and really impeded

production,” says Koorts. “The traditional method of dealing with this problem was by digging up thewetmaterial with an excavator and trucking it off-site for dumping. This was a laborious and costly process.” Since Weir Minerals’ heavy duty pump solution began operating at the mine in mid 2021, it has reduced mud processing time by 60%, and is estimated to be 13 times more affordable than the truck and shovel tech nique. Cutting down on fuel and transport costs, the newsolution is able to conveniently pumpmud through robust pipelines to its end destination. At a head of 70 metres, the unit on this site was able to pump 180 ℓ of mud every second. “This translates into increased uptime for mining operations, improvements in environ mental impact, and loweroperatingexpenses,”

he says. “The beauty of the solution is that it incorporatesanumberof equipmentofferings that are well proven by our customers and well supported by Weir Minerals.” The Multiflo Mudflo pump combines elements of the Warman ® MGS submersible slurry pump-end and a custom Multiflo de signedbearing assembly coupled to a hydrau lic motor. The motor can be sized to handle a Marnus Koorts, general manager pump products at Weir Minerals Africa.

The Multiflo ® Mudflo™ pump and dredge unit is paired with twin Multiflo ® CB33 hydraulic cutters with Weir ESCO ® excavation teeth.

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⎪ Cover story ⎪

range of high density liquids. The Mudflo is also pairedwith twinMultiflo ® CB33 hydrau lic cutterswithWeir ESCO ® excavation teeth. The cutters mechanically agitate the settled solids, allowing abrasive and highly charged slurries, and mud, to be efficiently pumped. Weir ESCO ® teeth utilise the two-piece Ultralok ® tooth systemto prevent premature breakage, avoid tooth loss and protect the integral locking system to ensure continuous operation of the pump. Weir ESCO, as the world leader in ground-engaging tools, be came part of theWeir Group a few years ago. Koorts notes thatWeirMinerals’ expertise in abrasion was therefore valuably augmented by Weir ESCO’s expertise about impact. Other key product combinations in the Multiflo Mudflo pump are Weir Minerals’ Ultrachrome ® A05 chrome alloy casting for high wear resistance, and a suction strainer to prevent excessively large particles clog ging the pump. This ensures optimal uptime for the unit, while facilitating high levels of performance: theMudflo200pump is capable of pumpingbetween150m 3 /hand1200m 3 /h, up to a head of 82 m. The maximum particle size it can handle is 80 mm, while the maxi mumtemperature of the liquidbeing pumped can be as high as 35 °C. “This new innovation can be assembled on land, eliminating the safety risks associated with assembling pumps over water,” he says. “Our newhydraulichosemanagement system further reduces risk by preventing hose en tanglement and avoiding trip hazards, while still providing a reliable hose bend radius to ensure smooth oil flow. “Our Multiflo brand is a well-established range of mobile solutions including pumps and skids, which can be electrically powered or diesel-driven,” says Koorts. “We have also expanded into the application of pontoons recently, which has earned us considerable success through the incorporation of equip ment such as pumps, hydraulics, cyclone separators, valves and hoses, in which Weir Minerals excels.” He highlights industry’s need for mobile dewatering solutions and also flotational de watering solutions, for which Weir Minerals has developed a depth of expertise in the sci ence of buoyancy. TheMultifloMudflo pump can be applied to many different dredging applications including tailings storage facili ties, harbourormarinemaintenance, sandand gravel mining, maintaining water storage ca pacity in retention ponds, slime removal from sludge ponds, and land reclamation. “The way this solution has evolved shows the progress we have made in recent years towards integrating our product lines to add value to our offerings,” says Koorts. “ETO is fully embraced by our engineering teams to achieve results that are more than just the

Engineered for abrasive applications, the design can be applied to many different dredging applications including tailings storage facilities, harbour or marine maintenance, sand and gravel mining, maintaining water storage ponds, slime removal from sludge ponds and land reclamation.

The Multiflo Mudflo pump was initially designed to address the constant challenge of mud caused by high rainfall, which was impeding production.

The Mudflo pump can be assembled onto the dredge unit on land, eliminating safety risks of assembling pumps over water.

ity to customersmeanswe develop a detailed understandingof their specific requirements,” he says. “This gives our ETO capability a special relevance to our customer base, as we can ensure that our innovations are fit for purpose.” www.minerals.weir

sumof their parts.” In this case, the company’s dewatering experts were able to draw on the best technology fromWeirMinerals’Multiflo, Warman andWeir ESCObrands – combining them with advanced hydraulics to create an innovative result. “Our presence in the field and our proxim

July-August 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 5

Parallel pipes and the size of pizzas When is 8+8 not equal to 16 and what has that got to do with Luigi’s Trattoria and the size of its pizzas? Pump expert Harry Rosen unravels the relationship between flow rate, pipe area and velocity and the effect these values can have on the friction losses of a piping system.

I recently worked on a pumping project where the engineer sizing the pipeline thought that rather than specifying one 16" pipe, he would use two 8" pipes in parallel. Simple mathematics suggests this should be OK, i.e. 8+8=16. Half the flow goes through each smaller pipe and so the velocity in the smaller pipes should be the same as the velocity in the large pipe. Wrong! I also had a heated debate with one of my pump course delegates who could not grasp the relationship between the increase in fric tion losses through a pipe and the velocity in the pipeline. In the end I realised he was getting stuck on the difference between flow rate and velocity. Both of the above cases got mewondering whether one of the basic principles of pump systems is actually misunderstood – the re lationship between flow rate, pipe area and velocity. The formula for flow through a pipe says that Flow (Q) equals fluid velocity times pipe area (Q=vA). This means that with constant flow, if we halve the areawewould double the velocity. In our case we would be halving the flow rate in the smaller pipes, therefore the velocitywould remainunchanged. This iswhat the engineer was counting on when he pro posed two 8" pipes rather than one 16" pipe. But he was probably confusing area with pipe diameter, and we know the formula for area of a pipe A =D2/4. Area is proportional to diameter squared, so what effect does this have on the velocity? Let’s take a step back and replace the pipes with pizza, we should all know (at least sub-consciously) that the area of an 8" pizza is a lot smaller than half the area of the 16" size. Think of how big a 16" pizza would be (watch any American TV show and you will often see them eating one of these monster pizzas). Our largest pizza is around 12", which is only around half as big (because of area) as the 16". That is why pizzas increase in small increments of diameter as the relationship between pizza size (area) and diameter is a squared relationship. This means that an 8" pizza is one quarter the size (area) of a 16" pizza, not half the size, which also means the area of the 8" pipe is only one quarter the area of the 16" pipe! It follows that installing two 8” pipes (or buying twosmall pizzas) onlygives youhalf theareaof the original 16" pipe, the equivalent of halving

was to pump out of a submerged pit, which made the suction friction losses even more critical. In terms of NPSH (net positive suc tion head) and cavitation, the 4 m of friction reduced theNPSHavailable in the systemby4 m, whichbecame less than theNPSHrequired by the pump, resulting in the brand newpump cavitating the first time it was operated. Back to the consultants, and thegoodnews that they did learn fromtheirmistake. Asingle 16" diameter suction pipe was installed and the suction problems disappeared. When it came to sizing the discharge piping, 1 250 m of overland pipeline, they did not make the samemistake and selectedonepipewith a16” diameter. If they had gone for two pipes, they would have two 12" pipes to give the same friction loss as the single 16" pipe. And twice the velocity is bad. Really bad. Think of the COVI growing exponentially, surging upwards at ridiculously stee friction in a pipeline as the velocity increases, which it will i The equation for friction loss within a pipeline states that fr squared, so small increases in velocity create large increase quadruple the friction and in our suction pipe design above the system must now handle losses of over 4 m. This doesn't sound like a lot, but we happen to be referring mak matters worse, using a self-priming pump to pump w now suddenly a problem application in terms of NPSH (net T e 4 m of f iction reduces the NPSH available in the system brand new pump cavitating the first time it is operated. Back to the consultants, and the good news that they did le diameter suction pipe was installed and the suction problem the discharge piping, 1 250 m of overland pipeline, they did selected one pipe with a 16" diameter. If they had gone for pipes to give the same friction loss as the single 16" pipe. So if friction is proportional to velocity squared, and velocit it follows that increase in friction is proportional to reductio actually to the 5 th power as you will see the derivation. Sma very large increases in friction loss. So pipe friction in a pipe diameter reduces, way steeper than even the COVID curve [Set in box] The derivation of the relationship between pipe friction an ! " = $ × ' & × ( ) *+ and , = - . = /× - 0 1 ) ⇒ , ∝ ' 4 ) , * ∝ ' 4 1 ⇒ ! " ∝ ' 4 5 f : fri ti f ct r; L: length of pipe; d: d gravitational acceleration; A: area. [End box] H f : Friction loss in m; f: friction factor; L: length of pipe; d: diameter of pipe; v: flow velocity; g: gravitational acceleration; A: area. The derivation of the relationship between pipe friction and internal pipe diameter

On a centrifugal pump curve, the increase in friction head pushes the pump back on its curve toward shut off, resulting in reduced flow rate.

the pizza area of the monster 16”. Why is the area so important? Well, that is easy to answer for pizza as you are going to end up hungry if you were expecting the equivalent of a large 16" pizza when buying two 8" pizzas. But this iswhere the pizza anal ogy breaks down, so back to the humdrum of pumping systems. When we have two parallel pipes of half the diameter, we get half the flow rate going through each pipe, but one quarter the area for eachpipe. Tomaintain the continuityequa tion for flow (Q=vA) at half the flow rate, the velocity in the smaller pipeswill be double the velocity of the one large pipe. And twice the velocity is bad. Really bad. Think of the COVID curve, with the rate of infections growing exponentially, surging upwards at ridiculously steep rates. This is what happenswith friction in a pipeline as the velocity increases, which itwill if the diameter reduces. Theequation for friction losswithina pipeline states that friction is proportional to velocity squared, so small increases invelocity create large increases in friction. Doubling the velocity will quadruple the friction and in our suction pipe design above, instead of around 1 m of friction loss, the system must now handle losses of over 4 m. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but the prob lempiping in this case was on the suction side of the pump. And even worse, the application

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Why is this important? We are not talking about new system and system designers are aware of this relationship and sho It is much more of an issue with existing systems and what

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

So, if friction is proportional to velocity squared, and velocity is proportional to diam eter squared, it follows that increase in fric tion is proportional to reduction in diameter to the 4 th power – actually to the 5 th power as youwill see from the derivation shown. Small reductions indiameterwill result invery large increases in friction loss. So pipe friction in a pipeline increases at a massive rate as the diameter reduces, way steeper than even the COVID curve men tioned above. Why is this important? We are not talking about new systems where design houses, consultants and system designers are aware of this relationship and should take it into account in their design. It is much more of an issuewithexisting systems andwhat happens to pipeline friction over timewith the buildup of scale and deposits within the pipe. This has exactly the same effect as reducing the pipe diameter, with the increase in friction proportional to the reduction in diameter to the 5 th power. The increase in friction head translates into wasted energy, as thousands of kWh are wasted overcoming the friction head. But there is a more serious effect for centrifugal pumps – the higher friction head pushes the pumpbackon its curve towardshut off, result ing in reduced flow rate and, in many cases, a pump that can no longer supply the flow rate required by the system. I have seen thismany times in applications around theworldwhere, over time, the pump stationdelivers lessflowrate, even though the pumpshavebeenrefurbishedrecentlyandare in good condition. Examples include: • Acoolingwater systemforapetrochemi cal plant cannot supply sufficient cooling water for the plant, forcing the plant to operate at reduced capacity. • An abalone (perlemoen) farm pump ing seawater has to clean out its pipes every 2-3 months as a result of the or ganic growth on the inside of the pipes dramatically reducing the flow through the system. • A water supply company cannot supply the community’s needs due to the sand and silt deposits in its pipelines. As a result, water rationing is required even though there is a plentiful supply of water available. What are the cost implications? Over and above the increase in kWh required to pump the same amount of fluid, the cost of reducing plant output because the cooling systemcan not pump sufficient cold water through the plant could be millions of rands a day in lost production. I have even seen cases of political unrest as a result of water restrictions being imposed, not due to low dam levels, but due to pump stations not able to pump at their

Excessive build-up of scale, sand and silt in pipelines leads to increases in friction losses and a dramatic reduction in flow rate.

design capacity anymore. Thismost often happens in parallel pump ing systems designed to operate, say, three pumps to get the required design flow. As the pipeline internal diameter reduces over time, even operating four or five pumps the opera tors may not achieve the required flow they used to get with only three pumps running. Refurbishing the pumps to brand new will not make any difference, either. Neither will replacing the pump with a more efficient model from another pump company. This is a system issue, and the culprit is pipe fric tion and its alarming relationship with pipe diameter. What is the solution? • For a new project, select pipe sizes to give low velocities: less than 1.0 m/s on the suction side and 1.5 to 2.0 m/s for

pumping clear liquids. • Choose discharge pipe velocities only slightly higher than the settling velocity for slurry pumping systems. • Regularly cleanout the pipelines, includ ing chemical cleaning or high pressure washing. This could also be done using Pigs: projectiles sent down the pipeline which scour out the internal diameter of the pipe and return it back to its original size. • In extreme cases, it might be necessary to replace the piping with larger diam eter pipes to increase the area, reduce the flow velocity and drastically reduce the friction head. Food for thought the next time you check out the pizza sizes at your local pizzeria. www.2kg.co.za

July-August 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 7

8 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2022

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

Easy access to pump and hose flotation devices

Every dewatering project is different, but most require the use of accessories such as hosing and flotation systems. Integrated Pump Rental (IPR) carries a comprehensive range of Pump and Hose Flotation Devices (PFDs and HFDs) that are available for purchase or hire.

IPR carries a comprehensive range of Pump Flotation Devices (PFDs) and Hose Flotation Devices (HFDs), which are available for either purchase or hire.

W hile pumping accessories may seem to be just that, it is essential when selecting the hosing and flotation system that it is correctly matched to the dewatering pump and the application to ensure optimumoperation. Henru Strydom, operations manager at IPR explains that a Pump Flotation Device (PFD) is used to suspend the pump during pumping operations, and this is done to prevent the pump from burrowing into the bottom of the dam, stopes or pond where dewatering is being done. “UsingPFDs eliminates the situationwhereapumpcouldbedamagedor even lost if itmoves into the bottomof the area being pumped. And even more importantly, a PFDwill significantly reduce the wear on the pump, since it is not in direct contact with the sediment at the bottom during pumping operations,” Strydomsays. The exterior or outer skin of the PFDs used by IPR aremanufactured fromlowdensityhighstrengthpolyethyleneandfilledwithpolyurethane foam, which ensures that the flotation device will not sink, even in the unlikely event of the outer skin being punctured. IPR supplies three dif ferent sizes of PFDs with carrying capacities of 250 kg, 600 kg and 1.2 t. In the event that a heavier mass needs to be suspended, a number of

PFDs can be used in series to accommodate this. HFDs are used to suspend hoses during pumping applications where either pontoons or barges are used and the hose needs to be suspended abovethewater,orwherehosingis laidacrossthewater insteadofaround the perimeter of thewater. “Inthese instances,weadvisecustomers toroutethepipeworkacross thedirect lineofsighttothebargeorpontoon.Thiswill result insubstantial cost savings,” Strydompoints out. HFDs from IPR have been engineered to accommodate cables that cover the samedistance as thehoses. HFDs are available in all common hose sizes. “These products used by IPR are all ISO 9001 certified and advice on the most suitable flotation device for specific pump applications is provided by our experienced team. As with our pump offering, we take complete responsibility for all maintenance of flotation devices on site andwe keep a comprehensivemaintenance record. This allows our team to determine when proactive, scheduled main tenance is required and when equipment reaches end of life,” Strydom concludes. www.pumprental.co.za

Left: Every dewatering project is different, but most do require the using of accessories such as hosing and flotation systems. Right: HFDs are used to suspend hoses during pumping applications where either pontoons or barges are used. These are engineered to accommodate cables that cover the same distance as the hoses.

July-August 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 9

Technology to remotely monitor and manage pumps Water pumping systems frequently provide critical services to an industrial facility or building, so any downtime will invariably cause serious disruption and impact the bottom line. The only way to avoid this, says Grundfos senior service sales specialist, Nicolette Gomes, is preventative maintenance – underpinned by real time remote

work,” she says. “Even the details of each maintenance intervention – including the parts to be replaced – can be logged onto the system so that good records are maintained.” There is evenanelement of remote control in the GRM, which allows the user to man age the equipment – for instance, stopping and starting the pumps – without having to physically stand in front of the machinery, she notes. This can help to avoid catastrophic failure from conditions such as dry-running. “We can connectGRMto aGrundfosMGE motorwithan integrated frequencyconverter or a CUE external frequency converter to monitor operational data,” she says. “This includes the power consumption, speed and set points, so customers can see how their systems behave over time, and can use these insights to minimise downtime.” Gomes concludes that customers gain in estimable value from these technology tools, as they not only ensure optimal performance but also avoid costly repairs and unscheduled downtime. www.grundfos.com/za

on other pump brands, after updating the controller on their system.” She explains that GRM provides a real time overview of the pump system, generat ing valuable data on key performance indices and transmitting that to the portal. The user can view the data and monitor exactly how the pumps are performing at any given time. “Thebenefits of this portal include theabil ity to track energy consumption and flowvol umes and to generate reports on this activity,” she says. “Arangeof alarms canbeactivated to alert operators to issues such as over-voltage or under-voltage, as well as water shortages and other problems.” The GRM will also send a notification to Grundfos and the customer when the pre-determined service intervals have been reached, ensuring that regular maintenance is conducted to optimise pump longevity and performance. “This gives us the opportunity to order in the necessary spares and to have them available as soon as the customer’s opera tion provides the opportunity to conduct the

D igital technology is taking the reliability of water pumping solu tions to another level, with remote monitoring and control nowgiving users more insight into operations than ever before. The result, according to Nicolette Gomes, senior service sales specialist at Grundfos, is that users have the ability to assess their equipment performance at all times – and to plan well in advance for the necessary servic ing interventions. “We facilitate this process with our Grundfos Remote Management (GRM) sys tem, which is a cloud-based portal that users can log into fromanywhere,” saysGomes. “The required module just has to be installed onto a pump controller We can even install GRM Installed onto a pump controller, the Grundfos Remote Management (GRM) system is a cloud based portal that users can log into from anywhere.

Grundfos Remote Management (GRM) and digital technology are taking the reliability of water pump solutions to another level with remote monitoring on mobile devices.

10 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2022

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

WearCheck acquires Set Point Water Laboratories Condition monitoring specialist company, WearCheck, has brought its sister company, Set Point Water Laboratories, into the fold adding a new division to WearCheck’s scientific testing structure. W ater analysis company, Set Point Water Laboratories i s now i ntegra ted fu l l y into WearCheck, forming

leached into thewater supply. As an example, cyanide is commonly used in gold mining and the presence of this toxinmust be constantly monitored. “Uranium is commonly found in the ore with gold and, as uranium is radioac tive, it is important to monitor the level and check whether it has leached into the water supply. This is even an issue on disusedmines andminedumps.Manyof our customers living near these come to us to test the quality of their drinking water. Chromium-6, a carcino genic element, is a by-product from chrome mines, so it is important to know if humans will be ingesting water with high levels of this substance. Health is a primary reason formany of our customers for drinking water safety, both private and in the restaurant trade formaking juices andcoffees–and theywant toknowthe hardness of theirmunicipal water as it affects their coffee machines. In addition to the above, scope water can be used for dialysis for patients who have little tonokidney function. Kidneys help com pensate for the higher intake of substances obtained from food and drinks that would otherwise build up in the body. “Dialyzing with pure water prevents the exposure of substances/toxins that cannot be eliminated from the body. We are currently doing some water quality checks for a renal unit toensure suitability for dialysis,” she says. Irrigation water quality is a critical aspect of greenhouse crop production. Water with high alkalinity can affect nutrients uptake by theplantsandcausenutrientdeficiencywhich compromises plant health, while borehole

water testing is a popular item with custom ers who want to know whether the water is safe to use in their garden, to fill the pool, and to drink and use in the household. In Cape Town, many boreholes have high salt content and, after testing the water, some customers have to dilute it with municipal water or put processes inplace to removemost of the salts. “ThroughWearCheck, our water facilities provide analytical services through an exten sivenetworkof operations inSouthAfricaand internationally and, as a result of the global Covid pandemic, we have added alcohol con tent testing to our services as well as a newly introduced logistics solution to enable easy movement of water and sanitiser samples,” Horsfield adds. www.setpointwaterlaboratories.co.za

yet another area of expertise along with WearCheck’s other services, which include scientific used oil analysis, asset reliability care, transformer oil testing and lubricant enabled reliability services. ISO 17025:2017-accredited Set Point Water Laboratories tests water from any source – ranging from drinking water to fac tory effluent, and everything in between – to determine the presence and levels of poten tially harmful substances. The company was es tab l i shed i n Johannesburg in 1998 as a minerals labora tory, then known as Set Point Laboratories. Water testing was introduced in 2013 and expanded with the launch of a Cape Town water laboratory in 2019, which was accred ited in 2020 and thereafter focused only on water analysis. Thelma Horsfield, general manager of Set PointWater Labs, outlines their services: “Our laboratory technicians select the relevant tests for a water sample depending on the needs of the customer. They identify what is wrong with the water and advise customers onpossible consequences of using or discard ing such water. “Water analysis is conductedusing various accredited techniques such as photometric, electrometric, colorimetric, gravimetric, ICP OES, ICP MS and enzyme substrates. These techniques obtain thebest possible results for chemical and microbial analysis of effluent/ wastewater, drinkingwater, processedwater, surface water and groundwater. “In the case of industrial operations needing to dispose of wastewater into a river system, the sea or simply down the drain, there are strict by-laws that must be adhered to, outlining the acceptable levels of contaminants before disposal to prevent possible fines or even prosecution. Our wa ter technicians determine the exact levels of contaminants and advise on acceptable levels for safe discarding. “Many of our mining customers operate boreholes, using this water in the mining process. We regularly monitor the water quality from the boreholes to test whether contaminants from the mining process have

Senior laboratory assistant, Katego Mokoroane, prepares water samples to determine contamination levels at WearCheck’s Water Laboratory in Johannesburg.

Water lab assistant, Andisiwe Gwavu, checking balances in WearCheck’s Water Laboratory in Cape Town.

July-August 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 11

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12 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2022

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

KSB calls for joint efforts to treat coastal waste

The collaborative contribution of neighbouring businesses to establish industrial effluent treatment plants in coastal areas can contribute towards the reduction of harmful pollutants entering our oceans. KSB senior project engineer, Hugo du Plessis, explains. B usinesses in the manufacturing, industrial and mining sec tors, which contribute the most to industrial effluent being pumped into our oceans, would benefit from a co-operative effort with the government as well as other stakeholders to

start working towards a workable solution. Addressing the challengeof industrial effluent entering our oceans, German pump and valve manufacturer, KSB Pumps and Valves, sug gests formingpartnerships thatwill ensurebetter qualitymanagement of industrial effluent beingdischargedbyvarious industries, specifically those operating in and near the coastal environment. Stricter control “There are a number of rules and regulations that businesses operat ing in the South Africa’s coastal regions have to adhere to in terms of discharging industrial effluent produced during manufacturing, processing and production. These businesses also have to keep in mind that despite being permitted to discharge wastewater into our oceans, being environmentally sensitive is a key part of this exercise,” says Hugo du Plessis, KSB senior project engineer. “The regulations stipulate, amongst other things, that businesses have to be mindful of the surf zone and estuaries, which from part of ecologically sensitive areas in which discharge of effluent of an unac ceptable quality can have negative impacts, which may ultimately cause degradation with adverse effects economically, socially and ecologically. “It should also be noted that coastal areas are popular holiday and tourist destinations, which need to have water that should be of a high quality to obtain and maintain Blue Flag Status for our beaches. This impacts directly on the ecological and the economy,” he explains. Providing a holistic solution Du Plessis continues to explain that KSBhas already initiated endeav ours on a global scalewithGerman and European banks and investors that specifically target countries thatwould like to improve theirwater and wastewater infrastructure. “AsKSB, wewould love toget involved inprojects like this aswe also want to improve the condition of our oceans and rivers and it will be a huge benefit not just for the environment but also for the industrial users as they could re-use the treated industrial effluent in their plants and thus also save on water usage,” said Hugo. The idea is to target those areas where industrial effluent is freely dumped into the ocean – under legislation – and facilitate measures where these international banks and investors become involved in lending funds to the end-users to build industrial effluent plants. In these projects there will be engineering consultants appointed, with KSB being extensively involved in the design of the related pump and valve applications. Working together “We have met with potential funders on numerous occasions and they have indicated an interest in collaborating on projects that will encouragebusinesses andmunicipalities tostart implementingprocess changes in their industrial effluent discharge streams.

KSB Pumps and Valves is concerned about industrial effluent being pumped directly into our oceans instead of being treated prior to discharge.

“In the near future, the international team working on this project will meet with end-users in South Africa, including businesses and municipalities, to start the process of funding possible newprojects or upgrading existing infrastructure,” concludes Hugo Du Plessis. www.ksbpumps.co.za

July-August 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 13

Electrification of the construction industry showcased in Sonderborg During the IEA’s 2022 conference on energy efficiency in Sønderborg, Denmark, Danfoss showcased its hybrid electric-hydraulic drive solutions in operation on a real construction site. MechChem Africa , visits the site and talks to Eric Alstr m of Danfoss T his year’s International Energy Agency’s Energy Efficiency confer ence was moved from its home in Paris to a small town in Denmark ingness to “exchange ideas and collaborate with the world.” Through ProjectZero, which was initi ated as a private-public partnership back in 2007 – with Danfoss as a key partner – Sønderborg is currently on track to be carbon neutral by 2029, some 20 years before the critical 2050 deadline for global warming mitigation.

One of the visits we attended during the conference was to a building site showcas ing the feasibility of switching a range of construction equipment away from using diesel engines. We saw excavators, graders, loaders and dump trucks in various sizes operating on a quiet and very clean building site, all powered by electricity via batteries. “If using a diesel engine to power an exca vator, for example, 70% of the energy is lost before any productive work is done by the machine,” notes Eric Alström, president of Danfoss Power Solutions. “These machines are actually hybrid electro-hydraulic sys tems, which is a very nice combination of conventional rugged hydraulics combined with the new generation electrical propul sion systems powered by batteries as the energy source,” he says, noting that, even though not fully electric from a component perspective, this is a zero-emissions con struction solution. Highlighting the commercial availability of these machines from several OEMs, he notes the simplicity of making the transition. “Just like traditional diesel-driven construc tion equipment, the power transmission side of these systems – slewand track drives and the cylinders – all remain hydraulic. The power source for driving the hydraulic pumps is electric and a Li-ion battery stack is the energy source to power the electric motor – with the excavator demonstrated having a 266 kWh battery. The very sig nificant change, however, is that the diesel power unit has been replaced,” says Alström. “At some point, it may make sense to re place the track motors with electric motors, which we can then also do relatively simply by removing the hoses and installing elec trical wiring. For now though, we haven’t developed electrical motors with the same power densities as hydraulic motors. But electricmotors are getting smaller andmore powerful, and the day may come when full electrification makes sense,” Alström tells MechChem Africa . Electrification, however, brings further efficiency and control advantages to hy draulic actuators. “We use electronic con verter drives connected to a fully digitally control system to simultaneously manage

called Sønderborg, which is the global head quarters of Danfoss: the energy efficiency, heating, cooling, power and drives specialist. The reason for the shift? Sønderborg’s passion and ambition for implementing integrated energy efficiency initiatives across the municipality, which led confer ence leaders to name Sønderborg the “energy efficiency capital of the world”.

The stated ambi t ion of the town’ s ProjectZero initiative is ”to create an inte grated, microcosmic, carbon-neutral energy system that can inspire much larger cities and municipalities” – and throughout the conference, the city demonstrated its will

A hybrid electro-hydraulic excavator, which combines rugged hydraulics with a new generation electrical propulsion system powered by a 266 kWh Li-ion battery stack.

14 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2022

⎪ Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals ⎪

the electric motors driving the hydraulic pump and, hence, all the hydraulic needs of the machine. This gives us much better control over total operating efficiency, precision and performance of these con struction machines. “A diesel engine on these machines typi cally runs at a relatively constant rpm, no matter what themachine is doing. By using a converter to control the electric motor driv ing the pump, we can continuously regulate the speed of the hydraulic pump to match instantaneous demand. So the energy used is better matched to the energy actually needed,” he explains. Alström adds that hydraul ic energy losses can further be reduced through solutions such as Individual Metering Control (IMC), direct-driven hydraulics, digital hydraulics or multi-chamber actua tors. “In this excavator, the Danfoss Digital Displacement ® pump makes it possible to operate multiple actuators simultaneously by setting independent pressures and flows for each of them, allowing for a significant energy reduction,” he adds. According to Danfoss’ calculations, a diesel-engine powered (ICE) excavator requires an input of 8.3 units of energy to produce 1 unit of productive work, while an electrified excavator with a conventional hydraulics system requires an input of 3.7 units to produce the same amount of work. So from an efficiency perspective, these vehicles are emission free, and they use less than half the energy. A fully electric and digitalised drive train based in Danfoss’ Digital Displacement technology, would require an input of 1.9 units of energy to produce 1 unit of produc tive work, which is a further 48% reduction on energy use. For certain machines, like excavators, the calculations show that this total electrification solution can offer bet

The Danfoss Digital Displacement ® pump makes it possible to operate multiple actuators simultaneously by setting independent pressures and flows for each of them, allowing for significant energy reductions.

ter total costs of ownership (TCO) than a standard diesel engine within five years. For the drive side of hybrid electric hydraulic construction vehicles, Alström notes that Danfoss’ hydraulic components are used for everything except the cylinders. “We do the joysticks, hoses, fittings, track and slew hydraulic motors, the pump and the valve stack. We also manufacture the electric motor, the converter and the entire control system,” he says. “Hav i ng recent l y acqu i red Eaton Hydraulics, we remain stronger than ever in hydraulics, which we see as a part of our emission-free future for years to come, and when electrical actuators with the power densities required become available, we will happily supply these instead so that the larger construction vehicles can also be fully electrified,” he says. When asked if there is a future role for vehicles powered by hydrogen via fuel cells, he responds that fuel-cells technology may be theway forward for very heavy construc

tion vehicles. “It also depends on the duty cycle of the machines. If the excavator is not used for manyminutes during aworking day, it makes sense to keep it electrical, because it can be charged when the workers go to lunch and after 30 minutes, it will be ready for the rest of the day. “In a mining scenario that might not be possible, so fuel cells might be preferred, particularly for really heavy duty opera tions. There are also some large excavator developers exploring fuel cell technology, though as parallel developments. The diesel engine power unit can just as easily be re placed by a hydrogen fuel cell, which drives the electric motor – and the rest of the drive train can also be hydraulic or fully electric. “More efficient construction machines are good for people, the planet and prof its – and the technologies already exist to improve energy efficiency and elec trify construction equipment,” Eric Alström concludes. www.danfoss.com/en-za/

Compact construction machines are ideally suited to full electrification, which can reduce energy consumption by more than 75%.