MechChem Africa June 2017

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

Valve reduces air consumption by up to 40%

can rotate 360° to ensure fast and easy installation, he says. SMC’s range of pressure and flow valves includes six AS-R and five AS-Q models: R1/8, R1/4, R3/8 and R1/2 con- nection sizes and for hose diameters ranging from 6 to 12 mm. “Customers are able to choose be- tween the new AS-R series with its fixed 2 bar supply pressure and the older ASR valveswith fixed or variable set pressures depending on the applicationwhere pres- sures areadjustedmanuallyusingahandle with a three-part scale,” explains Abbott. The pressure valve and flow valve is mounted together on cylinders. TheAS-Q In response to ongoing changes in South Africa’s heavy engineering industry, the DCD Group is consolidating aspects of its manufacturing capacity and expertise into its Gravico Heavy Engineering joint venture.AccordingtoDCDchiefexecutive officerDigbyGlover, themovecomes after detailedmarket studies and follows years of depressed market conditions. Louw Kriel, managing director of Gravico, adds: “The manufacturing in- dustry is changing andmanufacturers are re-evaluating and developing new ways to do business. Gravico’s strategy for the Gravico’s strategy for the new economy new economy is focused on developing and applying value-adding technologies, rather than relyingonamarket upswingor short-term cost containment measures.” “Gravico is instituting a long-termcost management and operational improve- ment culture by investing in technology,” Kriel says. “Wewill offer our ownproducts instead of just manufacturing capacity, and will concentrate on the expansion of sales territories andcoverage.Wewill also prospect andexploitnewmarketnicheson a continuous basis,” he reveals. www.dcd.co.za flow valve is installed on the working stroke side and the AS-R pressure valve on the return stroke side. “The two valve series have similar designs: the pressure valves consist of regulator, with a check valve and a throttle check valve. The flow valves in the AS-Q series contain a quick supply valve, an exhaust valve and a throttle check valve.” AS-R/AS-Q valves are recommended for cylinders with a diameter of 32 mm up to 125 mm bore, and an inlet pressure of at least 3 bar, whichmeans that savings actually increase with bigger cylinders or higher air consumption levels and larger pressuredifferencesbetween theworking and return strokes. www.smcpneumatics.co.za

The recent introduction of SMC’s new valves in the AS-R and AS-Q series, high- lights the automation specialist’s com- mitment to energy savings. Customers achieve a cut in internal air consumption by up to 25% when using the AS-R pres- sure valve and anAS-Qflowvalve on their cylinders. Productmanager for SMCPneumatics, Brian Abbott, explains some benefits of using these valves in applications, for example that the use of these valves helps shorten the response time of the return stroke andharmonises strokemovements to prevent a harsh jerky start. In pressing applications, these valves enable a rapid supply of compressed air at the end of the stroke, and the valve bodies and plug-and-socket connections

SMC’s AS-R and AS-Q valves cut internal air consumption by up to 25% when used on cylinders.

Cable reeling solutions like no other from Powermite Cable reeling systems are used to lay down and retrieve cable in applications where a predetermined length of travel and a fixed amount of cable is connected to a fixed point while amoving point travels over a fixed line, rail, ground or height at a set speed. The materials handling division of me- chanical andelectrical engineering specialist, Powermite, a division of Hudaco, supplies superior quality, rugged, reliable, and eco- nomical cable reeling systems and accesso- ries to a wide spectrum of Southern African industries, including medium voltage, low voltage andmilli-power, control, fibre optic/ data and composite cables, and more.

ue tooperateover several years inextremely dusty and corrosive environments. “In addition, the greased-for-lifebearings ensure a maintenance-free cable reeling solution. With no stoppages for mainte- nance and nomaintenance costs, our reeling systems deliver significant cost savings for end-users,” notes Marks. These systems are also extremely ver- satile and can be applied to low speeds (5 m/min) or high speeds (120 m/min) over distances ranging from1mto over a 1 000m and the lengthcanbe increasedor decreased to meet end-users’ requirements. Powermitedrives are supplementedwith VariableSpeedDrive (VSD) technology. “Our VSD technology enables all the drives to provide a constant torque to keep the cor- rect tension at all times which is crucial to preventing damage by protecting the cable andkeeping it out of harm’swayduringwind- ing and un-winding functions.” www.powermite.co.za

“Ourcablereelingsystemsdelivernumer- ous cost- and time-saving benefits for end- users,” says Powermite marketing director, DonovanMarks.“Theirextremelyruggedde- signensures reliableoperation for optimised uptime and productivity. Manufactured in a variety of materials including painted steel, stainless steel and hot dip galvanized surfaces, the cable reeling equipment is suit- able for a wide range of indoor and outdoor applications.” By utilising the anti-runback bearing/ braking resistive-based drive systems, Powermite achieves tremendous success with systemreliability. “Our systems contin-

Powermite’s rugged cable reeling systems deliver reliable operation for optimised uptime and productivity.

36 ¦ MechChem Africa • June 2017