MechChem Africa May-June 2020

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

Zest WEG adds geared motors to product line-up

and outlets across the continent. “In keeping with our local production philosophy, and to reduce lead times to customers, the geared units will be as - sembledinSouthAfrica,”vanNiekerksays. “ZestWEGhasmade a substantial invest - ment in new assembly facilities, including hydraulic presses and assembly tooling.” He also notes that the geared motors will allowthe company to expand services in new markets including the packaging, recycling, and food andbeverage sectors. Cas de Jager, Zest WEG geared motor specialist, ex -

plains that key improvements deliveredby gearedmotors areahigh level of efficiency and turnaround time. He says, “Only about 1,5% of mechanical efficiency is lost per gear stage, so a two-stage gear unit would beabout 97%efficient. Thegearedmotors are also reliable anddurable, making them economical to maintain. “Underpinning our quick turnaround time are our skilled employees and lo - cal stockholding of a full range of gears, flanges, housings, shafts, bearings, oil seals and other components,” he adds. The components for the geared mo - tors are manufactured by Watt Drive in Austria, an established gear technol - ogy specialist and part of the global WEG group.WattDriveoffers a complete range of combinable drive systems for produc - tion machines and industrial manufactur - ing plants. In addition to providing high quality components, the company also trains ZestWEGpersonnel at its Austrian facility and will regularly send technical experts to continue building capacity in the South African operation.. www.zestweg.com

ArangeofZestWEGgearedmotors–with benefits includingefficiencyand reliability – will soon be available to customers in SouthAfrica and the rest of the continent. According to Zest WEG national sales executive, Johan van Niekerk, the WEG WG20 range is a natural extension of the company’s offering in electricmotors, and will be available from the third quarter of 2020. The geared motors will be distrib - uted and supported through Zest WEG’s established footprint of strategi - cally located branches

Parallel shaft gear units are particularly suited for conveyors.

Booyco on track with deadline for proving Level 9 safety ticable measures’ to prevent collisions between trackless mobile machines (TMMs) – as well as between pedestrians and TMMs.

In the light of impending safety regulations governing South African mines, South African-based Booyco Electronics is well advanced in testing its proximity detec - tion systems (PDS) to complywith Level 9 safety standards. The importance of this testing arises from recent changes in Chapter 8 of the Mine Health and Safety Act, which requires mines to take ‘reasonably prac -

Past measures implemented by mines have included systems thatwarnpedestri - ans of their proximity to TMMs (Level 7) and systems that deliver an advisory instruction to TMM operators (Level 8). “The Level 9 standard raises the bar

significantly, requiring electronic PDS systems to take mechanical control of the TMM and automatically bring it to a stop when a dangerous situation is detected,” says Booyco Electronics CEO Anton Lourens. “This elevates what is traditionally called a PDS into what is really a collision avoidance – or collision management – system.” Significantly, Booyco Electronics was the first company to begin Level 9 testing in South Africa, which is conducted by the University of Pretoria’s VehicleDynamics Group.Thetestsarealignedwiththeinter - nationalstandardISO21815.Itisexpected that regulations regarding Level 9 compli - ance will be finalised by the end of 2020. www.booyco-electronics.com Booyco Electronics is well advanced in testing its proximity detection systems (PDS) to comply with Level 9 safety standards.

Temperature dry-well calibrator with light, compact design WIKA’s innovativeCTD4000 series calibrators havebeendesigned for on-site applications and for the severe conditions of the naval and marine sectors. Their ease of use and compact and practical designmake them unbeatable in industrial processes where the calibration of the temperaturemeasurement systems is essential for control of the process and quality of the final product. Special attention is paid to reduceweight and size, and to rein - force robustness by using an aluminiumbody aswell as aluminium and stainless steel for many internal parts. With their available standard inserts, the calibrators are ver - satile and can easily be adapted for the calibration of temperature probes with the most common diameters. Customer-specific inserts and bores are available on request.

www.wika.co.za

36 ¦ MechChem Africa • May-June 2020