MechChem Africa November-December 2022

MechChem NOV-DEC 2022 AFRICA

Driving resource efficiency and cleaner production in SA

This month: Geotextile dewatering bags for solid waste management

SA’s Centre of Excellence for the Circular Economy

Expanded E-House manufactur ing capability

Award winning social, sustainable and renewable projects

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CONTENTS Water, wastewater and pumping solutions 6

Geotextile dewatering bags: the emergency solution for dewatering and solid waste management MechChem Africa talks to ZebraTube sales engineer, Tshepang Dolamo, about the use of geotextile dewatering tubes and bags to prevent sewage and mine-impacted wastewater contaminating freshwater ecosystems. 9 Weir Minerals’ pumps never stop evolving 10 Partnering with authorised agents for water treatment 11 Ceramic ball valves for improved longevity 12 Accredited local support underpins Grindex pumps in Zambia 13 IPR boosts fleet ahead of rainy season Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals 14 SKF SA’s Centre of Excellence for the Circular Economy SKF South Africa has rebranded its Solutions Factory to enable the local facility to better embrace the circular economy across its product and service offering. MechChemAfrica talks to Sustainability manager, Sarel Froneman. 16 Segmented girth gears for scrubber upgrade 17 Local manufacturer perfects its cone crusher performance 18 BI celebrates its 65 th anniversary 19 Heavy duty drive solutions for the mining industry Minerals processing and materials handling 20 FLSmidth drives MissionZero at Electra MiningAfrica Alistair McKay talks about new FLSmidth technologies and how they can leverage production and environmental performance to allowprocess plants to do more with less. 21 Weba’s order book grows as mining industry revives 22 Multotec displays talent and innovation at Electra 23 TRIO ® pan feeder boosts OMV’S output Hydraulic, pneumatic and compressed air solutions 24 Automated palletising system for Danone SA Bosch Rexroth SouthAfrica Group Company, TectraAutomation, has delivered on a contract for Danone in Boksburg for a turnkey solution to simplify and improve the reliability of the dairy producer’s palletising process. 28 Packaging, a sustainable society and temperature controllers PowerGen, PetroChem and sustainable energy management 30 ZestWEG’s expanding E-House manufacturing capability MechChemAfrica visits ZestWEG’s E-Housemanufacturing facility in Heidelberg, SouthAfrica, and talks to PPCManager, RuvernMoodley, and Facility Supervisor,Arno Broodryk, about the expansion of their capability. 32 Cummins’ innovations in hydrogen production and energy storage Environmental management, waste and cleaning technologies 34 High standards of waste management inAngola’s oil sector Bruce Engelsman, principal engineer at SRK Consulting, talks about the company’s waste management work inAngola’s oil and gas sector. 35 Diverting waste from landfill with on-site solutions Special Report 36 SAISC Steel Awards 2022: innovation, ingenuity and community The SouthernAfrican Institute for Steel Construction (SAISC) recently hosted the 2022 SteelAwards under the ‘green shoots’ theme in acknowl edgement of the importance of continuing to navigate through troubled times. Innovative engineering 42 Award winning social innovation, sustainability and renewable energy projects On the RS Components stand at Electra Mining this year, a student engineer from UCT, Kai Goodall, showcased a series of innovative, socially responsible and award-winning RS-Sponsored student projects. MechChemAfrica takes a look. Regulars 2 Peter’s comment: COP27: SA’s plan for a just energy transition 4 On the cover: NCPC-SA celebrates 20 years of resource efficiency implementation 26 ABB unveils future of process automation 27 Zutari and 4Sight to create smart buildings

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 Apr to Jun 2022: 9 176 Printed by: Tandym Print, Cape Town

Front cover: National Cleaner ProductionCentre, SouthAfrica

Contact: Julie Wells Tel: +27 12 841 2424

jwells@csir.co.za www.ncpc.co.za

38 Products and industry news 44 Back page: Green zinc refining

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 1

COP27: South Africa’s plan for a just energy transition

Peter Middleton

executed if there is grant funding," he said, “particu larly to manage the social aspects of the transition.” "I have stressed that the component of the grant funding is much lower thanwhat we need to fund our transition. We are a country that is already heavily burdened with debt. And I've communicated that very clearly," he told the commission. Leo Roberts of E3G – a global independent climate change think tank set up to tackle barriers and advance solutions for a safe climate – talking to Chloé Farand of Climate Home News, said: “This investment plan is real evidence that a JETP process can drive the development of financeable, Paris aligned, country-owned low-carbon development plans. Donor nations must now ensure sufficient grant and concessional finance is mobilised to lever age the vast sums needed for South Africa to deliver.” Hear, hear. Accord i ng to the Wor l d Meteoro l og i ca l Organization’s (WMO’s) provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report: the past eight years are likely to be the eight warmest on record, while extreme heatwaves, drought and devastating flood ing have affected millions of people and cost billions this year. Since 1993, the sea level had risen nearly 10 mm by January 2020 and is at a new record high this year, with the past two and a half years alone accounting for 10% of the overall rise since satellite measure ments began nearly 30 years ago. 2022 also took an exceptionally heavy toll on glaciers. The Greenland ice sheet lost mass for the 26th consecutive year and in September 2022, it rained rather than snowed there for the first time. The global mean temperature in 2022 is currently estimated to be between about 1.02 and 1.28 °C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, while concentrations of the main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – once again reached record levels in 2021,with the annual increase in methane concentration the highest on record. Yet global warming and climate change is only one of the World’s current crises. Cyril Ramaphosa’s blueprint for transition is bold and comprehensive in that it directly associates our green energy transition with strengthened energy security, a stronger economy and amore just society. And while the costs seem staggering, weren’t we considering a R1-trillion nuclear programme just a few years ago? One that wasn’t associated with any just considerations for those workers and communities affected by the move away from coal!

At the UN’s annual climate change conference, held in Egypt on FridayNovember 4, just ahead of COP27, Cyril Ramaphosa presented a 200-page, $84-billion, R1.5-trillion 2023-2027 investment plan, which he described as “a blueprint for an economic transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy”. This with a view to “addressing frequent blackouts, unaccept able levels of poverty and the climate crisis”. “In essence, this investment plan is the first of its kind in both scale and ambition. It provides a vision of a future South Africa, which is a leading player in a new, low carbon global economy,” said Ramaphosa. The plan targets three priorities. R1-trillion (66%) of the finance is earmarked for the electricity sector: decommissioning the ageing coal fleet, deploying renewable energy at scale and modernising the grid, with an additional R60.4-billion (4.0%) earmarked for creating greener job opportunities for workers in affected coal-rich regions. 22% of the investment plan is for the develop ment of a green hydrogen sector, which would “decarbonise South African industry and generate clean fuels for export”, while the remaining 8.0% will be used to create an electric vehicle sector and to transform and upgrade South Africa’s vehicle manufacturing capacity. All of which “will be opened up to consultation and can be amended,” Ramaphosa said. Last year Glasgow, France, Germany, the UK, the US and the EU announced an $8.5-billion, R150-million package of grants and concessional finance for South Africa to accelerate the retirement of coal plants and the deployment of renewable en ergy. “While this will play an important catalytic role, it is not sufficient to meet the scale of our ambition,” Ramaphosa said. More importantly, “a significantly larger grant funding component” was needed, since less than 4% of the money (R9.0-billion) is planned for delivery as grants, while the remaining 96% is in the form of concessional loans that attract long term interest. South Africa, said Ramaphosa, lacks financing for R700-billion or 44%of the investment it needs and is working to secure more funding from international partners, the private sector and donors. “By releasing this plan, we are placing the ball firmly in the court of the international commu nity, particularly developed-economy countries that have, through their own industrialisation, contributed greatly to the damage of our climate,” Ramaphosa told the commission, adding that partner governments needed to delivermore concessional fi nance. The plan "can really only be fully and properly

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2 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2022

NCPC-SA celebrates 20 years of resource efficiency implementation

MechChemAfrica talks to the Director of SouthAfrica’s National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA), Ndivhuho Raphulu, about the spectacular growth this CSIR service to industry has been able to offer to South African industry.

ments to their industrial processes. From R1-million back then, we now have a budget of between R60- and R75-million a year,” he notes. “Expectations are far higher thanwe antic ipated, especially with Eskom still struggling tomeet demand. There is still a huge require ment for system’s optimisation assistance to reduce energy management. And, because of electricity capacity restraints, companies are also struggling with access to good, clean water fromthe system. Pumps fail because of load shedding, and this reduces their lifespan, so theenergy andwatermanagement aspects of our resource optimisation offering still make up the biggest part of our transforma tion offering,” says Ndivhuho Raphulu. Today, he says there is a growing base of RECP and energy experts assisting and providing services to industry, many of them trained through the NCPC-SA/UNIDO partnership programmes. Speaking more broadly, he says resource efficient and cleaner production is all about waste minimisation and management and, in addition to focusing on energy and water management, it is also about the lifecycle of processes and products of production systems, and the materials used and wastes produced from these systems. “We aim to look at production as closed loop or circular systems. We are doing some studiesrightnowonthecirculareconomywith theCSIR, theUniversityof theWitwatersrand andCapeTownUniversity.Wehave identified a number of products in the agro-processing, manufacturing andmining sectors andwe are looking at the lifecycleof thoseproducts from a circular economy point of view. “The NCPC-SA is working with provincial governments to run programmes for indus trial symbiosis, a circular economy meth odology where the waste from one process is made available as a resource for another. Industrial symbiosis models are highly suc

A key success of the NCPC-SA over its 20-year life has been the creation of the growing base of professionals in the fields of energy management and resource optimisation.

“W e were born back in 2002 after South Af rica hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development,” begins Ndivhuho Raphulu, Director of South Africa’s National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA). “One of the local outcomes of that Summit was South Af rica’s commitment to the concept of sustain able consumption and production embedded in theMillenniumDevelopment Goals, which involves managing resource and production efficiency at all levels. The key driver back then was awareness, and the NCPC-SA was established to begin the transition towards full implementation of this goal,” he tells MechChem Africa. “Twenty years on, we can proudly say we have survived the childhood and teenage years and are nowyoung adults, having firmly established resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP) as an exciting, valuable and even essential transition path for South Africa’s future,” he continues. Raphulu joined the NCPC-SA in 2006. “At that time, I was a senior sustainability advisor for ESKOM, part of the team responsible for all efficiency and environmental manage ment activities. I was part of a meeting with the CSIR and the Department of Trade and Industry and, after I had expressed myself rather strongly, delegates from the CSIR, the

Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Trade invited me to put together a business plan for the NCPC-SA. “I have a background as an environmental scientist, so at least the concept of cleaner production was clear to me. I joined and, in partnership with UNIDO at that time, I was taken through all the UNIDO training pro grammes before starting to try to translate theseconceptsandobjectives intothecontext of the South African economy. “Then, in November 2007, Eskom load shedding hit and it became very easy to use energy efficiency as the vehicle for growing the NCPC-SA’s vision. UNIDO had inter national funding for an international pilot project on industrial energy efficiency, and the NCPC-SA was the perfect implementing agent, so energy efficiency has always been oneof the cornerstones of cleaner production initiatives,” notes Raphulu. The growth and adoption of NCPC-SA initiatives since has been phenomenal. “In 2006, we were visiting companies to create awareness that we exist, while having to prove that efficiency and cleaner production concepts work; that they are economically beneficial and not an additional expense to satisfy radical environmentalists.Many didn’t understand what we were talking about. “Today, we have assisted over 1 800 com panies to identify and implement improve

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⎪ Cover story ⎪

available that are relevant to our develop ing nation, our economy and the prevalent industrial capacity. “We are a national industrial support programme with the mission to facilitate the transition of the South African economy to a green, low carbon and climate resilient economy: featuring circularity, efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. Our role is to facilitate this transition.” This is proving to be very worthwhile. “Most of our work is fully subsided by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition as an industry support mecha nism.Most of the general and technical follow up audits are free and training courses are offered at highly subsidised rates. While we cannot fund the implementation of recom mended solutions, we can assist companies to apply for fundingwith reports that provide projected savings data from implementation and payback periods from savings realised. Case studies show that our recommenda tions have a real return on the investment – and we undertake to measure and verify the outcomes to ensure and record the value of the gains. “We have hundreds of successful case studies from large and small industrial clients, but we would like to helpmore small andme dium enterprises, who typically have greater affordability challenges. The NCPC-SA has the local knowledge, skills and ability to help industry across South Africa to deal with the current pressure of transition and to using ef ficiencyandoptimisationmeasures tobecome globallycompetitive. Andwe invitecompanies of all sizes to take us up on this opportunity. “There is nothing to lose, while the ulti mate reward is lasting sustainability for South African industry and its economy, along with a healthier planet for the benefit of every one and everything that is dependent on it,” Raphulu concludes. www.industrialefficiency.co.za

Resource efficiency and cleaner production is also about the materials used and minimising and utilising the wastes produced from production systems.

cessful overseas, particularly in the context of industrial parks. “SouthAfricahas hundreds of government and privately owned and managed industrial parks. If we can create an environmentwhere these parks use our industrial symbiosis tools to connect parks and tenantswith each other tomaximise their use of resources andwaste, the impact on their profitability and sustain ability can be enormous,” Raphulu points out. Power or water excesses can be locally sold-on where and when another participant has a shortfall, and industrial machines with spare capacity can be made available to nearby industries, avoiding the need for un necessary investments, for example. “Companies are exchanging data and real ising real savings as a result. We now have a number of tools that we are developing and testing for Industrial Parks andwearestarting to talk about the impact that we're experi encing: companies that were closing down or moving to adjacent parks or provinces have decided to stay because of the survival advantages of industrial symbiosis. “In the beverage industry, for example,

one company has accumulated four or five freshwater inlets into their systems, but only two are needed at any one time.We nowhelp with tools on how tomanage and share these resources.We also offer training on resource optimisation to every company that partici pates,” he tells MechChem Africa. A key success of the NCPC-SA over its 20-year life has been the creation of the growing base of professionals in the fields of energy management and resource optimisa tion. “In the beginning all the specialists we used were from the USA and Europe. Not only does SouthAfrica nowhave its own base of experts and trainers, but many of these professionals are exporting their skills across Africa, supporting implementation and tech nical interventions to optimise and improve production processes, resource efficiency and sustainability,” adds Ndivhuho Raphulu. The ‘adult’ NCPC-SA still has the same three strategic focus areas: to develop the technical skills needed to transform our in dustrial economy; to develop and advocate for the policy support needed to enable this transition; and tomake implementation tools

Energy and water management aspects of resource optimisation still make up the biggest part of the NCPC-SA’s transformation offering.

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 5

Geotextile dewatering bags: the emergency solution for dewatering and solid waste management

MechChem Africa visited the ZebraTube stand at Electra Mining Africa and talked to Tshepang Dolamo, the company’s technical sales engineer, about the significant difference ZebraTube geotextile dewatering tubes and bags can make in preventing sewage and mine-impacted wastewater from contaminating freshwater ecosystems.

W ith a Bachelor of Technology degree in chemical engineer ing from the University of Johannesburg, Tshepang Dolamo began her career as a water treat ment process engineer on the goldmines in the Carletonville area. “I have a background as a process engineer looking after the plants treating mine-impacted water to potable or environmental discharge quality levels,” she tells MechChem Africa. “I worked on a Crystalactor ® plant with a treatment capacity of 5.0 M ℓ per day for removing hardness ions and heavy metals, including uranium and arsenic, for example. The system consists of a vessel filled with small sand pebbles. The contaminated mine water is dosed with chemicals that trigger precipitation and introduced from the sides of the vessel. The heavy metals come out of solutionandattach themselves to thepebbles, while near potable water is taken off the top. The only thing other thing we had to adjust was the pH, adding a little acid if the pH was

too high or alkaline chemicals if we needed to increase the pH,” Dolamo explains. “We also ran a dual-stage ion exchange plant, which was able to remove water hard ness elements using ion exchange resins to produce potable water,” she says, adding that she was involved in managing a 40 M ℓ /day settler plant in the Carletonville area. Dolamo resigned fromher job as a process engineer to join ZebraTube because she felt her skills and personality were better suited to technical sales. “With my background in water treatment, I thought I could add more value to the wastewater sector if I were out talking to people and helping them to imple ment newprojects. So, I amnow the technical sales engineer for ZebraTube, out in the field looking for opportunities touseour geotextile tubes and bags to help people better meet theirdewateringneeds andmanage their solid waste,” she informs MechChem Africa . Describing a more unusual project on the West Coast, Dolamo says that ZebraTube has supplied large low-flow tubular geotextile

bags to a diamond processing plant close to the shore. “We put our tubes along the beach front at lowtide andwent as far aswepossibly could, effectively building a berm wall to en able the processing plant to be moved closer to the shore,” she says. To fill the bags, sea sandwas pumped from 50 to 100moffshore using slurry pumps. The water immediatelybegins todrainout, leaving behind a very efficient retaining wall about 1.8 m high to keep the Cape’s stormy seas at bay. Acore focus for ZebraTube inSouthAfrica, though, is for emergency dewatering applica tions for mine impacted water or municipal wastewater. “Wehave started toassistwaste water plants along theVaal River. For example, aclient inSebokeng isfilling sixof ourhighflow tubes every month to reduce the amount of effluent overflow entering the Vaal river,” she tells MechChem Africa.

The desludging of Diepsloot Northern Wastewater treatment works.

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⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

Left: Tubular dewatering bags stacked at Phoenix wastewater treatment works. Right: Zebratube bags being used to build a berm to enable a processing plant to be moved closer to the shore.

“Areas along the Vaal near the wastewater plants arepitchblack, and this is clearlyvisible on Google Earth. Overwhelmed wastewater treatment plants are having to release raw sewage into the river and people from the surrounding communities are getting sick,” she adds. Dolamo says there is a hugeneed toempty out the accumulated sludge fromthese facili ties so the pumps can be fixed. “We've been supplying our large tubular ZebraTube bags to enable plants to take the sludge out of the bottom of their clarifiers for dewatering and storage nearby. “We are trying to provide a safe and en vironmentally friendly solution, and while using plastic is not ideal, it offersmuch better containment for sludge and is a far better solution than simply pumping it into a hole or allowing it to flow into the river. The tubes also help with odour control, because all the solids are contained,” she says. ZebraTube has quoted on similar sludge containment projects inCape Town aswell as Potchefstroom, but take up is still very slow. Also under discussion is a clean-up project for the Vaal river. “The next step of the Vaal project is to take a couple of metres of sludge fromthe contaminated areas of the river. Just aswe did inKwazulu-Natal, we can pump this sludge into geotextile tubes on the banks of the river. Once dewatered, the bags can be broken open and the dry solids safely trans ported to disposal sites,” explains Tshepang Dolamo. This will need to be done for several kilometres downstream of each contamina tion point, she adds. North of the border, ZebraTube is sup plying its high-flow geotextile bags for use in a mineral sands operation in Kenya. “Here we are using our small square bags, which

can contain about 1.0 m 3 of material. The operation was using regular bulk bags, but therewere complaints that theywere export ingwater. Once they realisedZebraTube bags were designed for dewatering, they could simply fill the bags, leave them to drain for a day or so before closing them up and loading them into a shipping container using a forklift truck. It makes the whole operation much more manageable and cost effective. “We have customised these bags for de watering, transportation and lifting purposes. It’s actually a little bit less than one cube in volume, but we have modified the stitching to double the amount of webbing on every corner. This makes the bags stronger and easier to handle during transportation,” says Dolamo. “This is typical of our fit-for-purpose ap proach. We are able to determine the real needs of anapplication then tryandmatch the

geotextilematerial and the stitching require ments to best suit that need. As well as the high-flow range of products for dewatering sludge and sand, ZebraTube can offer low-flowgeotextiles for dewatering fine slurrieswithparticle sizes down to10μm. “We have also recently patented ZebraTex, a composite-lined geotextile solution for retaining and dewatering slurries in the sub-10 μm range – without the need for floc culants,” she notes. “We are willing and able to develop cus tomised solutions for any dewatering task, be it for the reparation of the municipal wastewater infrastructure in South Africa, assisting in the clean up our contaminated rivers, assisting with emergency dredging of flooded slime dams or helping todewater and transport valuable minerals or waste solids,” Tshepang Dolamo concludes. zebratube.co.za

First layer of geotextile bags under passive drainage.

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 7

8 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2022

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

Weir Minerals’ pumps never stop evolving While Weir Minerals Africa is known for its extensive range of pumps, Electra Mining Africa gave visitors more insight into how its pump innovations are shared – ensuring that all customers benefit from the company’s best ideas.

A lways a big exhibitor at the Electra Mining Africa exhibition, this year Weir Minerals Africa once again marshalled anunparalleled array of innovativeproducts at its outdoor display. The company’s pumps were among the items that caught visitors’ interests, according to gen eral manager pump products Marnus Koorts. While the variety to suit every applicationwas one talkingpoint, Koorts emphasises the tech nology synergies and thecustomer confidence that comes with its global infrastructure. “Having a very broad spectrum of cutting edgepumpoptions at our disposal allows us to offer our customers exactly what they need,” says Marnus Koorts, general manager for pumpproductsatWeirMineralsAfrica. “It also allows us to leverage technological advances from one brand to another.” Among the innovations on display at the Weir Minerals Africa stand, for instance, was theWarman ® pump’sWRT ® technology,which improves wear life and energy efficiency with noadditional capital cost requirement. This, he says, has also been applied to the company’s Envirotech ® range, another strong slurry pump brand in Africa and the Middle East. TheWarman ® range includes slurrypumps, heavy duty mill circuit pumps, submersible pumps, dewatering pumps and process slurry pumps. Also in the range are GEHO ® positive displacement pumps, known for long distance pumping of high-density tailings for distances of 200 to 300 km. “Electra Mining Africa gave us the chance to introduceour customers toother aspects of our portfolio,” he says. “Most customers deal with the product lines relevant to their daily responsibilities, so it is excitingwhen they can see other aspects of our solutions that could add value.” Another eye-catcher at the exhibition stand was a 50 kW unit from the Warman ® SSB submersible slurry pump range, utilising the wear technology present in the industry proven high chrome alloys used on slurry pumps, again leveraging technology from dif ferent brands. This unit boastedahigh chrome impeller associated with its well-tested A05 material, with the motor encapsulated into the shell. “We have also fine-tuned the ergonomics related to handling these pumps based on our extensive experience in the field,” saysKoorts. “The units are moved around a lot, so lugs that are aligned sideways tend to break off if there is impact. We innovated even though in

Left: Marnus Koorts, general manager for pump products at Weir Minerals Africa, demonstrating the new technology WRT parts for the Envirotech Alpha pump range. Right: AWarman MCR400 slurry pump connected to a Linatex rubber lined spool and Isogate WS 400 knife gate valve.

a small way, by putting the lug facing upwards to avoid damage.” In addition to continuous innovation, he highlights the critical importance of the company’s global infrastructure to support its wide range of pumping equipment. This gives customers confidence that service levels are consistent wherever the pumps are working. “Whether our customer moves from Rustenburg to the Middle East, or from Canada toWest Africa, theywill find the same extensive range of our pumps supported to the same high standard,” he says. “This sense of consistency is important to our customers, especially given the amount of geographical

movement of people in the mining sector.” He notes Warman’s commitment to the ethos of ‘Always Performing, Always Trusted, Always Innovating’, which rests on a depth of institutional knowledge throughout the company’s footprint, giving customers peace of mind across plant functions. “Our level of know-how and accessibility to mining customers is what differentiates WeirMinerals Africa, and it can be difficult to convey if you don’t appreciate the full extent of our offering; this is why our intensive face to face engagements at ElectraMining Africa remain so important,” he concludes. www.minerals.weir

GEHO pumps are used for pumping high density tailings for up to 300 km.

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 9

Partnering with authorised agents for water treatment Lionel Maasdorp of Allmech highlights the value in partnering with an authorised agent for water treatment components such as softener, filter, ball valves and shut-off valves. T he advent of online purchasing has meant that consumers have access to a broader range of sales channels than ever before. However, accord

ing to Lionel Maasdorp MD at Allmech – a leading South African boiler manufacturer and supplier of water treatment components – there is still value in partnering with an au thorisedagent for certainpurchases, including technical equipment and spares. “Although valves are available through parallel importers and online retailers, if pur chased through those channels, customers miss out on any technical expertise or after sales support, most notably on-site support, which is part of the benefit of buying from an authorised supplier,” he says. Maasdorp cites an example of a customer who called Allmech to a site to assist with a filtration system that was not functioning correctly. It turnedout that thepipes hadbeen installed back-to-front. “These systems can be complex for those not dealingwith themevery day,” he says. “It’s easy to end up with the wrong size of valve or something that doesn’t meet the require ments of a particular application.” Allmech is the sole official agent in South Africa for Runxin water treatment systems, including softener and filter valves, and Maasdorp believes that the company’s rela tionship with the manufacturer yields value add for customers. “Allmech understands the Runxin ecosystem and technologies, stocks a comprehensive range of spares and is able to customise plants through special requests di rectly toRunxinwhen required. Furthermore, Allmech uses test benches where Runxin valves can be tested for faults, leaks or dam ageunder similar conditions to those foundon site. Valves can thenbe repairedmore cost ef fectivelywithout replacing the entire unit,” he says, adding that additional technical support is available via the Allmech WhatsApp group or through the Allmech website. “We’ve chosen to partner with Runxin for various reasons,” says Maasdorp. “We find their products reliable, user-friendly and cost effective, and they are continuously investing innewtechnologies and rangeextensions.We can pass all of that along to our customers.” A good example is Runxin’s patented ceramic ball valve, designed for applications ranging from sewage treatment plants to

Allmech uses test benches where Runxin valves can be tested for faults, leaks or damage under similar conditions to those found on site.

Allmech is the sole official agent in South Africa for Runxin water treatment systems, including softener and filter valves.

chemical plants, paper mills and irrigation systems. They are safe to use with gasoline, compressed air, gas and most alkaline liquids and acids. Allmech stocks the ceramic valvesbecause they are ideal for filtration and softener systems used in water treatment and are available in two-wire, three-wire and three way (L-shape) variants from DN 15 to DN 50 threaded or glued fitting options. They are easy to program and use, with simple and user-friendly displays. “We also choose Runxin because of the valves’ longer service life – some of our valves have run for more than 10 years with no maintenance required,” Maasdorp points out. “There are time-controlled ball valves available, as well as adjustable ones with a positional feedback function. The degree and

angle to which the ball can be opened can be determined by the PLC on these valves, and adjustments for flow, temperature and pres sure can also be incorporated.” One of the latest innovations in the Runxin rangeisashut-offvalvewitharemoteBluetooth unit,whichisdesignedfor installationonincom ing water lines in buildings. This valve can turn off thewaterwhena leak isdetectedor sendan alert when a geyser is at risk of bursting. “Wethinkthesearegreat for residential ap plications, aswell as for facilitiesmanagement,” says Maasdorp. “We’re excited to be bringing them to the local market and currently have a demo unit set up at our premises for testing. We’re always looking for ways to improve our offeringtocustomers,andwebelievethat’swhy we’ve built such long-term relationships with many of them.” q

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Ceramic ball valves for improved longevity Compared to solenoid valves, ceramic ball valves offer improved longevity and wear resistance, at lower costs. Allmech’s Anelia Hough explains. ⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪ A ccording to Allmech water treat ment consultant, Anelia Hough, ceramic ball valves are ideal for water-saving systems, industrial

automatic control systems, automatic sewage systems, environmental protection projects, water supply and drainage, food and water treatment, and irrigation systems. Hough says that the proprietary three way Runxin valves that Allmech stocks have proven especially useful in water treatment applications. “Recently, one of our custom ers installed a filtration plant to treat surface water coming from a nearby river,” she says. “Water turbiditywas themain challenge. Due tothequalityof incomingwater, thebackwash cycleneededcleaned, filteredwater toensure thefiltermediabedswere thoroughly cleaned during backwash cycles. “During a backwash, the media should be adequately raised and mixed to get rid of contaminants. We installed a single L-shaped three-way ceramic valve – instead of two solenoid valves – to diverting the flow direc tion of the incomingwater between raw river water andfilteredwater.Whenmultiple units need cleanwater diverted, this solutionoffers exponential saving,” she suggests. In the service position, the three-way valve allows raw water from the river to be treated, but once the control valve position is changed back to start the backwash, the position changes to allow clean water for the backwash cycle to enter the valve. Another Allmech customer operates a

Runxin’s ceramic ball valves are hermetically-sealed, so they have extremely high resistance to corrosion, abrasion and chemicals.

dairy manufacturing facility that operates 24/7. Part of the company’s operation is its boiler, which provides steam into the facility. A duplex water softener was installed with two softener control valves. “The Runxin F74 softener control valves have a function to interlock valves in parallel systems so that one valve in regeneration, while the other is in service,” Hough explains. “We installed a three-way valve to enable the water flow to be changed from the standby unit to the service unit within seconds. This one valve ensures that soft water can be supplied 24/7 to the boiler. And this resulted in the customer only needing one brine tank, which resulted in further cost savings.”

Runxin’s ceramic ball valves provide several design features to improveperformancecom pared toball valvesmade fromtraditionalma terials, the biggest being the longevity of the parts. The valves are hermetically-sealed, so they have extremely high resistance to corro sion, abrasionandchemicals, so theycanmeet the toughest water treatment challenges. The ball cores and seats are precisely ground as pairs to ensure zero leakage. Each of the plastic options comes with a choice of connection between metric female threads and uPVC Glue, while select ceramic ball valves are available in different grades of steel. www.allmech.co.za

JSE listed, diversified chemicals group, Omnia Holdings has commissioneda reverseosmosis water treatment plant at its Sasolburg site to enhance its water efficiency and edge it closer to achieving its sustainable develop ment goals. “Our approach to sustainability is deeply embedded across the business value chain and we will continuously aim to ensure that our operationsmeet the relevant sustainable development plan goals to ensure the care ful use and recycling of water. Introducing a reverse osmosis water treatment plant is evidence of our commitment to achieving this goal and advancing our drive towards cleaner technologiesandresponsibleoperations.” says Seelan Gobalsamy, CEO. Reverse osmosis is a process of water Omnia’s reverse osmosis plant boosts water conservation programme treatment that removes a large majority of contaminants by pushing the water under pressure through a semi-permeable mem brane. The aim is to reduce water consump tionby effectively recycling the cooling tower discharge into the cooling tower make up, thus reducing potable water consumption. Furthermore, thiswill reduceOmnia’s reliance on municipal water, its use of potable water, as well as reduce the effluent discharge pro duced in the manufacturing process. The project is estimated to yield an ap proximate saving of 180 M ℓ per annum. The social benefits include indirect job creation generated during the construction and com missioning, as well as the direct employment of the operational staff responsible for the daily running and maintenance of the plant. “Living in a water scarce country offers com panies in our line of business the opportunity to champion ecology and conservation. For Omnia this is oneway toensureour long-term sustainability, creating employment opportu nities to positively impact the communities in which we operate.” concludes Gobalsamy. www.omnia.co.za Omnia Holdings has installed a Reverse Osmosis Plant at its Sasolburg facility.

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 11

Accredited local support underpins Grindex pumps in Zambia Local Zambian company IES has made rapid progress this year as Integrated Pump Technology’s distributor in that region, raising the service bar and expanding the footprint of the Grindex brand of submersible pumps.

Now operating its own authorised Grindex service centre and holding considerable stock to meet customer demand, IES is adding local value to the established Grindex reputation.

W ith Zambian mines among the world’s wettest, the regionhasalwaysbeenwell servicedbysubmersiblede watering pump specialist IntegratedPumpTechnology. This support has taken another leap forwardwith local company IES becoming its exclusive distributor earlier this year. With its experienced staff and accredited service centre, IES offers localised sales and servicing of the Grindex pump range in Zambia. Nowoperating its own authorisedGrindex service centre andhold ing considerable stock to meet customer demand, IES is adding local value to the established Grindex reputation, says Integrated Pump Technology general manager, JordanMarsh. TheZambianCopperbelt has someof thewettestmines intheworld,makingdewateringacritical function onmost mines. This places pump performance and reliability at a premium, says Marsh, hence the popularity of Grindex. “As the official Grindex distributor in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) since 2014, Integrated Pump Rental’spriority is that thesepumpsarealwayswell supported,”hesays. “We are therefore excited to have tied up with IES as our distributor in Zambia, as they have a depth of experience both in the brand and in the market.” IES managing director, Andrew Kansamba, has 15 years of experience working with the Grindex brand and with Integrated Pump Technology. Together the IES team has decades of combined experience working with this pump range, says Kansamba,

making IES a natural fit to represent the brand in Zambia. “Integrated Pump Technology and IES share the same operating style, with hands-on involvement from top management all the way down,” says Kansamba, an electrical and mechanical engineer who beganhis career onaZambiancoppermine. “Our IES facility is centrally located in Kitwe – the strategic heart of the Zambian Copperbelt – so we can quickly reach themainmining and other operationswithin and outside of the Copperbelt region.” The IES service centre improves the lead time on pump repairs and maintenance, giving customers access to a local source of technical expertise. This will reduce the need for pumps to be serviced by non authorised workshops. “Grindex pump owners can be confident that their pumps will be serviced to OEM standards,” says Marsh. “Mines will also appreciate the value that this service is creating within the local economy.” Most of the product applications in the Zambian region relate to dewatering. Among the popular items in the range are the 90 kW Grindex Mega N and H pumps. Some of these units are successfully dewatering larger volumes invarious undergroundandopenpitmines, including applications at the bottom of shafts. Other popular Grindex products in the region are the 37 kWMaxi NandH, 18 kWMatador, 8.0 kWMaster, 5.6 kWMajor, 3.7 kWMinor and 2.2 kWMinette as well as the Bravo range of slurry pumps. www.pump-technology.com

Left: Most of the product applications in the Zambian region relate to dewatering and Grindex pumps are known for their reliability in these applications. Right: Local Zambian company IES has made rapid progress this year as Integrated Pump Technology’s distributor in that region.

12 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2022

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

IPR boosts fleet ahead of rainy season With the wet season on its way in many parts of South Africa creating the imminent danger of operational disruption due to flooding, leading dewatering specialist IPR has geared up with more pumping capacity to help customers to dewater sites at short notice.

D isruptiononwork siteswill grow in thenext fewmonthsas rainreturns tomanyof the country’s provinces, demanding a rapid dewatering solution. Pump and dewatering specialist IPR – previously known as Integrated Pump Rental – has added capacity for the inevitable spike in urgent enquiries. According to IPR operations manager, Henru Strydom, renting of dewatering pumps remains a great option for dealing with emergencies. “The high level of responsiveness that IPR offers is directly related to the available fleet we have developed,” says Strydom. “We have always been proactive about growing our rental capacity as we do not believe in leaving dewatering tochanceduring the rainy season.” Having a rental fleet that is commensurate with the growing market demand has been vital to IPR’s ongoing success and most of these are trailer mounted. He explains that trailermounted units allowoptimummobility and flexibility. Pumping units can rapidly be deployed to sites when required and can also easily be moved on the site itself. “Rentingor leasingoffersmanyadvantages over buying your own pumping equipment for infrequent dewatering needs,” he says. “This is especially the case if companies lack the staff or resources tomaintainequipment regularly: theymay never knowwhether the equipment is serviceablewhenunexpectedly high rainfall leads to a sudden emergency, for example.” He no t e s t h a t pump owne r s h i p inevitably incurs hidden costs related to labour, training, maintenance and spares. Many pump owners may not be aware of the attention that pumps need if they are to be ready for action at a moment’s notice. “

Leading pump rental company, IPR has added capacity to its fleet for the inevitable spike in enquiries during the rainy season. The Sykes Contractors range of diesel-driven dewatering pumps are heavy duty pumps capable of meeting the tough demands of mining and construction markets.

As a quick-response team that is completely focused on our equipment’s readiness, IPR handles all the maintenance requirements of rental pumps,” he says. “We can also provide on-site training to customers’ staff, so the equipment is employed to its fullest value.” What this all adds up to, says Strydom, is better control of project costs. It also means that the right equipment is supplied for the job at hand, which is vital when heavy rains cause unexpected flooding. IPR’s fleet of rental

dewatering pump sets is large and diverse, ensuring that suitable units are always avail able when needed. These cover the full range of submersible drainage, dewatering, slurry and sludge pumps. Diesel driven dewatering pump sets are most often the solution of choice, as it is easy to get these units started and operational even on remote sites where there is no ac cess to power. www.pumprental.co.za

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 13

SKF SA’s Centre of Excellence for the Circular Economy

SKF South Africa has rebranded its Solutions Factory to enable the local facility to better embrace the circular economy across its product and service offering. MechChem Africa talks to SKF SA’s Sustainability manager, Sarel Froneman.

Froneman continues: “We naturally report to Sweden which has committed, amongst other things, to our local site becoming carbon neutral by 2030. So, we are on a drive to ensure our South African ware housing and manufacturing units meet this deadline. And, while this is challenging for us, imagine how challenging it must be to oversee all SKF’s bearing manufacturing plants,” he says. For SKF SouthAfrica, the process started back in 2018/2019 when the company be gan to design its new building. “Right from the early discussions with our landlord at the time, we insisted on having a solar system incorporated into the construction. We undertook an energy consumption study, then added a little to accommodate growth, and a 383 kWp PV solar system, which can currently deliver about 30%more than our average needs, was installed into the building. “During the day, from 8:30 in the morn ing until about 4:30, we are usually fully off the grid,” he tells MechChem Africa, adding

that this power is used by the warehouse, workshops, offices, logistics and even the canteen kitchen, which can draw a signifi cant percentage. The system, he continues, is a grid-tied, which means no energy is stored on batter ies onsite. “We're very excited that inMay of 2021, we started to engage with our land lord and the Ekurhuleni Municipality and are now at the point of signing a feed-in tar iff deal. At the moment, until they figure out how to compensate us, we're feeding our ex cess electricity back to theMunicipality free of charge. We are happy to do this, though, so it doesn’t go waste. And it makes us a net provider of green energy rather than a net user of carbon-based power,” he explains, “In theory, we should soon be able to wheel our excess power to local companies in the area, which is now legal.” From a cost perspective, SKF’s landlord manages themunicipal accounts. “We ended up signing an agreement for our landlord to generate and supply the power we need. But they charge for our solar consumption

“S ome years ago, we launched our SKF Solutions Factory as a certified global vehicle for the delivery of bearing re manufacturing, engineeredsolutions andfield services, and as well as a range of supporting services including condition monitoring, outsourcedmaintenance, asset reliabilitycon sulting and remote data hosting and analysis,” begins Sarel Froneman, SKF SA’smanager for sustainability. “These services all came with SKF Group certification so we could present a standardised benchmarked package to SKF customers anywhere in the world,” he says. “Our new Circular Economy Centre is a little different. It’s a more organic collec tion of SKF services, driven by the imme diate need to contribute meaningfully to sustainability, because now is the time to make a difference. The world has one last chance, and saving it is our responsibility,” Froneman asserts. SKF has been pursuing its sustainability agenda for many years, since the late eight ies. Over the past two years, SKF Group has been accelerating its objectives. • In June 2020, SKF announced that all its manufacturing sites would be car bon neutral (net zero) by 2030. In September 2020, SKF announced that the company had joined the Renewable Energy 100 (RE100) ini tiative, which brings together large ambitious organisations committed to 100% renewable electricity. In July 2021, SKF joined the Science Based Target initiative. Membership of the SBTi commits SKF to climate tar gets in line with the Paris Agreement. In October 2021, SKF announced its commitment to have a supply chain with net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. • • •

Bearing remanufacturing to OEM standards is a still a key aspect of SKF’s Centre of Excellence for the Circular Economy.

14 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2022