Mechanical Technology February 2015

⎪ Proactive maintenance, lubrication and contamination management ⎪

Paint solutions for Africa G lobal paint giant Beckers is turning its attention to developing a wide range of paint products to especially suit African conditions. The company intends working closely with all-manner of manufac- turing clients across the continent and to use its substantial research and development ca- pabilities to produce paints that can enhance these manufacturers’ products. Whether designing coatings to protect earth-moving equipment in tropical Africa, or providing lower-cost coatings for roof sheets used in the development of low-cost housing in West Africa, the company is focused on finding the right solutions for specific applications. In South Africa, Beckers is best known for its leadership in the provision of advanced coil coatings. These are used by the coun- try’s steel and aluminium mills to provide finishes for a variety of flat sheet products that are supplied to local manufacturers to make everyday goods such as roofing, ap- pliances, automotive and other products. But, according to Beckers Group man- aging director, Willem van Heerden, the company’s expertise goes far beyond coil coatings. Worldwide the company also develops special coating technologies for trains, agricultural, construction, earthmov- ing equipment and even consumer devices such as cell phones. “These range from coatings for making tractors more durable to providing attractive cladding that assists architects to build “greener” structures and

phone manufacturers to introduce trendy new designs. “In order to expand our reach in Africa, we have recently begun to mobilise our techni- cal staff to work closely with key industrial manufacturers and assist them to enhance their product offerings. This has already led to us developing Beckry ® Save, a cost effective coil coatings for roof sheeting in West Africa, and we now supply coatings for PRASA’s rolling stock and corrosion resistant paints for Eskom’s new power stations. This shows that our technically advanced coat- ings are beyond the ordinary and can be developed for use in a wide range of indus- tries. The challenge that we now face is to familiarise industry with our service offering and to introduce our specialised coatings to a far wider potential client base,” says Van Heerden. He adds that at present the company’s strategy is to work closely with engineers, specifiers and architects to develop solutions for their own specific requirements. With as- sistance from the company’s global research and development centres and long-term de- velopment groups, the company is commit- ted to work with these specialised industrial customers to develop new products and find solutions for manufacturing dilemmas. Extending its success with its steel mill customers, Beckers now wants “to work with other large-scale manufacturers to find solu- tions that will give them an edge and enable them to better meet their own customers’ requirements,” Van Heerden concludes. q

From both operational and safety perspec- tives, servicing and maintenance should be carried out by qualified technical personnel. batteries and power storage units. Weak or undercharged batteries are among the most common causes of standby power system failures. Even when kept in tip-top condition – fully charged and maintained – lead acid batteries are subject to dete- rioration over time.  Only regular maintenance and a rigid schedule of inspection and testing under load can prevent premature battery fail- ure and consequent generator starting and power provisioning problems. It’s important to note that merely checking the output voltage of the batteries is not indicative of their ability to deliver adequate starting or standby power. As batteries age, their internal resistance to current flow goes up. Therefore, the only accurate measure of terminal voltage is achieved under load. Like their human counterparts, diesel generators need regular exercise. Units that are on continuous standby must be able to go from a cold start to fully opera- tional status in seconds. This imposes a severe burden on engine parts. However, regular exercise keeps engine parts well lubricated, fluid lines unclogged and prevents harmful oxidation of electrical contacts. Against this background it’s criti- cal, from both operational and safety perspectives, that servicing and mainte- nance be carried out by qualified techni- cal personnel. Ideally, the task should be outsourced to a specialist firm well versed in diesel generator technology, which differs significantly from petrol engines and engines used in automotive

A view of the South African coil coating operation at the Vereeniging facilities of the Beckers Group.

or trucking applications. Remember to maintain records and take precautionary measures for safety as suggested by the manufactures. When performing routine maintenance, each action should be logged and the read- ings and various parameters should be

recorded along with the date of inspec- tion and the hour meter reading of the generator. These readings should be compared with the next set of data collected. A marked variation would most likely indi- cate faulty performance. q

Mechanical Technology — February 2015

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