Mechanical Technology September 2015

⎪ Automation, mechatronics and electro-mechanical systems ⎪

Collaboration results in hazardous area certification

A collaboration between Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information; and ACTOM (Pty) Ltd, the largest manufacturer, solution provider, repairer and distributor of electro- mechanical equipment in Africa, has been awarded Exn certification for explosive gas atmospheres in the oil and gas industry.

R ockwell Automation and local electro-mechanical equipment solutions provider ACTOM Electrical Machines have been awarded a hazardous area certification for the oil and gas industry by Explolabs. The Exn certification was awarded sub‑ sequent to the testing and assessment of the ACTOM MS4 452-4 non-sparking Ex nA IIA and IIB T3 motor and Allen- Bradley PowerFlex 7000 medium voltage ac drive combination(s) for compliance to Electrical apparatus for explosive gas atmospheres – General Requirements (SANS 60079-0: 2012 Ed 5) and Equip- ment protection by type of protection ‘n’ (SANS 60079-15: 2010 Ed 4). As a subset of a larger project, five Allen-Bradley PowerFlex ® 7000 me‑ dium voltage ac variable speed drives (VSDs) by Rockwell Automation and five

ACTOM motors will be used by Engen Petroleum’s Greenfields proj‑ e c t t o con t r o l F l o w s e r v e ’ s

Rockwell Automation and ACTOM Electrical Machines have been awarded a hazardous area certification for the oil and gas industry for the combination of Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley PowerFlex ® 7000 VSDs with ACTOM’s 650 kW, 6 600 V, four pole motors.

IIB’. ‘Frequency’ is listed as ‘abnormal’ as could occur under normal operation. “Considering the criticality of this project and the stringent Engen specifica‑ tion meant that we needed to supply a reliable solution that conformed to all the requirements of the various stakehold‑ ers,” says Henry Craukamp, ETO sales manager – southern Europe and Africa. “The test results prove the compatibility between Rockwell Automation drives and ACTOM’s motors, one of the reasons we entered into our co-operation agreement in 2013.” This agreement is to supply Rockwell Automation and ACTOM cus‑ tomers with appropriately paired variable speed drives and motor products. The now Exn-certified VSD and motor combination was delivered to-site and the installation completed. The Rockwell Automation commissioning team is on stand-by to begin on-site commissioning as soon as Engen completes the remain‑ der of the installation. “Rockwell Automation is extremely pleased with the outcome as it verifies that our VSDs have no temperature ef‑ fect on the motor, whatsoever. The tests further prove that our VSDs and ACTOM’s motors are compatible in one of the harshest environments. We will continue the certification process with our low voltage PowerFlex 755 series VSDs and ACTOM’s low voltage motors,” Craukamp says, adding that Engen Petroleum “was extremely satisfied with the result.” Allen-Bradley and PowerFlex are trademarks of Rockwell Automation, Inc. q

1 320 m³/h centrifugal pumps, fa‑ cilitating the movement of product from Engen’s Island View facilities to Transnet’s NMPP Island View West site. Rockwell Automation’s PowerFlex 7000s are fitted with an 11 kV to 6.6 kV integral transformer to power ACTOM’s 650 kW, 6 600 V, four pole motors in this hazard‑ ous area. The VSD and motor combination test was conducted to determine the maxi‑ mum surface temperature of the ACTOM Electrical Machines’ motors in accor‑ dance with SANS 60079-0: 2012 Ed 5 Clause 26.5.1.3 and Annex E, which in‑

cluded the monitoring of the motor winding temperature; ambi‑ ent temperature; DE & NDE bearing tempera‑ tures; and motor sup‑ ply voltage, current and rpm. The combination test was conducted at the motors maximum duty point for eight continuous hours. Explolabs found

that the drive and motor combination complied with the requirements set out in the standards and certified the installa‑ tion for ‘Zone 2’ (‘Gas: Surface’) applications, i.e, as the ‘location’ while the ‘environment’ is listed as ‘Group IIA and

Rockwell Automation’s PowerFlex 7000s are fitted with an 11 kV to 6.6 kV integral transformer to power ACTOM MS4 452-4 non-sparking motors.

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Mechanical Technology — September 2015