Sparks Electrical News April 2018

CONTRACTORS’ CORNER

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FLIR LAUNCHES NEW ENTRY-POINT MODEL OF ADVANCED THERMAL IMAGING CAMERAS

design to ensure it can withstand the tough envi- ronments technicians and contractors face every day. An agile user interface delivers intuitive op- eration and useful features such as 1-Touch Level/ Span, which allow users to improve contrast on their target just by touching the screen. When cou- pled with enhanced Wi-Fi, METERLiNK® connectiv- ity, and customisable work folders, archiving and report generation has never been easier. “With the FLIR E53, we’re making our Exx-Series line of advanced handheld cameras more acces- sible to industry professionals who access this type

FLIR SYSTEMS has launched the FLIR E53 – the latest addition to the Exx-Series of advanced ther- mal imaging cameras for electrical, mechanical, and building applications. This model is an entry- level model in the Exx-Series, but offers the same image clarity, measurement accuracy, and many of the robust features as other models in the Exx lineup. The E53 brings advanced thermal imaging within the reach of many more service profession- als and contractors, who need these cameras to identify hot spots or building deficiencies before they lead to expensive repairs.

The FLIR E53 features a brilliant 4-inch touch- screen with a 160-degree viewing angle, to ensure users always have a clear view of the thermal im- age from any angle. Like the other Exx-Series models, the E53 offers significant improvements to FLIR’s MSX technology, utilising a 5-megapixel visual camera for improved image clarity, perspec- tive, and readability. The E53’s 240 x 180 resolu- tion detector offers more than 43 000 points of temperature measurement and a high temperature range up to 650 °C. FLIR built the E53 with a rugged, water-resistant

of technology – the World’s Sixth Sense – but thought it was out of reach,” said Rickard Lindvall, General Manager of Instruments at FLIR. “It offers the resolution, sensitivity, and reporting tools they need to be able to quickly and accurately diagnose problems, and prove they’ve made the repairs.”

Enquiries: www.flir.com/exx-series

BIOMASS: UNTAPPED POTENTIAL IN AFRICA S peaking ahead of the pan-African power sector forum POWER-GEN & Distrib- uTECH Africa 2018, international power sector experts participating in the conference noted that biomass optimisation presented both challenges and opportunities in Africa. As a renewable, carbon neutral and potentially cost effective power source, biomass is being har- nessed effectively around the world, with Research and Markets’ ‘Biomass to Power’ report stating that by late 2016, there were approximately 3 600 active biomass power plants throughout the world, with an electricity generation capacity of approxi- mately 51 GW. Marko Nokkala, Technical Director at VTT-TECH Research CTR in Finland, says biomass presents good opportunities for Africa, but that few new biomass projects are being developed. “We fail to see why projects are not happening,” he says. “One major challenge appears to be a lack of un- derstanding of the pros and cons of the different biomass technologies available. There is also a lack of capex – in South Africa, for example, we believe there are five or six firm biomass projects being investigated, but no credit lines for these projects.” Dr. Jens Reich, Head of Sales of the Energy Technology Department of STEAG Energy Ser- vices GmbH, says biomass’s potential is still un- locked across Africa. “Key reasons for this include challenges in securing the supply chain. It is cru- cial for any such investment to have secure feed- stock and suppliers,” he says. A secure supply chain is simplified in countries like South Africa, where there are large paper mills and food processing companies to produce an ongoing supply at a single source, he notes, but in less developed countries where the feedstock might be supplied by family farmers, collecting and bundling this supply could prove challenging. “In my view, this challenge is more a matter of organisation than infrastructure. In countries where there is a great deal of biomass available, there are opportunities for entrepreneurs to bun- dle feedstock, with support from institutional de- velopment agencies and governments,” he says. But overcoming the challenges would present Africa with a compelling new addition to the en- ergy mix. “Biomass is a renewable energy source, which the entire continent is looking for. It is also decentralised, which is trending both in Africa and globally, and it presents a potentially stabilising el- ement for the grids on the renewable side,” says Dr. Reich.

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

APRIL 2018