July 2010
The July issue covers a number of interesting topics: water treatment, control and instrumentation engineering, environmental engineering and management and plant maintenance. Our cover story looks at radar level measurement technology available from Vega, who tells us that the optimized Vegapuls instrument series is making this technology even more versatile and reliable.
Of particular interest in this issue is the article on the current state of biofuels production in South Africa. The article is based on a report issued by the Chair of Energy Research: Biofuels, "South Africa Biofuels, IEA Taskgroup 39 Progress Report" and was written by W H (Emile) van Zyl and Bernard A Prior, Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Alongside this paper, we ran a story about a new biofuels technology company, Stellenbosch Biomass Technologies (SBMT) which was launched on Friday 2 July in Sandton, Johannesburg. SBMT, which is associated with Stellenbosch University as a research partner, has the ability and expertise to lead southern Africa towards a sustainable energy future.
Hope you enjoy this very topical submission and also find something more of interest in our July pages. Do take a look at the photos of our annual prizegiving for our ‘Chemical Technology' Awards and see who won what! We shall be starting to promote the next competition shortly. Keep your eyes peeled!
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Calibration - the science of applied accuracy
by Frans van den Berg, Product Manager: Flow, and Etienne Abrahams, Calibration Adviser, Endress+Hauser, South Africa
Frans van den Berg is the Product Manager for Flow. He oversees all aspects of flow measurement from product marketing to application consultation and product selection. Etienne Abrahams has worked his way up over the past five years from trainee to Calibration Adviser. His key role is technical support advising customers concerning their calibration requirements.
High measuring accuracy under ideal reference operating conditions is not everything. What is of crucial importance though, is that the devices do what they are supposed to do in everyday practical circumstances, which is why calibration is accuracy's best friend.
Rapid Microbiological Monitoring Methods
by Josée Chalut, Cooling Water Product Manager, Water Technologies Division, Buckman Laboratories Inc, Memphis, Tennessee, and Darrell Rose, Regional Manager, Water Technologies Division, Buckman Laboratories Inc, Crowder, Oklahoma, USA
Control of biological growth is important in cooling water systems because of its impact on heat transfer and corrosion. Biofouling in industrial water systems adversely affects heat exchanger efficiency, corrosion resistance, ion exchange and RO (reverse osmosis) performance. The accumulation of slime masses may also result in microbiologically induced corrosion- (MIC -) related failures as well as producing undesirable odours and posing potential health concerns.
In this article the authors discuss approaches to microbiological monitoring and present results on an on-line monitoring tool that address many of the concerns that have limited their application in the past.
