Many registered engineers countrywide have expressed fierce resistance to the now mandatory compliance with Continuing Professional Development (CPD). After all, why should hard working, qualified and registered engineering practitioners waste time and money complying with an Act of government they believe that they had no part in and do not believe in?

Take note
• CPD will improve the establishment of communities of practice.
• CPD is merely a recording of what the majority of practitioners do in any event.
• Registered persons will not be able to record Category 1 activities on the ECSA website without having the validation number from the relevant voluntary association or tertiary institution.

About the author
Ian Fleming is an independent freelance journalist.
For more information on the article please contact Johan Pienaar on (011) 607 9526 or Bea Lacquet on (011) 717 7012.

SAACE Engineers in Practice kicks off 2007 Siemens tackles South Africa's skills shortages

Many industries require the use of Intrinsically Safe (IS) systems. In this two-part article we first overview the principle of IS, and in a later article focus specifically on power supplies for use in these applications.

Take note
• The first edition of the IEC standard for IS fieldbus systems (IEC 60079-27) was published in April 2005.
• Cabling poses no specific challenge regarding IS requirements in a fieldbus situation.
• Particular attention needs to be paid to the design of power supplies in field devices to meet FISCO requirements.

About the author
Phil Saward currently holds the position of product manager for fieldbus products at MTL in the UK. MTL is locally represented by Extech Safety Systems.
For more information locally contact Gary Friend on (011) 791 6000 or garyf@tempcon.co.za.

Is it safe to open the panel? New stakeless earth ground loop testing Circuit breakers deliver continuous broadcasting A practical solution for pump motor protection

This article is a summary of the research work conducted by a research team from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) under the direction of a South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) research steering committee. The research team’s objective was: “To formulate a rational approach to the application of surge protection in Low Voltage (LV) installations, with due regard to the safety of people, installations and equipment, and to the cost to benefit ratio.”

Take note
• Lightning protection is a risk management process.
• A rational approach to the application of SPDs has been formulated.
• Risk R1 (human life) and R4 (economic loss) are most pertinent when considering lightning protection.
• All services entering a structure should be bonded (sometimes via an SPD).
• All services should enter a structure in close proximity.


About the author
Viv Cohen is a member of the SANS 10142-1 working group. In his fields of expertise, he also represented the SABS and South African interests internationally at the IEC.
For more information contact Adolf Claassen at the SABS on (012) 428 7911.

South Africa has, over the past few years, been subjected to numerous so-called ‘brown-outs’ and ‘black-outs’, as a result of the demand for electricity exceeding the current installed capacity in the country. Similarly, the world is currently experiencing an ever-increasing problem of ‘obesity’ in society, especially amongst the youth. This article examines both ‘problem-situations’, and seeks to address the numerous synergies that exist between these two phenomena, which could be referred to as ‘Electrobesity’.

Take note
• ‘Electrobesity’ is the term used to describe the obese electrical consumption habits of South Africans.
• Consumers need to be encouraged to introduce a broader mix of energy carriers for a ‘balanced electrical diet’.
• Energy appliance labeling will be here soon to help consumers make educated decisions.
• Eskom’s capital expansion programme has increased from R95 billion in December 2006 to R150 billion over the next five years, in March 2007.


About the author
Barry Bredenkamp joined Eskom in the Power Marketing Division in 1983 and is currently seconded to the National Energy Efficiency Agency (a division of CEF) as acting general operations manager. He holds various marketing diplomas through the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM), and has a Management Development Programme (MDP) diploma from the University of Pretoria. Barry has served on the Communications and Publicity Committee of the Illumination Engineering Society of South Africa (IESSA), and is a past Chairman of the internationally affiliated Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA).
Barry can be contacted on (011) 280 0411 or barryb@cef.org.za.

New advanced troubleshooting tool for electrical loads Expanded output voltage range Major drive to reduce energy demand New Powerware UPS offers superior protection InfraStruXure InRow SC cooling unit

The primary barriers of Ethernet Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol’s (TCP/IP) entrance into industrial automation (determinism, synchronisation, protocol selection, environment suitability) are still a concern to a few extremely specialised applications. But, for the vast majority of HMI/SCADA markets, these barriers have been broken in total and the new developments are more interesting for this smaller niche market.

Take note
• Industrial Ethernet is optimised to work in harsh conditions.
• In an industrial application issues such as security, realtime capability and bandwidth availability are critical.
• Industrial Ethernet integrates seamlessly into Profinet, Ethernet/IP and Modbus TCP, amongst others.


About the author
Burg van der Westhuizen obtained his BSc from Potchefstroom University. From 1987 to 1989 he worked as project leader on a number of electronic development programs for military applications. Burg ran his own business from 1989, when he was involved in the following areas: SCADA projects, data acquisition projects and industrial networking. All these involved consulting, system design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning. Burg has been general manager of Industrial Automation and Control (IAC) since 1998.
He can be contacted on burg@iacontrol.co.za.

The phone rings and our young instrumentation engineer puts down his latest copy of Electricity+Control to answer the call. It’s the Boss. Next thing he is on the 3 x 6 avocado green carpet in Boss Man’s office, cooling his heels, while Boss Man’s busy with another call. There is a pile of Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) on Boss Man’s desk. Our young guy tries discretely to read upside down, but has to avert his eyes, as Boss Man sits back in his chair in a way that tells him this is not a short call. Our young engineer gets this distinct feeling of Déjà vu [1], so, he parks himself and waits. He stares at the ceiling. He stares at his feet. He stares at the Boss Man until the Boss Man stares back at him. He stares at the edge of the desk. Then he runs out of things to stare at [2]. Eventually the call ends and Boss Man says to our young engineer,”Hi, how are you feeling?”

Take Note
• After project start up expect your body to go into shock due to a decline of adrenalin rush.
• At project close-out, those who bucked the system start biting their nails.
• A job is only complete once the documentation is done.
• A ‘lessons learnt’ exercise is valuable to future projects, like in this case not to use the electrical sub-contractor for the instrument work.


Resume
Bill Steenberg is a qualified industrial instrumentation mechanician and holds a National Technical Diploma in Industrial Instrumentation and Control Systems. He has 25 years experience in the chemical, petrochemical, mining and metallurgical process industries and is a freelance senior instrumentation engineer.

New cost-effective Profibus interface from CHI Interface for Ethernet - Profibus Introducing Delta's temperature controllers Adroit HMI used in first cold coil server drive application

In this article, we take a fresh look at control valve selection for the hydrocarbon industry and clarify those application issues that need to be considered if end-users are to achieve commercially attractive and technically long-lasting solutions in control services. It is concluded that rotary valves are capable of handling a big majority of applications in the hydrocarbon industry reliably, and provides supporting references.

Take note
• All valves have their pros and cons.
• Rotary control valves offer specific benefits in the hydrocarbon industry.
•In many instances rotary control valves are the most compact option.
• Reliability is the ability of a valve to perform exactly as it should, when it should, and for as long as it should.


About the author
Jari Kirmanen, who gained an MSc in Applied Physics, has 11 years of experience in the valve business, which was preceded by five years as a research engineer in the area of flow technology. During his career, Jari has developed expertise in flow, valve sizing, noise and control technologies as well as in valve applications. Since 2004, he has been the Finnish national representative on the International Standardisation Committee for control valves (IEC SC 65B/WG9), and is a member of the ISA. Jari currently holds the position of manager for energy and hydrocarbon valve applications for the Metso Automation Neles product line.
For more information on the Neles product range contact Steve Clark at the local Metso Automation office on steve.clark@metso.com.

One of the most common uses of valves is in the control of steam systems. In these applications the role of the valve is critical [1]. In this first part, we consider the benefits of steam, and review why it is used at all.

Take note
• Steam is efficient and it is economic to generate.
• Steam can easily be distributed to the point of use.
• Steam is easy to control and a steam plant is easy to manage.


About the author
This article stems from 75 years of grass roots field experience. Many people, past and present, are responsible for the quality of this information, predominantly Albert Armer (rtd) who still advises on technical issues. The latest incumbent is Phil Stockford, I Eng. MIET, who first joined Spirax in 1980 and has spent the last 10 years collating information to their present status. Bobbie Brooke-Taylor is the local contact for the article.
Bobbie can be contacted on BobbieBrooke-Taylor@za.spiraxsarco.com.

Pneumatic rotary actuators Valve island offers outstanding flow to size ratioIideal fieldbus control for process valves