October 2010
IRP 2010: Why so little CSP?
Do we have faith in our local engineering expertise, and are we not trapped in a reverse laager mentality, a belief that local engineering is inferior? The editor's comment this month questions for how long Africa, and increasingly South Africa, will continue to look for technical expertise outside its borders.
We have long been able to export South African expertise. In this issue, we look at the IMBS' South African-developed FinesmeltTM technology - a solution for beneficiating the fines dumps cluttering both steel plants and iron ore mines all over the world - backed to the tune of US$17-million by Severstal of Russia.
We also report on how SA-born Pierre Terblanche, who became Ducati's highly successful designer, returned to Soshanguve to help create a high-temperature, fuel cell-driven tricycle - the first to use hydride storage technology.
On the functional side of good engineering, we find out about our innovative role in the global sugar industry, in developing increasingly efficient drive solutions for old international problems.
MechTech's overwhelming impression of the recently released IRP 2010, is that this is much closer to a business-as-usual scenario than it is to a new direction for energy generation. It seems as if we will have to rely on coal until 2023; then start moving over to nuclear; and in the meantime, add some token 100 MW wind farms to ‘prove emission reduction intentions; and, reluctantly, in about five year's time, some concentrated solar power (CSP) because it is an ‘underdeveloped and untested technology'.
We ask why CSP technology is being treated so tentatively, and give the reasons why this should not be so.
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Front cover story
Veyance's Cord GuardTM technology, being distributed worldwide, is developed by the company's Durban-based SA partner, advanced Imaging Technologies. MechTech catches up with Craig Rouhana, sales and marketing director of Veyance Technologies SA at the recently-held Electra Mining Show, to discuss how Cord Guard is aimed at supporting the drive towards lower risk, less downtime and lower costs across the whole lifecycle of steel cord conveyor belts.
Special report
MechTech attends a Hatch business breakfast where Hatch Africa's MD Rory Kirk, talks about the company's history, growth, successes and vision, since opening its doors in South Africa in July 1995. Hatch Africa has positioned itself as a company that is more than willing to take on challenging projects. "Rather than a routine, run-of-the-mill project, we are more inclined to take on technical and innovative work, where there is risk, but the reward is great," Kirk says.
MechTech features for December
• Pump systems, pipes and valves
• Robotics, mechatronics and automation
• Demand and supply side energy management
• Modern transport and vehicle solutions
