sparks
ELECTRICAL NEWS
october 2014
energy measurement and supply
21
Power innovation a necessity for South African business
ZESTWEG Group subsidiary, EnI Electrical has opened a branch
in Rustenburg to provide electrical construction expertise on
both small and large scale projects in the region. The new facility
shares premises with the ZestWEG Group’s facility in the city.
EnI Electrical, a specialist electrical, instrumentation and control
systems construction company, has been active in the North
West Province for many years, counting among its many success-
fully completed projects the Glencore Xstrata Tswelopele Project,
for which it supplied a complete electrical solution for a 600 000
tpa ferrochrome pelletising and sintering plant.
Trevor Naude, managing director of EnI Electrical, says the
contract was secured on the strength of the company’s ability to
cover the entire spectrumof electrical requirements, from supply
of long lead items, such as transformers, to electric motors and
full electrical and instrumentation installation.
At theWaterval Mall, the only regional shopping centre in the
region, EnI Electrical has completed a solar power installation,
comprising 2 300 individual solar panels with 19 invertors, which
will supply some 570 kW to the mall. This was a fast track project
completed over three months. The company has also provided
electrical and instrumentation construction work at Tharisa Mine
on the south-western limb of the Bushveld Complex, where more
than 180 personnel were on site for more than 16 weeks.
Under the guidance of manager, Gert Janse van Rensburg, EnI
Under the guidance of manager, Gert Janse van Rensburg, EnI Electrical’s
new Rustenburg branch has already completed a number of small WEG
product installations for customers.
New branch provides electrical construction expertise
ESKOM’s recent announcement that
the utility will reintroduce load shed-
ding this winter is not good news
for South Africans. Apart from the
inconvenience of having no electric-
ity, businesses may have to face the
fact that, for a few hours each day,
revenue-generating activities will
come to a standstill and staff will be
sitting idle.
Master Power Technologies manu-
factures power solutions that ensure
it will be‘business as usual’and profit
is not compromised by power out-
ages. In a competitive market where
local and international companies
are vying for power-related business,
however, simply manufacturing UPSs,
generators and supporting products
does not guarantee happy customers.
To ensure it remains at the forefront
of power management solutions,
Master Power Technologies launched
its research and development (R&D)
The easy-to-read 11 000-count display MT957
LCR and capacitance meter provides direct and
accurate measurements of inductors, capaci-
tors and resistors with different frequencies
and selectable auto ranging. This handheld,
battery-operated meter has convenient front
panel push buttons and controls that include
functions such as data hold, maximum and
minimum record and relative mode. This meter
is designed for general applications especially
in field maintenance and service applications,”
says Major Tech’s Werner Grobbelaar.
Enquiries: +27 11 872 5500
Capacitance meter
for accurate
measurements
department four years ago.
Headed by Ruan duToit, the R&D
department is responsible for ensur-
ing Master Power’s products and
services remain at the forefront of
power management on the continent.
Today there are six skilled engineers
working full time in the R&D depart-
ment, creating innovative hardware
and software solutions.
The department’s first goal was
to develop Master Power’s testing
centre. The testing centre was built to
ensure the company’s UPSs met IEC
(International Electrotechnical Com-
mission) standards. Du Toit explains
that the tests are fully automated
to ensure consistency and accuracy
every time. The R&D department then
went on to develop the hardware and
software for Master Power’s Universal
Controller (UC), which, as its primary
function, ensures a reliable changeo-
ver between utility power and
generators.“It’s critical tomanage the
changeover reliably tomaintain a sta-
ble power supply to the whole facility
or datacentre to eliminate data loss or
equipment damage,”says Du Toit.
The UCwas then expanded to
include buildingmanagement system
(BMS) functionality, which constantly
monitors the status of electrical equip-
ment, such as fire alarms and panels,
batteries, generators, HVAC (heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning) and
more.Today, multiple clients’equip-
ment ismonitored and reports are sent
to a remote site to provide a constant
overviewof the status of their systems
andwarn of impending or existing
failures. “We then extended this to
produce our batterymodulemanage-
ment system (BMMS),”says DuToit.
“This allows clients andMaster Power
to continuallymonitor the status and
health of batteries andmanage correc-
tive actions, if needed.
“We are able to tell if a single bat-
tery or a string of batteries is failing
well before the situation turns into
an emergency. More importantly,
by identifying and replacing a single
failing battery, we can significantly
extend the life of the UPS battery.”
On the software side, the R&D de-
partment has developed an Android
tablet app that allows for the manage-
ment of the UC. In keeping with the
company’s sustainability commit-
ment, the R&D department is in the
process of developing a solution that
will monitor solar panels to ensure
they performoptimally. The testing
centre will be expanded to include
generator testing in the near future.
“The R&D department boasts a
range of engineering skills that allow
MEGGER’S newMIT515, MIT525 and
MIT1025 insulation resistance testers are
smaller and lighter than previous models
yet offer advanced features and rapid
charge capability. The range consists of
three models: an entry
Electrical’s new Rustenburg branch has already completed a num-
ber of small WEG product installations for customers that include
Pilanesberg Platinum, Glencore Kroondal, the Anglo American
Platinum Smelter Complex and Hernic Ferrochrome.
Enquiries: +27 11 723 6000
Smaller, lighter insulation resistance testers
level 5 kV and two fully featured units, one
5 kV the other 10 kV. Resistance measure-
ment is up to 10 TΩ for the 5 kVmodels
and 20 TΩ for the 10 kVmodel.]
A key productivity feature is the ability
to take measurements when connected
to line power/mains with a dead battery.
Intelligent battery charging ensures the
optimum charge rate as a function of bat-
tery level, resulting inminimum charge
times. The rugged case provides ultimate
protection for a portable instrument and
a clip-on lead pouch ensures that leads
remain with the instrument at all times.
The case lid is removable for improved
terminal access. IP rating is IP65 with
the case closed preventing water
and dust ingress. High reliability
and safety are built in and all models
are safety rated to CATIV 600 V and are
double insulated.
Five pre-set voltage ranges are provided
in insulation test mode, plus a user settable
lock voltage range. Preconfigured diag-
nostic tests include polarisation index (PI),
dielectric absorption ratio (DAR), dielec-
tric discharge (DD), stepped voltage (SV)
and ramp test. Simplicity of operation is
achieved with two rotary switches and the
large backlight display enables multiple
results to be displayed simultaneously.
Advancedmemory storage includes time
and date stamping of results, logging of
data and recall of results to screen. A fully
isolated USB device interface (type B) is
used for safe transfer of data to Megger’s
PowerDB/Pro, Advanced and Lite asset
management software.
Megger is represented locally
by Surgetek.
All content courtesy of Megger.
Enquiries: +27 11 792 1303
us to design and develop both hard-
ware and software innovations that
provide our clients with better control
over their power management sys-
tems,”notes DuToit.“Effective moni-
toring andmanagement means a
longer system life, and greater system
reliability whichmeans more value for
the customer and an increased return
on investment (ROI).”
as well as other market sectors
where power supply and operational
uptime are critical.
The company has its head office,
as well as design, R&D andmanu-
facturing facilities in Randburg with
branches in Durban and Cape Town.
The company also has satellite offices
in Kitwe and Lusaka in Zambia.
Enquiries: +27 11 792 7230
