Synthetic biology (synbio) has emerged as an alternative to traditional petrochemical synthesis for applications in agrifood; beauty and personal care; chemicals; and consumer products. MechChem Africa presents findings from the executive summary of a report by lead analyst, Gihan Hewage, and research vice president, Michael Holman, from global primary research and technology innovator, Lux Research.

As an experienced technology provider for mask production equipment, Weber Ultrasonics AG now manufactures respiratory and surgical masks in Germany, with the help of the fast and active support of surrounding companies and the dedication of its own employees.

Clive Govender, executive responsible for strategy development and implementation for Aquamarine Water Solutions, a Murray & Roberts Group company, talks about a new approach to servicing water needs in Africa.

MechChem Africa talks to Chetan Mistry, strategy and marketing manager at Xylem Water Solutions SA, about South Africa’s urgent need for better water management to mitigate against climate change and the fast evolving set of solutions becoming available to support more efficient and more local wastewater handling and recycling.

Engineering, design, and advisory company Aurecon supplied mechanical and environmentally sustainable design (ESD) services for the iconic 144 Oxford Road office development in Rosebank, Johannesburg. This played a key role in the project aiming for a 5-Star Green Star Design Certification from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA).

The Accumin™ automatic lubrication system recently launched by Weir Minerals helps customers to get the most out of their critical assets by preventing bearing failures and reducing Total Ownership Costs.

Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) presents an ongoing, significant and costly challenge to processing industries, and still makes up a large percentage of global maintenance expenditures. President of EonCoat Merrick Alpert explains some approaches to better manage corrosion and its accompanying costs.

With the general decline in ore grades in mining, FLSmidth’s market-leading expertise in mineral sampling and laboratory automation holds increasing value to mines.

MechChem Africa talks to Tillmann Olsen – regional president for Africa and CEO of the Bosch Rexroth SA Group – about the company’s Africa Strategy and the initiatives being put in place to increase the Group’s footprint on the continent.

Darryn Wright, marketing executive for ESG, part of Invicta Holdings and the division that manages and supports BMG, talks to MechChem Africa about the essential breakdown, maintenance and refurbishment services that remain available from BMG during the COVID-19 lockdown. “Not only is it critical to keep our essential industrial services up and running during the lockdown, we also need to ensure that we are ready to assist in turning the economy back on as soon as it becomes safe to do so,” he says.

Back in 1976, biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a book on evolution called The Selfish Gene, which popularised a gene-centred view of evolution, an alternative to Charles Darwin’s hereditary view, where advantageous character traits of each species are passed down via reproduction variations.

Hudaco Group company Berntel is expanding its footprint by offering its extensive range of pneumatic products through the Bearings International (BI) branch network. This, in turn, expands BI’s value proposition to its own customer base by offering a wider range of complete solutions for different market segments.

Emerson’s Enrico De Carolis, global technology vice president for Fluid Control and Pneumatics, explains how pneumatics is already established as an advanced technology that lends itself well to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Frans Odendaal, SKF product manager for Power Transmission, argues that the quality to price ratio of SKF-branded components and solutions is the lowest available, either making equivalent quality products more expensive, or similarly priced products inferior with respect to material and manufacturing quality.

Pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies are often hesitant to replace existing sensors because the effort and expense of new approvals can be much greater than the costs of the sensors themselves. In this article, Jürgen Skowaisa, product manager for radar at VEGA, shows by way of a success story that there are other ways.

As from midnight of March 27, South Africa became the latest country to implement unprecedented restrictions on the movement of people. In the global effort to slow the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus, a third of the nations of the world are now locked down, confined to staying home and forbidden to travel or socialise. Restaurants, cafés, theatres, cinemas, clubs and bars are closed and all gatherings of two or more people are being vigorously discouraged and, in many countries, enforced by police and soldiers.

In seeking a climate-friendly and economically viable process to capture and utilise carbon dioxide (CO2), VTT and its business partners have launched a two-year project called BECCU to produce speciality chemicals from the CO2 produced during bioenergy production.

TOMRA’s X-Ray Transmission (XRT) sensor-based ore sorting is an established technology in physical separation that has proved extremely effective in mining operations for a variety of minerals, including chrome. Its benefits are significant: Less complexity in the process, considerably lower costs, higher productivity and profitability – and the added advantage of a lower environmental impact.

Specialist vibrating equipment OEM, Kwatani, stands out for its heavy-duty machines that are engineered for tonnage and customised for specific applications. CEO Kim Schoepflin and GM Operations, Riaan Steinmann discuss how the company is leveraging years of experience in the field to bring fit-for-purpose products to clients.

Smart manufacturing practices making use of connected technology hold the power to improve efficiency and optimise factory operations. However, with the increased use of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) comes the threat of a cyber breach.