Sustainability in the packaging industry is a key aspect of the fight against plastic waste and, ultimately, climate change. The challenges that this presents require flexible and powerful automation technology. OMRON, a global leader in industrial automation, presents some of the changes and technologies that offer solutions.

Hitachi Energy recently launched a new transformer solution for floating applications, which is the first entry into the company’s OceaniQ™ portfolio of solutions to address the unique challenges of the offshore environment.

While Booyco Engineering has been designing HVAC systems for South Africa’s rail industry for over three decades, it has also been serving the world’s largest rail players for more than 15 years by meeting their exacting standards, including design, development, qualification and documentation.

South African mine ventilation specialist BBE, with 20 years of designing, commissioning, and troubleshooting critical ventilation systems in South Africa’s deep and hot gold, platinum and copper mines, is putting its experience to beneficial use across the globe, currently in Mexico, where mines are getting deeper. Director and Senior Engineer at BBE, Ross Wilson, explains.

The thyssenkrupp Uhde (TK Udhe) management team explains how laser scanning technologies and the company’s renowned plant engineering know-how are being combined to enhance the company’s brownfield plant modularisation offering.

As an example of its customised drive solutions offering to the mining industry, Bonfiglioli has recently developed and installed a purpose-built impeller drive for the flotation cells of a local mine’s processing circuit.

Master Drilling CEO, Danie Pretorius, talks about his company’s recent success in completing the world’s deepest raised-bore shaft construction project.

An innovative expansion at a Namibian gold mine is to boost production by 50%, with vibrating screen specialist Kwatani on hand with its world class vibrating screens and feeder solutions. Kwatani is well known in Namibia and has worked with this customer and its EPC contractors for almost three years on the project, ensuring the best possible result.

Multotec’s Realtime Automated Metallurgical Accounting (RAMA™) system brings three sampling disciplines – metallurgical accounting slurry sampling, sub-sampling, and preparation and analysis – into one solution. It promises to deliver significant value by unlocking higher mineral content through improved grade control and recovery, as well as by optimising the consumption of reagents.

Weir Minerals Africa’s product and service offering aims to assist mines to reduce their overall water consumption while optimising usage requirements.

MechChem Africa talks to Darryl MacDougall, Managing Director of Verder Pumps South Africa, about recent innovations: the newly designed Verderflex Dura 65 peristaltic hose pump; the Verderair e-PURE electrically driven double diaphragm pump; and the addition of JABSCO Rotary Lobe pumps for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.

Marthinusen & Coutts (M&C) recently repaired the rotor of an aging 30 MW generator, which had failed during operation at Sappi’s Saiccor pulp mill in Umkomaas, KwaZulu-Natal. Rudi Els, general manager of the Power Generation & Large Motor facility at M&C tells the story.

Pilot Crushtec’s Jorge Abelho talks about the advantages of using Metso Minerals’ advanced primary jaw crushers, secondary cone crushers and vibrating screens, and the role played by Metso Metrics in protecting these machines, preventing unplanned downtime and delivering value for money.

Leading engineering solutions specialist BMG provides the engineering components and support services that, if coupled with a structured maintenance programme, will ensure high productivity, reduced energy consumption, minimal downtime and long service life of systems.

On Friday May 6, I logged into a virtual launch event being held at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena PGM mine in Limpopo, South Africa. Being introduced was the world’s first 510 t ultra-class load haul mining truck to be fuelled by hydrogen and electrically driven via hydrogen fuel cells.

Xylem, in partnership with water consultancy Isle Utilities, has introduced an industry-first approach to funding and scaling for breakthrough water technologies. Called The Trial Reservoir, the initiative will tackle one of the major sticking points in the industry’s transformation: the pace of technology adoption. Piers Clark, the founder and chairman of Isle Utilities, and Sivan Zamir, head of Xylem Innovation Labs, explain.

MAXOLUTION engineer Dylan Enslin of SEW EURODRIVE SA introduces the new MOVI-C^® range of drive automation solutions, which is now available in South Africa and will soon be one of the key product lines to be locally assembled in the company’s Aeroton premises in Johannesburg.

Leveraging its considerable in-house expertise and local manufacturing capability, Zest WEG has custom designed and manufactured a mobile substation solution for Guinea – its biggest such mobile unit yet manufactured in South Africa. The innovative 50 MVA substation will perform a range of duties for the Utility Company of Guinea, including providing emergency and standby power.

MechChem Africa talks to Ian Ainsworth, Business Line Manager for Atlas Copco Compressor Technique Service (CTS), about the company’s advanced add-on services for helping clients to get the best possible value, efficiency and reliability from their compressed air.

Better mineral recoveries are being achieved during test work at Multotec’s in-house testing facility, proving that revenues can be improved and tailings reduced by applying a combination of different technologies. In a recent project for a manganese producer, the company has demonstrated how well its ultra-fine spiral concentrator and magnetic separator work in conjunction.