MechChem Africa talks to Tanya van Zyl of the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) about the success of the training courses developed and delivered as part of the IEE Project in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and about some of the exciting new courses that have been added to extend this success.
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Since 2010, the NCPC-SA has trained over 6 000 professionals in Energy Management Systems and Energy Systems Optimisation in a number of energy systems, including steam, pumps, motors, compressed air and fans: all linked to the principle of energy management and efficiency optimisation.
Describing the core objective of the NCPC training initiatives, Tanya van Zyl says the NCPC-SA offers training at introductory, end user and expert levels and these courses are designed to provide comprehensive learning pathways for professionals wishing to develop expertise in creating more energy efficient and cleaner production plants in South Africa and across the world. “Our resource-efficient and cleaner production (RECP) training is based on the UNIDO/UNEP toolkit and equips trainees with the skills required to conduct assessments and identify and implement improvements. This typically involves the analysis of raw materials, water, waste, energy consumption, along with the identification and implementation of improvements.
“Our energy management training programmes are all based on the SANS/ISO 50001 standard and have created a new profession for individuals to develop and implement energy management systems for industry. Our systems optimisation programmes then focus on the specific technologies where energy efficiency interventions can reduce consumption and carbon emissions while also saving companies substantial amounts money,” she tells MechChem Africa.
“We have recently added a few new specialisations for energy professional to our mix, most notably, Power Quality Management; Biogas Project Development; and Large Scale Cooling and Refrigeration System Optimisation,” says Van Zyl.
Power Quality Management
In introducing the new power quality field, Van Zyl says that this area has become extremely important due to the addition of so many more renewable energy plants to the energy mix. “As companies and professionals begin to convert their electricity use to renewable options, they often forget that the quality of power from multiple sources may not be consistent, which, at worst, can damage equipment and, more commonly, will compromise energy efficiency and system performance,” she says.
Renewable solar and wind power plants, for example, tend to rely on high switching frequency inverters to create grid compatible ac power. This can inject harmonics onto the power grid, creating power quality problems at the point of use. “Most power quality problems can be attributed to faulty connections and/or wiring, though, while frequency disturbances, electromagnetic interference, transients, harmonics and low equipment power factors also need to be properly managed,” she tells MechChem Africa.
The Power Quality End User course covers the fundamental principles of power quality to introduce those involved in electrical systems to power quality; regional regulatory practices; the rights of users and the obligations of utilities; and the legal perspectives that protect users of electrical energy. “We also have an expert course in Power Quality that covers the application of power quality principles, which is aimed at delegates with electrical, mechanical or electro-mechanical backgrounds with field experience or relevant qualifications,” Van Zyl notes.
As with all NCPC-SA expert courses, after the classroom-based theoretical training , the following 9-12 months requires each delegate to perform power quality assessments at his or her workplace and write and present an assessment report for the site. Progress is monitored on a monthly basis via online webinars, during which delegates report progress while being mentored by a facilitator.
The qualification is awarded following a short final written exam, with the candidate’s plant report being assessed for evidence of proficiency.
Biogas Systems Optimisation courses
“Biogas is of particular importance to us at the NCPC, because it allows us to promote the generation of renewable, sustainable energy in the form of biogas from biological waste, which embraces all the principles of the modern circular economy,” continues Van Zyl.
South Africa’s biogas origins can be traced back to a British pilot called John Fry who started a pig farm in South Africa after the second World War. Fry developed an anaerobic methane digester to help him to get rid of the 26 barrow-loads of pig manure he was having to dispose of every day. He was very successful. He generated methane biogas and used it to as fuel for a converted diesel power plant that directly powered the pumps on the farm and a generator.
“As coal gets more difficult and expensive to mine, along with the pressure to reduce greenhouse gases, we have to look to other sources of energy,” says Van Zyl, adding that in South Africa today, biogas has the potential to displace 2 500 MW of grid electricity, equivalent to the size of Eskom’s Arnot coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga
She says that the country’s agriculture sector generates some 40-million tonnes of biomass and organic waste every year, making circular biogas business opportunities far too big to ignore. In addition, according to the Southern African Biogas Industry Association (SABIA), this industry has the potential to create 30 000 jobs, reduce national greenhouse emissions by 2.0% and attract R50-billion in new investment.
There are currently two Biogas courses on offer from the NCPS-SA, the end-user course and an expert course. The two-day Biogas End User course is aimed at developers of small-scale biogas projects such as farmers that focus on animal husbandry or intensive horticulture; commercial and public businesses; eco-industrial parks and many more. Topics covered include the biochemistry and raw materials in biological waste; potential uses of biogas; the circular economy; project development; health, safety and environmental aspects; and how to operate a biogas plant. Successful completion of the Biogas End User course is an entry requirement for the Expert Course.
“The Biogas Expert Course is for professionals wishing to enter the field and, like most of our expert courses, takes place over a period of 9 to 12 months with four-days of classroom teaching at the start, followed by two days of practical, on-site training and demonstration. We then send candidates out for six months to develop practical projects, with regular support and contact from mentors,” notes Van Zyl.
“The last module of the NCPC’s biogas course is what we call ‘the shark tank.’ This is an opportunity for trainees to develop and pitch investment proposals for real-world biogas projects to investors. We invite financial institutions to analyse the risks and critique these business proposals and we also see this as an opportunity for the financial community to get acquainted with the opportunities that a South African biogas industry could offer,” he explains.
CRSO: Cooling and Industrial Refrigeration System Optimisation
The third exciting new set of offerings consists of the CRSO End User and Expert courses, which are aimed at individuals involved with large industrial chiller and refrigeration systems. These individuals may be from industrial plants, they may be energy efficiency experts or even service providers or equipment vendors.
Many industries typically need these large chilling and refrigeration systems: food processing plants, breweries, vegetable farms and meat processing and packaging plants in the food and beverage industries, for example. The automotive industries and large commercial buildings such as shopping malls also use these systems, as do our underground mines.
Using the ‘Systems Approach’ candidates are trained to evaluate cooling and refrigeration (CR) systems; to model their performance using fundamental laws of physics, thermodynamics and heat transfer; and they are equipped to use best practice software tools such as Chiller and Refrigeration Scoping Tool (CRST), Chilled Water System Analysis Tool (CWSAT), CoolPac and 3EPlus, as well to develop load profiles and energy baselines for CR systems.
“The CWSAT software was originally developed by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and funded through the USDoE. The NCPC-SA was able to have the software updated and a metric version now being available with all the temperature data of major cities in Africa,” Van Zyl reveals.
The course provides information on measurements required to manage CR systems, how to measure COP and to estimate the magnitude of specific losses in a CR system. The identification and prioritisation of opportunities in single unit and multi-unit systems, distribution systems (and their insulation) and end-use are all covered.
The use of different fluids such as refrigerants, water, oil and their inter-relationship and impact on the CR system is discussed together with the impacts of the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols, the Kigali amendment and other in-country regulations.
“Lastly the energy costs associated with the CR system are calculated and the primary economic impact of potential opportunities evaluated,” Van Zyl adds.
The first CRSO Expert course will be delivered in November 2021 by the international expert Riyaz Papar and, like the others, starts-off with a four-day theoretical in-plant training session, followed by candidates performing assessments at their own plants and being mentored through online webinars with the facilitator.
The process of applying for CPD accreditations for these new courses has begun and, because the NCPC-SA is ever proactive, plans are already in place for the development of further courses such as Hydrogen Technology, Industrial Water Efficiency, Solar Thermal Systems and Life Cycle Management.
Following the award winning success of the NCPC’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Project, which helped industrial companies save
6.5 TWh of energy, the NCPS-SA continues to meet the demand for new professionals specialised in modern energy-efficient systems and resource optimisation. “These people are sure to be needed as South Africa and the world accelerate the transition to cleaner, carbon neutral and environmentally friendlier industrial practices,” Van Zyl concludes.
www.csir.co.za/national-cleaner-production-centre-south-africa
