The SAIMC Vaal branch had a busy year to date with a number of exciting events that took place. We started off with the usual Vaal branch braai which was well attended. Making use of the hospitality of the Iscor bowling club and their facilities in Vanderbijlpark, we brought many of the Vaal region members together for a very enjoyable evening.
From the Vaal branch perspective the 2013 year brings with it a new set of challenges. So if you have ever wanted to serve within the branch now is the time to get involved. This year we will continue our drive to promote automation and instrumentation as a profession and encourage school leavers to enter this amazing industry of ours. In addition, the ECSA accredited technology evening presentations have proved to be of great value to our members who need CPD points as part of their continued development.
March Technology Evening
In March we had a presentation from Hennie Pretorius from Exact Measurement and Control. The topic was ‘Gas calorific value measurement and application’. We were introduced to the basics of CV measurement which included interesting explanations of calorific value and the Wobbe index. In the presentation we became aware of the importance of having good measurement of the quality of hydrocarbon off-gasses used for furnace/heater firing and the impact that variation may have on temperature control in the production process. The most important aspect mentioned was that off-gasses used as firing fuel can vary significantly in composition and therefore require a fast acting and accurate CV analyser to ensure adequate process control. In addition, consideration must be given to the analyser sample system to ensure that a clean sample is always provided for analysis. The design of the analyser sample and measurement systems must also ensure that maintenance can be carried out timeously and with relative ease.
Also present was Alfred Ross, managing director of Exact who contributed to the lively discussion and together with Hennie took receipt of the certificates of appreciation.
May Technology Evening
In May, branch chairman Eben Grobbelaar introduced the guest speaker Johan van Niekerk from Emerson Process Management who on the subject ‘Smart Partial stroke testing for ESD valves’. The topic covered the status and progress made in control/ESD valve partial stroking device technology as well as its application in safety systems. The discussion included aspects like Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD), Failure Modes Effects and Diagnostics Analysis (FMEDA) and how this relates to failure detection methods used in the safety calculations.
Also covered was the capability of conducting scheduled or manually activated partial stroking tests and how differences in tests can influence the diagnostic coverage provided for such tests. The most interesting part was the discussion on the different wiring configurations and diagnostic alarming capabilities, and the large improvements in development over recent years.
Members and visitors
The turnout from the Vaal members in 2013 has been consistently good with representation from the chemical and petrochemical industry, steel plants, mining, power producers, engineering and design firms, product suppliers and many more. The branch has its meetings on the first Thursday of every month at the Iscor bowling club in Vanderbijlpark. We would like to thank our audiences for the unwavering support and we are looking forward to seeing you at the next meeting.
The June presentation will be done by Gary Friend from Extech and the topic will be ‘Cyber security in modern process control networks’. It promises to be interesting and we will give feedback next time. Contact Eben Grobbelaar (083 405 0654) or Oratile Sematle (083 413 9439) for more information.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | ina@saimc.co.za |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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