The branch’s April Technology Evening was held on 1 April, but fortunately the time for April fools jokes was over when Divan Pretorius, senior engineer at Proconics, got down to the serious business of tackling Hazardous Area Classification and the legal requirements for safety and control of industrial combustion and fuel-handling systems in South Africa.
Divan (left) being thanked by branch chairman Howard Lister.
Divan pointed out that current legislation in South Africa requires compliance with a number of SANS Standards and one of particular interest and relevance to instrumentation and control practitioners is SANS 329. It specifies requirements for fuel-handling and combustion equipment in terms of design, ordering, construction and operation, and is applicable to gaseous, liquid and solid fuels. The standard mostly focuses on control and safeguarding systems, but does also stipulate a number of electrical and mechanical requirements. The presentation showed examples of typical requirements, and typical findings from audits conducted in the refining environment as well as issues regarding hazardous area classification of fired heaters and similar equipment.
His presentation prompted quite a long question and answer session with the attentive audience, after which discussion of the technical issues continued over an excellent supper supplied by the Durban Country Club.
As a certified functional safety professional and an authorised gas practitioner with SAGA (South African Gas Association), Divan was well qualified to present on this topic and the evening was kindly sponsored by Proconics.
Durban branch
SAIMC
At the Durban branch of the SAIMC held in October, Mitch Naidoo took the attendees on an interesting journey on Asset Health Management: Tracking The Pulse Of Your Plant.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
At the Durban branch of the SAIMC held in October, Mitch Naidoo took the attendees on an interesting journey on Asset Health Management: Tracking The Pulse Of Your Plant.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Johannesburg Branch technical evening was hosted by Proconics Advanced Solutions. The topic of the session was ‘Turning Big 3D Data into Actionable Engineering Insights – Challenges and Smart Solutions’.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council Annual Summit 2025 SAIMC
SAIMC
October 2025 marked a pivotal moment for the South African automation and manufacturing community as the SAIMC User Advisory Council hosted its first annual summit under the SAIMC banner.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg
SAIMC
The Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC hosted a successful Technology Evening on 10 September. The event was well attended and generously sponsored by Phoenix Contact.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
At SAIMC Durban’s October Technology Evening, Nico Erasmus delivered a thought-provoking presentation on a topic close to every automation professional’s heart: PLC and Drive Manufacturer Generational Hardware - UpGrades, UpGates or UpRates?
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC hosted a successful Technology Evening on 10 September. The event was well attended and generously sponsored by Phoenix Contact.
Read more...Why ECSA matters SAIMC
SAIMC
I always knew I had to register as a Professional Engineer. Then I opened the registration guidelines.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version