From the Sandton summit, to clear air

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IBG - SA Instrumentation & Control Buyers' Guide

October 2002 News

Now that we can move about Sandton without falling over a policeman, being mesmerised by a myriad of police cars, or sneezed at by a horse, it would be well to reflect on the outcome of all the chats in the Convention Centre and think about where we are at.

Although South Africa is not yet up to the standards of legislation seen in other countries, it is pleasing to note that legislation is being put into place, and that many of our industries are being good citizens of our global village and are already monitoring emissions from their plants. Protea Automation Solutions has committed itself to assist industry in its quest for a cleaner air society.

Protea Automation Solutions has been providing industry with successful process analytical solutions for a number of years, representing and supplying the Maihak range of analysers. With the recent buyout of Maihak by SICK to create SICK/Maihak, and the appointment of Protea Automation Solutions to represent its total range of analysers, it has placed the company in the unique position of being able to offer solutions in both the process industry and the environmental monitoring industry.

Clean air in highly industrialised countries is by no means accidental. It is the result of optimised processes, efficient filtration plants, and reliable emission measurement technology. SICK has helped shape the latter aspect during the last 40 years by the development of numerous technologically in-situ measurement systems for the measurement of dust and gas emissions.

The passage into law of German clean air regulations (Technischen Anleitung Luft) at the beginning of the '70s gave great impetus to the development of analysing measurement devices with which one could monitor and prove the maintenance of legal limit values. In the following years, process control and filtration technology improved consistently - with the result that the hitherto proven dust measurement technology came up against its limits of resolution. New approaches towards detecting lower concentrations were taken, eg for monitoring bag filters for splits and dust emission. For this purpose SICK developed a new measurement system based on the scattered light principle - the RM210 dust measurement device. This device operated so accurately that the Technical Monitoring Association (TüV) approved this measurement process for the authority's monitoring of emissions - the first approval of this type. This is just one example of the many devices developed by SICK to monitor dust and gas for clean environmental purposes.

For more information contact Keith Guest, Protea Automation Solutions, 011 719 5700, pas@protea.co.za

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From the Sandton summit, to clear air

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