I was asked to chair the third day of the Second Annual Bulk Liquid Storage Tanks Conference held from 25 to 27 June at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre. The feedback from the 47 delegates was immensely positive regarding the content, the calibre of speakers, the conference's ability to present new ideas and providing the opportunity to establish new business relationships.
Vivian MacFadyen
Although this industry only requires a narrow array of instrumentation, the different speakers opened up intriguing understanding of a subject that many of us do not even consider under usual circumstances. Did you know that large tanks, the type you see whilst passing a petroleum refinery, are continuously moving?
As they fill up, they get fatter and shorter. The temperature of the product causes expansion and contraction. These movements, even though they are measured in a few millimetres make it difficult to automatically measure the volume of product in the tank.
If you mount a level gauge on the top of the tank, the gauge goes up and down, or the cross sectional area changes. This makes a simple formula of πr²xh impossible to apply. Obviously, this applies to accurate measurement required for custody transfer, if you are simply preventing the tank over-filling or being sucked dry, you could almost use a plastic bag.
This highlights the fact that the instrument application engineer needs to fully understand an application before specifying a gauge. It is no good supplying a gauge suitable for 1 mm accuracy if the mounting structure moves up and down by 10 mm, and wobbles in the wind. Well, now I am on my old hobby-horse - skills. If we do not have students that have studied physical science in their schooling, how will they even hope to understand the implications of industrial measurement, let alone use a tape measure?
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Durban branch of the SAIMC was pleased to welcome Vusi Sithole, managing member of Hybrid Control Corporation in Richards Bay, who presented\on the very pertinent topic of ‘Infrastructure monitoring and control for water loss management’.
Read more...SAIMC: Sunshine, swings and smiles: Durban Golf Day hits a high note Technews Publishing (SA Instrumentation & Control)
SAIMC
We say it every year, and we’ll say it again: May in Durban is hard to beat; but 9 May, when the Durban Golf Day teed off at Kloof Country Club, was something else. With sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 20s, it was a fantastic day, full of fun and great energy.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event: Bridging the industry/education divide
SAIMC
Horst Weinert, head of Didactic at Festo Southern/Eastern Africa, will be sharing some of Festo’s Didactic experiences of working across industry and education. He will cover training for productivity and employability in the public and private sectors, discussing especially the potential for inter-company training centres.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The local Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC recently hosted a Technology Evening at Bryanston Sports Club on 9 April 2025.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The April technology meeting for the Durban branch of the SAIMC was kindly sponsored by ProRisk, a subsidiary company of the Proconics Group of Companies. Process safety engineer, Guillaume de Swardt gave a fascinating presentation on the power of operational risk control by utilising CFD software.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The SAIMC User Advisory Council started 2025 with its first event in the ‘Knowlege Sharing 4 Industry’ event series on the 19th of March.
Read more...Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry
SAIMC
In proud partnership with Innomotics, SAIMC will be hosting the first Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry event for 2025.
Read more...Getting your OT data into the cloud – the why and the how
SAIMC
As users recognise the benefits of a digital transformation strategy for their industrial plants and systems and start to adopt it, they soon face the challenge of getting operational technology data securely and reliably to a cloud service provider of their choice.
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