You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2012.
Voltage optimisation is the fastest growing energy efficiency technology intervention in major European economies… (more)
Africa is emerging from the world-wide recession as an attractive destination for international investment, not only for its natural resources and the global demand for them, but also because of economic and political reforms creating a more conducive business and investment climate. The International Monetary Fund reports that seven out of the world’s ten fastest growing economies are found on this continent while the African Development Bank estimates an annual expenditure by 2030 of up to $2,2-trillion for Africa at a growth rate greater than 5%… (more)
Question: When installing an all-steel cable management structure (tray, baskets and supports) in an all-steel container for telecoms cabling (48 V DC and signal cables) with AC power and lighting – all contained in separate PVC trunking and conduit, is cross bonding required between all component parts of the DC cable management?… (more)
A national project was introduced in 2010 to improve the capacity of South African industry to use energy resources more efficiently and productively, now and in future years. This article focuses on energy management and cost-effective systems optimisation techniques… (more)
Small-scale renewable energy solutions, produced from zero or low carbon source technologies and derived from naturally regenerative or practically inexhaustible resources, are the latest addition to the list of energy efficient technologies funded through Eskom’s Standard Offer Programme… (more)
Employers quite commonly engage employees for probationary periods, which may be negotiated and stipulated in the contract of employment. After expiry of the probationary period, the employer is entitled to decide whether to retain the services of the employee on a permanent basis… (more)
The colour of light sources is described in industry primarily in terms of two metrics, correlated colour temperature (CCT) and colour rendering index (CRI), that are related indirectly to human perception… (more)
A rare piece of research into retail lighting shows what customers prefer in retail lighting… (more)
Many applications use one or more motors operating in parallel at the same desired speed. Using one variable speed drive (VSD) to control these multiple motors provides a host of advantages… (more)
The past 20 years have seen some remarkable advances in AC drives technology. Miniaturisation is one of the most striking developments with a tenfold decrease in volume over the last decade alone… (more)
Smart building automation systems capable of trimming demand for electricity in response to real-time variations in prices could collectively shave many peaks and help to stabilise entire generation and distribution networks cost-effectively… (more)
Voltage optimisation is the fastest growing energy efficiency technology intervention in major European economies… (more)
Over a century old, the Hluhluwe Hotel in KwaZulu-Natal has not let its age stand in the way of becoming energy efficient. As runner-up in the hotels category of the National Energy Barometer Survey awards, it is proof that energy efficiency is not limited to new and “green-built” buildings… (more)
During the period 25 to 27 July 2012 the joint public hearings between the parliament committee (PC) on energy and the PC on cooperative governance and traditional affairs (COGTA), regarding the electricity distribution industry (EDI) infrastructure condition and way forward took place in Cape Town… (more)
Our winning letter to the editor – Max Clarke comments on an article by Chris Yelland on Eskom’s annual results… (more)
Reflecting the other day during a blackout brought me to ponder, mindful of my woeful ignorance of pastoral practices, the topical question of whether there were similarities between lambs and participants in the electricity industry… (more)
World emissions and climate change are highly emotive and political issues. Any attempt to find out the real facts generally just leads one deeper into a morass of examples of the effects of global warming with an equal number of disputing counter claims… (more)
The rapid growth of solar rooftop PVs has significant unintended consequences. Policymakers and regulators in many parts of the world are supportive of any and all renewable energy resources, be it a giant 392 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, such as the one being built by BrightSource Energy Inc. at Ivanpah in Mojave Desert in Southern California, or a 10 kW solar PV system on someone’s roof, and everything in between… (more)
Concern has been raised over the exposure of financial markets to high carbon investments that could pose systemic risk. The focus is on the fossil fuel reserves held by publically listed companies and the way these assets are valued and assessed as assets… (more)
This paper describes the process followed for the development of governor models for four Eskom coal fired power stations. A seven step process was developed to ensure models were developed in the quickest, safest and most accurate manner. This paper describes the process steps… (more)
“Today, no trace of the electrolysis building remains at Vemork. Visitors find it hard to believe a towering eight story glass-steel-and concrete building, plus a score of other houses and structures, once hugged the sloping, narrow ledge on the south side of the Vestfjord valley”… (more)
Changing coal qualities are a reality in the South African Power industry. In addition a typical increase in load factors is also a reality. The direct result for power producers of the change (typically a drop) in coal quality and operating parameters is increased slagging and fouling of the boiler heat transfer surfaces, leading to lower heat transfer efficiency… (more)
It has long been known that coal from South African mines has different characteristics from that mined in the northern hemisphere and other parts of the world. Boilers in use in this country were designed for northern hemisphere coal, and the use of locally mined coals has effects on their performance which to date have only been the subject of surmise… (more)
One of mankind’s greatest modern challenges is poverty alleviation. The provision of electricity can greatly assist in this regard. The tapping of small amounts of power from an HVDC transmission line represents a solution to this problem especially in rural areas. This paper analyses the dynamic characteristics of a parallel-cascaded tapping station… (more)
Oil has been employed as an insulating and arc-extinguishing medium in high voltage switchgear since the earliest switchgear was designed at the end of the 19th century. It has been extensively used in the development of switchgear at both transmission and distribution levels over the past 100 years and generally has a proven record of reliability and performance… (more)
A small team consisting of Eskom staff and independent energy consultants Integrated Energy Solutions, have been working together for the last two years developing novel methodologies that integrate demand side management with distribution network investment to enhance utility efficiencies… (more)
This paper details the components of an average industrial compressed air installation and serves as a guideline to compressed air users as to where they may look to find inefficiencies within their installations… (more)
Drastic cuts in subsidies in many European countries are forcing the solar industry to implement immediate cost reductions. This has resulted in a greater focus on multi-crystalline silicon cells again, a technology that delivers value for money and an efficiency that can easily be increased with relatively little effort… (more)
Biogas digesters have been installed in the Upper Thukela area in KwaZulu-Natal as part of a natural resource management project to enhance the quality of life of people living there. SESSA member Agama Biogas’s Greg Austin reports back on the impact this sustainable technology has had… (more)
This paper introduces the concepts behind municipal waste management, and then gives more details of the waste-to-energy process in particular. It compares the greenhouse gas emissions of traditional power plants against the WTE process, and gives operational data of tons per capita for different countries…(more)
Being a lecturer, teaching control courses to both mechanical and electrical/electronic engineering students, I increasingly become aware of students struggling to get their minds around these two concepts. This may be due to the fact that control systems is a kind of ethereal technology – since despite its wide spread application in industry, it is mostly invisible. Putting it differently, control systems may be viewed as a key driver in modern technological advances, only becoming visible if it failed in some way… (more)
Dr. Martin recently addressed the Invensys User Conference “Change 2012” about one of the most pressing questions in industry – downsizing versus empowerment… (more)
“South Africa is not in a recession, maybe you are talking yourself into one,” said Kim Anderson, principal analyst and CxO adviser, Ovum when he addressed the recent 2012 Cloud Africa summit. “But you are not!”… (more)
The Mobility 2012 research study, conducted by World Wide Worx with the backing of First National Bank, revealed some interesting trends both in term of cellphone banking and general use of cellphones… (more)
The Department of Communications is planning to create another body, additional to ICASA, to take over spectrum management. One of the many changes proposed in the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, 2012 is the establishment of a Spectrum Management Agency within the portfolio of the Minister of Communications, Dina Pule, with the overall responsibility for the country’s spectrum as contemplated in the White Paper on Broadcasting Policy, 1998… (more)
For many years data centres were the domain of telcos –until 2009, when Teraco opened the first vendor-neutral data centre in Rondebosch, Cape Town. EngineerIT received the following responses to questions posed to various players in the field… (more)
Traditional methodologies for monitoring the data centre environment are no longer sufficient. This is the view of Christian Cowan and Chris Gaskins of Schneider Electric’s Data Centre Science Centre in their White Paper on the subject… (more)
Will cloud work for manufacturing? Will plants accept cloud-based applications? Is cloud just a vendor-driven fad?… (more)
The advent of cloud computing and the trend to higher-speed Ethernet communications, including mobile apps, is making it more imperative than ever for data centre infrastructure managers to carefully consider their network architecture. In today’s competitive business environment, there is a need to implement the most cost-effective, future-proof connectivity infrastructure quickly and efficiently… (more)
In today’s control, visualisation and SCADA systems, industrial PCs are mission-critical components. Whether the installation is within a manufacturing environment, an infrastructure project like a power substation or any other industrial application, the overall functionality of the complete task typically relies on the industrial PC… (more)
Fieldbus Foundation recently announced its support for a new International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) report that provides guidance to end users for selecting an industry-standard device integration technology encompassing all host systems, field instruments and device protocols… (more)
OIML R 127 Class 0,5 is a relatively new standard, created to differentiate between the existing ultrasonic flowmeters and the newer generation meters that are less susceptible to installation effects and therefore achieve higher accuracy with less restrictive upstream and downstream installation requirements… (more)
Experience in South African and international industrial environments has shown that significant savings (in excess of 20%) can be achieved in the area of utilities energy consumption – this covers water, air, gases, electricity and steam, commonly collectively referred to as WAGES… (more)
Touch-screen and touch-panel interfaces have rapidly assumed the position of input-medium-of-choice in a wide variety of application spaces, driven to a large extent by the success of portable products such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad… (more)
Most electric cars run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries – a pricey technology that accounts for more than half of the vehicle’s total cost. One promising alternative is the lithium-sulphur battery, which can theoretically store five times more energy at a much lower cost… (more)
For emergency communication such as services offered by the South African Radio League HAMNET, it is important that high frequency (HF) coverage is available at all times. This is currently not possible with the frequencies available to radio amateurs… (more)
- Sitecom high speed USB hub
- Logitech tablet keyboard
- Now your watch keeps time as you cross continents
- Don’t let load shedding upset your computing equipment
- APC’s Back-UPS 650 provides enough battery backup power
- Aspire S3 Ultrabook wakes from sleep in 1,5 seconds… (more)
The best from EE Publishers... 
Recent Comments