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Issue No 70                                                                                                   July 2013
Brian Rowell Book
Is Chernobyl Dead
In this issue...
- SA moves to ban the bulb
- Medupi delays - the need for accountability
- Specifications and certification in South Africa
- Long journey to unification
- Notice to electrical contractors
- Supporting the Expo for Young Scientists is more than CSI
- Vector Experts Q&A
- National LED performance standard highlighting relative, absolute photometry
- Stand-alone vs. centralised solar street lights
- Vector Inbox
- Direct torque control in AC drive technology
- Quantifying the junction temperature of solid state lighting devices
- Underground mining systems: the invisible, looming danger
- Virtual reference for electromagnetic flowmeters
- How to select Hall-effect sensors for brushless DC motors
- Some problems in priming centrifugal pumps
- Considerations on fire safety systems in buildings
- A risk assessment approach to substation fire protection
- ECA news
- Industry news
- Company, product, project & service news
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 Published by

 

EE Publishers

 

P O Box 458
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 Copyright

Copyright 2013

EE Publishers (Pty) Ltd
All rights reserved
  

  
Mark Botha
SA moves to ban the bulb
by Mark Botha, editor 

The incandescent lamp is on its way out. In recent years, some 18 countries the world-over have effectively banned the manufacture, import or sale of the energy-hungry bulb. Now, it seems, South Africa is about to join their ranks... (more) 
Chris-Yelland
Medupi delays - the need for accountability
by Chris Yelland, investigative editor

In April 2013, public enterprises minister Gigaba told Eskom, Alstom and Hitachi that 1st power from the Medupi Dec 2013 was absolutely critical. Three months later, however, Eskom confirmed that this date was increasingly unlikely... (more) 
Specifications and certification in South Africa
by Sizwe Radebe, Sahlukaniso Compliance Consultancy 

As the country renewed trade links with the world after the former political dispensation, the old system of having the player and the referee under the same umbrella became unsustainable and was no longer seen as fair... (more) 
Long journey to unification
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EE Publishers

Newly appointed Schneider Electric South Africa country president Eric L�ger attributes his company's success not to its varied international market exposure, but to the fact that it is a "perpetual start-up company"... (more)
SEW
Notice to electrical contractors

A number of conflicting and confusing messages have been circulated to electrical contractors about the ECA(SA), the Electrical Contracting Board (ECB) and the Department of Labour (DoL) over the past few months... (more) 
Supporting the Expo for Young Scientists is more than CSI
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EE Publishers

Supporting the annual Eskom Science Expo for Young Scientists is more than spending a few thousand rand from the corporate social investment budget; it is an investment in the development of skills to support the future of South African enterprise... (more) 
Experts Q&A
Answers from our experts

Whether a capacitor bank should be switched off while the generator is in use; how to calculate the number of rods needed at a cellphone site, identify when a device has overload protection, calculate the voltage drop over a length of cable, and when neutral should be switched, among others... (more) 
National LED performance standard highlighting relative, absolute photometry
by Daniel Kasper, Beka

Some IEC safety and performance standards for LEDs cannot be adopted locally, which prompted the local lighting industry to compose a local LED luminaire performance standard... (more) 
Stand-alone vs. centralised solar street lights
by Edward Rae, Current Automation

Why are we not seeing solar street lights in our streets today? The answer is simple: some stand-alone solar street lights cause more problems than they solve. In some cases they don't solve any problems at all... (more) 
EE winning letter
Vector Inbox

Our readers write about the calculation of pupil lumens, call for industry and government to stand together and discuss safety in the workplace... (more)
Direct torque control in AC drive technology
Information from ABB

What direct torque control (DTC) is, why and how it has evolved, the basic theory behind its success and the features and benefits of this new technology... (more) 
Quantifying the junction temperature of solid state lighting devices
by Lindani Tshibe and Elsie Coetzee, NMISA

It is important to understand the full behaviour of the solid state lighting (SSL) device in terms of junction temperature as the device's light output performance is strongly dependent on junction temperature... (more) 
Underground mining systems: the invisible, looming danger
Information from Eaton Corporation

In early 2002, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a voluntary programme in which partner companies agreed to reduce SF6 emissions through technically and economically feasible means... (more) 
Virtual reference for electromagnetic flowmeters
by J�rg Holtmann, Krohne

Conventional grounding of electromagnetic flow meters can pose problems in some applications. "Virtual reference" solves these, as well as problems with corrosive media... (more) 
Selecting Hall-effect sensors for brushless DC motors
Information from Honeywell
 
One way to help ensure greater efficiency in brushless DC (BLDC) motors is by selecting the correct bipolar latching Hall-effect sensor IC for electronic commutation in BLDC motors... (more)
Some problems in priming centrifugal pumps 
by J Lownie, ICMEESA president, 1955
 
From the ICMEESA archives: Methods for pump unit priming and the difficulties caused by contaminated conditions where foot valves and head tanks cannot be used... (more
Considerations on fire safety systems in buildings
Information from Royal HaskoningDHV
 
Fire safety in buildings is a requirement of the Building Standards Amendment Act (Act 36 of 1984) and the National Building Regulations (SANS 10400), and various other standards provide guidelines on how to meet the requirements... (more) 
A risk assessment approach to substation fire protection
by Grant Wilkinson, Alien Systems and Technologies

Fire safety is serious business. No matter your industry, the damage caused by fire could be catastrophic for your business. But how do you mitigate the risk?... (more
ECA news 
Industry news

Company, product, project & service news