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products & projects

improve the lives of people across the continent. batteries, Schneider Electric has announced the launch of the APC
“Most state-owned electric utilities in Africa today are unable Smart-UPS Lithium-Ion UPS Battery to South Africa.
to secure the financial resources needed to implement required “We are very excited about bringing this technology to South
segments of regional interconnectors and associated national Africa, where return-on-investment is a crucial decision-making
feeder lines,” said Angela Nalikka, the Bank’s manager for factor,” says George Senzere, Pre-Sales Manager at Schneider
national and regional power systems, to explain the impetus for Electric South Africa. “When it comes to return-on-investment, it
the partnership. “The Bank plans to encourage private sector is important to look beyond the initial spend and assess the TCO
participation in transmission projects in the continent.” so that you can more accurately project the costs and benefits
involved. The move from traditional VRLA batteries to li-ion
batteries offers several advantages that ultimately lower TCO.”
One of the biggest contributors to this lowered TCO is the low
operational expenses (opex) of li-ion batteries. While the capital
Effective and Safe expenditure (capex) on a VRLA battery UPS may be less than a li-
Wireless ion battery UPS, VLRA batteries become very expensive due to the
costs of refreshing and replacing them, which is necessary for lead
Communication acid UPSs. On the other hand, a li-ion battery will typically match
Products the life expectancy of the UPS itself, about 10 years (compared to
3-5 years of VRLA batteries). That effectively means never having
AMETEK Drexelbrook, a world to change the UPS battery, which means you save not only on the
leader in level measurement cost of the battery, but also on the labour involved in replacing it.
technology, is for the third time
this year expanding its product
line, this time with an extensive
line of wireless communication
products for level measurement, LLT-Turbo Fan
level switches, floating roof tanks Range Redesigned
and other field instruments providing encrypted data transfer for Specific Mining
distances of up to 32 km line of sight.
For this, Drexelbrook has teamed up with Phoenix Contact, an Industry Needs
innovative market leader of industrial connection technology, Global ventilation fans and
automation technology, and electronic interface systems. By systems manufacturer,
doing so Drexelbrook is now able to provide ideal wireless level TLT-Turbo GmbH, recently
measurement communication for industries such as oil and gas, announced the redesign of
chemical, and general industrial process plants. This new product its Auxiliary and Booster fan
line is the ideal communication option, especially for large plants range. Developed in close
where signal wiring can be prohibitively expensive. collaboration with clients,
the new designs address
The new series of 900 MHz communication transceivers, I/O both efficiency and cost-effectiveness, in a versatile product range
modules and antennas are available for indoor (DIN rail) as well that meets the specific ventilation requirements of the mining
as outdoor (NEMA4) mounting. Various I/O modules enable the industry.
engineer to set up the necessary support of analog and digital
communication, secured by 128-bit encryption, and adjustable bit The development of the new fan range concept began in early 2015.
rates up to 500 kbps and signal gain up to 12 dBi. Following a lengthy global market study to gain an understanding
of the market requirements, the range was defined in mid-
2017, with the fabrication of the first units taking place shortly
thereafter. “The development of the Auxiliary and Booster fan
range would not have been possible without the input of clients.
Li-ion UPS battery This ensured that we focused on key market-driven requirements
from Schneider including energy efficiency, noise reduction, cost-effectiveness and
Electric turnaround time,” says Michael Minges, Technical Director at TLT-
Turbo Africa, who headed up the fans’ designs.
Up until recently, Lithium-
ion (li-ion) batteries have not The new designs include several innovative additions to enhance
been commercially adopted performance in order to provide exceptional underground
as batteries for single-phase ventilation. The fan range was developed using the latest in
UPSs. While used in various engineering flow technology which allowed TLT-Turbo to improve
other applications, they the aerodynamics, and thus the efficiency of the fans. A unique
didn’t provide the necessary stator design and aerodynamic fairings, all manufactured from
balance of price, energy wear-resistant composite materials, resulting in improved
density, power, safety, and efficiencies and reduced noise levels. The modularity of the fan
reliability to be suitable for UPSs. However, as battery technology casings allows for quick and easy assembly with interchangeable
has advanced for the purposes of electric vehicles, this has all ancillary fan parts. The motor mounting in coherence with a
changed. Offering twice the battery life and up to half the total cost machined impeller track ensures low and controllable blade tip
of ownership (TCO) compared to valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) clearances for improved performance and efficiencies.

AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 28, Issue 29, 2019 | 9