The Durban branch held its final Technology evening of 2010 at the Westville Country Club on 1 December. The topic was ‘Thermowell design and flow-induced vortices and Wake frequency calculations’ presented by Ralf Hesse, of Wika Instruments, who kindly sponsored the evening.
Ralf Hesse (right) being thanked by Vinesh Nundkishaw
Ralf’s presentation covered the main differences between the old ASME PTC 19.3-1974 and the new ASME PTC 19.3-TW2010 and highlighted the particular strengths and potential areas of weakness in various types of thermowell design. He showed the meeting some worked examples using his program to demonstrate how selection of correct materials and type of construction are critical in order to ensure safety when specifying thermowells to suit process conditions, in order to withstand the influence of vibrations induced by Karman vortices caused by fluid flowing past the well. Ralf also highlighted the potential risks associated with end users not providing sufficient information about the process application design conditions to thermowell designers and manufacturers. It was clear that the common approach to keeping a general stock of standard thermowells in stores may present a risk unless all the stocked thermowells are over designed for many of their potential applications, as is common practice among major industrial companies.
The potential for possible professional liability in the event of a failure causing damage, injury, or even a fatality, was brought to the meeting’s attention and left those present with some slightly indigestible food for thought as far as specifying temperature measuring systems in the future.
The next meeting will be the annual general meeting on 2 February.
MESA Africa Summit has been expanded and rebranded SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
We are writing to share some exciting developments regarding the evolution of the MESA Africa Summit, which has been a cornerstone event in industrial automation and manufacturing excellence.
Read more...How to claim CPD points SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
SAIMC makes it possible for you to claim CPD points for attending courses and technical meetings, or completing an online quiz on a SA Instrumentation & Control magazine.
Read more...SAIMC: From the office of the CEO:Slaughtering AI holy cows SAIMC
SAIMC
A couple of sessions at various dealers, a wrong delivery, a failed holiday plan, a two-week unplanned vacation and 32 kg of steel on the back seat awaited us as we left South Africa on a dream holiday. But let me start at the beginning.
Read more...SAIMC: Secunda branch SAIMC
SAIMC
At the most recent SAIMC Secunda technical evening, Jenine Jansen van Vuuren, sales account manager from Comtest Technologies, gave a presentation on the calibration of process instruments.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Durban branch of the SAIMC held its October technology meeting, not on the first Wednesday of the month as usual, but on the second Wednesday to accommodate the very interesting presenter, Nico Erasmus from Abacus Automation.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The October Technology Evening was hosted by Pepperl+Fuchs. Patience Moila, the enterprise mobility expert for sub-Saharan Africa, presented on ‘Lone Worker Protection for the Mobile worker 4.0’.
Read more...SAIMC: It’s not black and white SAIMC
Editor's Choice SAIMC
Grey imports are a problem worldwide, not least in the automation industry in South Africa. The Supplier Advisory Council (SAC) operates under the umbrella of SAIMC, and is tackling this problem head-on.
Read more...How to claim CPD points SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
SAIMC makes it possible for you to claim CPD points for attending courses and technical meetings, or completing an online quiz on a SA Instrumentation & Control magazine.
Read more...SAIMC: From the office of the CEO: The real damage of fake news SAIMC
SAIMC
People depend on accurate information and their own reasoning and belief systems to draw conclusions or make decisions. However, when they are inundated with fake news, the reliability of the information they receive is compromised.
printer friendly version