SAIMC treasurer Cheryl Hird with Dhiren Naidoo.
Members of the SAIMC Johannesburg branch recently gathered at Endress+Hauser in Sandton, Johannesburg, for the monthly technical evening. The topic for September was the combination of different diagnostic, verification and monitoring services which are the three components of Endress+Hauser’s Heartbeat Technology. This technology was presented by the company’s level and pressure product manager, Dhiren Naidoo, who explained to attendees how it enables a cost-effective and safe operation of the plant during its entire lifecycle. According to Naidoo, old technology used for flowmeter verification meant that the tests were time consuming, and lead to much downtime and loss of production. Heartbeat Technology allows verification to be done in line, without effecting the process measurement. Monitoring of flowmeters is important for various reasons, and Naidoo emphasised regulations as one of them. ISO 9001 requires that where necessary, measurement equipment needs to be verified and calibrated at specific intervals to ensure valid results. Naidoo recommended flowmeter calibration once a year, but noted that companies in the mining industry should reduce it down to six months due to slurry build-up, while companies working with purified water can wait as long as three years between calibration. The next technical evening takes place on 11 October at 18h00 at Bryanston Sports Club, and will be sponsored by Beckhoff Automation.
Contact Ina Maartens, SAIMC, Tel 086 107-2462, admin@saimc.co.za
