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This paper discusses the design of a Biodiesel pilot plant that uses waste cooking oil collected from fried food retailers to produce biodiesel. Greenhouse gas emissions, land pollution, a bad rural economy, a lack of foreign exchange, and unemployment are all issues that have a negative impact on the South African national economy, and the machine is designed to address these issues. User-friendly, raw material storage capacity, cost effectiveness, and environmental friendliness were all requirements for the designed machine. Three designs of the biodiesel pilot plant were generated to reduce the problem by converting the waste cooking into biodiesel. The most convenient design was the pilot plant ‘one reactor tank’ since it is cost-efficient due to fewer components used when manufacturing. Safety considerations have been integrated with the design to minimise the possible risks that may be experienced while using the machine. In the second semester, the supervisor recommended that a group design a biodiesel pilot plant to improve on the ones done individually. In theory, the final design is more efficient, cost-effective, and simple to construct when compared to the others. The biodiesel pilot plant recycles used cooking oil to promote environmental social responsibility as a commodity while also informing the public about the importance of renewable energy sources. The model also encourages communities to get involved in the recycle economy concept. The machine will reduce the country's dependency on imported fossil fuels while also promoting long-term rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the impeller is optimized in order to make advances in the performance of a centrifugal water pump. A centrifugal pump design incorporates many limitations that affect pump performance. By modifying the parameters within an acceptable range, it improves pump performance and results in saving of costs and energy for companies. The design parameters from vane plane improvement are chosen for the impeller plan, and the influence of the plan parameters on the pump's performance is analyzed using computational fluid dynamics to optimize the impeller. The findings shows that suction diameter, impeller diameter and discharge diameter have a significant impact on the performance of a centrifugal pump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centrifugal pumps are the most often used pumping equipment in hydraulics. They are hydraulic machinery that transform mechanical energy into hydraulic energy. A pump is a mechanical device that transports fluids from one location to another. Because of the 3D flow structure involving turbulence, secondary flow, cavitation, and unsteadiness, the flow analysis inside the centrifugal pump is quite complicated. In recent years, advances in the accuracy of numerical methods and increased availability of computational resources have taken turbo machinery computational fluid dynamics technologies from the realm of pure research into the competitive industrial market. In this project calculations for compressible fluids and unsteady flow were done using continuity equations and for incompressible fluid Navier-Stoke equations. The achieved Reynold number shows that the flow is turbulent with all other parameters of volume flow, tangential velocity and specific speed calculated. This study has shown that to avoid cavitation at high flow rates and pump failure, the stator blades must be modified to improve the transfer of the kinetic energy of the water flow to pressure energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustics can primarily be defined as the discipline that deals with the creation, reception, transmission, control, and properties of sound, where mechanical waves propagate in an elastic medium such as solids, gases, and liquids. Such mechanical waves transfer energy from one point to another without inducing permanent displacement on the medium. As such, waves do not transfer mass but energy, therefore, mass is only moved perpendicular in the direction of propagation. Based on the scientific principles of acoustics technology, many industrial plants have adopted this form of technology for internal substructure cleaning methodologies of plant equipment. This form of cleaning methodology is known as either acoustic cleaning or sonic cleaning. An acoustic cleaning device is utilized to inhibit particulate material accumulation on various plant equipment such as boiler units, ducts, hoppers, and electrostatic precipitators. Surface cleanliness is maintained without intrusion into the internal substructure of plant equipment. This paper reports on the state or arts in the development of the acoustics cleaning technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An acoustic horn has been developed for Sasol Synfuels in Secunda. It has been concluded that this is the best methodology for dislodging ash agglomeration on the boiler tubes, since it can perform this act while boilers are in operation, thereby eliminating the need to shut down boilers for cleaning. The acoustic horn utilises sound energy that induces vibration and strain on the boiler substructure components. This results in a concern to develop vibration and strain sensors in order to measure these phenomena. An accelerometer is considered to monitor vibration signals, while a secondary strain-gauge sensor is considered to measure strain signals. The analysis entails a predetermined assessment of the suitable sensor parameters for the anticipated input signals. The appropriate accelerometer for this kind of application is concluded to be a piezoelectric accelerometer with a sensitivity of 1000 mV/G as most suitable. Furthermore, a strain-gauge sensor of a quarter-bridge type one with a gauge factor of 2 and nominal resistance of 350 Ω is deemed to be most suitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report documents the design of an acoustic horn and development of internet of things (IoT) model for acoustic maintenance of boilers. The aim was to design an acoustic horn cleaner which use acoustic energy or sound waves to blast off particles build-up from the boiler tubes while the boiler is operating. AutoCAD Invertor 2021 was used to generate a modelled acoustic horn which was then simulated using real life forces, pressures and temperatures encountered in the operation of the boilers. Different sources were also used to develop an Internet of Things model. The application of the acoustic cleaner is in a boiler which is a critical environment with an approximate pressure of 552 kPa and a maximum temperature of 300 °C. Stress (static ad transient dynamic) and thermal analysis simulations were conducted on the critical components of the design using Ansys R2 student version. The deflection of the diaphragm was determined under the action of maximum pressure supplied by the compressed air to deflect to approximately 0.546 m without restrictions., However, in actual sense the Diaphragm deformation is restricted by the Housing and thus, excessive deformation above 100mm of the diaphragm is unlikely. The endcap of the housing has a deflection allowance of 80mm which is enough for the membrane to vibrate at natural frequency of 75.322 Hz. An IoT model was developed for remote access to the developed acoustic cleaning system. The developed IoT boiler maintenance model is also known as a smart boiler model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worsening environmental degradation, depletion of fossil fuels reserves, and fuel price volatility have led to increased concerns about getting adequate energy to power the rapidly growing industrial sector and other uses. The cost of energy is a major contributor to the rising cost of production and a source of worry to both the producers and consumers alike. Investigation into devising sustainable, accessible, and affordable energy sources to power the manufacturing sector and other consumers has engaged the attention of researchers and other stakeholders in recent decades. The current research, therefore, investigates techniques for ensuring sustainable energy consumption in the Industry 4.0 era. Results show that effective implementation of energy saving, cost reduction, and green manufacturing measures will lower energy costs, benefit the environment and result in a high return on invested capital. The application of novel intelligent technologies like cyber-physical systems, industrial internet of things, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, smart metering, and other components of Industry 4.0 will contribute to achieving sustainable energy utilization in the manufacturing sector. Going forward, more targeted investigations are required to cultivate realistic and implementable models for achieving affordable, environmentally benign, and sustainable energy for the manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials Handling (MH) is one of the most essential aspects within manufacturing processes and/or industries. MH equipment are mechanical equipment used for the movement, storage, control and protection of materials, goods, and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal. Transportation equipment used in manufacturing industries varies from pallet jack to forklift trucks and/or cranes. The size and type of a Material Handling System (MHS) and/or equipment influences the effectivity of the internal logistics within manufacturing industries. Therefore, it is very essential to choose a correct MHS for a correct manufacturing process which requires material handling to complete its operation. Incorrect usage or selection of an MHS for an operational process may lead to down time, damage to facility, increase in operating costs and/or pose Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks to workers. Over the years, many South African industries have been using Forklift trucks to move bigger loads from one point to another till today. The use of large forklift trucks within indoor manufacturing processes poses OHS risks to workers as its Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) produces fumes (Carbon Monoxide, CO) when in operation and exhaust fumes, (CO), are harmful to human's health. On this basis, a new system design is recommended to eliminate the use of MHS that relies on ICE power source to prevent OHS risks in indoor manufacturing industries. In this project, Autodesk Inventor Professional software was used for design development of technical drawings and simulation as well as validation of the new system's structure. Vehicle Dynamics' principles and equations are used to determine the overall Rolling Resistance, Tractive Effort of the new system, wheel torque, and the power required to drive the system under 20 -- ton load capacity. The new system design has been developed to operate using a Hydraulic Power pack source, where it consists of four hydraulic wheel hubs for driving the system, four hydraulic cylinders for lifting & lowering, and a double rod end hydraulic cylinder for steering. Electro-Hydraulic circuit systems were developed and proposed using electronics and fluid mechanics phenomena. Again, principles, laws and equations of Strength of Materials has been carried out for validation of the material selection of the new design system's structure as well as verifying buckling, deflection & bending stresses, and moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, many South African industries have been using Forklift trucks to move bigger loads from one point to another till today. The use of large forklift trucks within indoor manufacturing processes poses OHS risks to workers as its Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) produces fumes (Carbon Monoxide, CO) when in operation and exhaust fumes, (CO), are harmful to human's health. On this basis, a new system design is recommended to eliminate the use of MHS that relies on ICE power source to prevent OHS risks in indoor manufacturing industries. In this project, Autodesk Inventor Professional software was used for design development of technical drawings and simulation as well as validation of the new system's structure. Vehicle Dynamics' principles and equations are used to determine the overall Rolling Resistance, Tractive Effort of the new system, wheel torque, and the power required to drive the system under 20 -- ton load capacity. The new system design has been developed to operate using a Hydraulic Power pack source, where it consists of four hydraulic wheel hubs for driving the system, four hydraulic cylinders for lifting & lowering, and a double rod end hydraulic cylinder for steering. Electro- Hydraulic circuit systems were developed and proposed using electronics and fluid mechanics phenomena. Again, principles, laws and equations of Strength of Materials has been carried out for validation of the material selection of the new design system's structure as well as verifying buckling, deflection & bending stresses, and moments. The size and type of a Material Handling System (MHS) and/or equipment influences the effectivity of the internal logistics within manufacturing industries. Therefore, it is very essential to choose a correct MHS for a correct manufacturing process which requires material handling to complete its operation. Incorrect usage or selection of an MHS for an operational process may lead to down time, damage to facility, increase in operating costs and/or pose Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks to workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa (SA) is highly dependent on the state utility ESKOM for electric power supply. This includes big companies and tourism sectors in SA. For the very first time in history, SA has had the OR Tambo international airport (one of the busy airports in SA) switch off to darkness. This was due to the boiler failures at the power stations owned by the state utility ESKOM. These types of boilers are fired with the use of coal and they produce a reasonable amount of Carbon dioxide (CO2) and soot to the atmosphere. This paper details the design of a gas turbine that can drive an electric generator to produce electricity for the OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg, the King Shaka international airport in Durban and the Cape Town international airport. Specifications of the design were made and are as follows: the gas engine aims to have a mass of 1 000kg or less, the work produced is specified to be more than 500 kW with an efficiency of 35 % or more. The mass of the engine after preliminary analysis is determined to be 1 180.965 kg (i.e. 18 % more than the specified mass), the work that can be produced by the engine is calculated to be 811.59 kW with an efficiency of 40.34 %. The material cost is analyzed to be R 107 787.77 or $ 7000. Safety considerations, maintenance and repair of the designed gas turbine are also documented in this paper. The social, economic, heath, and environment impacts of the design are clearly stated. The gas turbine generator aims to use natural gas as fuel. Natural gas power generation has almost no emission of CO2 and soot. The gas turbine design has the significant potential to decrease the expenditure on ESKOM electricity demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bottling of biogas, a renewable energy source that uses anaerobic organic waste digestion, improves the rural economy by consolidating the use of biogas. In remote areas in South Africa, new opportunities are emerging through reducing their living costs by self-producible fuel. Bottled raw biogas can be placed on the market as a fuel or for biogas upgrades. This lower-cost bottling device cost less than ZAR 5000 and can be used with low technical skills, in particular with respect to safety precautions. For various uses, including electricity generation, car charging, and heating, bottled upgraded biogas is used. The side product, slurry, is sold as a healthy fertilizer. The biogas bottling system motivates villagers to use their waste to generate biogas and allows new income opportunities by better management of organic waste while maintaining a hygienic lifestyle. The system is expected to run on average per unit of time with a bio-digester of 6 cubic meters square. This paper presents the development of a simple biogas filing machine concept to be used in rural areas of South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient supply of electricity has necessitated research in renewable energy fields such natural gas power plants. Many diseases in society today are traced to greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere from many power plant operations. Boilers are the main components for electricity generation but they have high carbon footprint and provide insufficient steam to generate sufficient electricity. Natural gas power plant boilers was designed as a cost effective alternative to satisfying electricity demand and carbon footprint reduction. The boiler is used in power plant to produce high pressured steam and passes it into a turbine to power the generator to generate electricity. Three concepts were developed and rated with the one with highest score chosen. The model in this paper is novel since some features were added in this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a major component of all living matter, which when pure is an odourless, tasteless, only slightly compressible liquid that appears bluish in dense layers, freezes at 0 ° C and boils at 100 ° C. This design intends to address the problem of water scarcity in the rural area of South Africa with KwaZulu-Natal as case study, by designing an atmospheric water generator that will obtain water from the atmosphere. The atmosphere has about 0% to 4% of water available as water vapor. The present technologies of harvesting water from the atmosphere are differentiated into three: the cooling condensing type, wet desiccant type and Peltier effect type. Concept were generated and a final design was developed that works using a fan and solar power, with the aid of the temperature difference in the soil and the atmosphere to condense the water vapour into water. Under favoarable conditions the atmospheric water generator is able to produce 23 l/day of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a review of boiler maintenance technologies currently used in the main power generation plants in South Africa, Sasol (coal fired plants). The poor maintenance of the boilers at these plants has been the main cause of shortage of power due the boiler breakdowns, while the demand of energy usage remains a necessity for households and businesses. At Sasol Synfuels power station in Secunda, the use of soot blower cleaning technology has contributed a lot to failure resulting in unplanned outages, with high cost of maintenance. A recently published paper discusses the design of an acoustic horn and its beam as an alternative technology that may be a better solution either to be used along with the current soot blower technology or independently for new design of boilers. In this paper the regulations for maintenance of pressure vessels in South Africa governing the maintenance of pressure equipment are reviewed for the case of the boilers at these power plants. South African National Standards (SANS), American Standards of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and American Petroleum Institute (API) are the used international standards in supporting pressure equipment regulations (PER) and Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSACT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a pressure vessel model is developed via Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) method. Storage vessels that are design for pressures of about 50kpa are regulated. The transportable gas container are not pressure vessels in themselves, however, the process heating equipment of steam or hot water generation are defined as pressure vessels. The manufacturing of these vessels follow certain health and safety regulations such as ISO9001:2015. Accordingly, a pressure vessel is designed to be fabricated using these safety standards. In this research the welding current, voltages, and travel speed significantly affects the tensile strength and the hardness. The first factor welding current of about 260, 270 and 280 amperes were used for the investigation. The results show high density and increased material tensile strength and hardness. The welding using SAW was done safely and each condition was tested a total of three times by using full factories design. All the components parts aligned properly, there was no misalignment that could be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soot blowers are often neglected aspects of the boiler operation in a coal power plant whereas they have a significant impact on the financial bottom line as they improve the efficiency of the boiler. Soot deposits are hard to manage if they are left unattended as they form a thick insulating layer, which reduced the efficiency of the boiler. It increases the loss of energy due to high temperature of the exhaust gasses, as well as emissions. Sasol has a power station at Secunda, South Africa. Sasol uses soot blowers as means of cleaning the boiler during operation which are operated manually. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the soot blowers of the boilers and determine their strengths and limitations as well as the areas that need improving. The paper focuses mostly on the steam soot blowers and comparing it to the acoustic soot blowers. A literature review was done to highlight the key features of the different types of soot blowers. Tests on the existing concept was done leading to a new model to be introduced to improve efficiency. The final concept was created and modelled via simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]