Designer and supplier of process equipment Zonke Engineering has added several pump types to its existing product range.

The new pumps range includes rotary lobe pumps from pumps designer and producer Börger, plunger pumps from Kamat, reciprocating positive displacement pumps from Abel pumps and high-pressure dosing pumps from pumps specialist Lewa.

“These additions will be housed under the company’s fluid transfer division – launched at the beginning of last year – and aim to bring the world’s best pump technologies to South African markets,” Zonke Engineering MD Brandon Loots enthuses.

“Abel’s positive displacement pumps, for instance, are designed to suit varying flow rates and pump pressures. Depending on the design, Abel’s pumps are also suitable for abrasive, aggressive and even shear-sensitive media,” says Loots, adding that every Abel pump can be adapted to meet the individual requirements of the application.

The addition of the Lewa brand allows for Zonke’s offering to include dosing pump technology for the upstream and downstream oil and gas industries where metering accuracy is a requirement, while Börger’s self-priming and valve-less pumps are suitable for crystalline mixtures, toxic liquids and sensitive media applications.

“Kamat has been a leading international system supplier of high-pressure technology for more than 40 years and its powerful, versatile high-pressure pumps can be found in almost all industrial fields, including mining, industrial cleaning and water jet cutting,” explains Loots.

Other pumps featured under the new division are compressors and air separation units producer SIAD Macchine Impianti’s reciprocating compressors, canned motor pumps from canned motor pumps supplier Teikoku and centrifugal pumps manufacturer Bungartz’s centrifugal pumps.

The newly expanded fluid transfer division has further established repair facilities, in Secunda and Durban, and now offers the full service of replacement, spares and repairs for rotating equipment.

“Opportunities in Africa are plentiful for Zonke Engineering,” Loots remarks, noting that the company is expanding its footprint to Angola in 2018 and is aiming to expand into Mozambique and Tanzania this year.

“We have recently concluded a partnership with renewable- energy company Ntuanano Energy, in Mozambique, and are working on the Kapone power plant project for diversified construction company Group Five, in Ghana, which includes the supply of storage tanks and Bungartz pumps, as well as a heat exchanger project, in Botswana,” says Loots.

He adds that it is of paramount importance to partner with other companies in Africa to impart skills and create employment opportunities.

Apart from bursaries, the company has launched several programmes for engineers after they have graduated.

“Young engineers are sent overseas for training with some of the company principals. Upon their return, they become involved in numerous Zonke Engineering projects,” he explains.

He adds that the company has sent graduate engineers and employees to Leonburg, near Stuttgart, in Germany, to receive high-quality training in the fields of engineering and pumps technology.

“Zonke Engineering also has an enterprise development initiative to assist small engineering companies owned by historically disadvantaged individuals,” he says, adding that the company also uses labour from local disadvantaged communities to complete projects.

Loots concludes by pointing out that the company remains committed to the positive growth and development of people globally.