Local instrumentation supplier N&Z Instrumentation & Control has increased its product offering to industry and the mining sector.

In the first instance the company has introduced a temperature and humidity logger that has been certified for use in hazardous environments such as underground mines.

The MicroLog, which is manufactured by US manufacturer of portable data logging devices Fourier, is an electronic thermo-hydrograph, which eliminates the requirement of charts and pens.

"Working underground is unpleasant primarily because of high temperatures and high humidity. Fourier's MicroLog is a hockey puck size logger of temperature and humidity and is suitable for use in gold and coal mines," says N&Z Instrumentation & Control MD Rodney Glatt.

It is self-powered, and has a memory capacity of 16 000 samples with a user-defined sample interval of ten seconds to two hours. User-friendly software displays the data and exports it in spreadsheet format.

Glatt adds that it is ideally suited for a shift manager to take underground with him, because the digital display continuously shows the environmental temperature and humidity that he is exposed to, and at the end of the shift, the recorded data can be downloaded and quickly displayed on a computer.

The MicroLog has now been certified intrinsically safe for use in explosive environments including surface and underground gas and dust, methane and coal dust, propane to hydrogen.

This certification is in compliance with the Mine Health and Safety Act and the Occupational Health And Safety Act.

In addition to the MicroLog, the company now offers a battery-powered flow meter.

"Magnetic flow meters are widely used to measure flow of water, slurries, and more. One limitation is that they require mains power. In locations where power is not available, one previously had to rely on mechanical flow meters, which are not suitable for slurries and are subject to mechanical wear and damage," says Glatt.

Italian producer of flowmeters Isoil has introduced a battery-powered magnetic flow meter, which does not require a power supply or a solar cell.

The built-in lithium batteries have an operating life of between two and ten years. The flow data can be read off the liquid crystal display or downloaded to a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA).

"These units have been available in South Africa for nine months and have been well accepted in the mining and water industries," states Glatt.

These battery-powered magnetic meters are now available with the built-in global system for mobile communications (GSM) modem. Flow trends are sent to the user's computer in the form of an e-mail at pre-set intervals.

"This means that you do not even have to visit the site to collect your flow data," says Glatt.

A range of sensors is available, from full-bore sensors to insertion sensors, which can be hot-tapped into the line. The company says that it is the only flow meter in the world that is able to perform these functions.

Lastly, N & Z Instrumentation & Control have also recently launched a range of submersible level sensors in Southern Africa.

The sensors, manufactured by US provider of water quality monitoring instrumentation for groundwater and wastewater industries Instrumentation NorthWest (INW), can measure water level, temperature, conductivity, bromide, chloride, potential of hydrogen (pH), and oxidation-reduction potential.

This data is recorded in the built-in logger and can be read out in real time with the attached cable, or a connected laptop or PDA can download the data.

"The INW sensors are unusual in that they can be connected to a computer over the GSM cell phone network. This means that as long as you have a GSM network, you can communicate remotely with your sensor, using software called Aqua4Plus. You can set up logging sessions, download logged data and even monitor real time measurements, all across the GSM network," says Glatt.

Applications include monitoring groundwater, wells, environmental monitoring, and pump testing.

N&Z (Negretti & Zambra) Instrumentation & Control has been supplying instrumentation and control products to the Southern African industry for more than 50 years.

It represents a portfolio of manufacturers and is able to supply most process measurement, and control and analyser needs. Full support from engineering, specification, supply, installation, commissioning, service and repair is provided for all industries.