FEATURE: EDUCATION UPDATE
Pamsa Education and Training.
The sting of the Blue Scorpion
by Iain Kerr
We have faced the effects of the energy crunch which has died down somewhat, of late, due to the economic slump. We will soon have to face the water crunch, which is imminent and will affect all of us in our personal and our work lives. As a reaction to this, government are involved in various initiatives, one of these, being mooted by the newly appointed minister of the Department of Water and Environment (DWE) Buyelwa Sonjica, is the formation of the blue scorpions (modelled on the green scorpions).
So not only will we have to watch out for the Hawks swooping down on us, but also the Scorpions of various hues, who may be digging up some dirt on us. Fortunately for our industry, the focus seems to be on agriculture right now. This sector uses 63% of the country’s water. Apparently, those incorrigible boere on the upper Vaal River have been stealing water at the rate of 3 liters per second and get quite aggressive, it appears, when asked nicely to stop. A DWAF official has already been murdered in such an attempt. Wouldn’t it be impressive if we could see the Hawks swooping down on these bellicose boere? I would not expect them, however, to behave like sitting ducks floating around on their ill gotten gains of Vaal water-filled plaas dams. It seems, instead, that the newly formed DWE will be sending in their blue scorpions, in force, to ensure that this practice is nipped in the bud. (I hope they will be armed).
The supply of water is linked directly to the supply of electricity. Not only do the new Eskom power stations, being planned or built in the Waterberg region of the Limpopo Province, need copious amounts of water, to operate, but so do the coal mines that will be supplying the coal to Eskom. This region is very short of water and DWE are already building the new De Hoop dam in the area to provide the required mine and power station water. This project will in all probability incorporate a pumped storage scheme to deliver 1500MW of power.
Despite the fact that there is a short respite in the energy crisis, it is by no means over and our training offerings have remained focused on energy use and energy savings measures. During the month of June, twenty one participants participated in the IBC web conference training, on the paper machine drying section, which focused on energy. To reduce costs, the Sappi Stanger mill kindly made their training venue available for the full duration of the course (four days). It was a novel experience to sit in on this training, being trained by a Dutchman in Holland, being managed by a course coordinator in France and interacting at the same time with a delegate sitting in Portugal. The Portuguese paper mill, at which he worked, was obviously in full swing, as we heard the siren on the overhead crane wailing over the telephone speaker at regular intervals, together with other rather loud background paper machine- type noises. By day two he had learned how to mute his phone, and this was no longer an issue. It was gratifying to see several of my past students, sitting in the same classroom as me, during this training session. At least some of the students studying the courses on offer by Pamsa, at UKZN do end up in our industry, and hopefully most of them will have long and fruitful careers at the mills.
June is the month of exams for our students at UKZN. This is of course one of the more stressful times in a student’s life. I had 31 students who completed my wood pulping technology course, which covers all aspects of the value chain, from harvesting to pulping to pulp bleaching. The course also includes as section on the South African pulp and paper industry, with reference to social, economic and environmental issues facing the industry as well as the main players in the industry and their operations. During the first semester, fourth year students are required to complete a laboratory project. We were fortunate to get two projects for the students to do, at Sappi Tugela. One was effluent related and one was paper product related. It is always useful to be able to get some mini projects at the mills, for students to do. It gives them an opportunity to work inside the operation and learn a little but more about real life industry problems. At the same time, the mill benefits from the work that the students do, at no extra cost. The students are required to present their findings to fellow students and staff, at a seminar, and also produce a poster on their project, during the semester. These all count towards their class mark in this module. I will once again, soon be approaching the mills, in closer proximity to campus, for laboratory project topics for next year.
The Omni is a Process Control troubleshooting course is due to take place from 4 to 7 August. This will be held in KwaZulu Natal at a venue yet to be confirmed. The course is restricted to 12 and involves problem solving, using computer simulations.
