Newsletter - November 2007
Technical Advisory Forum for Polymer & Rubber
A Technical advisory forum (TAF) for Polymer & Rubber was held at the NMISA on 22 August 2007. Eighteen representatives from industry and analytical laboratories attended the forum.
Dr Wynand Louw gave an overview of the NMISA's function and also explained the role of the NMISA in South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world. Dr Eino Vuorinen gave a presentation on the metrology terms appearing in the NMISA Certificate of Analysis. This was followed by a presentation by Retha Rossouw which informed the audience about substances of concern, relevant to the plastics and rubber industry. Dr Vuorinen gave the last presentation on the equipment available at NMISA for special analysis requirements focused towards the plastics and rubber fields.
The TAF was ended with a visit to the NMISA's chemical laboratories.
NMISA Staff participate in technical assessor training at the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS)
Eddie Tarnow, metrologist Torque and Automotive, recently spent time in Botswana, as part of a SANAS training team, to conduct training of technical assessors. Several of the metrologists at BOBS are undergoing training to enable them to conduct technical assessments to ISO/IEC 17025. Eddie was directly involved in the role play exercises in the fields of electrical and mechanical laboratories.
Visit to gas metrology laboratory by two guest workers from KEBS
During the two weeks from 23 July to 3 August 2007 the gas metrology laboratory of the NMISA was visited by Catherine Nduva and Nehemia Achesa from the Kenyan Bureau of Standards (KEBS). The main purpose of their visit was to gain insight into the requirements for the establishment of calibration laboratories for evidential breath testers and air pollution monitors.
They obtained hands on experience in the process involved in the calibration of breathalysers and also had the opportunity to visit Drager South Africa (Pty) Ltd, who is the main supplier of breathalyser equipment in South Africa. Other opportunities included a visit to the only SANAS accredited calibration laboratory for air pollution monitors. They also became involved in the gravimetric preparation of gas mixtures and spend many hours to get an understanding of the quality system implemented in the laboratory. Although they also showed a keen interest in the subject of the estimation of measurement uncertainty, the time was too limited for any in-depth knowledge transfer on the subject.
Mass Metrologist, Ronel Steyn, visit Sartorius and PTB laboratories in Germany
During the first week of June 2007, Ronel Steyn attended a Mass course at Sartorius in Goettingen, Germany. The course focused on high resolution weighing technology, the determination of susceptibility and magnetization according to OIML R111 and also covered the foundations of Mass Metrology. The topics were presented by experienced presenters, and the course included practical sessions that were well organized and very informative. New collaborations have been established with several metrologist from NMI's in Europe, Japan and Kenya.
She also visited the Mass and Density laboratories at PTB in Braunschweig, specifically to see their high accuracy mass comparators and the facilities for hydrometer calibration and hydrostatic weighing.
The information and experience shared with PTB's laboratory will be well used in the NMISA density laboratory, where a hydrometer calibration facility with an image processing approach is being developed. The usual method used for multipoint calibration of glass hydrometers is based on the measurement of buoyancy by hydrostatic weighing. The hydrometer is plunged in a reference liquid up to the scale mark to be calibrated, with the stem of the hydrometer connected to an upper balance through a thin metal wire. The skill of the metrologist to detect correctly the alignment of the hydrometer scale can be a significant contributor to the calibration uncertainty. On the new facility, a CCD camera will be used to align the relevant scale mark with the reference liquid surface level, significantly improving the accuracy and reliability.
NMISA hosts ICRM 2007 international conference
During the week of 2 - 7 September 2007, the NMISA successfully hosted the 16th International Conference on Radionuclide Metrology and its Applications (ICRM 2007) in Cape Town, in partnership with the Radionuclide Production section of iThemba LABS. The meeting was held under the auspices of the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM). This was the first time that the biennial ICRM conference was held in Africa and indeed the Southern hemisphere. The goal of the conference is to provide an opportunity for the exchange of information on techniques and applications of radionuclide metrology, and to encourage international cooperation in this field.
About 110 delegates from 30 countries worldwide attended ICRM 2007 (see attached conference group photograph). The conference began with a welcoming address by the NMISA acting CEO, Dr. Wynand Louw, followed by an opening speech by the honourable Member of Parliament, Eugene Nqaba Ngcobo, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology. Bringing the conference to South Africa allowed a number of South Africans working in the nuclear application field to attend an ICRM conference for the first time. During the 4-day Symposium, 83 research papers were presented, 37 orally and 46 as posters. The NMISA ionizing radiation staff contributed three papers, "Absolute activity of 133Ba by liquid scintillation coincidence counting using the 4 pi (e,x)-gamma extrapolation technique" presented orally by B.R.S. Simpson, "Further investigations of a simple counting technique for measuring mixtures of two pure beta-emitting radionuclides" presented orally by W.M. Van Wyngaardt, and a poster presented by J.C. Mostert on "A primary standard for the measurement of alpha and beta particle surface emission rate at the National Metrology Institute of South Africa". All papers accepted by the appointed referees will be published in the conference proceedings, a special volume of the Applied Radiation and Isotopes scientific journal.
In addition to the paper presentations, seven Working Group meetings, the meeting of the ICRM Executive Board and the ICRM General Meeting were held. A number of laboratory visits took place during the week. iThemba LABS was visited on the Monday evening, and the Koeberg nuclear power station and NMISA's Radioactivity Standards Laboratory on the Friday afternoon.
Test and Measurement 2007 Conference: 19 - 21 November 2007
It is almost time for the Test and Measurement Conference 2007, Emperors Palace Convention Centre, Gauteng
- What's the latest buzz in the areas of measurements, testing, quality, accreditation and laboratory management?
- Find out what's bothering analysts, metrologists and quality practitioners.
- See the latest products that are available.
More information about the conference on the conference web site.