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Fibreglass products aimed at water engineering sector

SIMPLE GRATING
Advantages of Vitaglass gratings include a weight reduction to about half of steel gratings

SIMPLE GRATING Advantages of Vitaglass gratings include a weight reduction to about half of steel gratings

10th October 2014

  

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Corrosive conditions in the African water treatment sector have created a high demand for hard-wearing, versatile materials, designed for enhanced safety, according to gratings, treads, pressed floors and handrails company Vital Engineering.

This corrosion includes the rusting of conventional metal components.

The company has met this growing demand with a large range of nonslip floor gratings, stair treads, expanded metals and safety hand railings in a range of materials, including galvanised steel, stainless steel and aluminium.

Vital Engineering recently introduced moulded fibreglass gratings to the market, and is finding the demand for this material growing, particularly within the water treatment and mining sectors.

Vital Engineering export executive Chris Spacey says the response to the company’s fibreglass range has been positive and many water treatment companies now specify Vitaglass for their floor gratings.

The fibreglass gratings are manufactured with continuous glass fibre strands interwoven in both directions with thermosetting resins. As an alternative to steel and stainless steel, the benefits of fibreglass are many and varied, especially in a corrosive water treatment environment context, he says.

“Advantages of Vitaglass gratings include a weight reduction to about half of steel gratings, which makes for much easier handling and installation,” says Spacey, adding that fibreglass is also fire retardant, nonconductive, nonslip, with a quartz grit top surface, and is virtually maintenance-free.

Further, fibreglass is also anticorrosive, making it a highly viable alternative to steel in the acid environment, which often characterises many corrosive areas in diverse industries, including the Pan-African water treatment sector, he says.

In addition, Spacey notes that fibreglass – unlike steel – does not have any intrinsic aftermarket value, and therefore is not subject to the risk of theft. “As it requires little or no maintenance and is unlikely to be stolen, fibreglass offers industry a hard-working and lower maintenance product, which reduces replacement and maintenance cycles considerably.

“We are confident that our fibreglass range will enjoy continued uptake because it answers to all the demands and challenges of the corrosive conditions in the Pan-African water treatment sector,” he says.

Company Capability
Vital Engineering has been servicing the South African industry since 1939 with its products, which are produced under the brand names of Vitagrid and Maclock.

The company supplies the water treatment, petrochemicals, power generation and structural engineering industries; as well as a number of Australian and Canadian mining companies operating beyond South African borders. These include projects and clients in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Namibia and Botswana.

“We are constantly developing new products for challenging environments, identifying the most cost-effective and practical solutions for our clients in developing industrialised countries, with safety as our number one consideration. We have supplied in excess of 10 000 t of product over the past five years alone to the African mining industry, including gold, coal, uranium, copper and cobalt,” says Spacey.

Another major advantage that Vital Engineering brings to the market is its ‘cost of installation’ philosophy, which is economical, and with little or no downtime on site.

“This is as a result of pre-trial layouts prior to shipping, no costly on-site rework at high day-work costs in remote locations, and first-time fitment, apart from other additional value-adds,” he concludes.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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