ESD flooring installed, for power solutions provider

Powertech System Integrators (PTSI), arguably the largest solutions provider in the electrical power and infrastructure industry on the African continent, is a company born of the amalgamation of three strong brands, Powertech IST, Strike Technologies and TIS.

PTSI uses engineering specialisation, industry knowledge, products and technologies – together with their execution skills – to provide a broad range of solutions in software engineering, engineered technologies, electrical power infrastructure, energy management and telecommunications.

The company focuses on growth-oriented industry segments and geographies in Africa and selected international markets, where it builds and maintains a leading position in the following market sectors: Power Utilities, Transport & Logistics, Telecommunications, Metropolitans and Municipalities, Water Utilities and the Mining sector.

Actum Electronics recently installed a 400m² SD (Static Dissipative) floor in the second phase of the production area at PTSI’s premises in Midrand. The first phase, completed in 2012, saw 520m² being installed in this project. The flooring was installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions governing such flooring, as well as standard BS 8203:1996.

SD flooring is a hardwearing homogeneous contact sheet or tile floorcovering engineered for ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection. SD floorcoverings are chemically treated to discharge static electricity and must be used in a controlled environment with a relative humidity of more than 40%. Typical areas of use would be operating theatres, computer areas, instrument control rooms and production areas.

In PTSI’s production area a conductive aluminium strip was placed on the cement subfloor in a grid of the recommended shape. Concrete is a poor conductor of electricity, so this type of floorcovering needs to be laid using a conductive carbon-based adhesive to glue down the vinyl sheeting, and then earthed in order to drain the discharge. ESD is a problem that cannot be ignored. Something as minor as the scuff of a shoe or the scrape of a chair creates an electron imbalance and, although the resulting discharge may be so small that the human body cannot feel it, it can nevertheless have serious consequences.

In electronics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, ordnance manufacture and storage, ESD incidents can often cause material, component or system failures, which prove not only costly but also sometimes dangerous.

The Polyflor ESD range of flooring has been specifically engineered to combat this problem at source, by facilitating a uniform flow of static electricity directly to a ground point.

The range covers all major applications, and includes SD, EC and conductive ROF floorings, each of which combines static control properties with hardwearing and decorative qualities.

Installation is critical and for this reason Polyflor has partnered with the Altico division of Actum Electronics as its ESD flooring installer of choice. Actum offers a comprehensive range of static control solutions and can be enlisted to conduct audits of premises prior to specification, install flooring and finally test the flooring and provide certification.

Actum also offers ESD training, which enables employees to gain a better understanding of the basics of ESD, ESD standards, procedures and handling.

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