Call for water management rather than building dams

on 20/03/2019

The institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Pakistan (IEEEP)’s debate on ‘whether Pakistan should go for building new dams’ attracted special attention in its Multi-topic Symposium held in Karachi on Feb 21, 2019.
All six panelists of the debate ‘Dams, No Dams’ were unanimous that Pakistan should launch a comprehensive management of water resources rather than building new dams.
Although, two of the panelists who were supposed join the debate failed to turn up, enthusiastic participants—all engineers, senior and young ones—posed some robust questions to the panelists to create a balance in the debate.
Here are the arguments of the panelists:
Dr. Kaiser Bengali – A known development economist
If there is a US$100 million water facility of which 35 to 40 percent water is wasted and we make another water facility with the same cost and let the same quantity of water go waste, It means while losing US$34 to 40 million from the first facility, we are going for another matching loss. It is better to stop the leakage from the first facility rather than building a new one.
Dams don’t produce water, they only store water. If there is no water, dams would remain empty. The balance sheet of water prepared by the government tells us there is no extra water. Tarbella and Mangla already live with more dead-level years than getting filled to their capacity. Then why build a new dam and keep it empty?
The major issue is water management in Pakistan and also the cropping pattern. Maybe we should not produce water-intensive crops like rice and sugarcane. We should look at the issue in a broader sense. It is not the issue of dams or no dams. It is an issue of addressing the issue comprehensively.
In short, we need not new dams; we can manage and run water affairs in Pakistan.
S.S.A Jafri – President Jafri & Associates
It would be wrong for me to say that there should be no dams and or there should be dams either. We need dams but the only question is of what size, where to locate and what is the time frame. Suppose, we consider a normal timeframe, let’s say five to seven years obviously for the interim period then we have to make arrangements. If anyone would ask to say in one word I would say ‘no dams’.
Dr. Hassan Abbas – A prominent water management expert
Usually, storage is required if the water supply is intermittent. If the supply continues round the clock, you need not any storage. Pakistan’s all five rivers are not intermittent ephemeral rivers. They are perennial rivers flowing all seasons. Saying that we shall die if we did not build a dam is just a misperception.
Pakistan’s irrigation system utilizes most of the water of the system and it comprises 95 percent of the rivers flow which is diverted. Our irrigation system is the most inefficient in the world. Of the total 104 MAF water is used for irrigation and the agriculture yield we get through using such a quantum of water is being produced with just 40 MAF. If we use newer agro-technologies, the use of water to get present agriculture production will be reduced to 15 to 20 MAF. If we build a dam and don’t go for the water management it would not work, no matter we build fifty dams.
Do the dams manage floods?
No, they don’t. This is a misperception. Of 130 MAF flood water, any new dam will only catch 5 MAF of water and thus the overall picture would remain unchanged. Dams and barrages are not officially meant for flood management or control.
Zulifkar Halepoto – A water and irrigation expert
There is a misperception that water is an engineers issue only. This is a peoples issue connected to the whole country.
I think Pakistan needs not any dam because we need to understand the framework of water governance; dams constitute just a tiny part of it. More important is our behavior towards the water, the operation of the river system, maintaining delta and etc.
Asim Bashir, a research fellow on water
Dams are a long-run solution. But the sustainability of the project must be looked into. Dams take time, therefore, Pakistan must move towards the management of water to face the immediate challenge.
Manzoor Shaikh, Editor Engineering Review
I don’t support dams as there is no surplus water to store in the new reservoir. The report of Technical Committee formed by former president Gen. Musharraf consolidated the water availability data which was scattered with various water dealing departments in Pakistan. The committee report was never challenged in Pakistan and this deemed credible. It says there is no surplus water for dams in Pakistan.
Water center of MUET has found how water scarcity has damaged the delta. Sindh government says that 80 acres are being swallowed by the sea every day. – By Abbas Mansoor/Mohammad Salahuddin n

” Six Sigma Awareness” Session arranged at KTDMC

on 08/03/2019

Karachi, 19th January 2019, Tech Talk-a group of Professional Engineers arranged a workshop on “Six Sigma Awareness” at Karachi Tools, Dies & Mould Centre (KTDMC), attended by the Senior Management of OEM/Vendor Industries of Automotive Sector, Academia, and others Industries. The Key Note Speaker was Mr. Ali Zulqarnain (Certified & Qualified Six Sigma Black Belt, SQII)-Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial & Manufacturing NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi. The Chief Organizer of the event Mr. IHT Farooqui welcomed and briefed audience about the objective of creating group of professional engineers, group activities and the future training plans. Being the main Sponsors of the event, Mr. Ehsan Farooqui-Director UNICO Paints and Mr. Mansoor Ahmed-CEO KTDMC briefed the current activities and future plans of their organizations. They also thanked the key note speaker and chief organizer of the event. Mr. Ali Zulqarnain having experience of more than 19 years of teaching/trainings, automotive industry and consultancy in the domain of Quality, highlighted the importance of Quality for industrial sector of Karachi/Pakistan especially the automotive industry. Mr. Ali Zulqarnain briefed very closely the insides of Six Sigma Application for automotive industries of Pakistan. He presented the global and local statistics of six sigma application and savings; he also shared few success stories of companies implemented six sigma globally. Based on that Mr. Zulqarnain emphasized to initiate this breakthrough strategy of Six Sigma in industries of Pakistan. He informed that six sigma initiations can be done within resources with team work (employee’s involvement), their basic six sigma trainings, and valid data gathering and compilation, he added that this can be applicable to all type of organizations. He offered his services free of cost for any guidelines required by the companies in six sigma implementation. Mr. Zulqarnain highlighted the international certifications of American Society for Quality. At the end, certificates of participation among qualified participants (after an assessment test) were distributed and closed the event by chief organizer Mr. IHT Farooqui with his vote of thanks to all audience for making this workshop successful as per objectives. In his closing remarks he informed the next plan of Six Sigma and other training plans followed by refreshments. Excellent feedback received from the audience on this workshop of Six Sigma

N.B Industries (Pvt) Ltd. Pioneers in Low voltage Switchgears Manufacturing

on 07/03/2019

N.B Industries has been successfully serving the Local and international market for more than four decades. Our customer’s satisfaction and continued confidence in our products and services is a reflection of N.B.I’s strict adherence to high quality standards. The core component of our work is Total Quality Management.For N.B.I Quality is not just another goal, it is the basic strategy for survival and future growth. Quality means different things to different people but if you go back to first principle, quality can be defined as ‘Fitness for purpose’. To elaborate, it is really around the surety of a product or a service fulfilling what it is intended to do.As leaders in providing quality, safety and efficient services, at N.B.I we have a thorough understanding of the parameters that can help businesses achieve highest level of quality assurance throughout the supply chain.All the processes starting from fabrication to Powder paint & wiring are completed under one roof and none of the work is outsourced in order to ensure the quality of the product at any stage of production.
N.B. Industries (Pvt) Ltd. has successfully established itself as a pioneer in the field of manufacturing of Low voltage Switchgears. The main ingredient for this success has been Quality & Innovation throughout the process.
Mr. Muhammad Javed, CEO, while talking to Engineering Post said that over the years we have increased our product range from a Distribution Board to complete solution for L.T switchgear system to meet the specific requirements of our Industrial/Commercial & Domestic clients. Another feather in our cap has been the ISO 9001 Certification which has only been possible due to our stringent observance of quality standards.
N. B. I have rightly blended cutting edge technology with precise engineering to produce a flawless product at competitive price. It is due to ceaseless effort of the Management, staff and constant support from our clients that we have been able to achieve the goals that we set for ourselves, he added. Replying to a question regarding safety and protection Mr. Muhammad Farooq said that at NBI, safety & protection of our personnel & environment is our foremost priority. Operational safety & health policy is in place, which ensures that every process & personnel is working under a safe & healthy work environment.
N.B.I is producing a wide range of products & our product Line includes:

  1. Low Voltage Switchgear
  2. Distribution Boards
  3. Motor Control Center
  4. P.F.I Panels
  5. Synchronizing Panels
  6. L.V Substations
  7. Desk Type Work Stations
  8. Data Cabinets
  9. AMF/ATS/MOR Panels
  10. Tubular Poles (M.S-G.I & Hot Dipped Galvanized)
  11. Cable Trays/Ladders & Accessories (M.S-G.I & Hot Dipped Galvanized)
  12. Lightning Protection/ Earthing products
  13. Switch Boxes
  14. Clamps/Saddles
  15. Roof Hooks And various other electrical products
  16. Meter Panels
  17. HVAC Control Panels
  18. Earthing Products
  19. Miscellaneous Items
    A brief list of the various sectors where NBI products are being used
    A. International Projects
  20. Afghanistan National Police District HQ Compound 2Jaji, Afghanistan
  21. Afghanistan National Border Police Unit Facility Durbaba, Afghanistan
  22. Afghanistan National Border Unit Facility Mazaar Sharif, Afghanistan
  23. Barracks for U.S Army Kabul Afghanistan
  24. Afghan National Hospital, Torkham
  25. Aquina Project, Afghanistan
    B. Power Sector
    i) M/S Japan Power Station, Raiwind Road, Lahore
    ii) M/S Bhikki Power Station, Sheikhupura
    iii) Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
    iv) M/S Monno Energy
    v) M/S A.E.S Lalpir
    vi) M/S Uch Power Plant DeraMuraad Jamali
    Many other sectors have benefitted from the services of NBI including
    • Textile Sector
Pharmaceutical Sector

• Building Projects
• Commercial Plazas
• Housing Sector
• Telecommunication Sector
• Petroleum Sector
• Paper & Board Mills
• Educational Sector
• Hospitals & Medical Center
• CNG Sector
• Departmental Stores
• Local & International Food Chains
• Recreational Projects
• Paint Factories
• Banking Sector
• Sugar Mills
• Rice & Oil Mills
• Cement Sector
• Control Sheds & Hatcheries.n

ABC of HVAC

on 07/03/2019

What is HVAC?
Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment perform heating and/or cooling for residential, commercial or industrial buildings. The HVAC system may also be responsible for providing fresh outdoor air to dilute interior airborne contaminants such as odors from occupants, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) emitted from interior furnishings, chemicals used for cleaning, etc. A properly designed system will provide a comfortable indoor environment year round when properly maintained.
How does my AC work?
An air conditioner cools and dehumidifies the air as is passes over a cold coil surface. The indoor coil is an air-to-liquid heat exchanger with rows of tubes that pass the liquid through the coil. Finned surfaces connected to these tubes increase the overall surface area of the cold surface thereby increasing the heat transfer characteristics between the air passing over the coil and liquid passing through the coil. The type of liquid used depends on the system selected. Direct-expansion (DX) equipment uses refrigerant as the liquid medium. Chilled-water (CW) can also be used as a liquid medium. When the required temperature of a chilled water system is near the freezing point of water, freeze protection is added in the form of glycols or salts. Regardless of the liquid medium used, the liquid is delivered to the cooling coil at a cold temperature.
In the case of direct expansion equipment, the air passing over the indoor cooling coil heats the cold liquid refrigerant. Heating the refrigerant causes boiling and transforms the refrigerant from a cold liquid to a warm gas. This warm gas (or vapor) is pumped from the cooling coil to the compressor through a copper tube (suction line to the compressor) where the warm gas is compressed. In some cases, an accumulator is placed between the cooling coil and the compressor to capture unused liquid refrigerant and ensures that only vapor enters the compressor. The compression process increases the pressure of the refrigerant vapor and significantly increases the temperature of the vapor. The compressor pumps the vapor through another heat exchanger (outdoor condenser) where heat is rejected and the hot gas is condensed to a warm high pressure liquid. This warm high pressure liquid is pumped through a smaller copper tube (liquid line) to a filter (or filter/dryer) and then on to an expansion device where the high pressure liquid is reduced to a cold, low pressure liquid. The cold liquid enters the indoor cooling coil and the process repeats.
As this liquid passes through the indoor cooling coil on the inside of the heat exchanger, two things happen to the air that passes over the coil’s surface on the outside of the heat exchanger. The air’s temperature is lowered (sensible cooling) and moisture in the air is removed (latent cooling) if the indoor air dew point is higher than the temperature of the coil’s surface. The total cooling (capacity) of an AC system is the sum of the sensible and latent cooling. Many factors influence the cooling capacity of a DX air conditioner. Total cooling is inversely proportional to outdoor temperature. As the outdoor temperature increases the total capacity is reduced. Air flow over the indoor cooling coil also affects the coil’s capacity and is directly proportional to the total capacity of an AC system. As air flow increases, the total capacity also increases. At higher air flow rates the latent capacity of the cooling coil is reduced. Indoor temperature and humidity also affect the total capacity of the AC system. As indoor temperatures increase, the sensible capacity also increases. Similarly, as indoor relative humidity increases the latent capacity of the AC system increases. Manufacturers of AC equipment typically provide a “performance map” of specific equipment to show how total, sensible, and latent capacity change with changing indoor and outdoor temperatures and humidity. Power consumption and energy efficiency are also provided in these charts.
What type of AC systems are available?
Cooling Only Split-System
A split system is a combination of an indoor air handling unit and an outdoor condensing unit. The indoor air handling unit contains a supply air fan and an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger (or cooling coil), and the expansion device. The outdoor condensing unit consists of a compressor and a condenser coil. Split-systems are typically found in residential or small commercial buildings. These systems have the highest energy efficiency rating (EER) of all the available AC systems. Manufacturers are required to take the EER rating a step further and provide a seasonal energy efficiency rating (SEER) for use by consumers. SEER ratings vary widely and range from 10 to 20. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the AC system operates. If heating is required, an alternate method of heating the interior of the building must be used, usually in the form of electric or gas heating.
Cooling Only Packaged-System
A packaged system is a single unit combining all the components described in the split system. Since the unit is a package, it must be placed outside the building and indoor air is “ducted” from the building to the packaged system and back through an air distribution system. These units typically have SEER rating from 10 to 18. If heating is required, an alternate method of heating the interior of the building must be used, usually in the form of electric or gas heating.
Heat pumps are similar to cooling only systems with one exception. A special valve in the refrigeration piping allow the refrigeration cycle to be operated in reverse. A cooling only system cools the indoor air and rejects heat to the outdoors. A heat pump can also cool the indoor air, but when the valve is reversed, the indoor air is heated. A supplementary electric resistance heater may also be used to assist the heat pump at lower outdoor temperatures. In colder climates, heat pumps require a defrost period. During defrost times the electric heater is the only means of heating the interior of the building. These units are manufactured as either split or packaged systems.
Chilled Water System
In a chilled water system, liquid water is pumped throughout the building to “chilled water coils”. Since the liquid water needs to be at a cold temperature, a “cooling plant” is required. The plant is typically referred to as a chiller plant. Vapor compression equipment in the plant, similar to that described in “How does my AC work”, cool water to a cold temperature and pump the cold water to air-to-water heat exchangers where needed.
Window Air Conditioners
As the name implies, a window air conditioner is typically installed in a window or custom opening in a wall. The Window AC can only cool small areas and are not intended to provide cooling to multiple rooms or zones. These air conditioners are manufactured as cool only or can provide both cooling and heating. An optional damper in the unit can provide fresh outdoor air if necessary.
Packaged Terminal Heat Pump
Packaged terminal heat pumps (PTHP) are are similar to a window-mounted air conditioner. These units are typically installed in a sleeve passing through the outdoor wall of an apartment, hotel, school classroom, etc. PTHPs are completely self contained and require only an electrical connection in addition to the opening in the building shell. They use the outdoor air as the heat source in winter and as a heat sink in summer. They also can provide ventilation air. Flexibility and lower installed cost are the primary advantages of the PTHP. Disadvantages include in-room maintenance, higher operating cost, relatively short life, imprecise “on-off” temperature control, and they can be rather noisy.
How is humidity controlled with an AC system?
Humidity is becoming more of a concern to building operators and owners. High indoor humidity leads to mold and mildew growth inside the building. The are several methods of controlling indoor humidity. The simplest (and most expensive) method is to connect a humidistat to an electric heater. When the humidity inside the building rises above the humidistat set point, the heater is turned on. The additional heat causes the air conditioning system to run longer and remove more moisture.
A more efficient method of controlling humidity is to use the waste heat from the refrigeration cycle itself. Instead of rejecting the waste heat outdoors, the heat is directed inside when humidity control is required. One form of heat reclaim is called hot-gas reheat or “refrigerant desuperheating” where refrigerant is passed through a heat exchanger located downstream of the cooling coil. The hot high pressure vapor leaving the compressor passes through this heat exchanger prior to entering the condenser coil. This in turn heats the indoor air and again causes the AC system to run longer to meet the thermostat set point.