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AC / DC Laboratory (SANAS No 101)

The laboratory covers a very wide range of electrical parameters in meeting the needs of the electrical industry.  SANAS accreditation applies in the following fields:

  • AC Voltage DC Voltage
  • AC Current DC Current
  • AC Power Resistance
  • AC Energy Capacitance
  • AC Current Ratio Inductance
  • AC Voltage Ratio Temperature (Electrical Simulation)

Being such a versatile metrology service, the laboratory is capable of meeting the majority of measurement and calibration needs of SA Industries including power stations and transmission / distribution networks.

Calibration covers such instruments as ammeters, voltmeters, wattmeters, resistance bridges, voltage standards, energy meters, energy standards, voltage transformers, current transformers, ratiometers, ratio bridges, capacitance / inductance bridges, capacitors, inductors, multimeters, temperature calibrators, electrical calibrators etc.

Electrical AC Power / Energy Calibration

In the past the laboratory formed part of the National Standard in comprising South Africa’s power and energy standards.  The laboratory is equipped with the German manufactured HEG K2005 comparator, this unit is capable of AC voltage / current and watts measurement to within 50ppm.  This has been superseded by another high class AC reference standard the Applied Precision 2330s which also has calibration levels to within 20ppm.

This calibration capability is extensively patronised by local industry and municipalities in attaining very accurate power and energy measurement meeting high accuracy calibration requirements.High Voltage / Heavy Current Laboratory

This facility comes under the umbrella of the AC/DC laboratory and comprises the following capabilities:

AC voltage.
  • 2,2kV to 66kV/ 50Hz and an on site capability from 66kV to 400kV/ 50Hz.
DC Voltage.
  • This parameter is supported by a 0-100kV DC precision voltage supply and high level precision voltage divider system.  This allows generation and measurement of high DC voltages required by SA Industries.
  • The system has international traceability with the unit being calibrated by a ISO/IEC 17025-2005 calibration laboratory before being shipped to South Africa.
  • This is the only laboratory with this high end level of traceability, accredited by SANAS.
AC Current.
  • High AC currents (0 – 3000A / 50Hz RMS) are produced in the laboratory.  The system is used for research and testing purposes.
  • On site calibration and measurement is also carried out using the portable standards available.

High Current AC Calibration Facility

Current Transformers.

The 0 – 3000A  precision Zenith AC 50Hz RMS current transformer calibration facility is extensively used by SA Industry.  Especially in the accuracy verification of locally manufactured current transformers and instrumentation for overseas export.  It is also largely utilised for research testing and measurement investigations, supporting many Eskom requirements in the CT field.  The unit has accuracy levels to within 

  • 0,02%  for Ratio and 1 minute of Phase. 

Power station CT’s up to 30kA are calibrated against a precision Zenith 30kA AC Current transformer calibration unit, capable of generating currents up to 30000 Amps AC 50Hz, RMS to an accuracy of  0,02% and 1 minute.  This facility is used for power station turbine CT calibrations and also for accuracy verification of locally manufactured current transformers with high current ratios for export overseas.

As no high current standards are available from our National Standards – NMISA, TRAC Laboratories imported new calibration references into the country to cover the above parameters at extensive expense, making it the only certified facility in South Africa.

These standards were certified by ISO/IEC 17025-2005 accredited laboratories overseas prior to them being shipped to South Africa.

Time and Frequency Laboratory (SANAS No 501)

The Time and Frequency laboratory provides technical support in the areas of Low Frequency, High frequency, Time Interval and Oscilloscope calibration.

SANAS accreditation to ISO 17025 is in the following fields:

  • Frequency
  • Time Interval Average
  • Oscilloscope Calibration

The above parameters allow calibration of  instruments such as :

  • Frequency Counters
  • Frequency generators
  • Function generators
  • Oscillators
  • Time Interval measurements
  • Timers
  • Oscilloscopes
  • Stopwatches