With the official signing of a collaboration agreement, the CSIR and Cermalab today formalised the work they are doing together at southern Africa's only unbiased high-temperature materials laboratory.

At this laboratory refractories and ceramics can be tested and characterised to international standards. The CSIR and Cermalab each ran independent laboratories of this nature for many years and decided to join forces, obtain international accreditation and pool their resources.

"There are now a great many opportunities opening up for this kind of laboratory. For instance, the emerging national strategy in the nuclear energy arena creates possible applications for a high-temperature materials laboratory, while its ability to be used in tertiary education and research is also opening doors. Of course, its current use for the testing and characterisation of refractories used in the primary aluminium production industry, ceramics and heavy clays will continue and most likely even expand," says Dr Willie du Preez, manager of metals and metals processes research at the CSIR.

According to Bruce Berger, operations manager of Cermalab, the fact that this laboratory has achieved international accreditation means that local companies that currently send their refractories overseas for testing would no longer have to do so. "We can do all the tests and development work needed locally, which will bring down costs considerably,"he says.

Background
The CSIR's high-temperature materials laboratory was established in October 2005 due to a need expressed by BHP Billiton Aluminium. This company became the CSIR's primary client for the testing and characterisation of refractory materials used in the primary aluminium production process. The company also assisted the CSIR in obtaining the relevant laboratory equipment from a redundant facility in Europe.

Cermalab has been operating as a private laboratory since 2002, its focus being on the testing and characterisation of ceramics, heavy clays, refractories and other materials. It also provides certified training courses in the field.

"These two were the only laboratories of their kind in South Africa. The constraints and challenges in terms of sustainability placed on them by the limited local market gave us reason to explore the option of collaboration. This happened in 2008, with the two laboratories starting to operate jointly in April last year," explains Du Preez. "We have now had a number of months to work together and the progress made supports the intent to continue to do so. This formal collaboration agreement is aimed at strengthening our future together."

Says Berger: "The collaboration agreement gives us more credibility, especially as the laboratory achieved ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation in November 2008."

The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) accreditation was obtained for compliance with the requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. It is also the accreditation standard mainly used in Europe.

Going forward
The collaboration will be managed by a CSIR-Cermalab steering committee, consisting of two representatives from each entity. Cermalab is responsible for the operational management of the laboratory and it will be marketed under the Cermalab brand. The laboratory is housed on the CSIR¿s Scientia campus in Pretoria.

The collaboration agreement will be reviewed in April 2010 to decide whether or not it should be strengthened, "says Du Preez. "I am positive about the future of the laboratory and the collaboration with Cermalab. Together we have more muscle to serve the needs of our pooled clients," he concludes.