Specialty heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems manufacturer Booyco Engineering is experiencing an uptick in enquiries to supply units for mining vehicles, specifically for the export market.

In business for more than 40 years, the company has mainly focused on meeting the high standards of the military and railway sectors, says Booyco Engineering MD Brenton Spies.

“For the last five years or so, we’ve turned our attention to mining and apply the same stringent quality and specification design philosophy that we do to our rail and military units and implement that on the mining side.”

With mining environments being harsh – dusty with high temperatures and vibrations – the company has received enquiries for opencast and quarrying operations, as well as underground mines. But space is an issue, especially when a certain cooling capacity is specified.

“They’re not giving us the space necessary to install an HVAC unit that can provide the required output. With mining vehicles being price sensitive, there is a misalignment between what they want and what they’re willing to pay,” explains Spies.

However, Booyco Engineering has supplied several units for underground vehicles and is the preferred supplier for a few original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

“But this is mainly for the export market – mostly India and South America, with limited supply to Australia,” adds Spies.

He highlights that 80% of the company’s mining specification HVAC units are supplied for new builds, with 20% ordered to retrofit older machinery, mainly in Africa.

“We are working on increasing orders for new builds for the Southern African Development Community, but there isn’t much traction there yet.”

Spies advances that the main reason for the limited uptake of its units in Africa is legislation.

While South Africa has strict mining health and safety regulations in place, the rest of the continent is lagging behind global best practice. International mining companies continue to drive the uptake of Booyco Engineering’s HVAC solutions in the rest of Africa, advancing health and safety by deploying mining equipment that complies with their corporate governance and the legislation enforced by their home countries.

“Small-scale miners are doing the bare minimum when it comes to HVAC systems. You need a responsible mining house to enforce the rules. If you don’t have the strict health and safety legislation that we have in South Africa, which is the case in the rest of Africa, compliance is driven through good corporate governance,” Spies elaborates.

Safety First

Booyco Engineer’s HVAC systems mitigate exposure to airborne pollutants and thermal stresses to ensure operator safety and compliance with the Mine Health and Safety Act.

“The mining environment is a Class A hazard. From a temperature point of view, our HVACs ensure that people work in a moderate temperature. Our units also have filters but considering the impending implementation of amendments to South Africa’s Air Quality Act on pollutants and their monitoring, a more sophisticated air filtration system will be needed.”

Booyco Engineering has partnered with US air filter supplier Sy-Klone International to integrate the ISO 23875-compliant Sy-Klone filtration system with its HVAC systems.

This ISO standard defines what clean air is, stipulating acceptable and unacceptable pollutant levels in terms of air quality, and specifies the level to which a system needs to filter the air.

“South Africa is still a few years behind the US and Europe regarding compliance with this standard, but Booyco Engineering has already designed and developed units and integrated them with Sy-Klone’s systems so that when the local market is ready, we’re ready to supply it,” says Spies, noting that Booyco Engineering is probably one or two years ahead of the curve.

Promoting Productivity

Mining equipment operators need a safe working environment with good air quality and sufficient oxygen supply, as well as adequate climate control, to remain productive.

An effective HVAC system helps to improve uptime by avoiding hot working conditions that cause operators to switch off their equipment, causing a decline in productivity.

“This has been happening increasingly more often in mining over the last couple of years. It’s integral to ensure that people are in the perfect environment so they can perform at their peak, while also ensuring that they stay healthy, not just now, but in the long term,” Spies emphasises.

Using HVAC units integrated with Sy-Klone filtration systems offers short-term health and safety benefits by helping to avoid unnecessary accidents linked to operator fatigue owing to high levels of CO₂ in the cab and, thereby, improving alertness. The Sy-Klone systems also prevent extended exposure to pollutants that can lead to medical conditions such as tuberculosis and lung cancer in the long term.

“All the units we export or supply to OEMs for export are integrated with Sy-Klone systems,” advises Spies.

As mines strive to align with environmental, social and governance requirements, Booyco Engineering’s HVAC solutions also support broader operational goals beyond operator health and safety.

Spies says that mining vehicles idle about 30% of the time they are in use while waiting to be loaded or standing in a queue.

“The operator runs the engine to operate the air conditioner. Therefore, Booyco Engineering introduced an auxiliary power unit (APU) so that the engine can be switched off when the vehicle is stationary for a prolonged period. The APU powers critical electronics and the air conditioner, saving about 35 ℓ/h in diesel.”

Consequently, a mining operation is not only able to reduce its carbon emissions, but also decrease its production costs. This is in addition to the tax incentives associated with a lower carbon footprint.

Therefore, a Booyco Engineering HVAC solution combined with an APU and Sy-Klone filtration system contributes to a healthier, cleaner and more productive mining environment, concludes Spies.