MechChem Africa January-February 2021

⎪ Heating, cooling, ventilation and air conditioning ⎪

One of the two A&B fans under construction at TLT-Turbo Africa’s Prince Street premises in Pretoria South Africa.

SANEDI, the SouthAfricanNational Energy and Development Institute, has imple- mented a successful cool surface proof of concept (PoC) project at the Department of Defence’s (DoD) Lephalale SouthAfrican Military Health Service (SAMHS) Training facility in Limpopo. The project, which entailed the resurfac- ing of 15 000m 2 of walls and roofswith cool surface technology, forms part of SANEDI’s Million Cool Roofs Challenge, which sees participants working towards accelerating access to affordable, sustainable cooling through rapid deployment of cool roof materials. The Lephalale SAMHS operates as a training facilityandaccommodation for doc- tors, nurses and other health practitioners serving in theSouthAfricaNationalDefence Force (SANDF).Most of the facility’s accom- modation building material is made up of corrugated ironandprefabricatedbuildings, which means the indoor temperatures are scorching during hotter months. “Immediately after completion of the project, we took a reading of the outside temperature at the accommodation rooms, efficient, but also reliable”. The performance and energy efficiency of A&B range is capturing attention on a global scale. TLT-Turbo Africa has provided similar solutions tovarious companies in subSaharan Africa, and recently, the USA. “Our high effi - ciencyA&B fan range is truly a global leader in mineventilationequipment. It is awell-known fact that if equipment performs well under South African hard rock mining conditions, then it isup to the test inotherminingmarkets around theworld. This has ledus to a strategy

it was a staggering 47.2 °C. The facility was making use of industrial air-conditioning to cool down the various buildings, which was extremely costly, particularly during sum- mer,” explains Karen Surridge, SANEDI’s manager of the Renewable Energy Centre of Research & Development. “As soonas the accommodation surfaces, roofs and walls, were painted we took a temperature reading inside the building. It had dropped to 29.8 °C – almost 20° lower, which was remarkable. Although this is a single reading on one hot day, SANEDI will be monitoring the performance of the technology across two years of seasons, to demonstrate that cool surface technology offers a tangible and inexpensive solution to curbing heat and making buildings more comfortable. The technology is also expected to result in far less electricity consumption and wear and tear on the air- conditioning units at the base” The SANEDI cool surfaces project in- cluded the recoating of the walls and roofs of the students’ accommodation blocks, classrooms, ablutions and trainers’ accom- modation blocks. The project, which was In conclusion, Madlopha states that the key to the success of any mining ventila- tion project such as this installation, is the company’s unwavering commitment to redefining ventilation. The A&B fan range was designed based on client input with the objectiveofmeetingventilationrequirements and reducing operational costs. The A&B fan range solutions are designed to replace the traditional, large primary ventilation fans for internationalisationof this product range,” Madlopha enthuses.

rolledout inSeptember 2020, took less than a month to complete and also included the training of five artisans from SANDF. Explains Surridge: “As part of our cool surfaces project we also train individuals on the correct application of the paint and surface preparation, how to use the airless spray machine and the theory behind how the technologyworks. In the caseof SAMHS Lephalaleweopted forwhite, which is in line with the facility’s standards and also one of the most effective heat emissive colours.” General Joseph Ledwaba of the DOD DefenceWorksFormationadds:“Weareex- cited tobe a part of this energy intervention and look forward to a fruitful collaboration that leads to more comfortable living and working conditions for our members as well as reduced electricity and repair and maintenance costs.” “Ultimately,wehopetorolloutthecoolsur- faces project at various SANDF bases across thecountry.Thecoolsurfacestechnologynot only offers a passive cooling solution but also provides better durability of the roof below in terms of protection fromthe elements and water proofing,” concludes Surridge. q with a simple, ‘plug and play’, modular design, using the same fans that are designed to be used underground. This concept allows a mine to keep standardised spares, therefore improving reliability and availability of their ventilation assets. “With our high-efficiency A&B fans, mines can achieve significant re - ductions in operational costs, where they are able to switch off a large number of standard auxiliary fans to substantially reduce electric- ity consumption,” Madlopha concludes. www.tlt-turbo.africa

SANEDI cools Lephalale SANDF training facility

January-February 2021 • MechChem Africa ¦ 25