MechChem Africa July-August 2024

Rand Air Temperature and the eight-ton boiler Edmund Haddad, the recently appointed business development manager for Temperature at Rand Air, talks about the company’s new steam boiler rental offering and the peace of mind it offers for meeting local manufacturing and processing needs. E dmund Haddad is a mechanical en gineer with extensive experience in design, research and development, manufacturing, mining and minerals Namibia. “We conducted studies into the fea sibility of extracting lithium from the orebody; the process design, capital cost, operational expenses and most importantly, the return on investment. So I understand manufacturing, mining and how to implement engineering projects, which, I think, stands me in good stead for this new business development role at Rand Air,” says Edmund Haddad. The 8t containerise boiler offering. On May 8 th this year, Rand Air part of Atlas Copco Speciality Rental, had a launch for its new Temperature offering. “We have been running a soft launch since earlier this year, and have already done a few projects us ing our 3 t boilers. We have now also taken delivery of two new German-built 8 t steam boilers, though, which is very exciting,” Had dad continues.

processing projects. “I started out in manu facturing in a copper foundry, specialising in simulations to optimise how molten metal flows into moulds. After several great years, I decided to join a startup foundry to recreate the successes already achieved and to move away from the specialist role,” he begins. “I joined the steel startup foundry in Springs just before Covid hit, so I had to de velop a lot of business skills in a short time, implementing workarounds to keep the busi ness running on a shoestring budget,” Haddad tells MechChem Africa . He then moved into a study manager role at a technology metals mining company in

“I have an engineering mindset, so I also un derstand what customers want from a rental company. When in Namibia, the mine was looking to expand the existing plant without a large upfront capital investment. So, we came to Rand Air for the compressors we needed. The rental option enabled us to get what we needed immediately while paying for it out of increased production. It proved to be a far better option in terms of cash flow, and it en abled the expansion project to be completed far more quickly, without adding a long-term financial burden,” he relates.

The quality and technology involved is remarkable, he says citing the European CE standard mark and design details. “This is the Rolls Royce of packaged boilers, 72-hours unmanned, low emissions, fuel efficient, with little details such as the mounted steel badge indicating the nose levels.” A fire-tube packaged boiler with a deliv ery capacity of 7 800 kg/h of steam at 14.5 barg, the new 8 t dual-fuel boiler runs on any light liquid fuel, such as diesel or natural gas. Compared to standard coal-fired boilers in the

As part of its Temperature offering, Rand Air has now taken delivery of two new German-built 8 t steam boilers.

4 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2024