MechChem Africa November-December 2024

⎪ Heating, cooling, ventilation and air conditioning ⎪

conditioners, or alternatively provides power to a remote mount compres sor for mechanically driven systems. “Instead of having the engine idling and consuming up to 50 /h per hour to keep the air conditioner running, the APU can provide power to the air conditioner while consuming 2.0 to 3.0 /h of fuel. This is obviously a very significant cost saving for mines, especially with the cur rent cost of diesel in South Africa. Also, though, CO 2 emissions and the carbon footprint of the operation reduce, while the air quality in the vicinity improves. If coupled to a Booyco HVAC unit such as the D006E, Miller continues, then fleet operators also get the benefit of Booyco’s exceptionally rugged roof mounted solution, which offers 3.5 kW of cooling from a fully electric compres sor and, unlike many other units, our sys tem is rated according to ISO 16358-1 for an ambient temperature of 46°C: the T3 CSPF (cooling seasonal performance factor) for hot climates. “In addition, Africa has high dust loads, as well as more hazardous ele ments such as silica dust, so we can couple our units to vortex filtration systems, which we offer through a partnership with a US based company, Sy-Klone International. These are high efficiency self-scavenging HEPA air filters. But there are no media-based fil ters in these units, they work by ejecting 98% of all the dust particles in the intake due to spiralling air flow created by the cyclone,” Grant Miller explains, adding that this also means there are no used filters/cartridges to replace when they get clogged, making these units ESG friendly in terms of material use. “As well as a cool truck cab, clean air is also a health and safety requirements, and to properly clean the air coming into a vehicle, the cab must be sealed. That creates capacity implications for the aircon units. “That's what makes our new anti-idle APU so compelling. We can achieve all of the cab cooling and clean air require ments while significantly reducing the operator’s diesel consumption and op erating costs. And while a specialty unit

Booyco Engineering’s new anti-idle auxiliary power unit (APU) can generate up to 120 A at 26 VDC to provide power to the full range of air handing units used on mobile vehicles.

Booyco’s locally manufactured HVAC systems are engineered to withstand harsh conditions, with attention to detail ensuring the systems can handle extreme vibrations when traversing rough terrain.

may seem expensive at first, this cost is far outweighed by the savings. Our cal culations suggest that, if a haul truck is idling for four to six hours a day – which is typical – the Capex for our anti-idle APU will be recovered in less than a year

from fuel savings,” estimates Miller. “Our solution makes the waiting less costly, while also contributing towards the sustainability goals of mines in Africa,” Booyco’s Grant Miller concludes. www.booyco.co.za

SPECIALISED MOBILE AIR CONDITIONING

011 974 8640

info@booyco.co.za

www.booyco.co.za

101 Newton Road, Meadowdale, Germiston, South Africa

November-December 2024 • MechChem Africa ¦ 39