“The priority for mines today is equipment availability, as they work towards more uptime and better productivity,” says Brenton Spies, Managing Director at Booyco Engineering. “Every time an HVAC system in a cab needs to be replaced or repaired, the machine stands idle at great cost to the operation in lost production. Our heavy duty designs and local manufacture ensure long life and reliability.”
Waiting to be loaded
Alongside the production imperative, mines are also insisting on the highest levels of safety and best practice. Among the benchmarks being embraced in the local industry is the ISO 23875 standard on air quality and driver health. Booyco Engineering designs its solutions to comply with this standard.
A related innovation, formally launched at the recent Electra Mining Africa show, is the company’s APU which drives the in-cab air conditioner without the need for the mining truck’s main engine to provide power to the system. In most situations, a driver or operator has to run the main engine to keep their cab cool while waiting to be loaded.
Significant saving
“Fitting the APU means that the main engine can be powered down while waiting, and the cab will remain cool for optimal operator comfort,” Brenton explains. “With mining trucks consuming anything from 30 to 50 litres of diesel an hour while idling, this APU means a significant saving in diesel costs. It also helps reduce the mine’s carbon footprint, which is a growing strategic concern.”
As part of Booyco Engineering’s contribution to safe and streamlined mining, it also supplies Sy-Klone technology for cab filtration as well as for air precleaning systems to boost engine performance, reliability and life span.
