Despite the challenges presented in 2020, TLT-Turbo Africa continues to redefine ventilation for mining operations across the continent. Their customised and proactive approach to ventilation solutions, combined with their new range of Auxiliary and Booster fans has resulted in substantial energy cost savings for a major global gold and platinum producer in just 3 months after installation at one of their South African sites.
In June of 2019, TLT-Turbo Africa was approached for their recommendation on ventilation solutions for a shaft located in Gauteng. A site meeting was conducted in order to ascertain the client and site-specific requirements and to evaluate which ventilation challenges TLT-Turbo Africa could address with a turnkey ventilation solution.
“Following numerous engagements and site inspections, we investigated different solutions for the client’s application. Our Engineering and Research and Development teams then set out to develop a customised solution utilising our high-efficiency A&B fan range,” Vusi Madlopha, TLT-Turbo Africa Head of Sales & Business Development relates.
This solution was purpose-designed to solve the underground ventilation challenges that the mine was facing at this particular shaft. At the time, the mine was operating auxiliary fans that were failing to deliver the volume and pressure required by a mature mine despite consuming 630kwe. They were also operating a primary ventilation system that was consuming 2MW of power but not delivering the required air due to increased mine resistance.
“The client’s main objective was to gain improved efficiency and performance to ensure that sufficient air reached their underground operations while at the same time reducing power consumption. In addition to this, the new solution needed to be reliable as their ultimate goal was to turn off the existing surface fans,” explains Madlopha. “To meet their needs, TLT-Turbo Africa would have to supply fans which could provide 71 m³/sec volume of air at 3000Pa pressure.”
TLT-Turbo Africa’s A&B fan range is designed to meet these exact requirements, however, there was yet another challenge facing the mine that TLT-Turbo’s team would need to solve. The existing infrastructure for transporting the booster fans underground was not sufficient, and it was impossible to effect any changes to accommodate these rather large underground fans. Madlopha says that to get around this obstacle, TLT-Turbo Africa’s R&D team designed the fan system so that the components would fit into the available hoists at the mine and could be easily assembled once underground.
Based on the assessment of the mine’s needs, the challenges to be considered and the final recommendation made by TLT-Turbo Africa, the final scope of the installation included TLT-Turbo Africa’s MC1600AP-160KW dual stage fan from the newly launched A&B fan range – specifically 1600mm diameter dual-stage fans, each driven by a 160kW high-efficiency motor. The complete installation was designed to absorb a total of 1280kw of electrical power. The complete product offering also included broadband silencers, self-closing doors, and other fan ancillaries. For this project, TLT-Turbo Africa also provided Direct Online (DOL) starter panels, which were locally manufactured.
Commissioning on the installation was completed on 7 and 8 July 2020.
According to Madlopha, their final recommendation was based on the mine’s requirements, solving their challenges, improving on the previous ventilation system performance – and on their knowledge of the operating conditions within an underground mining application. “TLT-Turbo Africa offered a solution that is built for the tough underground mining environment. The solution ensures a reliable supply of air to personnel while consuming less energy. Our customised layout was able to cater for all challenges faced by the mine, which also included broadband silencers for damping the noise emitted by the axial flow fans.”
The mine’s feedback three months after the installation echoed Madlopha’s confidence in their installation. A spokesperson from the mine stated that: “Conditions underground at the shaft have improved noticeably, particularly in the previously warmer upper-levels. The team has provided positive comments on this from all levels of the workforce. The fans are performing exactly as specified in respect to both volume and power.”
Madlopha explains that the ‘noticeable difference’ that the client alludes to relates to the improved air quality for those working underground. “Mining in South African gold mines happens at very deep levels, sometimes reaching depths of 4000m. In this particular mine where the fans are operating at 2800m underground, temperatures are at around 40° C on average. The mining climate is humid, hot and full of exhaust fumes. Since the installation of TLT-Turbo’s fans, the stope workers can breathe better, as the mine is now able to move more air into their working areas. This naturally leads to an improved occupational health situation, which has been confirmed by the positive comments from the workers at this shaft.”
In addition to this, TLT-Turbo Africa’s solution has proved efficient enough to allow for the mine to switch off their previous ventilation fans. The mine reported that commissioning of TLT-Turbo Africa fans (total rated 1280kWe) has allowed them to permanently stop and remove 14 other auxiliary fans (total rated 630kWe).
They have also permanently stopped the main surface fan, resulting in a direct energy saving of +2MW of power, and a cost-saving of ±R14m per annum. “The lifespan of this project is over 10 years which means that the life-of-mine savings are massive. It also resulted in the project’s payback period being less than 3 months.”
According to Madlopha, the success of their ventilation equipment at this mine can be attributed to the innovative design of their A&B fan range, and to the ability of TLT-Turbo’s experts to customise these fans even further to meet client and site-specific requirements. “The system supplied was customized and optimized for that particular operation. The design point, layout, and robust structure provided an overall fan system that is not only efficient but also reliable. We supplied more than just fans for this project. We designed the whole ventilation solution to optimise the current mine plan.”
According to the client, the project has been highly successful. “TLT-Turbo Africa was able to show agility and problem-solving capability when we encountered project management issues at the start. From there the project can be considered very successful. We thank and congratulate the TLT-Turbo Africa team involved, on a well-designed and constructed set of fans.”
The performance and energy efficiency of TLT-Turbo’s A&B range is capturing attention on a global scale. TLT-Turbo Africa has provided similar solutions to various companies in Sub Saharan Africa, and also recently, to the USA. “Our high-efficiency A&B fan range is truly a global leader in mine ventilation equipment. It is a well-known fact that if equipment performs well under South African hard rock mining conditions, then it is up to the test in other mining markets around the world. This has led us to a strategy for internationalisation of this product range,” Madlopha enthuses.
In conclusion, Madlopha states that the key to the success of any mining ventilation project such as this installation is their unwavering commitment to redefining ventilation. The A&B fan range was designed based on client input with the objective of helping them to save costs in both operational and capital expenditure. The A&B fan range solutions are designed to replace the traditional, large primary ventilation fans with a simple, “plug and play”, modular design of a primary ventilation system, using the same fans that can be used underground. This concept allows the mine to keep standardized spares, therefore improving the reliability and availability of the ventilation fans at all times.
“With our high-efficiency fans, mines have seen a significant reduction in operational costs, where they were able to switch off a large number of standard auxiliary fans, and replace them with our A&B fans, sometimes at ratios as high as 1:4.”