Mining companies are increasingly focused on finding energy efficient solutions for ventilation, a trend which has been noted by ventilation solutions company, TLT-Turbo Africa.

The company identified a gap in the mining ventilation market as demand increased for fans in the size range between 1 600 mm and 2 000 mm in diameter and recently announced an extension of their Auxiliary and Booster fan range.

“With the mining sector starting to move away from large-scale, end-of-life surface fan installations to smaller, more scalable and movable ventilation installations, it became clear to us that this niche would become more and more relevant in the future. TLT-Turbo Africa decided to bridge this gap in our offering by extending our current standardized Auxiliary and Booster fan range to include 1 800 mm and 2 000 mm variants,” explains, TLT-Turbo Africa head of sales and business development Vusi Madlopha.

The larger fan products were developed with the same design methodology and aerodynamic concepts used for the original Auxiliary and Booster fan range. Standardisation in the development of the new fans was achieved by using the same blade, impeller and stator design as the Auxiliary and Booster fan range, in order to ensure a globally cost-effective supply chain of product components. “To enhance product robustness and performance, we included features of the TLT-Turbo Modular Mine Fan range which includes fans ranging in size from 2 000 mm to 3 150 mm,” says Madlopha.

“The standard design features include a horizontally split fan casing to allow for larger foot mount motors to be installed and to make international transport of components possible within normal sized marine containers. All fans in the range are designed to operate in 50 Hz and 60 Hz applications with a 2-pole motor at 3 000 rpm and 3 600 rpm and with a 4-pole motor at 1 500 rpm and 1 800 rpm,” explains TLT-Turbo Africa engineering specialist Stephan Viviers.

Blade pitch angle adjustment brackets come standard with the Booster fan range, while  temperature and vibration sensors and an anti-stall unit are optional. The fans are variable speed drive compliant and can be integrated into a ventilation-on-demand system. A range of duty points can be achieved by varying the blade pitch angles as well as the solidity of the impeller. Fans can also be installed in series up to three stages to achieve higher pressure requirements, allowing for more flexibility.

TLT-Turbo Africa recently completed the build and supply of the first MC2000 for the Australian market. Madlopha describes this fan as a “top of the range South African manufactured product in terms of size and performance”.