Explosives manufacturer and supplier AEL Mining Services says its investment in the research and development (R&D) of explosives technology for the mining industry has proven successful, with AEL group technical manager of initiating systems Cheryl Kelly winning the Innovator of the Year award for AEL’s spray-drying-process technology last month at the awards ceremony of chemicals group AECI.

“The spray-drying-process technology is a method of producing a dry powder from a liquid or slurry by rapidly drying it with a hot gas. With the company’s focus over the last year being on increasing its pyrotechnic compositions – particularly the binder and oxidiser selections and concentration – this technology was aimed at significantly improving the timing and reliability of the composition,” she says.

Being a preferred method of drying many thermally sensitive materials, such as pharma-ceuticals, as well as powders used for foods like milk powder and coffee, Kelly notes, this patented technique to make free-flowing pyrotechnic compositions is unique to AEL.

”AEL believes that R&D is an integral com-ponent of the company’s service offering and, as a result, it invests 3% of its yearly revenue in the R&D department to research innovations and offer field and technical support on all new and existing technologies,” Kelly says.

She points out that partnering with the correct third parties, including local and international universities, subsequently played a significant role in the success of the spray-drying technology and also in providing technical support for the project.

Kelly also highlights that identifying the right people and partners with the necessary skills set to assist in solving technical issues that arise during the development process played an important role in the success of the spray-drying technology.

“It is integral for the success of these inno-vations that the team maintains a firm grasp on the anticipated changes and developments in the world of explosives. I am very fortunate to have a team of extremely innovative and committed individuals who have demonstrated excellent product development and commercialisation skills.

Also, working with a team of scientists and technicians who all offer vast backgrounds in physics, and mechanical and chemical engineer- ing, has afforded the R&D department [the opportunity] to complete a full range of delay powders for AEL’s Shock Tube range used in blasting applications for the narrow-reef and surface markets,” she explains.

Kelly notes that seeing an idea culminating into a saleable product is very rewarding on personal and team levels because there is incredible satis-faction in developing or enhancing products that are used to enhance bottom line business objec-tives for the various clients that AEL serves.