Mines require sufficient cooling and ventilation to ensure worker comfort and safety, and to keep processes running smoothly. Carrier, a United Technologies Corp company, is present in South Africa through joint venture AHI Carrier, and is increasingly specialising in mining water chillers with capacities of between 5 MW and 10 MW.

AHI Carrier Commercial Sales Director Jaco Smal indicates that the mining chillers are designed with robustness and reliability in mind, also achieving premium energy efficiency with variable speed control on the compressors.  “The maintenance costs on the Carrier chillers are dramatically reduced in comparison with opendrive compressor chillers used by others.” Carrier’s 19XR AquaEdge chillers feature a semi-hermetic motor design, which is highly reliable and reduces the need for additional mechanical room cooling.  The chillers also feature two-stage compression technology, which is an advantage for large tonnage and high lift applications.

“The two-stage design provides improved cycle efficiency by leveraging an inter-stage flash economiser. This reduces compressor power while simultaneously increasing refrigeration effect and capacity, resulting in high energy efficiency at fully loaded and part load conditions,” adds Smal. The 19XR AquaEdge variable speed centrifugal chillers are easy-to-install, have Cu Ni tubes, clad tube sheets and marine water boxes on both the evaporator and condenser. Thanks to the adjustable touch screen display, comfortable viewing from four mounting locations is possible.

Even though the mining sector is still at a low, AHI Carrier says it is determined to penetrate the sector and acquire a considerable market share. “I have full confidence in the quality and reliability of our products. Our water chillers improve productivity, and save on energy costs. We are proud to provide superior quality water chillers that meet a variety of cooling applications,” Smal concludes.