Rotary lobe compressor showcased at Electra Mining expo

Andreas Stubel

Electra Mining is a mining conference that hosts over 38,000 industry professionals from the continent under one roof. Airgas' marketing coordinator, Andreas Stubel revealed that this event serves as the ideal platform for the company to showcase the German-engineered Aerzen Delta Hybrid rotary lobe compressor.

"The Delta Hybrid boasts globally proven technology that is ideally suited to various industries, including the mining industry, and this solution offers the combined features of a positive displacement blower and screw compressor," he stated.

This combination ensures that the Delta Hybrid serves as a highly energy-efficient and reliable air-conveying solution for applications in need of negative pressure and positive pressure from -700 mBar up to 1500 mBar, with intake volume flows ranging from 110 m3/h up to 9000 m3/h.

An interactive and hands-on experience

Airgas will be running the Delta Hybrid at its display stand in order to provide visitors with an interactive and hands-on experience of the machine. "Guests will have the opportunity to operate the Delta Hybrid's user-friendly and entirely integrated Airtronic control board, which starts and stops the machine, in addition to adjusting its speed. What's more, it displays oil temperature, air filter monitoring and the running condition history of the unit," he continued.

According to Stubel, energy consumption constitutes 90% of the total lifecycle costs of compressed air-conveying machinery. "With rising energy costs, coupled with unstable supply, the Delta Hybrid's energy efficiency is a major benefit for the South African mining sector."

With this in mind, the Delta Hybrid was developed to increase energy efficiency and achieve a significant reduction in energy and lifecycle costs. "Combining the features of both rotary lobe blower and screw compressor technologies will reduce the energy consumption under ideal conditions by up to 15% when compared to standard screw compressors and positive displacement blowers," added Stubel.

Interactive touchscreen

Airgas will prove this performance at Electra Mining with an onscreen return on investment calculator. A detailed graph will show the long-term cost savings obtained with the Hybrid by comparing it to an Aerzen blower. "An interactive touchscreen will provide a 3D animation of the internal components of the machine during operation."

For greater energy efficiency, the Delta Hybrid is also available with variable speed drive (VSD), which ensures greater control of the intake volume and torque values of the machine during operation. The Delta Hybrid features a number of additional ground-breaking developments, including an optimised fluid design of the inlet and discharge ports for ideal flow conditions, and a patented bearing system that expands the bearing life to over 60,000 operating hours at a differential pressure of 1000 mBar.

For more, go to www.electramining.co.za