JE Mechanical

Air ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS Air Case Studies JE Mechanical

Stawell, VIC Australia

Andrew Fraser
Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality Manager

The Problem

JE Mechanical provides installation, sales, and advice on a range of high-quality air conditioning and heating systems for both home and commercial customers.

The team at CAPS was contacted by JE Mechanical with the request to provide a bespoke solution for an air compressor suitable for an underground mining laboratory application. There is no off-the-shelf equipment which would meet their requirements, which gave CAPS in-house engineering team the sort of challenge they relish.

Objectives

All control wiring was to be classified as extra low voltage (ELV) for electrical safety
All ELV wiring (24V) was to be segregated from LV wiring (up to 415V) for electrical safety
All externally exposed electrical cables to be mechanically protected for electrical safety
Compressor to be suitable for a dusty, dirty mining operating environment
Upgrade the electricals to IP65 ingress protection intent
Clean, dry and technically oil free air requiring a desiccant dryer with an active carbon tower

Key Takeaways

1x
Custom Brumby CR5-CS13-500
24Vdc
FST desiccant dryer
24Vac
Extra low voltage

Solution

It was determined that one of CAPS’ ‘Brumby’ rotary screw machines was the perfect base in terms of performance and footprint, from which to redesign and engineer a full. This includes an in-house engineering department and testing facility which operates under a certified ISO9001:2015 quality assurance system.

Modifications included:

Convert the compressor control wiring to extra low voltage (24Vac) electrical circuitry
Segregate all necessary LV power (up to 415Vac) in a separate stainless steel incoming power box with interlocked incoming power isolation for increased safety
Earth leakage protection on three phase LV power circuit for increased electrical safety
Replace standard refrigerant dryer with 24Vdc FST desiccant dryer including active carbon tower for technically oil free air to ISO8573 Class 1.2.1 and air with residual oil content less than 0.003mg/m3.
All externally exposed electrical cables to be mechanically protected in heavy duty, steel reinforced conduit system with IP65 rated fittings
External heavy duty air inlet filter to suit the high dust load underground mining environment

Benefits

CAPS has provided an air compressor that can operate in high ambient, high dusty environments at continuous full load 24/7. High quality technically oil-free compressed air in a very compact, integrated, and economic package.

Safety was a critical benefit for this solution as it will be used in an underground mining application. The new configuration of this machine ensures no electrical circuitry which is readily accessible by operators, exceeds extra low voltage, without requiring isolation and earth leakage / residual current protection. This solution fully complies with the customer’s safety requirements.

Segregation of all low voltage power to a dedicated lockable electrical enclosure that can only be accessed once isolated. It also had inherent earth leakage / residual current protection if live maintenance or fault finding were ever to be required. All externally exposed electrical cable is mechanically protected from the mechanical impact damage in an underground mining environment.

The customer has peace of mind knowing all design and engineering work has been carried out. This includes an in-house engineering department and testing facility which operates under a certified ISO9001:2015 quality assurance system. Upon completion, CAPS can verify all customer’s specifications have been met and that the product performs to specification through our own test facility.

Significant savings to the customer were made by being able to modify inhouse; a standard compressor and fit-for-purpose options, rather than having to design from scratch a totally bespoke air compressor.

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