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Locally manufactured filtration system helps fight silicosis

Aircure owner and product developer Darren Bibby discusses the company's MOD5 HEPA filtration system.

16th May 2014

By: David Oliveira

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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South African air filtration company Aircure aims to launch the latest iteration of its Air MOD5 general air filtration system – featuring a boltless design that facilitates installation – next month, says Aircure owner and product developer Darren Bibby.

He tells Mining Weekly that the MOD5 is particularly effective in mitigating the causes of silicosis and related illnesses, which is a driving concern for the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

“We were successful in developing the Air MOD5 modular, multistage air filtration unit, which can be used for general dust control in mining environments,” says Bibby.

He adds that, while the MOD5 was launched in 2005, the company has made constant improvements to the product over the years, resulting in the high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system in the Air MOD5, which was launched 18 months ago.

Bibby tells Mining Weekly that Aircure began developing the MOD5 HEPA because of increased focus on the impact of respirable dust, which is present in the air from as little as 0.5 µm.

“The fineness of the filters needed to address this issue resulted in our having to develop our own inline cyclone filters, which will remove larger dust particles before the air reaches the multistaged filtration system. The entire system can effectively remove 98.5% of respir- able dust at 0.5 µm.”

Bibby further mentions that, following trials at JSE-listed gold miner Harmony Gold’s Phakisa mine, in the Free State, in June 2013, the MOD5 HEPA system is considered by the Chamber of Mines’ leading practice organisation Mining Industry Occupational Safety & Health (Mosh) to be a best practice solution for mine air filtration.

The MOD5 has also been adopted by gold mining majors AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Sibanye.

Legislative Environment
Bibby says the Mine Health and Safety Act can effectively address the challenges with regard to silicosis and related diseases. He believes that the DMR is effectively working towards implementing the appropriate methods to deal with these issues.

“However, legislation does not always translate into an actionable plan, largely owing to individuals interpreting the law differently, which, in turn, results in varying ways of implementation and enforcement.

“Mining companies definitely seem to want to resolve the issue. I feel that they have moved forward and part of this is owing to the fear of litigation,” he posits, concluding that more research can be done on silicosis and that resources need to be made available to mitigate the issue.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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