Emergency Cooling Rental Helps Ontario, Canada Mining Restore Operations & Avoid Financial Loss
Location: Ontario, CA
Industry: Manufacturing
Equipment: Two, 30-Ton Rental Air Conditioners
Ontario, CA – A call came in late on a Friday about a facility needing emergency cooling. By Saturday afternoon, two 30-ton AC units had been delivered, set up and were delivering cooling to bring an entire mining operation back online.
How Emergency Cooling Needs Arise
The mining facility in Ontario had all the necessary equipment and technology for its operation. The only issue was when ambient temperatures rose, occasionally the electronic equipment would shut down from a “heat trip” sensor when reaching peak levels. The company knew this and was in early phases of upgrading their HVAC system.
Sizing and Shipping
Given the critical nature of the situation, a normal site visit with detailed planning was not an option. Once contact was made between the mining operation and Cahill, plans were quickly made over phone calls covering basic facts, such as dimensions, power and footprint availability. With this info, trucks were soon travelling hundreds of miles with a solution onboard.
Climate Control – Costs versus Savings
This cooling wasn’t for inside a mine or deep in tunnels. The area where raw materials are sorted and processed is in a large building, which may require some climate control, yes, but the equipment is operated by large electronics with many components working to keep machinery and operations underway. When those electronics are stressed from high heat, they will switch off before severe damage occurs. Each time the electronics switch off, operations shut down, essentially halting all operations at the facility. When operations are down it costs the mine $1,000,000+ / day.
Cooling, Makeup Air and Renting
After the initial delivery of 60 Tons of cooling, a week later, a third 30-ton unit was sent to provide more cooling to additional areas. In the 4 weeks before calling Cahill, the mine had experienced 12 heat-related shutdowns. Once the AC units arrived, zero shutdowns related to heat occurred. These rental AC units ran throughout the summer, providing air conditioning until early October, when the mining operation chose to keep the units on rent but not use cooling, rather have fresh, cold makeup air enter the facility throughout winter. The AC units remain on site and will be providing cooling again this summer.
