Can you introduce us to Howden and outline the nature of your work in Ontario?

Howden has been in the industry for around 160 years and is present in 35 countries with over 6,000 experts. We supply compressors, blowers, steam turbines, fans, rotary heat exchangers, and software solutions across various industrial end markets such as power, energy & renewables, mining, and infrastructure.

In the Ontario mining sector, we support many clients and consultants through their pre-feasibility, feasibility and detailed engineering milestones all the way to the specification and supply of our equipment. Moreover, near Toronto, we have a plant where we manufacture the equipment we provide.

What is the importance of ventilation and heating systems in mines?

Because of the toxic gasses generated by blasting activity and diesel particulate matter (DPM) exhausted by equipment with diesel engines, ventilation is crucial to clearing the toxicity in the air and for miner safety. Moreover, many mines have heat problems, but with proper ventilation, the heat loads can be managed to a certain point and help provide appropriate and safe working conditions for miners.

As mines move toward electrification, what is the source of energy of the ventilation systems?

The source of energy for ventilation depends on the location of the mine. The fans normally run on electricity provided by the electric grid. However, if the mine is in a remote location, they may rely on their electricity through different methods - diesel generation being the most common. Regarding heating, mine operators typically use fuels to heat the air, but there is an increasing demand from our customers for electric heating.

What can you tell me about the digital solutions that Howden offers?

Ventsim^TM DESIGN is a mining ventilation software that models the ventilation, cooling, and heating requirements based on mine design and scheduled production scenarios.

Ventsim CONTROL is a ventilation control system that enables a mine to optimize fresh air distribution in real-time. It adjusts the ventilation infrastructure based on airflow requirements, toxic gas concentrations, scheduled activities, or based on the location of personnel and engine status of the machinery. All of this is achieved autonomously without human intervention.

Another digital solution that we offer is Howden Uptime. This digital platform pulls data like vibrations or temperatures from a Howden asset to make preventive decisions. Howden Uptime provides the foundation for preventive maintenance and enhancing operational performance, determining an asset's life cycle before any failure occurs.

What is Howden’s strategy to help its customers meet their ESG demands?

One of the solutions we offer for companies to reduce their carbon footprint is Ventilation on Demand (VOD). With an optimized ventilation system that distributes the airflow more efficiently, companies can reduce the amount of heated air and, by extension, the use of fuels. Howden also has an engineering department that identifies heat recovery strategies, which are site-specific. The hot air the mines exhaust and the heat generated from the processing plants can be recuperated and reused for the heating system or other types of applications.

What trends are you seeing in terms of underground mining in Canada?

In Canada, easily accessible orebodies are depleting. New orebodies are more complex to exploit and are situated at greater depths. This creates new health & safety and operational challenges because the temperature underground increases as mines go deeper. We are seeing that the number of ventilation engineering and mine cooling-related inquiries is rising. Howden has engineered, supplied, and built mine cooling systems for some of the deepest mines in the world. Howden can provide end-to-end mine cooling and mine ventilation solutions on a turnkey basis to deep underground mines.