In addition to noise and heat, the use of combustion engines in underground mines produces a great deal of exhaust fumes. The use of electrically powered drilling machines and vehicles can significantly reduce health risks and the high costs of the protective measures required to mitigate them.

We were looking for a liquid-cooled battery with in-built temperature management that would work consistently and reliably in a robust and safe housing. We also wanted to see evidence of practical experience and operating data. The same underlying standard applied to all criteria: safety before price. After much discussion and extensive testing, AKASOL was the only company from the pool of candidate providers that met our requirements, while scoring top marks in the process.

—David F. Lyon, Business Development Manager and Mechanical Engineer at Medatech

MacLean roof bolter.

The drilling and anchoring machine produced by mining equipment manufacturer MacLean using a Medatech powertrain is fitted with the AKASOL liquid-cooled battery system, which has a storage capacity of 30.6 kWh at a nominal voltage level of 666 V, enabling it to reach 77 kW on average (peak: 406 kW/10 s). It is fully operational at ambient temperatures of between -25°C and 45°C and comes equipped with an intrinsically safe overload and overvoltage element.

The AKASOL battery system also allows emergency operation features to be implemented. AKASystem meets the highest safety standards and protection provisions set out in USABC, IEC, SAE, UN 38.3 and IP 6K9K (IEC 61508 and EN 12663; modular subsystems are checked in accordance with EN 61373, EN 50121, EN 60529 and UN 38.3).

The AKASYSTEM lithium-ion battery systems are based on highly-integrated AKAMODULE modules, enabling an energy density of more than 140 kWh/kg to be achieved.

The AKASYSTEM line’s design is aligned with the vehicle production process. All connections are prepared for large-scale production, making integration simple and keeping the effort required to a minimum. The novel design of the efficient water-glycol liquid-cooling system makes the AKAMODULE extremely compact. The modules are combined with the cooling system within an extremely robust housing. The optimized, active thermal management element enables a consistent temperature level to be achieved even under high stress, and significantly extends the service life.