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Gouging potash from deep beneath Saskatchewan’s surface has been the work of nasty, snarling, belching beasts of machines for more than 60 years.
The application of brute force courtesy of workhorse diesel engines did the job just fine, but with each burly r.p.m. came the inevitable byproducts of internal combustion – fumes and diesel particles and the need to bring more sweet, clean air down the shaft and deep into the subterranean tendrils of the mines.
That will all change if Patric Byrns has his way. The president and CEO of PapaBravo Innovations has been rapidly creating a new way of doing business in the province’s potash mines with a line of electric trucks. They are clean, quiet and powerful, and they are attracting attention.
“You can only exhaust so much diesel particulate into a confined space without expanding the ventilation system,” said Byrns. “So, in that environment, if you can replace diesel engines with electrics, it expands their production capabilities for what they have for ventilation, and ventilation costs a lot of money.”
Byrns said converting to electric vehicles provides operators with almost a blank cheque for how many vehicles they can put underground.
“There are zero emissions from our vehicles. We don’t use lead-acid batteries, so there’s not even any offgassing. It’s just a perfect application. The mining environment is an enclosed universe. It’s only got so much air coming into it and you’ve got to keep it clean and you’ve got to use it wisely.”
There is also the elimination of the need for fuel handling, allowing for better fire safety, and there is less heat being generated underground.
The PapaBravo trucks are primarily people movers, but the firm has also built welding trucks, mechanics’ trucks and even fuel trucks to help power diesel equipment.
Byrns’ company is a little over 30 years old, but the name changed to PapaBravo Innovations from SBC Case Industries when its focus shifted to developing electric vehicles.
“I did a conversion in 2008 from gas to electric,” said Byrns. “That was the first thing I’d done. I didn’t even know if it was going to be viable in this climate. At that point in time there were no pure electrics around at all, so I thought there must be a good reason why. I assumed winter was the problem, but it really isn’t. There’s really no good reason not to drive an electric vehicle.”
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