Booyco on track with command post air conditioner
May 2003

The success of a fast track project is reliant not only on the technical expertise and experience of the supplier, but also on a good working relationship between supplier and customer. Close co-operation between Booyco Engineering and Alvis OMC has seen the successful completion of just such a project for the engineering and manufacturing of an air conditioning system tailor made for an RG 12 command post.

Alvis OMC has sold a number of RG 12 armoured personnel carriers into the global market and one of the largest fleet owners of this locally manufactured vehicle requested the conversion of one of these carriers into a command post to oversee its fleet.

Jeremy Pougnet, managing director of Booyco Engineering, says that while the command vehicle has very different operational requirements when compared to normal armoured personnel carriers, the air conditioning systems are quite similar.

Expertise gained in the design and engineering of other low noise auxiliary power units for projects such as the Leopard tank for the Australian army and the standard RG 12 armoured personnel carrier were used in this development of this tailor made system.

The low noise level high output auxiliary power unit (APU) on the RG 12 command post provides motive power for the air conditioner compressors and drives the alternator that powers the fans. A 220 Volt 50 Hz single phase alternator has been included to provide power for running a variety of ancillary equipment on the command vehicle.

The air conditioning system and the APU are rated for 55 degree ambient conditions, and Pougnet explains that the extremely high temperatures called for careful attention to details such as engine cooling.

"The effectiveness of heat dissipation from the engine compartment determines the suitability and life span of the other components in the air conditioning system," Pougnet says. "Careful selection of materials for the various components as well as consideration of the application requirements resulted in the optimum solution being provided."

The customised air conditioning system on the RG 12 command post has been installed in a confined space, and this, according to Pougnet, called for innovative engineering design to achieve the requisite low noise levels as space is generally needed to attenuate noise.

Booyco Engineering engineers and manufactures customised heating and cooling solutions for military, railways, mobile mining and earthmoving applications. This ISO accredited company operates from its manufacturing facility in Edenvale, Gauteng and has systems successfully operating throughout southern Africa.