“My system is different, we use a bar, and when air flows over the bar, it creates vortices,” he said, “For example, in a river there are pillars that cause the water to curl downstream. Air works exactly the same way; I look at those vortices that depend on wind speed,” he added, “It’s quite tricky, but I have experience in the field. My instrument is very accurate regardless of air flow or how much water or dust can be found in the air.”
The underground instrument determines whether enough air flows through the ventilation systems, making it vital for human life to survive in the mines.
He told us that solid-state airflow sensors are often of the “hot wire” type. A wire is heated by an electric current, the airspeed cools it down which is than translated into airspeed. This method is dependent on the mass of the air and can give wrong readings.
He’s a maverick business entrepreneur who has earned his suit in the corporate world. Ypenburg said that in June his company attended the 13th Mine Ventilation Symposium hosted by MIRARCO at Laurentian University, and garnered quite a few business contacts. He marketed his company’s revolutionary air-flow system, SCADA---the underground airflow device for miners—showcasing his ventilation devices. A savvy businessman doing well during a tough economic down-turn is hard to find nowadays. Ypenburg made his money, but he is grateful, “thank you”, he said.
He said he has ambitious dreams about expanding the business in order to provide more mining equipment in countless mines throughout the world. “I have received good offers to mingle my business with a larger corporation,” he added, “I will definitely open up my options to expanding my business.”
Ypenburg cut his teeth in the corporate world some forty-seven years ago. He’s an old warhorse. Before launching his own business he worked as a technical officer at Scientific Research Institute for nearly twenty-two years. In 1965, he worked as a Quality Supervisor for Philips AG Switzerland. “I started my career in Switzerland, where I was involved in quality research on components and instruments at Philips,” he said. “I spent a number of years in defense research, performing tests on guided missiles. And then I spent several years conducting building research and environmental research on large infrastructures and buildings.”
His career has come full circle. A turning point for Ypenburg, he said, “was when I started to study the environmental impact of cooling efficiency of large cooling towers used in electrical power stations,” he added. “It was then that I got involved in repairs for underground instrument mining.” Later, he entered the business world with a brilliant venture: to market his vortex airflow meters in South African mines.
The rest is history. At the moment, Sadfy System Company plans to maintain its strong position in the industry, while it explores expansion. “I plan to sell more instruments,” he said, “Our company targets customers in the mining sector, particularly people who are mining minerals.” And it is the unique mixture of his talents which has made the success of Sadfy possible. “Nobody in the world measures the airflow the way we do,” Ypenburg added, “There aren’t many people in the world who could run this business…it’s a complicated business.”
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