Hydraulic breakers from Sandvik, Indeco, Atlas Copco, MOBA

Advances in the power, efficiency and particularly the durability of latest rock breaking equipment are marking out Europe's leading manufacturers. And there are more technological developments on the way

Operations of Europe's leading manufacturers of hydraulic breakers on their own continent, in North America and elsewhere are, on the whole, in mature markets. Customers have no shortage of products to choose from. Competition is tough and any margin of success comes at the price of hard work, but Europe's top suppliers are not complaining. Nor are they standing still. Developments in technology and service are standing out as strong differentiating factors between their business offers and those of low cost suppliers

"There are many new producers from Korea and China entering the market with low-cost products, but Europe's main suppliers have machines of far greater reliability and longevity," says 430 Indeco's commercial manager Michele Vitulano. "A working life of four months is not unusual for some of the cheaper breakers. We cannot and do not want to compete with them on price as we have much more productive and durable machines on offer

"Our approach is not purely commercial. Our aim is to establish customers' trust in our knowledge and capability to understand their needs and fulfill what they want. Mature markets appreciate the benefits of long life products. In Europe, Russia and particularly the US, quarries want to avoid any disruption to their operations." Indeco is one of several leading European breaker suppliers pushing forward the top end of breaking technology and service for quarry operators. 460 Sandvik and 385 Atlas Copco are others. Is there room for further advancement in such mature markets? "Yes there is room for development," says Atlas Copco's product line manager for hydraulic breakers Gordon Hambach. "Customers are focusing greatly on their costs per tonne of production, so our focus is on increasing productivity and reducing total cost of ownership of breaking equipment

"We are looking to reduce resources required to operate our machines, to allow energy and manpower to be used most effectively and to increase the efficiency of breakers and their fuel consumption, optimising value from their total operation." It is a similar picture for Sandvik, which has developed its range of breakers for the quarrying sector in response to demands for more productivity and cost efficiency. Lighter breakers have been developed for smaller sizes of excavator carriers, less fuel and capital investment but with equal productivity, vis a vis, more powerful breakers for any given range of carrier weight

Sandvik's BR3288 and BR4099 breakers epitomise the approach. These machines have been fitted with a stroke length selector to allow the breaker's impact frequency to be adjusted to suit different carriers and applications. They have also been designed to deliver high impact energy and blow frequency to give enhanced power to weight ratios, the company says

As with all of Sandvik's mid to large range breakers, the BR4099 and BR3288 feature the company's VIDAT (Vibration Dampened Tierods) system. This protects the hammer from vibration, extending periods between servicing by up to five times, according to Sandvik. The company now provides a life-time warranty for breakers fitted with VIDAT

"This is one major development that our customers wanted, to make safe their investment," says Sandvik Mining & Construction marketing manager Jukka Kytomaki. "We are looking more closely at overall operational and investment costs. Customers are calculating this more these days, which is why we have designed as we have

"We have launched 10 new products in the past couple of years and there is more to come, continuing in the same vein for more reliability and efficiency. Operational cost is key, per tonne, per year and so forth." According to Michele Vitulano, the Bari-based Italian manufacturer Indeco is located within an area of southern Italy known as a hotbed of production of advanced mechanical parts for industrial equipment. Indeco has continued with technological developments, he says. Furthering on its 'intelligent breaker' concept and 'controlled automatic variance' for automatic altering of frequency and power of blows depending on resistance encountered, Indeco has introduced an 'anti blank fire' (ABF) mechanism. This prevents problems caused by tools hammering when not fully connecting to a rock surface

"Quarry operations start early in the morning and end at night, so problems with blank firing can occur frequently," says Michele Vitulano. "When a breaker piston hits a point tool not well pressed against rock, all of the energy goes into the tool instead of the rock, causing harmful vibration effects. The ABF system prevents this cyclic hammering, extending the life of the tool, retaining axles and other wearing parts." Indeco claims to supply the world's largest hydraulic breaker (its 11.5tonne HP18000 model) within its range of 24 different products on offer. Such a large range of options could be viewed as difficult for Indeco's production

 30% longer life
Atlas Copco has announced a new range of drill rods which the company claims will give up to 30% longer service life. The T-WiZ drill string of speedrods and shank adaptors is based on a toughened T-thread sufficiently robust to prevent breakage in use. This equates to fewer time consuming rod and shank changes and a reduction in stock necessary to maintain drilling operations, Atlas Copco has reported
The T-WiZ system, which comes in T38, T45 and T51 sizes of thread, is also reportedly greater in drilling capacity, translating into a boost in productivity, more holes drilled per shift and quicker overall blasting operations. "With lower labour costs, reduced stock and less administration, T-WiZ helps drillers stay on top of their projects," Atlas Copco announceVitulano says: "It gives our customers the ability to fit exactly the right size of breaker for the needs of each excavator and the particular task. Sometimes it is just power that is needed, sometimes a lighter hammer is required. Price can be key, but most important is having the right tool for the job

"In the US, quarries like to have the biggest machine and hammer possible, but we work as a consultant advising our clients, as well as a producer. So we often suggest customers choose the smallest hammer necessary for the job, according to the material and required production, so saving on fuel and initial investment." Indeco also has further developments to come, "with new features and improvements for improving the life and reliability of our products to get even closer to customers' needs." The company's current HP (High Performance) range is being updated with new parts and more hydraulic efficiency. "We're working on extending the average life of components. We will launch a brand new series of products next year with a new concept of breaker," says Vitulano

Atlas Copco has followed a similar product and service strategy. The company launched a range of new breakers at the 386 Bauma exhibition in 2010 with greater power ratings for given carrier weight classes, partly to increase breaking outputs in cubic metres per hour, but also to reduce the size or weights of excavators needed to carry the equipment. Greater fuel and cost efficiency follows

Gordon Hambach says: "We are always striving to help our customers make best, most efficient use of their resources by increasing the efficiency and fuel consumption of machines, to maximise the profitability of their total operation. The quarrying industry in particular understands well the concept of whole life costs, so we tend to focus on life cycle and total costs involved in ownership and operation of hydraulic breaker equipment. This will follow in our product development, for reduction of maintenance, energy and operator costs." In terms of maintenance, Atlas Copco has designed its breakers to make access to crucial parts easier for servicing, as well as introduced systems such as its Dust Protector 2, for extending the life of product parts. According to Hambach, 'investment protection' comes from this and other features designed to reduce vibration between breaker and excavator

"We've received a very good response from customers to the different options and features we've introduced. We are now looking to make our HB range of breakers more uniform with the same features and design for all models," he says.

Primary breaking under greater control
Drill and blast operations at two quarries operated by 5887 Schaefer Kalk in Germany have been made more accurate and efficient with use of MOBA's MDS-2000 drilling system. This is according to MOBA Mobile Automation sales and product manager Burkhard Mayer who has been tracking results from use of MOBA's drilling control technology Schaefer Kalk's limestone quarries at Hahnstatten and Steeden north of Wiesbaden in the Rhineland have been using the MDS-2000 system with Hausherr HSB 2000 drilling rigs for the past two years. Initially the MOBA technology was introduced in trial use alongside the quarry operator's existing control system, but Schaefer Kalk has since switched to use of MDS-2000 for all drilling at Hahnstatten and Steeden "The MDS-2000 is now in full production following successful completion of testing in 2010," Mayer says. "The system uses GPS tracking and rotation sensors fitted to the drilling machine to allow exact positioning and control of the rig and critically, it measures drilling mast inclination with a high degree of accuracy. This means holes can be drilled with exactly the same vector parallel to prevent uncontrolled stone flow from the resulting blast and to ensure it leaves flat crowns and walls." Greater automation and accuracy of drilling at Schaefer Kalk's quarries has increased productivity. The company's quarry foreman Antonio Polizzi says: "The MDS-2000 has increased the efficiency of our work processes. We can drill about 5% more holes than before in the same amount of time, which saves money." Blast holes of 15m to 20m deep are being drilled at precisely the same angle of inclination. "This aspect is very important to us to guarantee occupational health and safety," Polizzi says According to Burkhard Mayer, greater accuracy of drilling is also decreasing quantities of explosives used in drill and blast operations: up to 10% less. "And all data is recorded and transferred for accurate billing and auditing," he says MOBA's systems with their GPS tracking allow remote shut down of machines if they are stolen and with remote sensors they can effectively provide oil free gauges in machine cabins. "This is a growing trend, avoiding oil filled tubes and gauges for reduced maintenance cost," Mayer says. "We are reacting to demands of the market. MDS systems are modular and so open to customers' other specific requirements and further developments which can be easily integrated."