East ChinaMining / Quarrying

Granite bench drilling at a stone quarry in east China

Background

Granite is hard and abrasive — one of the toughest rocks on quarry equipment. Many quarries choose compressors by rule of thumb and end up with too little air and slow drilling, or with rods and bits wearing out fast while costs creep up.

Solution

Air demand was recalculated from hole and hammer size and up-hole velocity checked, revealing that oversized rods left a small annulus and excessive velocity. The rods were changed and matched with an LG Series two-stage value unit.

Results

Drilling speed returned to normal and rod life increased markedly; the unit met the job at a lower purchase cost than the model originally planned.

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