international
construction
january-february 2015
DRILLING
50
Critical equipment
South African first
First high performanceChicago Pneumatic compressors touch down
C
hicago Pneumatic has delivered twoCPS950-10 portable compressors to South
Africa’s Retrofit CompressedAir Services. Themachineswill be used for abrasive
blasting applications in theGauteng, Mpumalanga and theNorthWest provinces.
The compressors provide an air flow of up to 950 cfm (27m
3
/min) at aworking pressure
of up to 10 bar. Thismakes them suitable for a range of applications, including ground
engineering and foundation drilling on construction sites, and blast hole drilling inmining
areas.
Retrofit is supplying the units on to rental company Thembeka Air.WayneHerholdt,
managing director of Thembeka Air, said, “These high-pressure portable compressors
will have a variety of applications but themost commonwill be abrasive blasting. I have
mentioned the arrival of these units to some of our customers and
they’re very excited. The fact that the
units deliver working pressure of up to
10 bar opens a lot of possibilities for
both Thembeka Air and our customers.”
Robert Labuschagne, owner of
Retrofit CompressedAir Services,
added, “I’m very proud to have placed
the first order inSouthAfrica for the
CPS 950-10 portable compressor and
I am certain that it won’t be the last.
These unitswill very quickly prove
themselves among users and I’m sure that
further orderswill follow.”
CS Unitec’s EBM 352/3 PSA rig-mounted core
drill is ideal for drilling up to 14 inch (355mm)
diameter holes in concrete, reinforced concrete,
asphalt and natural stone. The company says it
is the lightest drill in its class at 77 lbs (35 kg).
the first model being the ROK 600T. The newT series uses
drill bits with standard shank connections that no longer
require plastic parts commonly known as Blow Tubes or
Foot Valves. Rockmore said the elimination of this
part offers technical and economical advantages,
with better reliability without any compromise on
performance.
The company said that although such “Tubeless”
DTH hammers have been offered before, drilling
performance was often compromised when designed to
operate with an industry standard bit shank. Such products
have alsooftenusedbitswith a proprietary design, which limits
their availability.
Pejman Eghdami, executive vice president of Rockmore
International said, “With our emerging T class DTH
hammers, we are offering the drilling community a balanced
solution of improved reliability without compromising any
drilling performance. Impressively, we have achieved this by
incorporating standard industry shank connections into the
overall design concept.”
The ROK 600T is a 6-inch (152 mm) rated for drilling
6.1-inch to 7.0-inch (155 to 178mm) diameter holes. It is
also suitable for water well drilling. It accepts the industry-
established QL60 bit shank model, but with the Blow Tube/
Foot Valve removed.The corresponding bit connection for this
hammer is designated by Rockmore as QL6T, which has an
identical shank design to theQL60.
Meanwhile, Doosan has expanded its compressor offering in
theMiddle East andAfrica and cannow supply units from 185
to1500 cfm (5.0 to42.5m
3
/min) at output pressures from7 to
35bar. The range includesmodelswith engines compliant
toTier 1, 2 and 3 exhaust emissions regulations, so
machines canbe chosen to suit different countries’
regulatory frameworks and the fuel quality levels
available.
For quarrying, deep drilling for oil and gas
exploration,waterwelldrillingandpipelinework,as
well as foundationdrilling ingeneral construction,
Doosanoffersanumberofdifferentmodels, suchas
theXHP900WCAT-T1 andXHP1070WCAT-T1
models. These have free air deliveries of 900 cfm
(25.4m³/min) and 1070 cfm (30.3m³/min),
respectively, at an output pressure of
24.1 bar.
iC
foot-pounds (47 – 81 Nm) of impact energy at 5,000 to
6,500 blows perminute.
Another important feature is that Brokk has integrated the
rockdrill’s controls into the robot’s. “Operators can control
the Brokk and the TEI drill with a single control
rather than one for the machine and one for the
attachment,” Mr Bigwood said. “This makes the
Brokk and drill combinationmore convenient and
practical, and also frees up an extra worker who
normally would be required to operate the second
control.”
Meanwhile Rockmore International has launched
its T series down-the-hole (DTH) hammer line,
Doosan has expanded its range of compressors available in
theMiddle East and Africa, to include twomodels specifically
for drilling applications. Pictured is one of these, the XHP900.
Rockmore International’s
new T series DTH hammer
uses drill bitswith standard
shank connections, but does not
require Blow Tubes/Foot Valves.
