World Cement - November 2018

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Any crew that has had the arduous task of
changing out a set of crusher hammers in a large,
high-capacity coal crusher, will attest the job is
neither quick nor easy. Changing out hammers in
this particular Pennsylva-
nia Crusher proved to be
no different.
First, removing the
huge cover, then sliding
each of eight hammer
shafts outward to allow
removal of approximately
fourteen heavy hammers, one row at a time, the
job is not for the faint of heart. Once each of the
bulky hammers is discarded, the job is only half
done. It’s time to reverse the tedious process and
install the new replacement hammer. These ham-
mers often weigh up to 50 lbs each. The new ham-
mers have to be put back into the same position,
in an order that ensures a proper weight balance
across each full row.
Now thanks to Wear-Con’s XP™ Hammer, crews
all over the world are reaping the benefit of far
fewer change outs, resulting in hammer and labor
costs actually going down!
One of many places to find this actual scenario
is in a Midwest power plant. Testing the technol-
ogy since 2005 and recently signing a long term
commitment with Wear-Concepts to use their XP™
Hammers exclusively in their Pennsylvania Crusher,
they are not only reaping the benefits of fewer
change outs (not to mention a much happier
maintenance crew), but after using the technology
through some complete full runs, they are finding
the performance statistics to be a pulverizing blow
to their previous OEM hammers.
Crushing Western Powder River Basin coal,
their previous OEM hammers provided a service
life of approximately 2000 hours. Upon inspec-
tion, the length loss was catastrophic and the
hammers were misshapen, making replacement
intervals short. (See Figure 1) In fact, as a point
of reference, the hammers typically had to be
changed out twice for every one set of crusher
screens they went through.
Statistics from the Wear-Con Bi-Metal XP™ Ham-
mers tell a completely different story! After 7,800
hours of crushing 2.1 million tons of coal, the XP™
Hammers were finally replaced. (See Figure 2) Now
that’s performance! Further studies by the fuel
yard maintance manager have also revealed an-
other astonishing number. $650,000! That’s the
conservative estimated savings per year in elimi-
Longer Hammer Life. Guaranteed.
“After 7,800 hours of
crushing 2.1 million tons
of coal, the XP™ Hammers
were finally replaced.”
nating: down time, labor, hammer purchases and
by increasing performance from other compo-
nents in the crusher such as crusher screen life.
Successful plant man-
agers and maintenance
crews are continually
seeking ways to extend
the life of components
and to cut costs. As more
plants like this Midwest
plant are learning, Wear-
Con’s XP™ Hammers are one
such technology that will cut down on both costs
and labor.
Figure 2:
The XP™ Hammer after
7,800 hours of use.
Figure 1:
The OEM manganese hammer
after only 2,000 hours of use.
For more information about XP Hammers™
contact Wear-Concepts at:
1-888-4WEARCON
or 816-587-1923
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