“Electrical impact hammer is a promising alternative for the hydraulic hammers”

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oth open-pit and underground mining operations face the issue of oversized chunks of rock material that remain after blasting. To fit the rock material to further crushing stages and conveying systems, rockbreakers are used. Currently, these operations are performed by hydraulic breaker hammers, mostly operated by a human in place. In the era of electric- and digital transformation within the mining industry, the efficiency and safety of this duty can be significantly increased. The new standards for sustainable mining demand the mine of the future to be carbon-dioxide-free, digitized, and expect replacement of inefficient, dirty energy-driven, and manual processes through the implementation of electric, remote-controlled, and/or autonomous machines.

 

Finnish startup company- Lekatech addresses the digitalization and electrification trend and aims to disrupt the mining industry with its radical innovation, called the Lekatech Electric Hammer (LEH) reaching TRL7. This fully electrical impact hammer is a promising alternative for the hydraulic hammers being currently in use. It is already a functional machinery subsystem, that is environmentally friendly, energy efficient, with increased performance, not demanding high pressure and hazardous oils. Lower noise and tremor levels, which characterize electric devices, in comparison to hydraulic hammers are another significant advantage in the case of quarrying and civil engineering operations that are performed near residential areas.

From strategic standpoint, the project is significant for the KIC and the RM sector because it aims at delivering a product, designed based on eco-design principles, that can help increase efficiency as well as have a positive impact on the environment. ECHO will provide a brand-new tool that is an inextricable part of mining machinery in both open-pit, and underground. What is more, due to the fact that the new greener technology will be piloted, and up-scaled in alignment with the needs of European providers of RMs (including strategic, and critical RMs), the domestic sourcing of them in a sustainable and responsible way can be strengthened from the very first step. Thanks to the involvement of the world’s biggest providers of copper (KGHM), producing also metals from EU 2020 CRM list the project directly address challenges related to the extraction of the Strategic and Critical Raw Materials.

“ECHO will result in a totally new approach to the hammering process in mining”

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he ECHO project aims to commercialize a fully electrical, programmable breaker hammer (LEH), in order to address the fundamental limitations from hydraulic breaker hammers (HBHs), as well as fostering opportunities in regard to electric transformation, digitalization and data based business in the mining industry. This novel patented technological innovation is capable of interaction in a multi-hammer setting to boost the rock fragmentation process. Compared to HBHs, LEH reduces CO2 emissions, saves energy, ends oil spills and excessive consumption of hydraulic oil, is fully adjustable, increases safety, lowers noise and tremor levels, provides significant life-cycle-cost savings, and increases performance and precision.

The 3-year project is led by Lekatech in a full knowledge triangle-representing consortium with Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster, MNLT, KGHM, and Wrocław University of Science and Technology.