Boart Longyear has released a new BLH series of DTH hammers and bits.
According to the company these new hammers and bits have been designed to increase productivity in reverse circulation drilling and conventional down-the-hole drilling.
"The new BLH series can be used in almost all DTH applications, including geotechnical drilling, quarrying, mining, water well/geothermal, and mineral exploration," Boart Longyear said.
The series includes the valved BLH5, BLH3, and the valve-less BLH1 models.
Designed to be compact, the BLH5 hammer has a reduced length of 30% and is 20% lighter than typical DTH hammers.
Boart explains that this new design provides "balanced operation with minimised vibration due to the piston in the hammer having virtually the same mass as the bit; better productivity in various ground conditions due to a high frequency, low vibration operation; eliminates problematic exhaust tubes or foot valves on bit; and provide a greater resistance to breakage through the splines as it has the largest shank cross section available by close to 50 %".
"By introducing our new BLH DTH hammer and bit line, Boart Longyear is simultaneously addressing our customer demand for a DTH solution to increase productivity," Boart's senior product manager, John Nielson, said.
The hammers range in size from 10 centimetres to 50 centimetres.