Epiroc Bio Chisel Paste Outperforms Expectations.

The lubricant problem.

Traditionally biodegradable pastes haven’t been able to handle high heat loads, whilst they work fine for bearings, the high heat produced in breaker applications would liquify and dissipate the pastes quickly under normal operation.

But with more industries keeping a keen eye on their carbon footprint and how their operations have an impact on the earth, more and more people are looking for solutions which are environmentally friendly. Construction and demolition industries are looking to do the same, so a newer solution needed to be developed.

Queue Epiroc and the greener alternative.

Recently Epiroc released their Bio Chisel Paste. A lubricant designed for not only high temperature range operations (up to 1100 degC), but also for sure use in environmentally sensitive locations, e.g. underwater.

After release Epiroc were very keen to closely track a handful of sites that were quick to migrate to the new product. The sites were located in Norway, Greece, Croatia, and Germany. The sites were across 4 different types of operations to get a good cross section of the load that the paste would be put under. All tests were completed using Epiroc hydraulic hammers.

“We did a complete test in a controlled and professional manner: at the beginning breakers were assembled with new lower bushing, new working tool and Bio Chisel paste was used in all cases. Our technician was visiting the breaker once per month and removed the tool and checked wear of the bushing. In parallel we were recording working hours.”

Whilst tests are still ongoing at the Croatia and Germany site, the results were in for Norway and Greece, with Croatia and Germany following very similar trends. What was found took the engineers by surprise. Not only was the paste doing its job, but up to 45% improved lifespan of bronze bushes was noticed.

These were / are the test applications:

• HB 5800 in a quarry in Norway working in primary breaking, 12-15 hours per day. (completed)
• HB 3100 in Greece working in secondary breaking in a road construction application. (completed)
• HB 3600 in Croatia on a demolition jobsite (still ongoing)
• HB 10000 in a quarry in Germany (still ongoing)

Impressed by the results.

“The test was finalized for two breakers already. We removed the tool and the lower bushing and checked the wear of the bushing compared to standard bushing lifetime and the results are great:

In Norway on the HB 5800 using only Bio Chisel Paste lifetime of the bushing was increased by 37%

in Greece where we had a smaller breaker in the test HB 3100, lifetime increased by 45%.

In Croatia and Germany the test is not done yet, we´ll share the findings as soon as test is done.”

This noticeable increase in life span is great news, and the perfect time to remind everybody that Epiroc Bio Chisel Paste is a part of standard delivery on all new hydraulic breakers. We’re sure that all our customers will agree, getting longer life out of your tools and bushings is a great plus.

If you’d like to read more about the product you can see our page regarding the release of Bio Chisel Paste here.