Converting to

Hydra-Pneumatic Hammers

In the current environment where energy costs represent a major proportion of a company's annual expenditure the opportunity to reduce this by up to 75% is not to be missed.

The Hydra-Pneumatic hammer has been developed over the past 10 years for both open die and closed die forging, with the number of working conversions and complete hammer installations now approaching 100.

Sizes range from 1 to 16 ton in either conversions of existing air hammers or complete hammers with the quality, efficiency and reliability expected by the European forging community.

Forge Tech Services being the sole importers for Hydra-Pneumatic hammers in Europe and South Africa have both the technical and service backup needed to bring this technology to the worldwide forging industry allowing their customers to remain competitive in the world market.

The Basic Technology

Pressurised hydraulic oil enters the underside of the piston lifting the hammer tup and compressing the Nitrogen that is held above the piston. Once the tup reaches the desired height the quick release oil valve is opened and the compressed nitrogen forces the tup down and imparts the blow.

Due to the flexibility offered by Nitrogen being the motive force, the hammer can use a basic form of control and utilises the original hand lever operated by the hammer driver. This gives the Hydra-Pneumatic Hammer the familiarity and easy control of an air hammer without the reliance on expensive electronics.

Most sizes of hammers have at least one spare motor/pump to enable easy maintenance without having to stop the hammer production

The advantages:

• Up to 75% lower electrical power costs.
• Increased blow energy over the original donor hammer.
• Higher impact velocity.
• Hammer becomes a stand alone unit.
• The hydraulics can be stopped when not needed.
• No compressed air system to maintain.
• No Compressor cooling system.
• No need to wait for air pressure to build up.
• Blow rate equal to air hammer.
• Interest free loans from the carbon trust
  (subject to company eligibility).
• 12 to 18 month payback on investment.

The Savings

A typical 3 ton Rigby or arch type hammer will need 3 compressors using 380 kWh motors.

• A Hydra-Pneumatic hammer will use 3 motors of only 75 kWh to drive the hydraulic unit.
• When this power saving is coupled with the ability to turn the hydraulics off when not in use savings can easily reach 75% on a single hammer installation.

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