2nd Generation Rock Drill Muffling

2nd Generation Rock Drill Muffling

2010917: TRANTER ROCK DRILLS

In 2005 the Department of Mineral and Energy announced new benchmarks for upper noise level limits for all mining machinery to be 110dBa. Such noise level compliant machinery has to be in place by the year 2013. Tranter Rock Drills staff were present at the Mine Health and Safety Summit when these benchmarks were announced and immediately rose to the challenge to develop new quiet technology in pneumatic rock drills.

Muffle boxes on pneumatic rock drills have been available for over 30 years and the question to be addressed was now what further muffle enhancements could be employed that are effective at reducing rock drill exhaust noise without reducing drilling performance at the same time being light weight and inexpensive?

The solution was presented to the South African mining industry at the Electra Mining show in September 2008 in the form of a 2nd generation muffling system and rock drills in the series S215 and S25 which are commercially available in this M2 format. Independent free field noise level tests to SABS 1470 were conducted by CSIR Mining Tech and are published in the public domain proving that the S215 M2 rock drill drilling at 5 bar air supply pressure emits a noise level of 103 dBa.

This work on hand held rock drilling machines was duplicated in large bore, powerful, heavy weight, pneumatic drifters. The same criteria were applied, what muffling system could be employed that reduces noise emissions to an acceptable level without affecting performance? As with the hand held machines the solution was launched in late 2008 and is commercially available as the S36M Muffled Drifter designed to replace the well established and un-silenced S36IR drifter.