TiC Blow Bars Deliver 94% Increase in Runtime

Six original factory blow bars consistently delivered a wear life of 34 weeks per campaign in a limestone crusher at Lehigh Southwest Cement Company in Tehachapi, California. To remove each of the six blow bars and flip or replace them involved 4 men at two 12-hour premium pay shifts at an estimated cost of $14,833.68.

High operation and maintenance costs demanded a need for blow bars with a longer wear life. Lehigh Southwest Cement Company requested a blow bar that would crush more limestone before needing to be replaced
or rotated.

Unicast guaranteed to match or exceed the wear life of the original factory blow bars of 34 weeks or more with its 80mm TiC M19 blow bars. TiC rods for this application were 13mm in diameter. TiC blow bars cost 50% more than original factory blow bars. Confident in the performance of TiC, Unicast offered a payment plan to match the cost per ton of rock crushed as the original factory blow bars to reduce the client’s perceived risk.

The original factory blow bars consistently delivered a wear life of 17 weeks/side for a total of 34 weeks total life per blow bar. The Unicast TiC blow bars delivered a dramatic increase of 33 weeks per side for an expected total 66 weeks crushing wear life. The TiC bars delivered a 94% increase in runtime.

Although the purchase cost of the TiC blow bars was 50% more than the original factory bars, the TiC blow bars delivered almost double the wear life for a lower cost per ton crushed. The increased wear life in addition to the savings in annual labor costs to flip or replace the bars far exceeded the customer’s expectations.