Optimizing green sand castings with Nanotechnology based carbon additive for improved surface finish and reduced carbon consumption
It is a well known fact that fine grained sand (higher AFS no.) yields better surface finish. This case study describes how the surface finish of castings improved even with a drop in the AFS values and details out the considerable reduction in carbon and bentonite consumption post using our nanotechnology based carbon additive. Reduced consumptions helped the foundry save close to ₹ 19,62,000.00 per year with excellent surface finish even with partial addition.By partial addition we mean: If you are currently using 10kgs of coaldust, we suggest you continue using the same product but instead of 10kgs, use 7.5kgs of your product and 2.5kgs of our engineered carbon to witness the same results!
Coarse grained sand permits metal penetration into molds resulting in poor surface finish. Fine grained sand on the other hand yields superior surface finish but needs a higher binder content. This means increased sand sticking and hence increased shot-blasting time.
The following case study details out the capabilities of our nanotechnology based sand conditioner "NANOKARB"
Having a 1000MT/month capacity, the foundry is housed in Eastern India. They currently use a Flaskless high pressure moulding line,having close to 2.5 sand circulations per day. With 15 minutes of shot-blasting and a sand AFS number of 54.5, the surface finish was as below:
Having studied their sand systems, we committed to the following:
- Improve surface finish
- Reduce shot-blasting time (minimum 10%)
- Reduce carbon (minimum 50%) and bentonite consumption (minimum 10%)
All of this to be realized in just 20 days! (50 circulations) with partial addition.
We started partial dosage of NANOKARB into their sand system. Nanokarb and their old carbon was directly dosed into the hopper in a 2:1 ratio (2 bags of conventional carbon and 1 bag of Nanokarb). This dosage was gradually increased to 1:1 ratio (1.5 bags of conventional carbon and 1.5 bags of Nanokarb) and ended up at a 1:2 ratio (1 bag of conventional carbon and 2 bags of Nanokarb) during the last week of trials.
Below were the observations at the end of 20 days:
Please note that the values presented above are not from a single casting. Samples were drawn randomly. The data presented above are the average values of all the samples.
We assure a minimum of 50% reduction in carbon consumption, 10% reduction in bentonite consumption and 10% reduction in shot-blasting time with an improved surface finish by using our nanotechnology based carbon additive
In just 20 days and with partial addition, we were able to achieve all of the above.All of this is with just partial addition of our product. With complete addition the system will become much more efficient.
As predicted, with improved surface finish, there was a reduction in:
- Consumption of carbon (52.83%)
- Consumption of bentonite (21.43%)
- Shot-blasting time reduction by 20%
This reduction in the parameters, yielded direct financial benefits close to ₹ 19,62,000.00 per annum (approximately 30,000 USD per annum).With Nanokarb, intangible benefits like ultimate surface finish and drastically reduced environmental impact is a given.
Ultimate value is created when a product not only does its job but also adds value to all the departments in the foundry, from being cost effective to being environmentally friendly. With our nanotechnology based Nanokarb, we have successfully engineered a green sand conditioner that not only does the job of forming a barrier between the metal and sand with precision, but does this while reducing the impact on the environment and at the same time saving precious resources for the foundry.
Using Nanokarb has the same effect as planting ~18000 trees per year for this foundry in Eastern India having a 1000MT/month capacity.*
*1 tree absorbs 24kgs of Cabon-di-oxide per year. 1kg of Carbon releases 3.66kg of carbon-di-oxide in the presence of oxygen and heat.
Our engineered carbon - 'NANOKARB' is bound to revolutionize the way foundries work today. We believe in a holistic way of growing and are determined to bring this cutting-edge technology for the benefit of our the industry and our foundrymen.