The investigation results of the influence of the selected parameters of the thermal reclaimer operations on the temperature changes in the
combustion chamber and the process energy consumption, are presented in the hereby paper. The analysis of the heat treatment was
performed with the application of a fresh foundry sand, since it was assumed that the dominating energy part was used for the grain matrix
heating and due to that, the energy used for burning small amounts of organic binder remained on sand grains could be omitted. Thermal
treatment processes performed under various conditions were analysed from the point of view of a gas consumption and temperatures
obtained in the experimental reclaimer. The recorded data allowed to point out the parameters having essential influence on the process of
the quartz matrix heating in the combustion chamber as a gas consumption function.
The results of investigations of thermal reclamation of spent moulding sands originating from an aluminum alloy foundry plant are
presented in this paper. Spent sands were crushed by using two methods. Mechanical fragmentation of spent sand chunks was realized in
the vibratory reclaimer REGMAS. The crushing process in the mechanical device was performed either with or without additional
crushing-grinding elements. The reclaimed material obtained in this way was subjected to thermal reclamations at two different
temperatures. It was found that a significant binder gathering on grain surfaces favors its spontaneous burning, even in the case when
a temperature lower than required for the efficient thermal reclamation of furan binders is applied in the thermal reclaimer. The burning
process, initiated by gas burners in the reclaimer chamber, generates favorable conditions for self-burning (at a determined amount of
organic binders on grain surfaces). This process is spontaneously sustained and decreases the demand for gas. However, due to the
significant amount of binder, this process is longer than in the case of reclaiming moulding sand prepared with fresh components.
The results of investigations of spent moulding sands taken from the mould at various distances from the surface of the produced casting,
are presented in the paper. The casting mould was made with an application of the cooling system of the metal core in order to increase the
cooling rate of the ladle casting. As temperature measurements in the mould indicated the heat flow from the metal did not create
conditions for the complete burning of a moulding sand. The analysis was performed to find out changes of spent moulding sands caused
by degradation and destruction processes of organic binders. Conditions occurring in the casting mould were discussed on the bases of
testing: ignition losses, dusts contents, pH reactions and the surface morphology of the moulding sand samples. Factors limiting the
effective mould degassing were pointed out. Operations, possible for realization, which can limit the reasons of a periodical occurrence of
increased amounts of casting defects due to changing gas evolution rates being the result of the technological process, were also indicated.
In this article, there were presented results of research on influence of reclamation process on the ecological quality of reclaim sand with furan resin used in nonferrous foundry. The quality of reclaimed sand is mainly define by two group of chemical substances from elution of reclaimed sand: Dissolves Organic Carbon (DOC) and Total Dissolves Solids (TDS). Reclaimed sand used in test was prepared in experimental thermal reclaimer and mechanical vibration reclaimer REGMAS installed in Faculty of Foundry Engineering at University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The reference point is molding sand shaking out and crumble in jaw crusher. Test of elution was made in acreditation laboratory in Center For Research and Environmental Control in Katowice up to the standard with Dissolves Organic Carbon (DOC) - PN-EN 1484:1999; Total Dissolves Solids (TDS) - PN-EN 15216:2010. The standard for elution test is PN-EN 12457- 4:2006. Except that we were made loss of ignition test, to check how many resin was rest on sand grains.
One of the biggest problems for sand casting foundries must be the waste produced from disposable molds. Stricter environmental regulations make it harder to dispose of waste sand, so a truly competitive foundry does no longer only make great products, but also concentrates on a sustainable casting process. While methods for repurposing waste foundry sand are still limited, the internal circulation of such sands proves significant possibilities. This paper will focus on thermal reclamation of foundry sands in a special rotating drum furnace in a central facility to serve several foundries. Thermal reclamation is a process for handling foundry sands in elevated temperatures to combust unwanted substances from reusable base sand. The introduction focuses on background of the Finnish foundry business, the most common sand systems in Finland and their reclaim properties. The experimental part features presentation of the new reclamation plant process and the conducted test runs. The samples collected from each test run have been laboratory tested to assure proper sand quality. The results of this work showed that the reclamation of alkaline phenolic no-bake sands was excellent. Reclamation of green sands did not provide satisfactory results as expected and the reclamation of furan no-bake sands provided mixed results, as the raw material was imperfect to begin with. The most important result of this work is still the successful initiation of a centralized thermal reclamation plant, with the ability to reclaim sands of several foundries. With this all of industrial symbiosis, circular economy and sustainability advanced in Finland, and the future development of this plant provides even further opportunities and a possibility to spread the ideas on a global scale.
The thermal reclamation process as a utilisation method of spent moulding and core sands is more costly than other reclamation methods, but in the majority of cases it simultaneously provides the best cleaning of mineral matrices from organic binders. Thus, the application of the thermal analysis methods (TG-DSC), by determining the temperature range within which a degradation followed by a destruction of bounded organic binders in moulding sands, can contribute to the optimisation of the thermal reclamation process and to the limiting its realisation costs. The thermal analysis results of furan resin, one of the most often applied binder in foundry practice, are presented in the hereby paper. The influence of the heating rate of the sample - placed in the thermal analyser - on its degradation and destruction process under oxygen-free (argon) and oxygen (air) conditions, were compared. The recorded TG and DSC curves were used for analysing these processes as the temperature as well as the time function. The obtained results were analysed with regard to determining the required temperature of the thermal reclamation of the investigated organic binder. The usefulness of the developed methodology was found out, however under conditions of meeting several essential requirements concerning the repeatability of performed analyses.