Saint Gobain Pipelines Eliminates Shot Blast Media with DIDION Drums
Key Takeaway
DIDION solutions led to significant cost reductions, streamlined production flow, and improved workplace safety – discover how we transformed shakeout operations for Saint Gobain Pipelines.
Goals
Streamline Foundry Operations
A lot of foundries have solved the bottleneck problem in the cleaning and finishing departments by first updating their shakeout system. The amount of sand carryover as well as the sand adhering to the castings is the single biggest factor relating to shot blast costs (labor to operate, shot consumption, energy consumption, replacement wear parts and maintenance time).
Challenge
Enhance Shakeout System Efficiency
By reducing the sand from going into the casting cleaning department and helping keep it in the sand system where it belongs, the benefits go right to the bottom line. In addition to saving on all the above shot blast cost, other savings include less wear on the dust collectors, less waste streams, less airborne silica dust, and less clean up time.
When the castings are pre-cleaned in the shakeout system, the cleaning/finishing bottleneck is eliminated. Couple the pre-cleaning with casting cooling and the production flow is really streamlined.
Having cleaned gates, runners, and sprue from the shakeout department that goes directly to the melt department greatly relieves the cleaning department bottleneck. If the gates, runners, and sprue are too great a burden to shot blast, then the melting department faces excessive slag build up, reduced furnace lining life, and lower melting efficiency. The savings in the melting department alone can easily justify the need to have clean returns directly from the shakeout department. Cleaner melting, finishing, and shakeout areas all add up to a better and safer workplace.
Solution
The Mark 5 Rotary Media Drum
Saint Gobain Pipelines, Sinclair Works in Telford, UK, improved its shakeout and finishing operations by installing a DlDlON Rotary Media Drum® to eliminate shot blasting altogether. The Mark 5 Rotary Media Drum® processes sand and castings from a DlSA vertically parted molding line. The sand is separated from the castings and is screened twice to -9mm in the DIDION. All the metallics are thoroughly cleaned by a recirculating bed of prismatoid media which also protects and cools the castings. Upon discharging from the DIDION, the castings are submerged into a water quench for final cooling.
The clean and cooled castings are automatically conveyed to the grinding stations in the finishing department. The clean gates, runners, and sprue go directly back to the melting department.
Results
Significant Cost Savings, Improved Productivity
The Mark 5 design is even more robust with several new features such as; external sand screening, automatic chain tensioner, split pillow block design with quick change bearing inserts, duplex chain, thicker liners with contoured rifling, cast-in dam retention rings, and a self relieving tapered media separation chamber for fragile castings.
Several other foundries in the UK that have benefited from DIDION’s New Mark 5 Series machines include; Castings PLC, Vald Birn, Wm Lee Ltd, and Triplex Foundry Ltd.
Combining sand casting separation, dual sand screening, and casting cleaning and cooling has proved so successful that paybacks are calculated in 4-5 months. The foundry also has less capital equipment to purchase, install and maintain. Less equipment means less dust collection requirements and less daily energy consumption.
The machines are custom designed to handle aluminum, brass, bronze, ductile, gray, and steel castings. Green sand, shell, lost foam, and no-bake foundries have all benefited from this unique patented approach.
Revolution in action.
See more success stories from foundries and recycling plants.