Driving down part turnaround time while enhancing high quality and decreasing waste is being achieved at Weir Minerals Africa’s exciting new Replicast Plant in Isando, Gauteng.
Umar Smith, plant manager at Weir Minerals Africa’s Isando facility, highlights that the revolutionary growth permits the corporate to produce extra parts at a time – and extra shortly. This will help in meeting rising buyer demand, whereas additionally decreasing rework and wastage.
“As part of our Project Vuka, this new plant permits us to forged a quantity of small parts per batch somewhat than just one by one,” says Smith. “We can also scale back our knock-out instances from days to just a couple of hours.”
The state-of-the-art amenities allow Weir Minerals Africa to cast high chrome parts weighing as much as 250 kg. There are two phases to the new course of, he explains, which uses polystyrene to create moulds. The first phase is the polystyrene moulding course of, which occurs after the polystyrene beads have been expanded. The second part is the place the ramming, pouring and demoulding takes place.
In contrast to the normal moulding line – where resin and catalyst are used to bind sand – the Replicast Plant uses silica sand of 30-35 AFS grade together with the polystyrene mould, he says. ไดอะแฟรม ซีล involves a vacuum bin, from which all of the air is removed to compress the sand.
“The absence of resin and catalyst – in addition to having no clamping course of – leads to less scrap being produced, and therefore brings operational savings,” he says. “The quality of castings can be raised, with a greater floor end and fewer defects.”
He notes that the geometrical stability of elements is improved, as there is less fettling of the finished product thereby lowering dimensional variation between the same components. This in turn contributes to the reliability of the tools utilizing these components. He says the foundry will also realise vital environmental advantages as a outcome of using no chemicals within the sand.
“This new plant aligns nicely with our company sustainability targets, making certain that our processes aren’t solely compliant but constantly cut back our environmental impression,” says Smith. “Our new moulding systems ensure that fewer gases are emitted in the course of the casting course of, and there are zero emissions of harmful substances corresponding to benzene.”
The new technology is also resulting in less frequent disposal of silica sand, and the sand itself is extra environmentally friendly because it accommodates no resin or acid.
“A remarkable aspect of creating this new plant was the reality that it was done with our local expertise and largely during the COVID-19 lockdowns,” he says. “Despite เพรสเชอร์เกจ of this know-how, and the logistical challenges created by the pandemic, it was successfully carried out on time and inside budget.”
The plant consists of more than 16,000 particular person elements, and makes use of over 1,900 m of cabling, 300 m of water piping and fifty five tons of steel.
Share