CHAPTER -1

INTRODUCTION
 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION

Name of the Company RASHTRIYA ISPAT NIGAM LIMITED

Date of Incorporation 18th February 1982

Incorporated as a Government Company

Under the provisions of the Companies
Mode of Incorporation
Act, 1956

Ministry of Steel
Administrative Ministry
Government of India

RASHTRIYA ISPAT NIGAM LIMITED

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
Address of Registered Office Administrative Building
Visakhapatnam – 530 031
Website: www.vizagsteel.com
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL) is the country’s first shore based integrated
steel plant. The company is 100% owned by Government of India. The plant
with 3Mt liquid steel capacity with 100 % long product portfolio is the largest
long product producer in the country. The project which was conceived in 1971,
received significant thrust since 1982 with formation of RINL as a corporate
entity. The plant was fully commissioned in 1992.

VSP has been certified for all system standards i.e. ISO 9001:2000, ISO
14001:2000,ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001:1999 and is the first Indian steel
plant certified with “Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) - Level 3
certification for its implementation of IT systems.

To capitalize upon its inherent strengths and overall encouraging outlook for
steel in the country, RINL has drawn its long term plans in line with the
organizational mission to expand the capacity of liquid steel to 20 Mt in phases
by 2020. In first phase of expansion VSP is doubling its existing capacity to 6.3
Mt by 2013-14.

BACKGROUND

With a view to give impetus to Industrial growth and to meet the aspirations of
the people of Andhra Pradesh, Government of India decided to establish
Integrated Steel Plant in Visakhapatnam (AP). The announcement to this effect
was made in the Parliament on 17th April'1970 by the then Prime Minister of
India late Smt. Indira Gandhi. A site was selected near Balacheruvu creek near
Visakhapatnam city by a Committee set up for the purpose, keeping in view the
topographical features, greater availability of land and proximity to a future
port. The foundation stone for the plant was laid by Smt. Gandhi on 20.01.1971.

Seeds were thus sown for the construction of a modern & sophisticated Steel
Plant having annual capacity of 3.4 Million Tons of hot metal. An agreement
was signed between Governments of India and the erstwhile USSR on June
12th, 1979 for setting up an Integrated Steel Plant to produce structural & long
products on the basis of detailed Project report prepared by M/s M. N. Dastur&
Company. A Comprehensive revised DPR jointly prepared by Soviets & M/s
Dastur& Company was submitted in Nov' 1980 to Govt. of India.
The construction of the Plant started on 1st February 1982. Government of India
on 18th February 1982 formed a new Company called RashtriyaIspat Nigam
Ltd. (RINL) and transferred the responsibility of constructing, commissioning
&operating the Plant at Visakhapatnam from Steel Authority of India Ltd. to
RINL.

Due to poor resource availability, the construction could not keep pace with the
plans which led to appreciable revision of the plant cost. In view of the critical
fund situation and need to check further increase in the plant costs, a
rationalized concept was approved which was to cost Rs. 6849 crores based on
4th Quarter of 1988.

The rationalized concept was based on obtaining the maximum output from the
equipment’s already installed, planned / ordered for procurement and achieving
higher levels of operational efficiency and labour productivity. Thus the plant
capacity was limited to 3.0 Million tons of Liquid Steel per annum. In the
process, one of the Steel Melt Shops and one of the mills were curtailed.

The availability of resources were continued to be lower than what was planned
and this further delayed the completion of the construction of the plant. Finally
all the units were constructed and commissioned by July' 92 at a cost of Rs.
8529 crores. The plant was dedicated to nation by the then prime Minister of
India Late Sri P. V. NarasimhaRao on 1st August, 1992.

TECHNOLOGICAL FACILITIES OF EXPANSION UNITS

In the vision in National Steel policy envisaging 124 MT steel by 2019-20,
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has planned and proposed for increasing the capacity
from existing 3.6MT to 6.3MT. On 28th October 2005, clearance has been
obtained from Govt. of India in record time of 10months for Go-Ahead. On 11th
Feb.’2006 M/s MN Dastur Co. was appointed as Consultant for the Expansion
Project. On 20th May, Honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched
the expansion project of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant from a capacity of 3.6MT to
6.3MT.
RINL is at the fore front of this expansion drive in the country and would be the
first plant among PSUs to bring its expanded capacity on stream. RINL would
commission 3800 cum Blast Furnace, Converters, Billet Casters and Wire Rod
Mill by the end of the Financial Year 2011-12 and enhance its capacity of steel
making by 2.8 Mtpa, taking the total capacity after expansion to 6.3 Mt of liquid
steel. Subsequently, other finishing mills in Stage - II (Special Bar Mill and
Structural Mill) will be commissioned by 2012, as part of the stage-2 facilities
in the current expansion program.

RINL has completed the current phase of expansion for doubling the capacity
from 3 Mtpa to 6.3 Mtpa. Stabilization of the units is in progress for ramping up
the production progressively.
 Stage - 1 :
All major units of Stage-1 were commissioned progressively from
December 2011 to March 2014. Major units which have been
commissioned and put into operation include the Raw Material Handling
Plant, Sinter Plant-3, Blast Furnace-3, Steel Melt Shop-2, Wire Rod Mill-
2, Oxygen Plant, Turbo Blower-4 and several auxiliary systems, viz.
water, power & utility systems.
Stage - 2 :
 Special Bar Mill has been commissioned on 3rd April 2015. Structural
Mill has been commissioned on 30th April 2015. Stabilization of the units
is in progress for ramping up the production progressively.

With the commissioning of both Mills under stage-2, the 6.3 Mtpa
Expansion of RINL is completed.

MAIN PRODUCTS OF VSP

STEEL PRODUCTS BY-PRODUCTS

BLOOMS NUT COKE GRANULATED SLAG
BILLETS COKE DUST LIME FINES
CHANNELS, ANGELS COAL TAR AMMONIUM SULPHATE
BEAMS ANTHRACENE OIL
SQUARES HP NAPHTHALENE
FLATS BENZENE
ROUNDS TOULENE
REBARS ZYLENE
WIRE RODS WASH OIL
 INTRODUCTION TO ENGG SHOPS & FOUNDRY
Engineering Shops & Foundry ( ES&F ) is a set up to meet the requirements of Ferrous and
Non Ferrous Spares of different departments. The ES&F is divided in to 5 Sections.
1) Central machine shop (CMS).

2) Steel Structural Shop ( SSS ).

3) Forge Shop ( FS ).

4) Foundry ( Fdy ) .

5) Utility EquipmentRepair Shop (UERS).

CENTRAL PLANNING SECTION (CPS) :

Central planning section of Engineering Shops & Foundry plays an important role
in coordinating various departments and the shops of ESF for supply of spares,
castings, fabricated structures and repair and does the following activities.
 Scrutiny of annual jobs, monthly jobs projected by customer dept.
 Preparation of monthly plan based on annual, monthly and MBC projection
 Preparation of material procurement plan based on the annual requirement
 Inspection of semi/ finished jobs of 5 sections
 Daily monitoring of jobs progress and preparation of daily production report
C SSS C
U U
S C C S
FS M T
T P
O S O
S M
M FDY
E E
R R
UERS
FOUNDRY
The iron and steel foundry at VSP produces metal castings meant for internal uses at
different departments like SMS, sinter plant, continuous casting, blast furnace, coke ovens
etc. The raw materials for the foundry are blast furnace pig iron and steel scrap. This
foundry has excellent facilities to produce quality castings economically on a large scale.
The VSP foundry is mainly a captive foundry because the castings produced by it are used
only in VSP and is jobbing in nature as variety of castings varying in chemistry and weight
are being made. Recently started executing outside orders for special steel ingots.
As per the norms of requirement for cast spares, it was found that 12000 Tonnes of castings
will be required for the steel plant comprising of 5400 T of cast iron spares, 6240 T of steel
spares and 360 T of non-ferrous spares. Keeping the requirements in view various
equipments were installed to meet the above targets. The capacities of the shop are:
1. The maximum weight of single casting in steel – 10 T.
2. The maximum weight of single casting in iron – 10 T.
3. The maximum weight of single casting in non-ferrous – 1T.
Captive foundry was envisaged for the supply of consumables
and spares for the steel plant with an investment of 25 crores

INTRODUCTION TO VSP FOUNDRY

The iron and steel foundry at VSP produces metal castings meant for
internal uses at different departments like SMS, sinter plant, continuous
casting, blast furnace, coke ovens etc. The raw materials for the foundry are
blast furnace pig iron and steel scrap. This foundry has excellent facilities to
produce quality castings economically on a large scale.
The VSP foundry is mainly a captive foundry because the castings
produced by it are used only in VSP and is jobbing in nature as variety of
castings varying in chemistry and weight are being made. Recently started
executing outside orders for special steel ingots.
As per the norms of requirement for cast spares, it was found that
12000 Tonnes of castings will be required for the steel plant comprising of
5400 T of cast iron spares, 6240 T of steel spares and 360 T of non-ferrous
spares. Keeping the requirements in view various equipments were installed
to meet the above targets. The capacities of the shop are:
a. The maximum weight of single casting in steel – 10 T.
b. The maximum weight of single casting in iron – 10 T.
c. The maximum weight of single casting in non-ferrous – 1T.
Captive foundry was envisaged for the supply of consumables
and spares for the steel plant with an investment of 25 crores,
followed with the man power of 148 people.
 The layout of the foundry with major sections and equipments is as
shown in the figure 1.1.

THE FOUNDRY IS DIVIDED INTO FIVE BAYS

AB Bay : Raw materials section
BC Bay : Sand preparation, core making
CD Bay : Melting, mould making, casting
DE Bay : Fettling and cleaning
EF Bay : Heat treatment and non-ferrous section

AB Bay
The following raw materials are stored in this bay.
a. Pig iron: One month stock of 400 tonnes. It is supplied by the VSP
blast furnaces.
b. Steel Scrap: One month stock of 200 tonnes. It is supplied from the
VSP through FSNL.
c. Moulding sand: Three kinds of moulding sands are in use.
i. High silica sand (90% SiO2)
ii. High silica sand (98% SiO2)
iii. Zircon sand.
d. Mould activities:
i. Bentonite : 100 tonnes
ii. Sodium silicate : 200 tonnes
iii. IVP – Self setting sand
iv. Dextrin : 5 tonnes
v. Molasses : 1 tonne
vi. CO2 gas : 50 tonne

e. Coal Dust:- It is obtained from Raw materials handling plant

(RMHP).
f. Mould washes:
i. Alcohol based graphite paint (ready to use).
ii. Water based paint.
g. Aluminium:
h. Copper: It is obtained form used BF tuyers, ERS, ingots form
outside.
i. Zinc ingots.
j. Lead ingots

k. Ferro Alloys
i. Ferro silicon
ii. Ferro molybdenum
iii. Ferro chrome
iv. Ferro manganese
v. Ferro Tungsten
vi. Nickel
The equipment in the AB bay are:
1. One 5/5 tonne EOT crane with an electro-magnetic hook.
2. One 5/5 tonne EOT crane with an normal hook and with grab bucket.
3. A weigh bridge and transfer car
BC Bay
This bay has a core making section with following equipment.
i. Two core sand mixers of 200 kg capacity each
ii. One core drying oven fueled with coke oven gas.
iii. Four ladle driers fired with coke oven gas.

The bay also consists of a sand preparation plant with following equipment.
i. Two mixers for steel castings with a capacity of 1200 kg/batch each.
ii. Two mixers for cast iron castings with a capacity of 1000 kg/batch.
About half of the cores are produced by oil sand process and the rest
of them by CO2 process. The used CO2 sand is disposed off as it cannot be
reclaimed, while the used green sand is dried, screened and stores in pits.
CD Bay
This bay comprises of the following equipment.
1. An electric arc furnace of 10 tones capacity used for melting steel.
2. One induction furnace of 5 tonne capacity for melting iron.
3. Coke oven gas fired mould drying ovens (one single chambered and
one double chambered).
4. Two squeeze jolt type moulding machine for steel castings of sand
capacity 2 tonnes. Maximum box size 1200 x 1000 x 350 mm.
5. Two squeeze jolt type moulding machine for cast iron castings of sand
capacity 2 tonnes. Maximum box size 1200 x 800 x 350 mm.
6. Three ladles of capacity 1.5 tonne each.
7. Two ladles of 0.5 tonne capacity each.
8. Bottom pouring ladle with a capacity ranging from 0.5 to 15 tonnes.
DE Bay
All post casting operations like fettling and cleaning are performed in
this bay which has the following equipment.
1. Shot blasting machine of 10 tonne capacity.
2. Swing frame grinders.
3. Pedestal grinders.
4. Steel gas cutters(by using LANCING process
5. Shake out grid of 5 tons capacity and 2 tons capacity.
6. Pneumatic vibrator
EF Bay
The heat treatment of castings are performed in this bay. The heat
treatment furnaces in this bay are:
1. Mobile hearth furnace for normalising and stress relief annealing.
2. Fixed hearth furnace for hardening and tempering.
3. Shot blasting machine of 10 tons capacity.
Non-ferrous castings are produced in this bay. The products are
mainly bushes of bronze and brass. An induction furnace of 1.2 tons
capacity is used for melting. The bay also has a tool room meant for the
maintenance of a foundry equipment.
STEPS INVOLVED IN THE] MANUFACTURE OF CASTINGS
1. Pattern making.
2. Moulding
 Box moulding
 Pit moulding
3. Melting
 Electric arc furnace for steel castings
 Induction furnace for iron castings
4. Pouring
5. Cleaning and fettling
 Removal of castings from mould box
 Removal of sand
 Gas cutting (for steel)/chipping (for C.I)
 Shot blasting or thumblasting for small castings
 Grinding
6. Heat treatment
 Normalising
 Full Annealing
 Stress relieving
 ABOUT MELTING SECTION

The main functions of melting section are

 To melt the raw materials to obtain required grades of steels, Cast Irons and
non ferrous materials
 To pour the liquid metal in to the moulds to get castings after solidification.
 To melt the Foundry returns, used castings / alloy scrap in order to utilize the
alloying elements which are costlier otherwise procured from outside

In order to carryout the above activities, the following equipments are available in
VSP Foundry
1. Arc furnace of 8 ton capacity – 1 No
2. Induction furnace of 5 ton capacity – 1 No
3. Induction furnace of 1.5 ton capacity – 1 No
4. Lip pouring ladles of 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 10 ton capacities – 11 Nos
5. Bottom pouring ladles of 2, 8, 10 and 15 ton capacities – 13 Nos
6. Ladle drying ovens to preheat the above ladles – 3 Nos
7. Stopper rod drying oven – 1 No
8. Charging buckets of 1.5 ton & 15 ton capacities – 6 Nos

1. ARC FURNACE: To melt steel scrap and make different grades of steels,
direct arc type 8 ton capacity Arc furnace is provided at Foundry with 4000 KVA
furnace transformer, automatic electrode regulation system, oil hydraulic roof
lifting & tilting system, water and oil emulsion hydraulic system for electrode
clamping, electrode rise & lower and furnace tilting. Lining of the furnace is basic
lining made up of Magnasite bricks and magnasite ramming mass.

2. INDUCTION FURNACE 5 TON CPACITY : To melt pig iron & CI scrap in

order to produce Cast Irons of different grades, Mains frequency, coreless
induction furnace is provided with oil hydraulic furnace tilting & roof tilting
systems. Lining of the furnace crucible is acidic type and rammed with silica
ramming mass added with boric acid as binder.

3. INDUCTION FURNACE 1.5 TON CPACITY : To melt various non-ferrous

metals and scrap in order to produce various grades of non ferrous alloys, Mains
frequency, coreless induction furnace is provided with oil hydraulic furnace tilting
& roof tilting systems. Lining of the furnace crucible is acidic type and rammed
with silica ramming mass added with boric acid as binder.

4. LIP POURING LADLES: For teeming of Cast Iron and Non-ferrous metals
and for pouring them in to moulds, lip pouring ladles of 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 10 ton
capacity ladles lined with fire clay bricks are provided.

5. BOTTOM POURING LADLES: For teeming of various grades of steels from

Arc furnace and for pouring them in to moulds, bottom pouring ladles of 2, 8,10
and 15 ton capacity ladles lined with fire clay bricks are provided. The ladles are
equipped with stopper rod assembly for controlled opening and closing of the
nozzkle.

6. LADLE DRIERS: For preheating of the above bottom pouring ladles, Co gas
fired ladle driers are provided in BC bay of foundry.

7. STOPPER ROD DRYING OVEN: For preheating of the stoppers of bottom

pouring ladles before their assembly into ladles, CO gas fired stopper rod drying
oven is provided.

8. CHARGING BUCKETS: For charging steel scrap in to Arc furnace, Orange

peel type charging bucket of 15 ton capacity is provided. For charging of pig iron
and CI scrap in to induction furnace 1.5 ton capacity bottom opening charging
bucket is provided.
Moulding process
The moulding process in common use may be classified according to
different norms. The process conducted with hand tools by the moulder is
referred to as hand moulding and those requiring the help of a machine are
grouped under machine moulding. Hand moulding may be done either on
the foundry floor or on a working bench. Accordingly, the process is termed
floor moulding or bench moulding.
1.4.2 Floor Moulding
Floor moulds may be either the open sand type or the one box type. In open
sand moulding, the mould cavity is prepared in the floor and the molten
metal is poured directly in the cavity. No passage is provided in the sand for
the molten metal to reach the mould cavity. Such moulds are used for
castings that do not require good surface finish on the upper face and are
unsophisticated, such as floor plates, weights, mould boxes, manhole covers
and drain covers. To overcome the drawback, one box moulding is used in
which one part of the flask is placed a top the floor mould. This flask acts as
a cope and carries sprues and risers. For easy escape of gases beneath the
casting, especially in large moulds a bed of coke ash should be made and the
sides lines with bricks. Vent pipes can also be embedded into the floor
beneath the coke bed.

1.4.3 Bench moulding

Bench moulding is favoured for small sized castings, which are light in
weight and can be easily handled. The various types of moulding under this
are:
Two box moulding.
Three box moulding.
Moulding with a false cheek.
Plate moulding.
Stack moulding.

1.5 Sand Moulding Methods

Classified according to the type of sand used for preparing the mould and the
moisture content of the sand.
1.5.1 Green sand moulding
When the moulding is filled with molten metal while the sand is still moist,
the method used is called “Green sand moulding”. Due to presence of the
moisture the mould lacks permeability and strength and this may result in
defects such as blow holes and pin holes in the castings. In spite of these
drawbacks green sand moulding is the most popular of all the moulding
methods and accounts for more than 90% of sand moulded castings.

1.6 Process based upon Sodium Silicate Binder

Recently Sodium Silicate as a binder has great importance in foundry. It
doesn’t need drying of the cores and backing and ramming. This process
widely used for the production of cast iron, steel as well as non-ferrous
castings that are in small, medium and heavy sizes. Patterns for this
production of cast iron, steel as well as non ferrous c astings that are in small,
medium and heavy sizes. Patterns for this process made up of wood/metal/plastic.
Wooden patterns are coated with shellac/varnish. Paint like Nitro cellulose base
aluminum paint may be used greater draft allowance should be given if stripping problem
arises.

1.7 CO2 Process

CO2 process was invented 30 years ago, it cured the problem of baking, also streamlines
the production of castings at a low rejection rate. The principle working of CO2 process
based upon the fact that if CO2 gas is passed through a sand mix containing sodium
silicate as the binder, immediate hardening of the sand takes place as a result of the
chemical reaction between sodium silicate and CO2. The bond strength thus obtained by
hardening is sufficient for handling and pouring. The metal can be immediately poured.
 Na2O . m SiO2 x H2O +CO2  Na2CO3 + m SiO2 x H2O

The formation of silica gel SiO2 x H2O is called silica gel which is
responsible for the strength of the mould. The sand is made up of dry and
free of clay. The sand mixed with 3-5% sodium silicate suitable additives
such as coal powder, wood floor, sea coal, dextrin, iron oxide. As high
compressive strength is reached in CO2 moulding, the problem of
collapsibility generally encountered. Dextrin, coal powder, wood flour, sea
coal improves collapsibility. Iron oxide prevents hot deformation of cores
and produces smooth interface between the mould and metal – thus helping
to prevent metal penetration and achieve good surface finish. Kaolin clay
also used to promote mould stability.

It is essential to pass CO2 for a sufficient length of time to finish reaction

and compressive strength of the mixture reaches a maximum value after
passing a sufficient amount of sand. 1 Kg of sodium silicate requires 0.5 –
0.75 Kg of gas.

1.7.1 Advantages of CO2 process

Labour savings, manual work is greatly reduced .
High accuracy and good surface finish .
Less rejections.
Process can be adopted for mass production.
Reducing machining allowances are required.
MELTING & POURING OF SPECIAL GRADE STEEL

Melting of austenitic manganese steel at VSP foundry is done in 8.0/10.0 T ARC

furnace. The charge consists of scrap of manganese steel casting along with cut
end pieces of rolling mills and composition is adjusted with necessary addition of
ferro manganese. The melting process includes double slag refining process. After
applying clean boil and good deoxidation, alloying for entire manganese is done
with the addition of ferro-manganese in reducing period. For the production of
quality metal following stepse are taken—

a) With the use of scrap necessary addition of lime and petroleum coke is done
at bottom of the furnace. Addition of 1.0 % lime and 0.6-0.8% petroleum
coke enables quick slag formation and favourable melt down analysis.
b) During the entire oxidation period ferro manganese is added frequently in
small amount so that for all the times manganese content of the bath should
not be less than 0.2%. Maintanance of Mn level of bath at this manganese
content helps in controlling over oxidation of the bath and also enables good
deoxidation at the later stage.
c) During the oxidation sufficient amount of good quality lime is added and
temperature is maintained at lower side about 1500 0C to have good
dephosphorisatio. Taking out slag more than once or twice and exercising a
good dephosphorisation help in reducing phosphorus content below 0.02 %.

d) Oxidation is allowed to stopped when analysis corresponds to

C = 0.10-0.125, Mn = 0.20 minimum P = 0.020 maximum
e) After removal of slag completely reducing slag mixture constituting lime
,flourspar,coke, ferrosilicon powder is added and temperature is allowed to
increase to 1600-1650 0C.This help in making a good carbide slag which is
to ensured from its whitish colour and possessing self falling characteristics
on dipping in water.
f) Making a good reducing slag is ensured from its FeO content of 1.2%
max.and Mn content of 2.5% max.

A good reducing slag helps in reducing sulphur content of the bath to a very low
limit (0.03%) Ferro manganese is added after deoxidation in reducing stage and
then necessary additions are made for the adjustment of other elements.For the best
control of of carbon and Mn content, it is safe practice to add high carbon ferro
manganese and low carbon ferro manganese in the ratio of 80:20 and also to
keeplast bath manganese content to be 1.5% higher than the desired composition in
steel.
Last bath composition is finalized only after the confirmation of the analysis of two
last bath samples in sequence. For thisdirect pneumatic transport system for sample
is available from foundry to QATD.
Last bath temperature is adjusted to 1500-1520 0C before taping the heat.
Ladle addition of Al 1.5 Kg / ton , as deoxidizing agent , is done at the bottom
before the start of the tappimg for deoxidation. Here oxygen is combined as oxides
of the deoxidizer. Also due to this no boiling takes place in the mold as there is no
free oxygen for carbon burning. This is done to avoid blow holes in the castings.

Temperature of liquid metal is taken after it has stablished in the laddle and ladle is
sent for pouring the molds only after achieving the metal temperature in the range
of 1470-1490 0C

POURING PRACTICES
To reduce the chances of sand fusion and other surface defects on the casting , a
high pouring temperature is avoided as casting are more prone to these defects at
higher temperature.At VSP Foundry a pouring temperature of 1450 – 1470 0 C is
maintained for casting like Lower mantle and Bowl liner .
Quick filling of the mold without turbulance is desired to shorten the contact
time of liquid metal with the mold. For this pouring time is kept minimum. At VSP
foundry we take 120 sec. to pour lower mentle 1.3tons/min

SAND PLANT SYSTEM OF FOUNDRY

The sand plant system of foundry was designed to produce facing and backup sand
required for moulding. As per the norms in the foundry industry each casting weighing more
than 1 ton requires approx. 1.2 tons of sand and weighing less than 1 ton requires approx. 1.8
tons of sand. As VSP foundry is a captive foundry producing casting weighing 10 kgs to 10,000
kgs. The approx. prepared sand requirement per ton of casting was taken as 1.5 tons. Thus it
requires 8640 tons of backup sand and 9360 tons of facing sand per annum, in other words 15
tons of backup sand and 18 tons of facing sand per shift. Based on the above figures the sand
plant system was designed. The lay out of the sand plant system with major equipment is as
shown in figure 2.1. & the sand flow diagram is given at refer 2.2.

The Sand plant system is divided into following categories

New sand handling, drying and storage
Return sand handling and storage
New sand and return sand distribution to mixing mills
Preparation of moulding sand and distribution to moulding section.
Preparation of core sand
Disposal of waste sand.

2.1.1 New sand handling, drying and storage

The facilities for storage, handling and drying of new sand required for steel foundry as
well as iron and non-ferrous foundry are common and these have been located in raw
materials storage bay. The new sand will be brought in the open wagons/trucks and
unloaded in the pit located near the rail track. The new sand from pit will be reclaimed,
by a grab bucket crane and will be stored in concrete bins provided near the unloading
pit.

The new sand from the concrete bins will be reclaimed by the grab crane and charged in
to fed hopper of 20 m3 capacity. From this hopper, sand will be conveyed to rotary sand
drier of 5 Tonnes/hour capacity for reducing the moisture contents in the sand to approx.
0.5 percent. The dried sand will then be transported to Two (2) storage bins, each having
a capacity of 25 m3 with the help of belt conveyors and bucket elevators.

2.1.2 Return sand handling and Storage

Three shakeout grids, one each for steel castings, iron castings and non-ferrous castings
are provided for knocking out sand from the moulds. The return sand from the moulds
will be collected in the hoppers provided below shakeouts. The return sand from the
hoppers will be fed to belt conveyors, with the help of rocking feeders provided below
 the hoppers. In order to separate non-ferrous pieces from the return sand of non-ferrous
foundry, a vibrating screen is provided. The roll crushes are provided for loosening the
return sand lumps. Magnetic separators are provided on the belt conveyors for separating
the metallic pieces as gaggers, rods etc. before and after the roll Crushers. The
crushed/loosened sand will then be transported to polygonal sieves with the help of a
system of belt conveyors and bucket elevators. The screened sand below 15 mm will be
stored in two return sand storage bins, each having a cap of 70 m3. The over-size product
from the polygonal sieve is taken out after shop along with other waste materials for
disposal.

2.1.3 The new sand and return sand distribution to mixing mill
The new sand and return sand stored in respective storage bins will be reclaimed with the
help of disc feeders and conveyed to separate bins, serving the mixing mills of iron
foundry and steel foundry with the help of a system of belt conveyors and bucket
elevators. The rate of handling of new sand as well as return sand will be 20 Tons per
hour. The additives such as bentonite, dextrin etc will be lifted from ground in containers
with the help of an under slung crane and stored in respective bins located above the
mixing mills.

2.1.4 Preparation of moulding sand

The preparation of moulding sand for steel foundry will be carried out in two (2) mix-
muller type mixers each having a capacity of 1.3 Ton/batch. The dried sand and return
sand shall be fed at the controlled rate to scale hopper by means of vibrating feeders. The
scale hopper shall be mounted on load cells and the new sand and return sand will be
mixed in required proportion in the scale hopper. The mixed sand will then be
discharged in to mixer by opening a pneumatically operated gate through a two-way
chute having pneumatically operated flap provided below the scale hopper. The additives
such as bentonite, desertion etc. will then fed into the mixers at a controlled rate with the
help of worm feeders. Also, necessary arrangement with required instruments for
automatic addition of water at preset rate was provided. The cycle time for preparation of
one batch will be around 6 minutes.
2.1.5 Preparation of core sand
The dried new sand from the rotary driver will be conveyed to the core sand storage bins
with the help of belt conveyor provided along column row “B”. For the core sand
preparation two mixers each having a batch capacity of 200 Kgs. are provided. The core
sand from the bins will be fed into mixers with the help of worm feeders. The additives
and water will be added to the mix manually.

2.1.6 Disposal of waste sand

A belt conveyor running at the centre of shop and a conveyor outside shop are provided
for carrying the waste sand from the various places at shop floor to a storage bin of 85 m 3
capacity located outside the building. Three (3) waste sand grids are provided for
collection of the waste sand accumulated on the shop floor and discharging into waste
sand disposal system through belt conveyors. Similarly, the rejected batches of return
sand will be conveyed with the help of belt conveyers and ploughs to the waste sand
disposal system.
2.2 Block chains of Sand Plant System
Block Chain Description
No.
1 To dry new sand and to feed to and storage bins and core
sand mixing mills.
2 Feeding new dry sand to bins above mix millers.
3 To feed the return sand from steel foundry from bins below
polygonal sieve to bins above mix mullers.
4 To supply return sand from shakeout grids of Steel
Foundry to storage bin below polygonal sieve.
5 To supply prepared sand to Iron Foundry up to storage
binds above moulding machines.
6 To supply prepared sand to bins above moulding machines
in Steel foundry.
7 To feed the return sand from Iron foundry form bins below
polygonal sieve to bins above mix millers.
8 To supply return sand from shakeout grids to bins below
polygonal sieve in Iron foundry.
9 To supply the return sand from Iron Foundry shakeout
grids to storage bins below polygonal sieve.
10 To transfer waste sand from Iron & Steel Foundry to waste
sand bins.
11 To operate mix mullers for moulding sand.
F
FLOW DIAGRAM OF SAND FLOW SYSTEM

New sand

Feeder hopper (103)

Drier (5T/Hr)

Return sand bunkers (C.I.) Adhesive bunkers

Dry sand bunkers Return sand bunkers (steel)
(50 m3) 5m3 x 16
50m3 x 2 (50 m3)
50m3 x 2

Mixer (backing sand)

1T/batch Mixer (facing sand ) Mixer (backing sand )
(1T/Batch) (1T/Batch)

Mixer (stand by IT/batch)

Prepared sand Prepared sand Prepared sand Prepared sand

bunkers 5m3 x 4 bunkers sand bunkers 5m3 x 4 bunkers 5m3 x 4
(backing sand ) by 5m3 x 4 (backing sand) (backing sand)

Cast iron Non ferrous Steel molding

molding moulding

Shake out Shake out Shake out

Hoppers Hoppers (5m3) Hoppers

(10m3) (10m3)

Magnetic Vibratory Magnetic

separation screening separation

Crushing Crushing

Magnetic Magnetic
separation separation

Polygonal sieves Waste sand bunker Polygonal sieves

(50m3)
- 15 mm + 15 - 15 mm + 15
mm mm
OPERATING Parameters
The basic features of the main equipments of the sand plant are discussed here. All the
equipments are provided with inter and intra block-chain safety inter locks. “The Sand
Plant System Layout” are depicted in Annexure 3.1

3.0 Belt conveyors

Belt conveyors were installed in various block chains of the sand plant system to carry
new sand, prepared sand, return sand and waste sand. All the conveyors are of tail
loading type. Both the head and tail pulleys are with rubber lining to increase the friction
between belt and pulley. Snub pulleys were provided for al conveyors to increase the arc
of contact between head pulley and the belt. All the belts with the length, pre than
20mtrs were provided with counter weight type belt tensioners and less than 20mtrs were
provided with screw type belt tensioners at the tail pulley. All the conveyors were
provided with skirts at the loading end to eliminate spillages. All the conveyors were
provided with rotary belt cleaners at discharge end. Various safety equipments like pull
card switches, belt sway switches and zero speed switches were provided to all the belt
conveyors and connected with the PLC for safe and efficient operation.

3.1 Bucket elevators

These were provided to lift the sand from floor level/below floor level to the height of the
sand storage bins. Two types of buckets were fixed to the elevator belt.
Metallic (M.S.) Buckets: To carry the dry sand in new sand and return sand handling
sections.

Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) Buckets: To carry the wet sand in prepared sand
distribution sections. There were non sticky and non corrosive buckets.

All the elevators were provided with perforated tail and head pulleys with tail end loading
screw type belt tensioners were provided to all elevators at tail and belt sway switches
and zero speed switches were provided to all elevators for safe operation.
General Specifications
Item No. 071 – 074 & 077 073 & 076 075 & 078
Type Gravity take up Gravity take up Gravity take up
Capacity 10 T to 20 T per hr. 60 T per hr. 100 T per hr.
Bucket Size 310 x 180 460 x 200 610 x 280
Width of the belt 350 mm 525 mm 700 mm

3.2 Polygonal Sieve

The Hexagonal sieve consists of rotary screen with six tapering sieve panel mounted
hexagonally around a shaft and enclosed inside a casing. The shaft is driven by a motor
reduction gear unit. A receiving chute is provided at one end of the casing for feeding in
the sand from Bucket Elevator. The rotation of the sieve assembly lifts sand lumps and
drops them, thus disintegrating the lumps. A discharge chute is provided below for
guiding the sieve sand on a belt conveyor below. The oversize discharge chute is
provided to collect the oversize lumps and tramp pieces, travelling down the sieve panels.

General Specifications
Item No. 140/035 & 036
Sand sieving capacity 60 Tons/hr.
Over all dimensions L = 4293 mm, B = 3330mm, H = 1386mm
No. of panels 6 Nos.
L = 2200 mm, B = 859 mm
Mesh opening 15 mm2
Speed of the rotary screen assembly 30 r.p.m.
Drive Motor 7.5 Hp

3.3 Disc Feeders

The Disc Feeder is meant for collecting of sand from storage hopper and feeding to the
belt conveyors at regulated discharge rate in required quantity. This consists of standard
reduction gear mounted with fabricated rotary disc on its vertical output shaft and driven
by motor through “V” belts and pulley.

The sand collecting arrangement is attached to a hopper on bottom porting. This

arrangement consists of load breaker-feed ring and outer ring with skirting to avoid sand
 spillage. The whole arrangement is fixed at bottom of hopper. Feed–ring is mounted on
adjustable bolts to regulate the flow of sand as per requirement

General Specifications
Item No 140/132 – 135 140/136
Quantity 5 1
Overall dimension 2000 x 1552 x 1255 1600 x 1455 x 1060
Capacity 20 T/hr. 10 T/hr.
Speed 8 r.p.m. 8. r.p.m.
Drive Motor 7.5 HP 5 HP

3.4 Belt Feeders

The belt feeders are required to convey the sand from moulding hoppers to pivot belt
feeders.

General Specifications
Item No 140/103 to 111 140/113 & 114
Capacity 60 T/hr. 60 T/hr.
Belt width 450 mm 450 mm
Belt speed 1 m/sec. 1 m/sec.
Belt length 2.5mtr 4.5mtr
Drive Motor 3 HP 3 HP

3.5 Worm Feeders

The worm feeders are used to feed material from storage hoppers or bins at regulated
flow. This is suitable to handle free flowing fine material or combination of fines and
lumps. Required quantity can be collected by operating this equipment with timer for
preset time.
General Specifications
Item No. 140/118 to 120 140/130 to 132
Type Variable speed Fixed speed
Material to be handled Bentonite/coal dust - dextrin Core sand
Cap/1ltr/min. 130 130
Screw  225 mm, L = 1.2 mtr c/c  225 mm, L = 2.2
mtr c/c
Variable speed pulley 1.5 : 1 ---
Drive Motor 3 HP 3 HP
3.6 Sand Mixers
These were provided to mix the sand with water and additives like bentonite, dextrin,
molasis, saw dust/coal dust etc. The rollers provided in mixers have wide face and
sufficient weight for good mulling action. The blades will direct the sand to the rolls and
mix the sand. Water will be added with the help of solenoid valves. It flows through a
pipe, which has holes at equal distance to spray evenly. The discharge gate was provided
at the bottom of the mixer with pneumatic operating mechanism. The batch time for
mixing is six minutes.

General Specifications
Item No. 140/024 & 025 140/026 & 027
Type Batch type Batch type
Capacity 1000 kg 1300 kg
No. of rollers 2 2
Pan diameter 2400 mm 2850 mm
Crib height 900 mm 900 mm
Type of discharge Bottom Bottom
Speed/minute 24 r.p.m. approx. 24 r.p.m. approx.
Drive Motor 40 HP 60 HP

3.7 Core sand mixer

These mixers are required for the preparation of linseed oil based oil bonded and sodium
silicate base Co2 core sands.

General Specifications
Item No. 140/028 & 029
Batch capacity 200 kgs/batch
Pan diameter 1250 mm
Impeller speed 30 r.p.m. approx.
Drive Motor 15 HP

3.8 Sand Aerator

There are required for aerating the prepared moulding sand. The aerator is equipped with
two drums with beaters of flat steel, rotating in opposite directions. The beaters are
easily changeable. The shaft of these drums is rotating in through tight ball bearings.
 The drums are driven by motors through V belts and pulleys. The discharge of the
aerated sand is on the belt conveyor. The casing is provided with access doors and
mounted on a sturdy frame. Inside the casing there is a small feeder-belt which receives
the sand and transports the sand into the range of the rotating drums. Polymer liners are
provided in the discharge chute.
General Specifications
Item No. 140/031 & 032
Capacity 100 tons
Rotor dia 570 mm
Drive Motor 25 HP 2 Nos.
05 HP 1 No.
Liners Polymer liners at discharge end

3.9 Ploughs
Ploughs are required for directing the sand from belt conveyors to bins and also for
diverting the sand from one belt conveyor and to feed on other belt conveyor.
General Specifications
Item No. 140/207 – 229
Type Straight & ‘V’ type
Use For B.C. of 500 wide
For B.C. of 650 wide
Operation Pneumatic

3.10 Slide gate

The slide gate is generally used/provided underneath the hoppers chutes/or at work feeder
discharge to regulate the flow of material.
General specifications
Item No. 140/235 b 140/235 c 140/235 e
Size 600 x 600 400 x 400 250 x 250
Operation Manual Manual Manual

3.11 Toothed double roll crusher

These were provided to crush the sand lumps. The gap between the rolls is adjustable,
the adjustable roll was fixed on springs to avoid the impact and jamming of rolls. Both
the rolls were made of wear resistance steel.
General Specifications
Size of roll crusher  650 mm, L=800 mm
Material Sand lumps
Capacity 60 Tons/Hr.
Bulk density 1.3 Tons/M3
Moisture 5% Max.
Feed size 100 mm – 250 mm (5%)
Product size 15 mm (Approx. 85%)
Roll setting 15 – 45 mm
Roll surface speed 6.8 mtr/s

3.12 Magnetic Separator

Two magnetic separators were provided in each block chain for return sand. These were
provided one before the roll crusher and another one after the roll crusher. These were
provided to separate the magnetic particles in the return sand. The D.C. electro magnets
were fixed over the running belt. The magnetic particles will stick under the belt and
carried away. They will fall in a bin after coming out of the magnetic field.

General Specifications
Item No. 140/037 a & b
Belt width 800 mm
Belt speed 75 mtr/min.
Operating height 250 mm
Drive Motor 2.5 KW

3.13 shakeout grid

The shakeout is used for separating castings and sand from mould boxes. The poured
moulds after allowing required cooling time, are coming to the area where shakeout
machine is located with the help of lifting tackles, such as Jib Crane, monorail etc., the
complete mould is placed on knocking grid, in this case additional operation of lifting
empty box will have to be carried out by tackles.
General Specifications
Item No. I Section II Section III Section
Capacity 5 Ton 10 Ton 20 Ton
Grid Size 1800 x 1200 1800 x 2940 2940 x 4100
No.of Springs 24 Nos. 2 x 24 = 48 4 x 24 = 96
Drive motor 15 HP (1) 15 HP (2) 15 HP (4)
Main equipment details of the sand plant layout
 Fresh sand bin
 Belt Conveyors
 Screw feeder
 Drying, Heating and cooling system
 Bucket elevators
 Disc feeders
 Core sand mixture
 Sand mixers
 Screw feeders
 Worm feeders
 Sand aerators
 Ploughs
 Polygonal sieves
 Magnetic separators
 Single pivot belt feeders
 Double pivot belt feeders
 Belt feeders
 Roll crusher
 Shakeout grids
 Return Sand Bins
 Scrap bins
 Additive bins for fresh sand
 Additive bins for return sand
 Discharge bunkers
 Waste sand bin
 IN-HOUSE DEVELOPMENT OF CONE CRUSHER LINERS

STEPS FOR MANUFACTURINGCONE CRUSHER LINERS

1 Pattern making.
2 Moulding
 Box moulding
 Pit moulding - Sweeping
3. Melting
 Electric arc furnace
4. Pouring
5. Cleaning and fettling
 Removal of castings from mould box
 Removal of sand
 Gas cutting
 Grinding
6. Heat treatment
 Hardening and Quenching

 CRUSHING CONE :DAIGRAM

1.Pattern making :

The pattern was completely made by reverse engineering as the OEM

did not provide any drawings or technical documents along with the
product. The pattern was made by using sweep pattern in which the
spare liner was used to make the pattern. The pattern and core box we re
developed inhouse with very innovative and unique design. The
segmental core box was designed in such a way that both outside and
inside cores can be made with single box simultaneously.
The sweep patterns are made using teak wood with a support arbor in
which the sweeps move around
.

2.Moulding :

The sand and the other materials used for making the pattern is also chosen to
make sure that the casting obtained is free from any surface defects. For this, the
patterns were made from two different sands to check the consistency and
finishing obtained.
High silica sand and Chromite sands of below specifications were chosen for
pattern making

PRODUCT NAME : HIGH SILICA SAND

TYPE : GRADE - B
HIGH SILICA SAND :95-98%
SILICA :OVER 95 AND UP TO 98%
ALUMINA :1.5% MAX
IRON OXIDE :1% MAX.
CALCIUM AND MG. OXIDE :1% MAX.
ALKALIES :0.5% MAX
CLAY CONTENT :0.5%

PRODUCT NAME : CHROMITE SAND

MATERIAL : Cr203 -- 52- 58%
Cr2o3 : 52 TO 58%
Fe2o3 :10 TO 15%
Sio2 : 2% Max
LOSS ON IGNITION : 2% MAX

3.Melting :
The melting process was carried out in anelectric arc furnace where the charge
consisting iron along with additives are charged in the furnace and heated to a
temperature of 1470°c . For de-oxidation, aluminium is added before tapping.
4.Pouring :
After the charge has attained its required temperature, the liquid metal is
transferred to the mould where the “Pouring” begins. The poring temperature is
vital as the change in temperature of the liquid metal will impact the both chemical
and physical properties of the liner being casted a calculative pouring temperature
of 1450°c is maintained during pouring operation. At most care is taken while
pouring the liquid charge from furnace to the mould as consistant flow rate is
essential for uniform and good finishing of the liner being casted.

5.Cleaning and Fettling :

When the casting process is completed and the liner is cooled the liner is separated
from the mould box and then the process of fettling starts where the casted liner is
cleaned from the sand and other materials that adhere to the liner while casting.
During cleaning and fettling the cast is subjected to grinding and gas cutting if any
excess metal is deposited in the areas where it is undesirable to have such
deposition to facilitate easy machining process.

6.Heat Treatment:
As the liner is casted and cleaned the last process of casting consists of heat
treatment where the casted liner is subjected to heat treatment to relieve internal
stress which may have formed during casting process. Heat treatment is carried out
in a furnace where the liner is subjected to a temperature of 1080°c with an
incremental temperature of 100-150°c/Hr. Heat treatment is carried out in approx
12 hours there after that the liner is allowed to soak for 3 hours and then it is water
quenched in agitated water for 1 minute and then removed to complete the heat
treatment
.
CRUSHING CONE

Casted ConeUnder Process

Casted ConeUnder Process(Machining)

 After Machining(Finished Cone)
LINERS ASSEMBLY WITH HOUSING@CMS