Annual General Meeting of Ductile Iron Society, Montreal, Canada
June 24, 2004
P.E. Dhole, Maxil Marketing, Pune, India
Good afternoon and welcome! I am P.E. Dhole from Maxil Marketing, Pune, India. Today we are going to see how to produce quality Ductile Iron at reduced cost. The idea of cost reduction in my paper, is a conclusion drawn after 30 years of practical observations and constant experimentation done on Optimization of MgFeSi Alloy. This year, most of the time, the process of Optimization of an alloy has been carried out with Self-manufactured MgFeSi Alloy by our highly professional team. As a result, Optimization process became rapid and easier.
Achieving High Quality
As we know, MgFeSi alloy is most commonly used spheroidizer for making Ductile Iron. It is a fact that Magnesium present in an Alloy is required only for Spheroidization. Excess retained Magnesium is always Undesirable. It is Undesirable because:
- It reacts with most of the foundry materials, resulting into various casting defects, such as blow holes, pinholes, inclusions, etc.
- It creates Dross.
- It forms Carbides
- It hampers Inoculation.
- It adds to Pollution.
Hence Optimization of an alloy is essential by which level of Undesirable Magnesium is minimized to produce better quality Ductile Iron.
Reducing Cost
Optimization of an alloy not only produces better quality Ductile Iron but also reduces the cost effectively. Through Optimization treatment cost can be cut down to even up to 50% or maybe more! Optimization of an alloy helps Inoculant to act more effectively and thus reduces the cost of Inoculation. Optimization of an alloy also reduces dross and minimizes waste disposal problems. Optimization of an alloy ensures better life of Treatment Ladle resulting in reduction of ladle lining and associated costs. Due to reduced inventory of an alloy more storage space can be made available resulting in better inventory
management. Optimization of an alloy also reduces pollution levels and ensures the Cleaner and Greener environment to the society. Different foundries worldwide produce Ductile Iron by using any one of the many formulations of MgFeSi alloy available. They are constantly trying to Optimize an Alloy to achieve better quality Ductile Iron at reduced treatment cost. The following graph shows reduction in an addition of an alloy which is an Optimization process and subsequent approximate reduction in treatment cost achieve in last 30 years.
Approximate cost per tone of MgFeSi Alloy in 1974 was $1000 and that now is $1250.
We have seen that optimization process of an alloy is one of the basic ideas to produce quality Ductile Iron at reduced cost.
Foundry has to continue with the process of Optimization of an alloy till the Lowest Retained Magnesium level in Ductile Iron is achieved.
Lowest Retained Magnesium - Level which is just enough for an acceptable Ductile Iron casting. No matter what grade of MgFeSi alloy they use to achieve this goal.
*Is further optimization and drastic reduction in treatment cost possible?
Approximate cost per tone new formulation of self- manufactured alloy is between $1650 and $1750.
YES! It is possible for the foundries to gear up or to accelerate the process of Optimization of an alloy and to Reduce the Treatment Cost drastically if they learn how to produce MgFeSi Alloy.
They can try any permutation and combination of MgFeSi alloy themselves to produce better Ductile Iron and can make use of this art as a tool for research and development of their products. After learning this technique, the foundry has always an option whether to manufacture MgFeSi Alloy in house.
- The process of manufacturing MgFeSi Alloy is safe and easy.
- It does not practically require any capital investment.
- Foundry should have specific Induction Furnace.
Our Latest Findings
Latest experiments on Optimization of an alloy with a new formulation of self-manufactured MgFeSi Alloy were carried out under following conditions:
- Treatment quantity - 500 kilos
- Total metal treated - 50 tones
- BathS % - 0.015 to 0.018
- Tapping Temp - 1520oC - 1530oC
- MgFeSi Alloy Addition - 0.4%
- Pouring time - < 7 minutes
Quality of Ductile Iron produced was better in all aspects than that produced with normal alloy. Treatment cost $7 per tone.
Thanks to the Ductile Iron Society for giving me an opportunity to present this paper.
P.E. Dhole
Maxil Marketing
10 A Yashodeep
Rambaug Colony, Sadashiv Peth
Pune 411 030, India.
Tel: +91 20 2432 9617
Telefax: +91 20 2432 9618
Mobile: +91 9422363294
Email: dhole@vsnl.com
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