Frail SA foundries mull over Swedish ‘lifeline’

The introduction locally of Swedish technology could see foundries switching to a new input raw material which reportedly holds significant benefits for the frail foundry industry. This follows a R7,8-million investment by foundry and engineering business Thos Begbie & Company in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, in a granulation plant designed by Uddeholm Technologies in Sweden.

“This is the most modern granulation plant yet commissioned – all systems are computerised and programmable logic controlled,” Thos Begbie & Company MD Eugene Rossouw tells Engineering News.

Granules produced at these plants have been patented as ‘Granshots’.

Rossouw explains that as the product is certified, the input and, therefore, output is fully traceable.

“It enables a foundry to virtually eliminate its scrapyard, charge make-up and laboratory function,” says Rossouw.

Other benefits include savings on production costs, improved melting time, reduced labour input, improved quality and consistency of the final product and ease of handling.

In the case of stainless-steel Granshots, a foundry with induction melting equipment will be able to produce stainless-steel castings without investing in laboratory functions.

“This investment has in the past been the greatest barrier to entry for the smaller foundries.” Rossouw reports that a number of European and Far East foundries, particularly in the investment casting industry, have opted to use Granshots.

The control of the raw material and usage is significantly cheaper than other processes, he says.

Not only does the new technology augur well for the foundries industry, but the company has signed a contract with Columbus Stainless for the supply of a minimum of 840 t of Granshots a month.

The contract duration is ten years and, at present prices of raw material, is worth about R600-million.

Using Granshots, Columbus will be able to control the temperature in ladles by using an on-grade stainless coolant which will in no way affect the chemistry of the molten stainless steel.

This will enable sequence casting, which enhances production.

Investigation on the Granshots plant started five years ago but was only given the green light once the contract with Columbus was secured.

Commissioned in May, the plant will initially produce 1 000 t destined for Columbus. The capacity of molten metal for granulation is 1 500 t a month.

“We should be able to reach this level as soon as the order volume so dictates,” says Rossouw.

At present, the company is in the process of debottlenecking the activities around the furnace and ladle management.

Thos Begbie plans initially to produce only stainless-steel grades. However, the possibility of producing certified grades of irons with known chemistry and carbon equivalent, enabling a foundry to use a standard innoculant process to produce the required grades of irons quickly and simply, is also being considered.

Over the next few weeks Granshots will be supplied to a number of foundries, which will evaluate the performance of the material.

“I believe once they have seen the benefits of using Granshots, it will be first choice raw material.” Rossouw reports that the company is finalising an agreement with Uddeholm whereby the Swedish company will market the products from the local plant, which are produced to Uddeholm specifications.

“Uddeholm already has an established market with elected customers but is unable to meet the high volume demand due to constraints at its own plant,” he says.

With production costs lower in South Africa, it will be beneficial for Uddeholm to distribute the South African product abroad, particularly into the Far East.