Experimental study of the feasibility of using groundnut shell ash and ant hill powder in foundry application

ABSTRACT

The need to develop a foundry sand binder that will be less expensive and also not toxic has received great attention in recent times. Sand, which is the principal moulding material in the foundry shop, is usually prepared with binders in the production of moulds and cores. Most of the binders presently used in the foundry industry in Nigeria are imported, very expensive, though generally effective. These binders which include furan, urea and phenol formaldehyde resins are not ecofriendly and usually emit toxic air pollutants. The use of local materials as binders has not been exhaustively explored, hence the attraction to this study. This work focused majorly on the development of cost effective, ecofriendly sand materials consisting of quality silica sand (River Niger Sand), groundnut shell ash powder (GSAp) and ant hill powder (AHp) with competitive properties capable of mitigating stringent regulations on the use of materials with environmental and toxic challenges. Optimum quantities of GSAp (14%) and AHp (30%) were added to the silica sand. The foundry properties tested included: particle size, mouldability, moisture content, permeability and green strength. Results obtained showed that average grain size of the materials ranged from 180–355μm which is within the range150–400 microns for foundry application. The research achieved an optimum blend at 14/30% of GSAp/AHp in addition to sand resulting in meeting the requirement for foundry application. Result of this work is intended to be of benefit in improvement of working conditions in the foundry, mitigating environmental regulations concerns, achievement of overall reduction in the cost of metal castings produced and job creation among other benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Groundnut shell
• ant hill
• foundry sand
• strength

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.