In traditional core making, the separate arrangement of core making machines and various auxiliary equipment – such as the daily sand hopper, sand temperature regulation system, sand mixer, resin heating system, gas generator, hydraulic station and other auxiliary equipment – creates several inefficiencies. The challenges include variations of production parameters such as sand mixing batch size, significant fluctuations in core sand waiting time, and an uncontrolled core sand storage environment. Consequently, core making quality varies significantly, and production efficiency is low.
Mingzhi Technology's experimental research on cold core and inorganic processes reveals that reducing core sand waiting time minimizes fluctuations in core quality, while controlling sand temperature and increasing catalytic gas temperature enhance core making efficiency. Therefore, three critical factors – sand temperature, core sand waiting time, and catalytic gas temperature – directly impact core sand fluidity, core strength, and overall efficiency.
Mingzhi's Innovative Solution
To address these issues and manufacture higher quality and more efficient core making equipment, Mingzhi Technology has reimagined traditional core making centre. By developing the MiCC (Mingzhi Integrated Core Centre) and the MiCL (Mingzhi Intelligent Core Control System), they have significantly improved traditional control technologies. The MiCC ensures stable core making quality and enhanced production efficiency by optimizing raw sand temperature control, core sand waiting time, and catalytic gas temperature.
- Raw Sand Temperature Control
Silica sand's poor thermal conductivity often poses challenges in traditional core making. To overcome this, Mingzhi Technology developed a raw sand temperature control device integrated with the raw sand storage structure. Using an airflow boiling temperature control method, the device enhances the cooling, heating, and uniformity of raw sand, maintaining an ideal temperature to stabilize core quality.
- Core Sand Waiting Time Reduction
The integrated MiCC core centre streamlines the core sand flow process. The sand mixing unit mixes the required core sand based on the volume calculated by the MiCL system, directly adding it to the sand storage cylinder. This integration ensures that core sand is immediately ready for use after mixing, significantly reducing waiting time. As can be seen by data comparison in Table 1, the improved integrated core making centre reduces core sand waiting time by 90% compared to that of traditional centres.
- Catalytic Gas Temperature Enhancement
Traditional core making centres often suffer from heat loss due to long pipelines between the gas heater and the blowing hood, of particular issue in winter. The MiCC integrates high efficiency curing technology, allowing catalytic gas to enter the blowing hood with virtually no distance (<0.5m), thus minimizing heat loss and catalyst consumption. This design yields a 30 to 50% curing efficiency compared to traditional centres.
Superior Quality and Efficiency
The MiCC integrated core centre's control over raw sand temperature, core sand waiting time, and catalytic gas temperature results in notable improvements. Data comparing 5,000 cores made by traditional and integrated centres, as illustrated in Table 3, shows that the integrated centres produce more stable quality cores, with defect rates, unsuccessful core shootings and core breakage significantly reduced by 75 to 88% compared to traditional core making centres.
Conclusion
The MiCC Mingzhi Integrated Core Centre, paired with the MiCL Intelligent Core Control System, represents a disruptive yet positive innovation in core making. It better meets production requirements, significantly improves core quality and efficiency, saves energy and materials, reduces production and operation costs, and enhances the production environment. Mingzhi Technology’s advancements arm foundries with superior core making solutions that are environmentally friendly, efficient, and intelligent, facilitating process transformation and upgrading.
