Enquire Now
Please Feel Free to Fill out the Form below with your requirements. We will get back to you within 1-2 business days.
The foundry industry is vital to metal casting, producing components by melting and pouring metal into moulds. It supports sectors like automotive, construction, and machinery. In the foundry industry, handling bulk solids such as sand, bentonite, coal dust, and additives requires precise, efficient processes to ensure high-quality castings and meet strict environmental and safety standards.
Pneumatic conveying in the foundry industry plays a crucial role by enabling the clean, efficient transport of bulk materials such as sand, bentonite, coal dust, and additives. Unlike traditional mechanical conveying systems—like screw conveyors and belt systems—that often fall short due to maintenance issues, space constraints, and dust generation, pneumatic conveying offers enclosed, dust-free operation—essential for maintaining workplace safety and product consistency. It is used in sand handling for mould preparation, additive feeding to mixers, and transporting reclaimed materials or dust to collection points. The system’s flexibility, reduced maintenance, and minimal spillage make it ideal for harsh foundry environments. Pneumatic conveying also supports automation and process integration, enhancing productivity and ensuring compliance with environmental regulations.
Looking for the best-in-class conveying systems for your foundry industry?
Solutions Offered by Macawber
- Sand Handling
Due to the abrasive nature of sand, it is difficult to handle, but over the last half century, Macawber has worked on this challenge and developed a particularly optimised dense phase system for sand handling, which particularly serves the foundry industry. Macawber has over 50 satisfied foundry customers in India to whom we supplied the Macawber Denseveyor system to handle sand, reclaimed sand, chromite, and silica sand in their foundry unit. Our supplied system conveying capacity ranges from 0.5 TPH to 30 TPH over a conveying distance from a few metres to around 200 metres.
- Additives Feeding
Additives like bentonite, dextrin, and coal dust improve mould strength, surface finish, and gas permeability in foundry processes. Pneumatic conveying enables precise, enclosed transfer of these fine powders from silos to mixers, ensuring accurate dosing, reducing dust emissions, and maintaining a clean, safe environment for consistent mould preparation. Again, Denseveyor is a key technology partner in conveying these additives to smooth foundry operations.
- Core Shop Feeding
Pneumatic conveying in core shop feeding efficiently transports resin-coated sands and cold box chemicals to core shooters while preventing contamination. The enclosed system ensures materials remain dry and free from foreign particles, maintaining consistent core quality. Its flexibility, dust-free operation, and precise control optimise core production and improve overall efficiency.
- Shake out sand area cleaning & Pneumatic conveying
In the foundry industry, shake out sand area cleaning involves suctioning fine sand dust from the shake out pit using pneumatic conveying. This system efficiently transports the dust to a recycle bunker, ensuring a cleaner work environment, reducing airborne particles, and enabling sand reuse for improved operational efficiency and sustainability.
- Dust Collection & Waste Transfer
Pneumatic conveying for the foundry industry plays a critical role in transferring collected dust from bag filters or cyclones to waste bins or silos. This enclosed system ensures safe, efficient disposal of dust, preventing airborne contamination. It helps maintain a clean work environment, reduces health risks, and ensures compliance with environmental regulations.
Critical Design Features considering Sand Handling
- System Design Optimisation
At Macawber, complete sand conveying system design is crucial. The focus is on vessel design, internal fluidisation, and the vessel-to-pipe size ratio for optimal plug length, flow, and pressure. Operational logic is a key design factor that Macawber consistently emphasises.
- Parameter Fine-Tuning
After the system design, parameters such as velocity and flow are fine-tuned using orifices in the air manifold. Pressure adjustments are made through a regulation manifold, ensuring minimal wear and tear on components and product particles.
- Durable Components
Given the abrasive nature of sand and the vulnerability of bends in the routing, Macawber supplies bends with heavy-duty liners made from materials such as cast basalt, alumina-based ceramic, and DRC (Densified Reinforced Composite). For example, cast basalt bends feature mitre-type joints with liners baked in a furnace, while alumina-based ceramic bends utilise tiles of alumina-based ceramic. DRC bends incorporate a cold-rolled cement-based composite. These liners can be designed with similar hardness and thickness, ranging from 10 mm to 25 mm.
- Customised Solutions
Macawber provides tailored density stabiliser boosting solutions based on intermittent, time-based, and pressure-dependent feedback specific to the different sand conveying applications. Continuous boosting arrangements are also offered for heavy-duty, long-distance conveying. Macawber can also offer a “pipe-in-pipe” boosting solution, featuring a flute-type design with an internal air pathway for select applications, subject to application.
- Moisture Management
For high moisture content or wet river sand, drying is recommended before pneumatic conveying.
- Fluidisation and Flow Aid
Vessel bottom fluidisation, conical section flow aids, and internal purging nozzles are designed based on application requirements. Vessel dimensions are optimised to fit available headroom without compromising conveying efficiency.
- Boosting Systems
Boosting is a critical design feature that addresses the challenges of pneumatic sand conveying. Macawber offers tailored boosting systems, whether density stabiliser types or pipe-in-pipe arrangements, to introduce flow aids efficiently.
Macawber Products Supplied
- Weigh feeders
- Jumbo bag and small bag unloading skids
- Wear-resistant bends
- Bin vent filters
Unique Selling Points (USPs) of Our Design
- ASME Compliance
Macawber emphasises ASME standards when designing pressure vessels for pneumatic dense-phase conveying, ensuring safety, efficiency, and compliance. Adhering to specific codes and guidelines guarantees reliable operation.
- Dome Valves with Hard Coating
The dome valve, crucial for regulating bulk powder flow, is the most wear-prone component. Macawber’s dome valves feature special hard coatings tailored to material properties and customer requirements, including ceramic, tungsten carbide, and frit coatings.
- Heavy-Duty Design for Long life
Macawber’s pneumatic conveying systems for foundries have been successfully supplied over the past 30 years across the Indian cement industry, thanks to a focus on heavy-duty design that results in extended equipment lifespan.
- Lined Pipes and Bends
Given the abrasive nature of bulk powders like lime, cement, additives & different dust, Macawber offers lined pipes and bends tailored to application specifics, reducing wear and tear on these components.
- Optimal Sizing Design
Based on required conveying capacity and corresponding air requirements, Macawber optimises vessel and pipeline sizes to meet critical performance parameters and energy efficiency.
- Healthy Filtration Area
Proper venting of air is essential before material is dropped at reception points. An inadequate filtration area can lead to back pressure and system malfunctions. Macawber prioritises a healthy filtration area for efficient venting.
- Accurate Weigh Feeders
Macawber’s weigh feeders ensure precise material dosing at the right times during the steelmaking process, optimising the chemical composition of the final steel product.
Looking for the best-in-class conveying systems for your foundry industry?
FAQ's
Pneumatic conveying in the foundry industry involves transporting materials such as sand, dust, and additives through pipelines using compressed air or gas. It helps automate the movement of bulk materials between storage, mixing, and moulding stations. This method reduces manual handling, improves efficiency, and ensures a cleaner working environment.
Foundries typically use both dilute-phase and dense-phase pneumatic conveying systems. Dilute phase systems are ideal for lighter materials like dust or fines, while dense phase systems are used for heavier or more abrasive materials like foundry sand. The choice depends on material properties, transfer distance, and system capacity.
Yes, pneumatic conveying can be adapted for high-temperature materials in foundries with the use of heat-resistant components and specialised system designs. These systems can safely transport hot sand or ash without compromising performance or safety. Proper material selection and cooling measures ensure durability and reliability in high-temperature operations.
Kedar Kamath
Kedar Kamath is a highly accomplished bulk material handling professional with 14+ years of experience at Macawber Engineering Systems India Pvt Ltd. Starting as a junior sales engineer, he progressed to his current role heading Business Development and Sales. His expertise encompasses proposals, estimations, sales, marketing, design engineering, project execution, and factory operations. Mentored by industry leaders, Kedar's technical acumen (B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, VJTI, Mumbai) and innovative approach deliver tailored solutions. He's passionate about sustainable practices and driving excellence within the industry.