This I-Corps activity will further develop low-emitting core binder systems toward foundry use. Conventional cores employ petroleum-based phenolic urethanes, which emit considerable volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution, whereas these novel binders release approximately 70-80% fewer VOCs. Work will address practical applications of how to quickly process these cores. The team will adapt these binder systems to the foundry's core-making machines. While preparing prototype cores with low-VOC binders, the team will appraise what are the effects when varying parameters that foundry personnel control - such as binder proportions, moisture, blow pressure, curing temperature, curing gas (air, steam, CO2), and cycle time. The variations of these practical parameters will be linked to fundamentals derived in prior NSF work: at what temperature do the functionalities of carboxyls and amino acids lose their binding strength; what blow pressures overcome the stickiness of moist sand grains; what core-making machine configurations are best-suited for these low-VOC binders.

The I-Corp Team will offer transformative beneficial impact to society as the work transitions these low-polluting binders toward commercial acceptance. This has the potential create a healthier and more pleasant working environment for hard-working foundry personnel. With widespread use, these binders may have the ability to diminish outdoor pollution and increase sustainable use of first-generation biomaterials that are otherwise discarded.

Project Report

Federal Agency and Organization Element to Which Report is Submitted: 4900 Federal Grant or Other Identifying Number Assigned by Agency: 1338710 Project Title: I-Corps: Leveraging Low-Polluting Foundry Core Binders toward Commercialization PD/PI Name: Fred S Cannon, Principal Investigator Recipient Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park Project/Grant Period: 05/01/2013 - 10/31/2013 Reporting Period: 05/01/2013 - 10/31/2013 The major goals of the project, as described in our initial proposal were to (1) conduct a full-scale trial of bindered core prototypes in a full-scale foundry; and (b) discuss the results with foundry personnel who have used binders in cores for years, so as to (c) learn from the foundry personnel what are features of these core binders that would be most helpful for their needs, so that we could move these core binders in the direction of commercializing them. As the technical component of this I-Corps project, the authors prepared more than 3,600 X-Link low-polluting cores in the Penn State Core Making Machine, and tested these in a full-scale demonstration at a Pennsylvania foundry over the course of three hours. All the metal castings made with these cores were good, and were all sold. Air emissions were monitored by an outside firm during this full-scale demonstration. During the time that the low-polluting X-Link cores were used, volatile organic compound air pollution was 30-35% less than when conventional cores were used to make the same castings. As the commercial development component of this project, our Penn State-Cross Creek team interviewed more than 100 foundry personnel from more than 80 foundries. We learned from these interviews what would be the more favorable features of a core binder, relative to their foundry needs; and we have been incorporating those features into our subsequent cores. The full-scale demonstration showed that these low-VOC X-Link binders caused 30-35% less air pollution than did conventional phenolic urethane binders. This was the emissions reduction that was achieved during the mere 3 hours of core binder replacement. The authors note that the core binder materials are re-circulated through the foundry green sand system about 10-20 times before they are wasted from conventional systems; and each cycle of recirculation takes several hours. The Volatile organic compounds of these binders can be pyrolytically released during all these recirculation cycles. Thus, if a foundry were to use these low-polluting X-Link binders for prolonged periods, the total amount of reduced pollution could be considerably higher than 30-35%. Through I-Corps, the Penn State-Cross Creek team also conducted numerous core-making experiments, in which we varied the binder proportions, mixing protocol, core blowing pressures, core curing temperature, etc. These results were all helpful in selecting the recipe and protocol that was used for preparing the 3600 cores that were used in the full-scale demonstration.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
1338710
Program Officer
Rathindra DasGupta
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2013-05-01
Budget End
2013-10-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$50,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802