Overhaul and Reconstruction of Foundry Melting Furnace T4

The company where he is employed has been engaged in aluminium production and remelting of waste aluminium for decades. Therefore, he wanted to find a suitable topic or project where the approach and work organisation could be renovated and appropriately described and presented. Within the framework of his diploma thesis, he wanted to prove that the correct approach to work organisation can lead to faster and more cost-effective execution of works or overhaul, and that the new execution of the working layer is more economical and easier to maintain during subsequent renovations.

Problem

The company where he is employed has been engaged in aluminium production and remelting of waste aluminium for decades. Therefore, he wanted to find a suitable topic or project where the approach and work organisation could be renovated and appropriately described and presented. Since various overhauls and renovations of melting furnaces were planned in the work schedule, he decided to present the renovation of a melting furnace in his diploma thesis.

After researching all the furnaces in the company, he decided to present the renovation of melting furnace T4, as the replacement of both floors was planned, including the replacement of material in the working layer of the main chamber from firebrick lining to concrete panels with refractory concrete.

Solution and Method

Within the framework of his diploma thesis, he wanted to prove that the correct approach to work organisation can lead to faster and more cost-effective execution of works or overhaul, and that the new execution of the working layer is more economical and easier to maintain during subsequent renovations. He approached the diploma thesis by obtaining the necessary materials about the melting furnace and the materials installed in it. He also had data available on how the working layer of the main chamber had been executed until now.

He described the procedure for executing the working layer in the main chamber with firebrick and the procedure for manufacturing the working layer with concrete panels, and listed the advantages and disadvantages. He calculated the material costs and labour costs for manufacturing the working layer of the main chamber with firebrick and for manufacturing with concrete panels. He presented these costs in a table, compared them and analysed them.

He also made calculations for the number of joints for manufacturing the chamber with firebrick and for executing the working layer with concrete panels made of refractory concrete. After completing the calculations, he compared both executions in a table and justified them. During the concreting of concrete panels, the concrete mixture was cooled before installation to facilitate easier placement.

Since he wanted to investigate whether cooling directly affects compressive strength and not only easier concrete placement, he made concrete cubes (samples) during the overhaul, on which he later tested compressive strength using a hydraulic press. He then entered the data into a table and analysed it. He also undertook the preparation of two work organisations, namely one in a single-shift working day and another in a two-shift working day.

He did this by preparing a table for each organisation using Excel, in which he showed how many workers and how much time is needed for specific work and the entire overhaul. For each day separately, he recorded the planned scope of work. He compared both working days and, based on the criteria available, decided on the correct work organisation.