Latest News
Updated 30th May 2008
Raffaele Mainiero
It is with great regret that Capital announces that Raffaele Mainiero passed away earlier this month; he was 45. Raff, as he was usually known, had been with Capital for 16 years, latterly as an Area Sales Manager. He was very popular with both colleagues and customers alike for his great experience, knowledge, cheerfulness and humour; and will be sorely missed. He was truly a larger than life character.
Capital's deepest sympathy is with his family and friends at this difficult time: particularly his wife, son and mother.
Capital will be closed from 12 o'clock on Monday 2nd of June as a mark of respect and to allow his colleagues to attend his funeral.
Click this link for the entry in The Derbyshire Times for details on the funeral.
Updated 18th July 2007
New Agent for India
Capital Refractories Limited is pleased to announce that Nickunj Group Eximp Entp P Ltd has been appointed as distributor for
our products throughout India. The agreement was signed at GIFA 2007 following a successful visit to India by
Capital Refractories Limited sales management to conduct sales & marketing visits with Nickunj Group personnel to high quality
steel melting foundries.
Nickunj Group head office is based in Mumbai with additional regional & branch offices in most of the major industrialised
cities throughout the country allowing them to stock and service the needs of the modern foundry with the extensive range of
products Capital Refractories Limited have to offer.
We look forward to working together with Nickunj Group in the developing and expanding foundry industry in India and introducing
many of our proven technologies, such as the highly successful (patent pending) gas diffuser system used in conjunction with our
proven Coral family of alumina-magnesia spinel forming dry vibratable linings for use in the Coreless Induction Furnace.
Steel melting foundries in India who have an interest in trialling the proven products Capital Refractories Limited can provide
should in the first instance contact Mr. Yogesh Sharma (Sales Manager – Refractory Division) on Tel: +91 22 2219 0300,
Fax: +91 22 2206 0415 or mobile +91 93221 23826. E-mail: yogeshrajwant@yahoo.com or look on the website www.nickunjgroup.com/ceramics.htm. Alternatively contact
Mr. Karl Szulakowski (Area Sales Manager - Capital Refractories Limited) Tel: + 44 1246 811163, Fax: +44 1246 819573 or
E-mail: karl@capital-refractories.com
Updated 8th June 2007
Capital Offers more Options for Investment Casters
Capital Refractories is pleased to announce the acquisition of Wax Injection Ceramics and Assembly Limited (WICA),
a company providing ceramic cores for the investment casting industry.
This new company is known as Capital Injection Ceramics Limited (CIC).
Capital's acquisition has provided a financial injection to the company. This investment has enabled the recruitment of
trained engineers, development of its facilities and addition of high-tech equipment including a new CMM. Capital staff have joined
forces with the existing team to provide a range of support including quality assurance, quality testing and research and
development in conjunction with Capital’s highly experienced ceramicists.
CIC is based in Northamptonshire, and was originally established in September 2005 when it was known as WICA (although not
production ready until late 2006). The company was formed when a group of like minded professionals with many years of core
production saw an opportunity in the market for a modern, customer focused supplier of injection fired ceramic parts.
Capital Refractories has been supplying aerospace, medical, automotive and other industries with refractory products for many
years. Numerous existing Capital customers in these industries are now discussing their ceramic core requirements with CIC,
reassured by the service and expertise that Capital have already shown in the refractory arena. CIC is not just an additional
service that Capital can offer its customers - there is a synergy between existing Capital products and the work of CIC which make
this acquisition a logical addition for the company. Within a few months of becoming production-ready, CIC has proven its capability
on trials with over 10 well known investment casters, producing cores including some of the largest and most complex blades and vanes
for aerospace and IGT. CIC is now regularly supplying a wide range of cores to many industries.
CIC has invested in the most up to date production, process control, measurement and testing equipment to ensure product quality
and consistency. Ceramics are manufactured by medium pressure injection moulding giving very low tool wear rates and a dimensionally
accurate product for use in aerospace, medical implants, industrial gas turbines, marine and automotive industries.
Typical parts include hardware, medical, structural and nozzle segments. CIC materials can be fine tuned to suit existing customer tool
shrinkage, removing the need to buy new tooling if transferring any existing portfolios.
CIC is ready to work with customers to develop materials to suit customer specific casting problems.
Cores can be CNC finished on-site, giving benefits of accuracy, consistency and efficiency. Cores can be strengthened if required
with either urea or phenolic resin. Coatings can be applied to products where suitable to eliminate surface reaction with certain
alloys.
CIC offer their ceramic cores backed up with ongoing customer support. They pride themselves on building up relationships with
customers, working alongside them to achieve their specific and often complex requirements. The team has years of experience in the
industry, and teaming up with the ceramics expertise of Capital has extended CIC's the wealth of knowledge and experience.
CIC like the rest of the Capital Group is accredited to the same ISO standards - ISO 9001:2000.
Capital Refractories is one of the largest independent refractory and industrial ceramics companies in the UK. It has been
manufacturing, supplying and installing high quality refractory and ceramic products to metal melters for over 50 years.
Capital provides a wide range of bespoke ceramic products such as iso-pressed and cast crucibles for investment casters,
along with nozzles, tubes and ladles as well as dry rammed induction furnace linings.
Click here to go to the CIC website.
Foundry Times Journal, June 2007
Update 23rd March 2007
Case Studies of GD for steel in Taiwan
Example 1
An investment foundry of carbon steel had been used to MgO crucibles (100kg) that achieved 60 heats in average. The 1st trial of Coral SMC and GD achieved 130 heats. At present, Coral SMC achieved more than 150 heats in average. Advantages of GD:
- Lining life increased from 60 heats (MgO crucible) to 150 heats (SMC).
- Defects of carbon steel SUH7 reduced from 23.46% to 16.19%.
- Due to reduced defects, economic benefits increased by 8.53% on SUH7 steel.
Example 2
An investment foundry of stainless steel has been using Capital spinel linings for years. Using our GD, they have gained more benefits:
- Lining life increases by 20%
- Reduce use of slag off, but increase efficiency of removing slag.
- Since fluidity is better, tapping temperature can be lowered.
- Casting quality is improved and repair cost is reduced.
Example 3
A centrifugal casting foundry has 1.5T, 1T & 500kg furnaces on 3 power units. Products are various.
After trialing one GD for one week only, they asked to install GD in all other furnaces. Now, GD has become their standard device.
Benefits of GD:
- Problem of oxidization of carbon steel doesn't exist now.
- Nitrogen level in stainless steel is reduced. Finishing process is easier and quality of casting surface is better.
- They have successfully produced a kind of mirrorlike chromate treatment casting. Its quality is even better than expectation. (They had problem to produce it before using GD because of pin holes.)
Example 4
An investment foundry has used GD in all 120kg furnaces.
Benefits:
- Reduction of slag holes from Jan 2007 (without GD) to Feb 2007 (with GD):
- 304 S.S.:37.3% → 26.6%
- 316 S.S.:41.4% → 25.3%
- SNCM220 C.S.:10.2% → 7.5%
- WCB C.S.: 48% ? 37.9%
- Cleanliness of spinel ling has increased by 60%
- Campaign life of spinel lining is stable at 250 ~ 270 heats.
GD has become standard device for all furnaces.
Example 5
An investment foundry (golf club maker) compares using spinel lining + GD with MgO crucible (100kg).
The GD has improved castings in some respects:
- Perfect casting rate increased from 9.9% to 16.8%
- Slag holes reduced from 28% to 20.3%
- Slag scars reduced from 31.4% to 16.8%
- Pin holes remarkably reduced too.
Updated 19th March 2007
New Agent for North Western USA
Capital is pleased to announce that it has a new agent to cover Oregon and Washington State. The Strider company is based in Portland, Oregon and has been supplying the foundry industry for over 20 years.
Contact details: Strider Company
Tel: +1 503 281 0912
Fax: +1 503 249 2843
Email: norm@striderco.com
Updated 8th September 2006
Automatic & Semi-Automatic Pouring System
Capital Refractories has been involved in developing the Unibore system for use in automatic pouring systems. It has been specifically designed to accommodate a shallow nozzle which caters for the small gap between the automatic pouring tundish and the mould. The advantages of using Unibore with automatic pouring systems include:
• Downtime is reduced. The Unibore inner nozzle can be removed and changed allowing casting to be re-started quickly.
• The design of Unibore ensures the same bore size can be maintained throughout casting. • Labour is reduced due to the reduced changeover time.
• The amount of metal poured can be accurately controlled.
• A higher casting quality.
• Reduction in waste – greater control reduces spillage.
• Unibore provides greater flexibility – bore sizes can be changed with ease for every job required.
• Unibore helps to keep pace with high speed mould machines.
• The system allows for consistent pouring.
Typical cases of Capital’s Unibore in action:
(1) A steel foundry in Europe took on Capital’s Unibore system to aid in their production of ball bearings. The site produces thousands of bearings a day, and needed to change the nozzles used in their autopour system every few hours. The nozzles that were being used were unreliable and created high volumes of spillage. They created flare during casting, and lead to oxygen getting into the castings. Capital’s Unibore nozzles are now being used in this steel foundry with great success. They use Capital’s 16 mm, 18 mm, 22 mm and 25 mm inner nozzles to vary their casting sizes. Due to the unique Unibore two-nozzle system, changes can be made far quicker, thus increases daily production and reducing downtime. The site now casts far more moulds per hour. The flow rate through Capital’s nozzles remains constant and the issues with flare and spillage have been greatly reduced.
(2) An iron foundry in America had previously used graphite nozzles which were changed every day and a half due to the wear on the bore. The site had to shut down for around 2 hours every time a nozzle needed to be changed, greatly affecting production. The site had further problems with leaks occurring every time they did a shut-off. The foundry manufactures products such as light fittings and terminal junctions for electrics. Capital’s Unibore nozzles have been introduced, and they now have to use just one outer nozzle per week. They change the inner nozzle when they need to alter the bore size, resulting in just one quick inner nozzle change per day.
Updated 2nd June 2006
More Gas Diffuser Success
Capital Refractories has again demonstrated the huge benefits that can be achieved by employing a gas diffusers within an induction furnace.
Capital recently worked in conjunction with Weaver Materiel, their distributor in the State of Pennsylvania. The foundry manufacture steel castings for the oil and refining industry, and were looking for a way in which they could de-gas the whole melt rather than having to adopt the SPAL method (i.e. spraying liquid argon onto the top of the melt), therefore reducing their costs and achieving a better surface finish on their castings.
Weaver Materiel installed Capital's Coral SMC lining along with a standard 3 inch gas diffuser (model 7126). They were on site for the full 2 day trial, instructing all melters and supervisors on the procedures involved with the simple installation and running of the plug. In line with Capital's policy, all distributors offer ongoing support to their customers if needed.
Benefits reported:
- Huge financial and environmental savings in the gas used.
- Improved surface finish on the castings due to the ability to de-gas through the whole melt.
- Hardly any wear on the Capital lining.
- Easier to pour metal into the moulds - cleaner metal means that pouring can be done faster through the pouring cups and filters.
- Scrap rate reduced.
This Pennsylvanian foundry has since reported a substantial financial saving along with an improvement in the quality of their castings, and have already placed further orders for Capital's combined lining and gas diffuser product.
Capital Refractories' Gas Diffusers – New trials show benefits
Case Study A
A particularly large foundry was one of the first to take advantage of our highly developed gas diffusers for their induction furnace.
Whilst it is well known that gas diffusers can greatly improve metal quality and reduce gases within the melt, it took a lining problem for this company to further investigate this gas treatment solution.
The problem was zonal overheating of the linings, in particular the lower side wall. The brick lining was being heated beyond its capability thereby causing severe wear on the bricks and potentially disastrous fusion of the backing powder.
We introduced our gas diffuser and began passing argon through the melt which caused a stirring effect. This displaced the superheated metal into the remainder of the melt on a continuous basis and therefore homogenised the temperature throughout the bulk of the melt. By eliminating this superheated zone the condition of the bricks at this location improved dramatically with a consequent substantial improvement in lining life. The company now use 8 plugs a month from us.
We are continuing to work with this induction furnace team to improve their production and are looking to install a gas diffuser in the base of the casting ladle shortly.
Benefits:
A reduced bath temperature
Reduction of “elephant’s foot”
Even wear of refractory lining
Increased life of consumables
Case Study B
A steel foundry was experiencing quality problems with a high scrap and reclamation rate. Defects in the metal were particularly apparent on the top face. It was thought to be due to dissolved nitrogen coming out of the solution which could be reduced by flushing with argon.
A Capital plug was introduced in the base of the foundry’s 300 kg furnace and there was a large improvement in the casting quality of the metals. With over 70 casts undertaken, there was found to be only a slight deterioration of the plug with no wearing of the lining.
Our gas diffuser is being used successfully with argon at the foundry. Reports suggest that the castings being taken are the foundry’s best quality in history, and the use of our plugs is now standard practice in the Induction Furnace.
Benefits:
Reduced scrap rate
Reduced nitrogen levels
Improvement in cast quality
Case Study C
A large foundry has recently installed a gas diffuser with a specific aim.
The foundry wished to become more economical due to the high scrap rate produced from the 600 kg furnace. Ring castings were also pin-holed and these issues were thought to be due to high levels of nitrogen.
Our plug was installed to be utilised with argon. Use of the plug led to a large reduction in nitrogen levels and the scrapping of castings being halved. Deterioration of linings is also reduced with the use of a gas diffuser. The company are now looking to put plugs in all furnaces which will reduce lining wear, reduce scrap and increase the metal quality.
Metal quality has been hugely improved and the foundry expect glowing reports from their customers about this.
Benefits:
Reduced Nitrogen levels from 0.42% to 0.22%
Reduced scrap levels
Case Study D
A company that produce engineering castings for the offshore industry have become yet another satisfied Capital Refractories customer.
This Dutch foundry has recently installed a gas diffuser in their 500 kg furnace. This furnace is used for producing steel castings.
The metal quality is markedly improved and appears far cleaner. There has also been a 30% improvement on the mechanical properties of the metal during low temperature impact testing. Obviously this is significant for the industry for which they cater .
Reports suggest that the company are delighted with our impact on their production, and are looking to install another plug on a furnace used to produce other steel grades shortly.
Benefits:
Although gas levels remained constant, the impact strength increased as the gas diffuser removed other contaminants (such as sand and refractory inclusions).
Scrap levels have been drastically reduced.
Quality of the metal has been vastly improved due to a stainless steel alloy being purged with the gas diffuser.
Capital Refractories - The first name for quality
