Tag: foundry

AMPO FOUNDRY PROVIDES PATTERNLESS SERVICES FOR LARGE SAND CASTING COMPONENTS

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AMPO FOUNDRY has developed Patternless Services for the production of large sand casting parts, with a maximum moulding box size of 3000mm x 3000mm, in order to meet customer requirements and continuously adapt to market needs.

This technology has been developed by the Engineering team of AMPO hand in hand with an International Research Centre, as well as with the guidance and the essential contribution of one of its main customers, obtaining an optimum patternless casting method. 

Due to this, AMPO has manufactured by Patternless and Sand Moulding technologies, a 48” butterfly valve body and disc for one of our main global customers.

With this technology there is no need to manufacture wooden patterns. Consequently, it is a very cost-effective way of producing one-off or small production run castings, with the following benefits; lead time reduction, manufacturing cost reduction, high integrity and dimensional accuracy castings, appropriate surface finishes, etc.

In order to offer customers the widest possible range of castings and best solutions, AMPO also has a completely integrated patternless service for small and medium size components within its cutting-edge Ceramic Moulding production line.

At AMPO FOUNDRY customers can find the most updated know-how and engineering services, offering the most reliable and competitive solutions, as well as aftermarket services.

AMPO FOUNDRY WAS AWARDED THE SUPPLY OF CASTINGS FOR 30 COKER VALVES

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AMPO FOUNDRY has delivered 30 fully machined casting sets in stainless steel, A217 GrC5 and A217 GrC12 materials to an international leading manufacturer of coker ball valves for refinery applications. In the case of coker ball valves it is important to consider that the embedding of abrasive particles in seat materials can abrade the ball surface and these grooves can then cause leak paths which further damage surfaces. Consequently, the solution is to use metal to metal seating, typically a hard-surfaced ball in nickel-boride or tungsten carbide versus a proven wear surface on the seats (such as Stellite 6). Moreover, the ball sphericity is also critical and that is why it is important to work with a foundry such as AMPO.

In this project, the 30 sets included the most important valve parts, such as bodies, body caps, balls and seats in different sizes and pressure ranges.

Whilst the stainless-steel balls were produced using the Centrifugally Spun process and were precision-machined, ground and hard-coated to a precise and controlled thickness in our brand-new machining workshop.  The seat surfaces and the ball sphere had to match accurately to provide a tight metal to metal seal.

On the other hand, the bodies and the body caps were cast in A217Gr C5 and A217 Gr C12 materials, produced in our cutting-edge Sand Moulding facilities and were also fully machined at our own facility. All of the components also underwent X-Ray and Dye Penetrant Non-Destructive Testing.

Coker ball valves must provide outstanding performance and exceptional reliability to customers for the most critical and tough refining applications, such as erosive and corrosive services, high temperature services, etc.  Consequently, it is important to count on an integrity foundry’s collaboration.  AMPO FOUNDRY is an expert in stainless steel, duplex & super duplex, low alloy and high alloy castings, and it has a wide experience in casting development for refinery applications.

At AMPO FOUNDRY customers can find the most updated know-how and engineering services, offering the most reliable fully machined castings for refining.

AMPO FOUNDRY PROVIDES STAINLESS STEEL & FULLY MACHINED CASTINGS FOR A WORLD LEADING ROTARY VALVES MANUFACTURER

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A world leading rotary valves manufacturer has trusted in AMPO FOUNDRY for the manufacture of finish machined stainless steel castings for its rotary valves. Those valves will be used for food and pharmaceutical applications worldwide.

Rotary valves are one of the most common means of feeding pneumatic conveyance systems, both pressure and vacuum types. There are many other applications where they are used simply for metering of a controlled feed rate. It is a compact mechanical device for continuously discharging bulk powders or granules under gravity flow and it is mainly used for food and pharmaceutical applications, such as in this case.

Common product characteristics, including being sticky, cohesive, corrosive, tendency to “build-up” on the swept surfaces, etc., are compatible with the use of stainless steel with polished or non-stick coated surfaces.

Consequently, all of the castings that AMPO FOUNDRY will supply will be stainless steel parts with excellent surface finish and will be produced using Ceramic Moulding Technology, which enables AMPO to offer large cast components as well as complex geometries, with the best surface finishes.

This moulding technology is moreover highly automated, and this has enabled it to increase its competitiveness.

All the components will be fully machined on a 5-axis machining center with FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System).  AMPO is currently completing the construction of a new 12,500m2 machining workshop in Idiazabal (Spain), where it has invested in intelligent machine tools.  Ampo’s machined components will provide the customer with a significant added value, i.e. a reduction in total cost and delivery lead time, in addition to improving quality control.

 

AMPO FOUNDRY SUPPLIES DISTRICT HEATING VALVE COMPONENTS

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An international leading manufacturer of district heating valves for the entire heating network (from district heating power stations to pumping stations and individual buildings), has put trust in AMPO FOUNDRY for the manufacture of large size (>DN1000) stainless steel and pre-machined parts.

In order to offer customers the widest possible range of castings and best solutions AMPO has four production lines. In this case, for the development of this project, AMPO will use its cutting edge sand moulding facilities and all of the components will also be pre-machined on a 5 axis machining center with FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System). AMPO is currently completing the construction of a new 12,500 m2 machining workshop in Idiazabal (Spain), where it has invested in intelligent machine tools. AMPO’s machined components will provide customers with a significant added value, i.e. a reduction in total cost and delivery lead times, in addition to improving quality control.

The weight of the components will vary from 600 kgs to 1.2 tonnes.

At AMPO FOUNDRY customers can find the most updated know-how and engineering services, offering the most reliable solutions for district energy networks, power plants and internal heating and cooling systems for buildings.

AMPO FOUNDRY PROVIDES COMPRESSOR CASTINGS

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A European-based American compressor manufacturer has trusted in AMPO FOUNDRY for the manufacture of a significant number of half-finished compressor castings.

In order to offer customers the widest possible range of castings and best solutions AMPO has 4 production lines: Sand Moulding, Ceramic Moulding, Shaped Centrifugal Casting (SCC) and Centrifugal spinning.

For the development and manufacturing of these compressor castings AMPO has used the Ceramic Moulding Technology, which enables the company to offer large cast components as well as complex geometries. This Moulding technology is moreover highly automatic, and this has enabled it to increase its competitiveness.

All these compressor castings have been tailor made in order to meet the requirements of the American customer. In addition to this, it should be noted that for the compressor manufacturer Service was a key factor in this project, and through AMPO’s “patternless” technology, both supplier and customer have been able to fulfill their commitments regarding to delivery times. Few months ago, so short delivery times were unimaginable.

AMPO FOUNDRY PROVIDES AFTERMARKET SERVICES TO WORLDWIDE PUMP USERS

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Major pump manufacturers are relying on AMPO’s aftermarket service to manufacture complete machined pump components such as impellers, diffusers, suction bells, column pipes, bearing housings, chambers and bowls with really short delivery times.

At AMPO clients can find the most updated know-how and engineering services, including Reverse Engineering and Magma Soft simulations to offer and achieve reliable aftermarket pump solutions.

In the manufacturing of pump components for the aftermarket sector, AMPO implements the latest patternless casting technology in order to obtain high quality castings with dimensional accuracy and improved quality surface finish. With this patternless casting method, ceramic shells are produced in AMPO within a day.

Moreover, once the components are produced, AMPO FOUNDRY has an in-house laboratory and the latest NDT facilities (3D Dimensional Control, X-ray, Dye penetrant tests, magnetic particles, ultrasonic tests, PMI, etc.) in order to ensure the reliability of pump components.

AMPO also offers customized services such as pressure tests, balancing, pre-assembly and painting of components.

AMPO team guarantees a prompt response to customer needs wherever they may be; the organization has a clear orientation towards the development of components with short delivery requirements.  Pump assemblies in West Africa, Middle East, USA, China and India are currently being powered using AMPO components.

AMPO TO MANUFACTURE AND SUPPLY KEY COMPONENTS FOR MARINE PROPULSION SECTOR

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Top of the class waterjet manufacturers are relying on AMPO´s latest casting technologies in order to develop critical performance components for waterjets.

Components that were traditionally designed either as sand castings or fabrications are now able to switch to Ceramic Moulding and Shaped Centrifugal Casting processes in order to achieve shorter lead times and improved surface finishes.

AMPO has made significant investments in both processes; last November AMPO opened a new fully automated Ceramic Moulding facility which has increased its Ceramic Moulding capacity up to 240 tons per month and 60 parts a day, quadrupling its previous capacity.

In addition, AMPO has also received a patent for its SCC (Shaped Centrifugal Casting) process, where by using different tools and techniques, complex external geometries and improved casting quality are obtained from centrifugal castings.

Impellers, Housings and Diffusers, along with other marine components are now being manufactured using these processes benefitting from significant cost and quality improvements being obtained including: reduced weights, rapid prototyping / patternless moulding, improved casting integrity and surface finishes.

Diverse vessels including Coast guard, passanger ferry boats and wind farm service boats will be propelled by AMPO components.

AMPO FOUNDRY SUPPLIES 100 PUMP CASTINGS IN SUPERDUPLEX MATERIAL FOR A DESALINATION PLANT IN OMAN

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AMPO FOUNDRY, an international leader in stainless steel and high alloy castings, has recently supplied around 100 pump castings in superduplex (Gr5A) for BARKA DESALINATION project, a consortium gathering SUEZ and its partners in order to finance, construct and operate a sea water desalination plant in Barka (Oman).

The customer, a worldwide pump manufacturer, has trusted in AMPO FOUNDRY for the manufacturing of 100 pump castings such as impellers, volute bodies, side plates, etc.

The weight of whole the components come to 30 tonnes.

 AMPO has a wide experience in the manufacturing of superduplex (Gr5A) components and it has the NORSOK certificate for whole the moulding processes. It also should be noted that it has three heat treatment furnaces with a capacity of 8 tonnes, which are also approved to NORSOK standards. It has been all this, together with the Ceramic Moulding process, which has made the customer entrust the development of all these pump castings to AMPO.

The Ceramic Moulding process is the ideal production line to obtain excellent surface finishes, which in turn is essential to achieve an optimum pump performance.

In order to offer customers the widest possible range of castings and best solutions AMPO has 4 production lines. For the development and manufacturing of these pump components for the project in Barka, AMPO has used 3 of these processes: sand moulding, ceramic moulding and centrifugal spinning. Each line uses the most advanced technologies on the market and it is important to mention that, for example, AMPO has recently proceed with the automation of the Ceramic Moulding process, which has enabled AMPO to start offering large cast components and complex geometries through this process. This automation has also enabled it to increase its competitiveness.

On the other hand, in order to ensure the reliability of all these pump castings, AMPO has carried out the following Non Destructive Tests: X-ray, dye penetrant tests, magnetic particles, ultrasonic tests, picking and 3D dimensional control.

The reverse osmosis desalination plant in the Sultanate of Oman will start supplying potable water in April 2018, which will have a capacity of 281,000m3 per day.