Cleaner Production technologies have become increasingly more popular with the rise in governmental and regulatory actions to push the industrial sector toward sustainability. The case-in-point organisation has been facing challenges with waste foundry sand generation which was disposed of at landfills, and the high electricity bill was largely attributed to the induction furnaces used.  Hence, the study was aimed to identify sources of waste and emissions, evaluate opportunities for sustainable improvements, minimise waste sand disposal and reduce energy consumption to achieve cost savings and promote environmental sustainability.  A Cleaner Production assessment was conducted and the identified solutions that were implemented were good housekeeping programme and furnace energy optimisation. Reducing sand spillage was accomplished after identifying the key sand loss points which include sand transport between stations, manual handling spills, overflow during shake-out as well as loss due to defective moulds or cores. The structured good housekeeping programme resulted in an estimated 30% reduction in sand spillages, which is from 1092 tons per month to 322 tons, yielding disposal cost savings of approximately R1.7 million per year. Furnace energy optimisation was undertaken to address the identified key energy loss mechanisms which included overheating molten metal, unplanned idle time, surface heat losses, cold charge materials, flue gas losses, and poor refractory condition for the foundry furnaces. The implemented furnace energy optimisation measures resulted in an estimated 18% reduction in electricity consumption, annual saving of approximately 607 MWh, a reduction of 547 tons CO₂, and an annual financial saving of around R1.5 million.

Keywords

Cleaner Production, Energy Consumption, Material Balance, Waste Foundry Sand