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AA GSC Document Information:
Title
Guidelines for Aluminum Sow Casting and Charging
The Aluminum Association Inc.
Publication Date:
Jan 1, 1998
Scope:
Bulk aluminum intended for remelting is often cast in the form of
large shapes, weighing from 700
to 2000 pounds (320 to 900 kg), known as "sows." Because of the normal
geometry of these sows and
how they are cast, shrinkage cavities are frequently unavoidable.
These shrinkage cavities can
often become reservoirs for collecting large amounts of water
depending on how the sows are stored.
The sows are also subject to surface moisture and other contaminants.
The introduction of water into molten aluminum can result in an
explosion ranging from a small one
to a very violent one causing extensive equipment damage and
endangering human life. Therefore
every effort should be made to avoid charging sows that contain
moisture, either entrapped or
surface, into molten aluminum.
The sows must also be free of any surface contaminants such as
oxidizing agents and hygroscopic
salts which can cause explosions. Many oxidizing agents can act as
catalysts that can create an
explosion. Some of these may be nitrate bearing fertilizers, metallic
oxides, rust and fluxing
salts. This is why visual inspection is so important.
Specific guidelines on sow casting techniques, storage methods,
preheating, charging and melting
practices can help reduce the risk of explosions. Each facility should
develop specific procedures
and standard practices to ensure that sows are completely dry and free
of all surface contaminants
before charging them into a furnace that contains molten aluminum.
The Aluminum Association discourages the procedure of drying sows by
placing them on sills of
furnaces that contain molten aluminum because the risk is too great
that a sow will slip into the
molten bath before it is fully dry. There is also the possibility that
water will condense between
sows stacked on the furnace sill during the early stages of heating.
Serious explosions have
occurred because of this practice.
General safety practices are discussed in the Aluminum Association's
Guidelines for Handling Molten
Aluminum, Second Edition (ref. 1). The hazards that cause explosions
with aluminum sow must be
eliminated in the casting, storage, transport, charge preparation and
charging of the material.
These Guidelines deal with practices to minimize or eliminate
shrinkage cavities in aluminum sow as
well as methods and procedures for storage, transportation,
inspection, drying and charging.
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