Experimental study of the feasibility of using groundnut shell ash and ant hill powder in foundry application

ABSTRACTThe need to develop a foundry sand binder that will be less expensive and also not toxic has received great attention in recent times. Sand, which is the principal moulding material in the foundry shop, is usually prepared with binders in the production of moulds and cores. Most of the binders presently used in the foundry industry in Nigeria are imported, very expensive, though generally effective. These binders which include furan, urea and phenol formaldehyde resins are not ecofriendly and usually emit toxic air pollutants. The use of local materials as binders has not been exhaustively explored, hence the attraction to this study. This work focused majorly on the development of cost effective, ecofriendly sand materials consisting of quality silica sand (River Niger Sand), groundnut shell ash powder (GSAp) and ant hill powder (AHp) with competitive properties capable of mitigating stringent regulations on the use of materials with environmental and toxic challenges. Optimum quantities of GSAp ...