Ceramic foundry media and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021284900-A1
Application number	US-202117329292-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 25, 2021
Priority date	Jul 31, 2014
Publication date	Sep 16, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Ceramic foundry media is provided. The ceramic foundry media have a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh, an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns, and a surface roughness of less than about 4 microns. The ceramic foundry media are formed by drip casting. A slurry of finely divided particles is flowed through nozzles and formed into droplets under the influence of vibration. Uniform sized, smooth surface, spherical green particles are formed. The green particles are dried and sintered to form the foundry media.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A foundry particle comprising:
a sintered ceramic material, the foundry particle having:
a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh;
an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns; and
a surface roughness of less than about 4 microns.

2 . The foundry particle of claim 1 , wherein the sintered ceramic material comprises kaolin.

3 . The foundry particle of claim 1 , wherein the foundry particle consists essentially of the sintered ceramic material.

4 . The foundry particle of claim 3 , wherein the sintered ceramic material consists essentially of sintered alumina.

5 . The foundry particle of claim 3 , wherein the sintered ceramic material consists essentially of sintered kaolin.

6 . The foundry particle of claim 3 , wherein the sintered ceramic material consists essentially of sintered bauxite.

7 . The foundry particle of claim 1 , wherein impinging a plurality of the foundry particle under a gas-entrained velocity of about 260 m/s onto a flat mild steel target results in an erosivity of the target of about 1 mg/kg to about 100 mg/kg.

8 . The foundry particle of claim 1 , wherein the foundry particle has a surface roughness of less than 3 microns.

9 . A method of making foundry media, comprising:
providing a slurry of ceramic raw material, the slurry comprising a polysaccharide, wherein the slurry has a solids content from about 25 wt % to about 75 wt %; flowing the slurry through a nozzle in a gas while vibrating the slurry to form droplets in the gas, wherein the slurry of ceramic raw material flows through the nozzle at a rate of about 1 to about 15 kg/(mm 2 ×hr); utilizing a surface tension of the slurry with the gas to cause the droplets to acquire and maintain a spherical shape, gelling the droplets upon contact with a liquid to provide gelled droplets, wherein the liquid comprises a coagulation agent; transferring the gelled droplets from the liquid; drying the gelled droplets to form green pellets; and sintering the green pellets in a selected temperature range to form the foundry media.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the polysaccharide is an alginate.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the coagulation agent is calcium chloride.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the reactant and the coagulation agent react to form a semi-solid surface on the droplets.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the slurry is vibrated as it flows from the nozzle by vibrating the nozzle.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the ceramic raw material is selected from the group consisting of bauxite, kaolin, alumina, and mixtures thereof.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the gas is air.

16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the foundry media have an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns.

17 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the foundry media have an average roughness of less than about 2 microns.

18 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the foundry media are formed without subjecting the droplets to a sol-gel reaction.

19 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the green pellets are sintered at a temperature in the range from about 1400° C. to about 1650° C.

20 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the foundry media are formed without subjecting the droplets to a sol-gel reaction or a reaction gas free-fall zone.

Assignees

• Carbo Ceramics Inc

Inventors

• Howe Steven C
• Cannan Chad
• Roper Todd

Classifications

• C09K8/80 Primary

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