agricultural land with or without CLU

[attachment=17980]

Where to set it up?
Foundries are highly polluting units so have to set up away from residential areas. Most of the foundries in India are small or medium scale units set up close to their target market. Thus, we have a number of clusters in the country producing castings for specific end-use markets. Most cities do not have a separate zone for industrial/commercial activities. Therefore, some industries are located in residential areas. Others have been built on agricultural land with or without CLU (Change in Land use).


Scale of the Project?
The production capacity of the unit can range from a few hundreds TPA to thousands of TPA. It depends upon the capital and land available for the project. The area of land available for moulding determines the amount of castings that can be produced. The size of the cupola determines its rate of production in tonnes/hr. The third important factor is the production cycle, i.e. the frequency of operation of cupola. In units where moulding is done manually it can be from 7-15 days while in units using moulding machines it is usually 3-5 days. Large scale units on the other hand may run continuously for many days at a time.

Source of Capital?
Setting up a foundry involves capital for land, machinery working capital and running costs. The capital can partially or totally be from the entrepreneur’s personal funds or can be loaned from banks. There are several different types of loaning options available for small and large scale projects. Availing loans leads to a hefty interest which has to be factored in the cost of the product. The government provides subsidies on machinery for SSIs provided they meet the pollution control requirements among other things.


Selection of furnace?
Several technologies are available depending upon melting rates, metal to be melted, production capacity, pollution control etc. Some of them are listed below:
CRUCIBLE FURNACE:
Crucible furnaces are one of the oldest and simplest types of melting unit used in the foundry. The furnaces use a refractory crucible which contains the metal charge. The charge is heated via conduction of heat through the walls of the crucible. Crucible melting is commonly used where small batches of low melting point alloy are required, thus it isn’t used for C.I. casting.

CUPOLA FURNACE:
For many years, the cupola has been the primary method of melting used in iron foundries. The cupola furnace has several unique characteristics which are responsible for its widespread use as a melting unit for cast iron.


Degree of Mechanisation?
The degree of mechanisation depends on the quantity and type of production. Large plants producing a narrow range of products can be almost fully mechanised. On the other hand small units doing job work can be mechanised only to a certain extent. In case of small orders or large sized castings, mechanisation may prove uneconomical or impractical. Mechanisation impacts important areas related to preparation and control of sand: moulding and core making, pouring, melting, shake-out operations and material handling.