The West Closure Complex drainage pump station is the largest in the world.
the iron casting company. “Several months after the casting
deliveries were completed, we were thrilled to receive photos of the pump installation in progress from the cus- tomer,” Young said.
Casting Adjustments
According to Fairbanks Morse, the pump maker empowered cast- ing suppliers to use their expertise to manufacture the parts cost-efficiently while meeting performance require- ments. Te open relationship enabled Bay Cast to meet the firm deadline. With a start date of Oct. 5, 2009, the steel caster was charged with deliver- ing its 11 propellers and housings by Jan. 10, 2011. It delivered them in November 2010. “Te project was intense and we
had to meet delivery dates, but the customer was open to ideas to address potential issues,” Holman said. Recent improvements to Bay
Cast’s facility enabled it to produce the pump parts. Te metalcaster in- stalled two new 10,000-lb. (4,500-kg) induction furnaces in 2005, enabling it to pour the 10-ft. (3-m) diameter propeller, and it relined its internal car-bottom heat treating furnace to be able to bring the maximum temperature to 2,000F (1,093C). Tis allowed the steel caster to perform the required high temperature solu- tion annealing in-house instead of outsourcing the work. Te project was also Bay Cast’s first opportunity to use its upgraded modeling software, which allowed it to minimize casting issues on the first run and improve yield and casting quality beyond the first article. St. Marys Foundry, St. Marys,
Ohio, made improvements of its own to handle the 57,0000-lb. (25,800-kg) ductile iron pump diffusers it makes for the West Closure Complex pump station. Each casting measures 12 ft. (3.6 m) in diameter and 9 ft. (2.7 m) in height—the largest ductile iron castings the facility has produced.
May/Jun 2012 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 39
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