T
The Recession and Fracking Boom
The recession of 2008-2009
resulted in a considerable decline in metalcasting production, leading to facilities consuming less sand. Dur- ing this economic downturn, how- ever, the oil and gas industry experi- enced a significant boom in fracking, thanks in part to technological advancements in horizontal drilling. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a drilling process that uses silica sand to fracture subterranean rock to release previously unavailable oil and gas reserves. Fuel suppliers pump a slurry, which includes silica sand, into wells at high pressure. Fracking is forecast to consume
approximately 60 million tons of sand a year by 2017. Prior to this recent surge in demand, the entire industrial sand market was roughly 30 million
The industrial silica sand market, which historically has remained around 30 million tons per year, nearly doubled by 2013.
Nov/Dec 2014 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 37
he metalcasting industry uses an estimated 100 million tons of sand annually, including recycled and new material, to produce a majority of its castings. Whether as a basis for molds or cores, the material is a fundamental component to the industry. According to a 2014 Metal Casting
Design & Purchasing survey of metalcasting facilities in the U.S., nearly 50% used a green sand casting process, (either horizonally and vertically parted) while 35% reported nobake casting capabilities. (Note: Respondents may use both.) Considering the ubiquity of sand in the metalcasting operation, issues related to supply and demand could significantly impact the indus- try’s ability to produce timely, cost-effective components. Sand is used in two diff erent ways in metalcasting: as a molding mate-
rial, which forms the external shape of the cast part, and as cores, which form internal void spaces in products such as engine blocks. With the use of binders, the sand particles will stick together and hold their shape when molten metal is poured into the mold and the casting cools. Most metalcasting sand is high quality silica sand with uniform physical
characteristics and unique engineering properties, allowing both ferrous and nonferrous metalcasting facilities to use it for molds and cores. In today’s met- alcasting industry, sand typically is recycled and reused through many produc- tion cycles. Of the 100 million tons of sand in use annually, metalcasters only purchase somewhere between fi ve and six million tons, meaning much of the supply is reused for an extended period of time.
tons. T e metalcasting industry is the third largest consumer of sand at roughly fi ve million tons per year, slightly behind the consumption of glass producers. With the fracking boom in full
swing during the metalcasting industry’s recovery from the reces- sion in 2010-2011, the sand market went through a turbulent period. When the glass and metalcast- ing industries exited the recession looking to increase consumption, the fracking industry already had gobbled up much of the available capacity. T ere was a real short- age for many metalcasters because major sand producers were running at or near capacity. But metalcasters were able
to procure the necessary sand as the production of fracking sands boomed. Suppliers who had long
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60