The foundry operates two iron alloy batching plants.
One plant is designed for the batching of the five iron alloys which are added during the primary casting in the rotary furnaces. The system records the data in a database together with the actual weights of the raw materials added to the casting. Each quantity batched is weighed using a four-loading cell system. The control system manages, in response to the weight figures taken instantaneously by the cells, the vibration frequencies of the extractors to guarantee maximum precision. The plant is controlled by a PLC used by the operator responsible for loading the rotary furnaces and also by the general control panel situated in the metallurgic laboratory serving the heads of department.
The iron alloy ladle batching plant is capable of batching five principal iron alloys which are added to the ladle to correct the chemical characteristics of the iron to be cast. This plant also takes an actual weight reading of each component by means of a three-loading cell system. The plant control system, again in this case, interfaces the instantaneous value read by the cells and, in response to this, regulates the extractor functioning frequency. The system is also capable of reading and recording the quantity of cast iron actually poured into the ladle, allowing the operators to monitor the process with greater precision. The iron alloy batching system serving the ladle is controlled by both a PLC (installed at the batching material feed point) and a general control panel installed in the laboratory