Grain refiner specialist MQP will be demonstrating how its products are helping canbody and foil stock producers make savings at stand 6A01 at Aluminium 2024.
The company, which continues to build on its portfolio of high efficiency Optifine grain refiners and casthouse solutions, has been working with various producers worldwide to optimise the quality of the end products and save waste, but also bring down costs.
One example is Henan Zhongfu Industrial Co Ltd – a major aluminium producer making more than 600,000 tonnes of can lid stock, canbody and foil stock annually. After a series of trials of Optifine against the standard Al-Ti-B rod it was using in production, the company fully adopted Optifine and has saved over 1 million RMB in just one year, the equivalent of over €100,000, in the production of over 200,000t of high quality products.
Compounding the cost savings, results from the lab tests showed that by adding 0.2 kg/t of Optifine rods to a 5182-alloy ingot, the grain refinement effect was better than that achieved by adding 0.8 kg/t or lower dosages of Zhongfu’s standard rod, with grain sizes from adding Optifine consistently meeting 100% of specifications.
Chairman John Courtenay said: “The study of grain refiners for aluminium alloys is a crucial research topic and at the show, we will be talking through the technical results from trials with companies such as Zhongfu, which are quite revealing and could help visitors with their own operations.”
By using Optifine 5:1 125 grain refiner, an even higher efficiency grain refiner than the Optifine 3:1 100 as used by producers such as Henan, the addition rate is reduced by a game-changing 85%. A particle count of 4,000 would be reduced to just 600, preventing pinholes and tears and improving elongation and shape.”
Optifine, which is made with low carbon, green aluminium, is today used in the production of over five million tonnes of alloys a year at 45 major casthouses worldwide.
Get in touch if you want to know more about how MQP can help your casthouse operations.