EU LIFE project: Innovative inorganic binders in ferrous foundries

As part of the LIFE project, 6 European flagship ferrous metal foundries will introduce the inorganic binder system into their production process on a full industrial scale. This entails significant changes – starting with the selection of the appropriate inorganic binder system, process changes and investments in new equipment.

The Green Casting LIFE project (LIFE21-ENV-FI-101074439) in 2022-2026 is a continuation of the previous Green Foundry LIFE project (LIFE17 ENV/FI/000173) where inorganic binder systems were demonstrated on small industrial scale in three ferrous foundries, for the manufacturing of molds and cores. In total, this project involved 11 partners in 6 countries. More info of the project can be read from the project website: https://greenfoundry-life.com/.

The results of the Green Foundry LIFE project were very promising, including a measured drastic reduction in emissions of harmful compounds compared to all currently used organic binder systems. It was also acknowledged that the full implementation of inorganic binders in ferrous foundries requires much larger industrial scale testing in different types of ferrous foundries.

Therefore, the new project application was made much more extensive, including more ferrous foundries and other partners. The new Green Casting LIFE project is a collaborative effort involving 16 partners from 8 European countries, including 6 flagship foundries (Peiron Oy in Finland, Valumehaanika As in Estonia, Metalurgica Madrileña, S.A and Voestalpine Railway Systems JEZ S.L. in Spain, Spółka Akcyjna Odlewnie Polskie (OPSA) in Poland and Fonderie Di Assisi in Italy).  The other partners are universities, R&D and environmental measurement specialist companies, inorganic binder system producers, a foundry consulting company and Spanish foundry association. The coordinator is Meehanite Technology Oy. Running from 1.9.2022 to 28.2.2026, this project aims to demonstrate the technical and environmental feasibility of using innovative inorganic binders in ferrous foundries.

One major activity is to prepare full scale implementation plans for the 6 flagship foundries on the usage of inorganic binders in their premises. The plans are based on individual demonstrations with different inorganic binder systems, which have been carried out at each flagship foundry during the project.

This activity is carried out as a subcontract. According to EU rules for LIFE projects, subcontracting must be carried out based on a public competitive tender procedure. The request for quotation for this subcontracting work can be found at project website at GREENCASTING LIFE project - Azterlan.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.