Environmental Legislation and Pollution Control in Cast Iron Foundries

Abstract

It is a time-old relationship between metal and man : iron is one such metal in use. To meet various needs, iron is melted and cast into the desired shapes; this phenomena has brought into the very existence of Cast Iron foundries. To melt iron, energy in the form of heat is provided thro-ugh combustion of carbon, the most techno-economic form of which is coke. Besides heat, the other prcducts of this combustion, fine particulates of ash, CO, SO., NO etc. are released to the atmosphere. In a small area, such ' as Howrah, about one million ton of CI Castings are made annually burning 300,000 tons of coke of which ash consti-tutes one third of its weight. In t.lie proce:.,s, the ash gets converted partly into slag and remaining find its place in the atmosphere in the form of solid particulate matter causing environmental problem for the people and living objects in the vicinity of these foundries. The cumulative effect of this practice for years has caused an alarming situation compelling us to find out urgently most conducive solution.