Chromatographic analysis of selected products of thermal decomposition of core sands made in cold-box technology

Loose rapid hardening masses with synthetic resins, customarily called cold-box technologies, have dominated the process of casting core production. A distinguishing feature of these technologies is the manner of mass preparation without the use of a hardener. The hardening agent (in the gaseous form) is introduced by way of its gasification into the condensed core. In the group of these technologies, the most significant one is the phenol cold-box process (Ashland-cold-box, Pur-cold-box).
The evaluation of the harmfulness of these core sands to the environment requires consideration of the amount and toxicity of the released gases. The main limitation of the cold-box technology with the participation of amine is connected with its neutralization and its harmfulness to the environment. For the evaluation of environmental performance of casting binders, it is suitable to apply pyrolytic testing in combination with the gas chromatography method (Py-GC/MS).
The article presents the results of chromatographic tests of selected products of thermal decomposition (BTEX - mainly benzene, toluene and phenol) of core sand made in the classic cold-box technology. The investigations were performed in inert atmosphere, at the temperature of 500°C and 1200°C.

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