Caterpillar Inc.
Technology and Solutions Division
Mossville, Illinois
Intern: Teri Mosher
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining
equipment; diesel and natural gas engines; and industrial gas turbines. Caterpillar’s
Technology and Solutions Division is located in Mossville. This facility focuses
on product research, design, and testing.
Caterpillar is undertaking a life-cycle assessment project to model and optimize
resource efficiency in the manufacture of ground engaging tools (GET). The GET
consists of two steel components, the adapter and tip. They are attached to a loader
bucket to help break up the ground and to protect the bucket when working in loose
abrasive materials.
The intern assisted in creating a model that has the potential to improve process
efficiency and result in the reduction of energy, waste and emissions during the
manufacturing process. The goal is to develop a model that design engineers can
use in the future to design new parts.
Results:
The intern project involved the creation of a preliminary model for the manufacture
of the GET. It included the following steps:
- Constructed process maps for the heat treatment process. This included
the normalizing, austenitizing, quenching and tempering operations.
- Developed a basic material and energy balance for each part of the process.
- Predicted natural gas consumption, emissions, water use and water evaporation
rates for each operation.
- Verified the accuracy of the preliminary model. Specific input parameters
from the manufacturing facility are necessary to improve the accuracy of
the modeling, along with the energy consumed by auxiliary equipment.
- Recommended that a database of furnace-related information be developed
as a source for equipment specifics.
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