METALLURGICAL PROBLEMS IN KIRLOSKAR COPELAND LIMITED, KARAD (MAH)

Abstract

This dissertation was carried out in a leading hermetic compressor manufacturing company, M/s Kirloskar Copeland Limited situated at Karad and Atit in Satara district of Maharashtra. The compressors manufactured are of reciprocating type having cooling capacities ranging from 0.5 to 5 ton of refrigeration (TR). Hermetic compressors are used for compressing the refrigerant gas which will give cooling effect in various application devices like air-conditioning, refrigerator etc. A hermetically sealed joint is a must for a reciprocating compressor so that refrigerant gas does not leak out. In the given company, firstly the two housings (shells) of a hermetic compressor were manual arc (hand) welded but in order to boost the - -- productivity, -' _ welding was proposed and then subsequently followed. The benefits achieved were in terms of cost, productivity, minimum rejections due to defects, minimum time required and the appearance. The implementation of new method of welding i.e. ,-';: welding proved to be satisfactory but presented few problems. The major problems were cost of shielding gas, higher rejection levels and excessive noise level of a compressor in running condition. So, an experimental approach was followed to analyze and solve these three problems. The series of experiments resulted in minimization of different kinds of problems. Switching over to --, welding proved to improve productivity by 20% in terms of time saving. The new shielding gas also resulted in net saving of Rs. 45000 per year on shielding gas. Rejection rates were brought down from 7% in case of manual arc welding (earlier method) to 2% in<Awelding.