Exploitable results Rustic Stones - Granite and quartzite stone slabs processing by oxy-methane flaming A prototype of an innovative oxygen-methane flaming machine to work granite slabs (so as to obtain a rough surface) was developed, for the hard stone slabs processing industry. According to the experimental results, the application of natural gas to substitute the traditional propane decreases up to 60% the cost of fuel and improves the flexibility of the plants for slabs processing. Moreover, this innovative system for slabs working improves the quality of superficial finishing and allows the increase of the production rate of reducing the number of rejected slabs due to breakage. The design of the flaming torch that was installed on the full size prototype was carried out by means of modern computational fluid dynamics tools, that were developed and implemented for the project, on the basis of PHOENICS and NAST codes. The application of CDF allowed the detailed three dimensional characterization of the flaming process, to optimize both the torch geometry and the operating variables that affect the efficiency of the turbulent jet flame impinging the plane surface of stone's slab to be worked out. A sophisticated roughness sensor to assess the quality of the finished surface was adopted during the experimental tests carried out at the factory to allow the automated control of the stone processing. The new flaming torch and the specific control system, that have been realized consistently with the scientific work performed, have brought the improved machine to the starting point for a new flaming machine to be put on the market. Searching for OpenAIRE data... There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE No results available
