Continuous Casting Technology

Continuous Casting Technology

The hot red molten steel is injected into the crystallizer from the immersed nozzle of the tundish, and the automatic mold powder adding machine moves the swing arm at a constant speed to add the protective mold powder into the crystallizer. "After using the automatic device, the mold powder addition is more uniform and stable." Duan Yunbo, the professional and technical director of the continuous casting operation department, said that this is just a microcosm of continuous casting technology research and optimization of product quality. With the implementation of a series of measures such as improving equipment accuracy, introducing automated equipment, and strictly standardizing operations, the casting billet pass rate of the rare earth steel plate plant reached 99.95%.

"Continuous pouring and quick-change of the tundish can effectively reduce the number of pours, saving about 90 minutes between pours." When the reporter came to the scene, the staff had just completed a quick-change operation of the tundish. Duan Yunbo said that how to improve efficiency while ensuring quality is a topic that technicians in the continuous casting operation department continue to tackle. They actively explore tundish quick-change technology, and the quick-change efficiency reaches 100.0%. The average annual number of quick-changes has increased significantly, setting a new historical record. At the same time, "online adjustment of the crystallizer width without reducing the pulling speed" is also a good way to improve production efficiency. At present, the actual casting speeds of the two casting machines at the rare earth steel plate plant have exceeded the design targets. Its maximum casting speed is 1.6 meters per minute, reaching the leading level among similar casting machines in China.

"Our research runs through all the processes in the operation department. Any lag in any link will affect the overall efficiency." Molten steel is injected from the ladle into the tundish, and then solidifies in the mold and sector sections. It is cut to planned lengths by a cutting machine, and finally The "ID card" is stamped by the number spraying machine... Walking along the production line, Duan Yunbo talked about effective measures to improve efficiency one after another. Improve offline equipment maintenance standards to ensure stable operation of online equipment and reduce equipment failures; optimize the "Process Standardization Operation Instructions" to stabilize process operations and reduce the number of unplanned shutdowns. With the continuous improvement of production efficiency, the continuous casting production line of the rare earth steel plate plant has increased its production capacity by 12% based on the designed production capacity of 5.36 million tons, and now has an annual production capacity of 6 million tons.

Source: Steelmaking Technology