Investigation on the effects of utilization of a new mold and improvements in secondary cooling on the continuous casting of steels: An industrial application

In this study, improvements in the primary cooling and the secondary cooling stages at an electric arc furnace steel plant have been implemented in the continuous casting process to reach higher casting speed, improve the quality of billets and eliminate the breakouts during the operation. In the primary cooling stage two different molds with multi-tapers have been designed and used. Meanwhile, in the secondary cooling part the cooling scenario has been changed. The experimental long-term productions have been done by using the new mold designs and the new secondary cooling parameters for the casting of low carbon and peritectic steel grades. After completing the casting and solidification operations, the macro and micro observations have been carried out on the billets for their qualification with respect to the operation conditions. According to the experimental results, the mold life has increased from 400 to 600 heats and the breakouts have decreased by 90%. Moreover, the productivity has increased by 16% within high speed casting of 4 m/min.