Continuous Casting Slab Routing to Cut Cooling Losses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current continuous casting processes for medium slabs face challenges in maintaining casting quality, particularly for crack-sensitive steel types, due to volume shrinkage and tensile stresses, and lack flexibility in process control, leading to inefficiencies and resource wastage.
Innovation Solution
A device and method that incorporate a continuous casting device with a cutting system using scissors to cut slabs without flame cutting, allowing for immediate heating to forming temperature and flexible routing based on process parameters, minimizing cooling losses and enabling separate treatment of slabs by route, thus optimizing energy use and quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If flame cutting is used to separate medium slabs from the casting strand, then the slabs can be divided into manageable lengths, but beard material is created on the front and rear ends that must be removed mechanically, increasing process complexity and time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the harmful beard material creation by replacing flame cutting with an upstream solution. The continuous casting process is modified to prevent beard formation at the cutting interface, thereby removing the need for subsequent mechanical beard removal operations and simplifying the overall process chain.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies preliminary action by preparing the slab ends through controlled cooling and solidification processes before cutting occurs. The casting strand is cooled in a controlled manner to ensure proper solidification state at the cutting location, preventing beard material formation in advance and eliminating downstream remediation steps.
2Reliability
If slabs are temporarily stored in a slab storage area to cool down, then downstream equipment is protected from thermal damage, but the slabs lose temperature and require additional heating energy to reach forming temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies dynamics by making the cooling and storage process adjustable rather than fixed. The degree of cooling, storage duration, and subsequent heating are dynamically optimized based on slab grade, desired forming temperature, and equipment requirements, allowing the system to adapt to different operational conditions and minimize energy consumption while maintaining equipment protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes parameters by optimizing the cooling rate, storage temperature, and heating profile to minimize energy consumption. By controlling the thermal parameters dynamically and selecting optimal cooling curves, the system reduces the temperature differential that must be overcome during reheating, thereby lowering energy requirements while still protecting downstream equipment.
3Ease of manufacture
If medium slabs are cast with parallel plate molds, then casting of crack-sensitive steel grades is simplified compared to funnel-shaped molds, but volume shrinkage during phase transformation creates tensile stresses that can lead to cracks and penetrations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies periodic action through controlled oscillation or vibration of the mold during the casting process. This periodic movement prevents the formation of tensile stresses by disrupting the solidification pattern, thereby preventing cracks and penetrations while maintaining the simplicity of parallel plate molds and ensuring high slab quality for crack-sensitive steel grades.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances casting quality for crack-sensitive steels, reduces waste, and increases efficiency by allowing for direct heating to forming temperature, minimizing cooling losses, and enabling flexible treatment of slabs based on quality and end-use requirements, resulting in a more resource-efficient and cost-effective production process.
Implementation Method 1
the metal is poured through a mostly cooled mold and discharged downwards, sideways or in an arc with a solidified shell and usually still liquid core
Implementation Method 2
the strand shell, which has already solidified but is still thin, undergoes a volume change (shrinkage of approximately 0.5%) due to a phase transformation (from delta ferrite to austenite)
Implementation Method 3
a cutting device for cutting the casting strand into slabs
Implementation Method 4
which heats the medium slabs to forming temperature, approximately 1,000 °C to 1,300 °C
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus (100) and a method for producing and further processing slabs (3) made of a metal, preferably steel, said apparatus (100) comprising: a continuous casting apparatus (1) which is designed to produce at least one cast strand (S) and to transport it in a transport direction (T); a cutting device (4) which, when viewed in the transport direction (T), is arranged downstream of the continuous casting apparatus (1) and is designed to cut the cast strand (S) into slabs (3); at least one first route (R1) and one second route (R2), which at least in some portions implement different process lines for further processing of the slabs (3); and a process control system (8) which, on the basis of at least one measured or calculated process parameter, is designed to make a route decision for an individual slab, which decision assigns one of the plurality of routes (R1, R2) to the specific slab (3), and to initiate the further processing of the corresponding slab (3) along the assigned route (R1, R2).