Billet casting is getting faster and more flexible, but it's frequently just one element in plant concepts that promise high quality, high throughput, and high value for the investors. Early in September, the Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica de Guanabara (Cosigua) started its revamped billet caster. It was a project that demonstrates most of the noteworthy traits of the latest billet casting technology - fast starts, product flexibility, and high throughput. The six-strand machine, with a casting radius of six meters, produces 130- and 160-mm square, high-quality billets at up to 3.6-m/min. Danieli Centro Met, the caster building division of Danieli SpA, reports its customer was fully satisfied by the rebuilt machine's performance and test results, which "largely exceeded the agreed performance values." All these results were shown in the first two weeks after the redesign was complete, Danieli informs.
NSTL
