Application of numerical process modeling for achieving quality on the large-scale round-bloom caster at ESB, Belgium

摘要

Ellwood Steel Belgium (ESB) is one of the major suppliers of round blooms of special forging steels in Western Europe (Figure 1). Blooms are produced in sizes up to 600 mm in diameter, currently the world's largest round bloom format. The company is a division of Ellwood Group Inc, a manufacturer of metal products based in the USA. The blooms produced at Seraing in Belgium are supplied mainly to ring rollers, closed-die and opendie forgers as well as to manufacturers of railroad wheels and tube products.Steel is produced on a 90-t UHP EAF and, following vacuum degassing, is cast in a 2-strand bloom caster. To minimise electricity costs, steel is produced mainly at night. An average of eight heats are melted each shift with a tap-to-tap time of 75 minutes and a ladle weight of 78 tonnes.