Shrinkage Factor Optimization for Slab Cutting Machine in Continuous Casting Plant PT Krakatau POSCO

摘要

Continuous casting is a solidification process of molten steel become slab with a certain dimension. In Continuous Casting Plant, to cut a slab into certain length it is used Torch Cutting Machine (TCM) and Recutting Machine (RCM). These machines will cut the slab according to a calculation result between target length and shrinkage factor. Shrinkage factor itself is an operation parameter that comes from some theoritical and also practical approach.The slab price that is paid by customer is using the slab weight according to the order. But the actual condition in most case the slab weight is around 150 kilograms more than the order because the slab dimension is more than the target. Through the simple calculation and using some assumption it is found that more than 2,7 million USD per year should be obtained from this surplus slab weight. Cutting machine shrinkage factor is necessary to be optimized through some experiments in order to get the exact value of slab length and also control the slab weight. The benefits of shrinkage factor optimization is not only for cost saving but also for slab quality assurance in term of slab dimension.