Energy Saving Through the Control of Initial Solidification During Continuous Casting

With the development of advanced continuous-casting technology, saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are crucial for its future development. Controlling the initial solidification of molten steel in the mold to improve the quality of casting products would tend to minimize extra postcast treatment like scarfing, etc., which leads to a large amount of energy savings in the continuous-casting process through the minimization of the extra labor and energy consumption. In this article, factors such as mold flux, mold oscillation, cooling potential conditions, and fluid flow in the vicinity of meniscus that correlate with the molten steel initial solidification are discussed with the aim to provide strategy and guidelines for the optimization of molten steel solidification and energy savings in continuous casting.