Application Status and Development Trend of Continuous Casting Reduction Technology: A Review

Abstract

Continuous casting is a dominant steelmaking process due to its steady-state nature, enhanced yield of steel production, and low consumption of energy and manpower. However, the production of defect-free cast products is still a big challenge, as the internal defects, including macro-segregation of alloying elements, cracks, and pores, can be easily formed during the solidification process, which seriously deteriorates the microstructure and mechanical properties of the cast products. Therefore, this paper puts forward the common solutions to overcome these problematic issues. The reduction technology can effectively improve the center segregation of the billet, bloom, and slab. The history of the development of the reduction technology is summarized and classified according to the variations in research trend. Furthermore, the basic principles and parameters of reduction technology are described to implement them in the actual production process. This paper compares the similarities and differences between soft reduction (SR) and heavy reduction (HR) technologies with a particular focus on the theoretical research of HR technology and further elaborates the key parameter and equipment problems during implementation of HR. Moreover, this paper also considers the HR technology adopted by Baosteel as a case study, which helped to put forward some viewpoints for the future development of reduction technology.

Formation of nepheline in the heating process of mould fluxes and its effect on sintering behaviour

“…This result shows that the solid-state reaction of flint clay does not occur at low temperatures in flux B without cryolite. This phenomenon also proves the promoting effect of F − on reaction (4). Without the participation of F − , the kinetic conditions of the flint clay's solid-state reaction are limited, inhibiting the precipitation of nepheline.…”

“…With the development of the iron and steel industry, the continuous casting process is gradually moving towards high efficiency, and the steel grades produced tend to be high quality. [1][2][3][4] High-speed and high-quality steel continuous casting is a crucial technology for future development. High-speed and high-quality steel continuous casting still faces problems that need to be solved.…”

Machine-Learning Algorithms for Process Condition Data-Based Inclusion Prediction in Continuous-Casting Process: A Case Study

“…Then, hot-rolling and cold-rolling procedures are applied to produce wide and thin steel plates. Different types of defects may cause the deterioration of the microstructure and mechanical properties of the cast products [ 24 ]. These defects may include surface scratches, central segregations, decarburization of the steel, and, especially, the presence of non-metallic inclusions, such as slags in the tundish and mold.…”

On the Macrosegregation of Continuous Casting of High Carbon Steel Billet with Strand Reduction Process

“…Nevertheless, as the steel market asserts a more urgent claim for a high carbon billet with high homogeneity, and also with the continuous upgrading of modern equipped continuous casters for billet, the mechanical reduction process has recently been successfully applied in the continuous casting of steel billet [21,22]. This makes the numerical analysis of the mechanical reduction process for steel billet more important for practical implementation than ever, and it actually also turns out to provide an experimental way to verify the numerical study of this process for high carbon steel billet in terms of practical validity.…”