Continuous Casting of steel is the widely used and most preferred mode of molten steel solidification in recent times. Steel cleanliness and composition control along with surface and internal quality of strands are becoming a real concern for steelmakers. The growing demand for better surface finish and high strength lightweight steel has put the quality requirements to be of top-notch priority. The tundish is one of the large metallurgical vessels through which metal steel flows into the mold for further solidification. It can be considered the pre-last step for inclusion modification and control. During the flow of the metal from the ladle to the tundish and then to the mold molten steel interacts with refractory, slag, tundish covering compound, and atmosphere. Thus proper design and better tundish operation techniques to be employed to deter more inclusion production and facilitate the inclusions removal process. Continuous casting, unlike ingot casting, has got better yield and better internal and surface quality as far as the detrimental effects of segregation and macro inclusions are concerned. The formation of ‘V’ segregates and inverse ‘V’ segregates has also been reduced to significantly low levels with the introduction of electromagnetic stirrer and application of soft reduction in continuous casting processes.
Refractory Shroud practices The pouring stream from the ladle to the tundish is protected from re-oxidation by the application of refractory shroud.
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