PES Consulting e.K. (Langenfeld, Germany):

Zajber A. G., Mag. Eng., e-mail: a.zajber@web.de

Semi-continuous ingot casting (SCIC) includes advantages of conventional ingot casting and continuous casting. Thereby SCIC presents the simple and efficient alternative for producers of special steels, especially for the processes with relatively small melting volumes and with total annual productivity up to 300,000 tons. At the same time large ingot s can be manufactured (dimensions of round ingots are varied between 400 and 1,200 mm). Another option is a dual-strand continuous caster for larger production volumes. Ladle volume is suggested to be not more than 60 t. Rather average capital expenses and possibility to vary flexibly the unit confi guration for different variants of production program are considered as additional advantages of the new method. Flexibility covers quick varying of casting equipment, wide range of casting shapes and dimensions as well as steel grades.