We share article published in the HBIS Serbia magazine, about implementation of the project for maintaining the tundish aggregate, that we successfully implemented last year.

After the comprehensive preparations, the new third generation machine was installed on the Steelworks in mid-May 2018, for the installation of a self-binding refractory mass in the tundishes. The machine is the state-of-the-art technology and its use accelerates the process of operation in many ways, increases the quality of refractory lining and safety at work. Natural gas is no longer used and only on the basis of this, the savings on the tundish is 400 EUR. On a monthly basis, this is a savings of about 50,000 EUR.

We have started this project a year ago and from the point of view of production, we got a machine of exceptional importance. It is used for the so-called concreting of tundishes with dry mass, that is, for the installation of high-quality refractory. It is also important that at all times we will have a tundish for the beginning of casting at our disposal and we will not have to, as before, wait for the heating of the refractory and the mass of the tundish, as here the mass is completely dry, and for the preparation of the tundish from the end of casting to the beginning of the next casting, we need only half an hour to 45 minutes, says Dejan Mašić, the production manager at this facility and emphasizes: We no longer use natural gas to preheat the mass. In this way, we will save huge amounts of money, because our plant was one of the largest natural gas consumers. We have also greatly accelerated the production process and increased safety at work because we do not use a damp refractory mass anymore, which can be a condition for explosion, and there is no more dust in the preparation of the tundish refractory.

Faster and Better Refractory Service

Đorđe Ćorić, deputy manager of refractory materials in the Refractories department, says that from the point of view of the preparation of the refractory mass, the introduction into the operation of the machine Ankertun SH represents a revolutionary technological step. We, the refractory workers, are now providing a faster and more quality service to the Steelworks. Firstly, we use a better refractory mass, secondly, we have used the first generation of this machine so far, and now the third one, and thanks to that, besides natural gas, we do not use water when forming the refractory lining anymore either, which facilitates and accelerates our work, especially in winter conditions. Thirdly, the fact that no more dust is generated during work is a relief to our employees, and it also increases work safety, Ćorić emphasized.

Ankertun SH – the most advanced machine

It was at the time of the former employer, and my idea was rejected then. The current employer recognized the importance of using new technology and accepted cooperation with the company RHI Magnesita. We are pleased with this decision, because, besides quality and safety, we realize a lot of savings, said Ljubiša Marković, Chief Operations Manager for steel casting, the initiator of the idea to startup this project of installation of the Ankertun SH machine in the Steelworks.

The Ankertun SH machine is the most sophisticated machine of this type in the world. This is a dry method of treating the mass with only one percent of water and hence this mass need not be preheated by natural gas for the evaporation of water. The machine was installed in four days. We will perform the maintenance on it, and its value is approximately 100,000 EUR. We have excellent cooperation with HBIS and I hope that we will continue to cooperate successfully, says Srđan Ekmečić, service technician of HTR, a representative of the RHI Magnesita.

What is tundish?

The tundish is a significant link in steel production. It is a container that accepts steel from the steel ladle and its primary purpose is to clean the steel additionally and to provide continuous casting during the batch fitting (replacement of the steel ladle with steel). From the tundish, steel is poured into a crystallizer for the production of slabs on radial machines. The tundish capacity is about 24 tons. As with all warm generators, the quality of the refractory lining is important in it as well. Precisely by using the machine Ankertun SH, excellent results are achieved in terms of quality and speed of preparation.

Author: Nebojsa Jankovic

The text was published in the journal HBIS SERBIA, a magazine of HBIS Group Serbia Iron & Steel