New world record in steel production

Jiangyin Xingcheng Special Steel Works Co. (JYXC), Ltd. based in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, China, has placed an order with SMS Concast, a company of SMS group (www.sms-group.com), for a three-strand jumbo bloom caster able to continuously cast 1,200-millimeter round blooms. This will be a new record in steel production technology, as it will be the first caster in the world to produce 1,200-millimeter blooms in a curved continuous casting process.

This record-breaking new bloom caster (CC#0) with a nominal radius of 18 meters will be designed to produce a wide range of rounds from 600 up to 1,200 millimeters in diameter, in highly demanding steel grades ranging from bearing through to stainless steels. These grades are demanded by the forging and large-bearing industries for the production of bearings and shafts for green technologies, such as wind power mills, for example.

The jumbo caster will be equipped with advanced SMS Concast technologies such as INVEX molds, CONFLOW stopper mechanisms, CONSTIR electromagnetic stirrers as well as dynamic mechanical soft reduction (DMSR) and dynamic spray cooling – the latter two will be controlled by the COOL solidification simulation software. All of these technologies aim at a stable process and improved internal product quality. In addition, surface heaters will assure that no cracks are generated during unbending of the giant round blooms. Beyond that, the most advanced software solidification models will support a simplified and reliable decision-making process to ensure process stability.

SMS Concast’s vast expertise in engineering and commissioning of jumbo bloom casters combined with the skills and field experience of Xingcheng Special Steel’s engineers resulted in unique design features with a special focus on reliability, ease of maintenance and high performance. One of these special solutions is the possibility of positioning the electromagnetic stirrers flexibly within the cooling chamber in order to optimize the internal bloom quality.

The longstanding cooperation between SMS Concast and Xingcheng Special Steel started back in 2007 with the first implementation of the technology of dynamic mechanical soft reduction (DMSR) in China. The new, highly challenging jumbo caster project is another milestone in this successful partnership. Despite the current tense world economic situation, the management of Xingcheng Special Steel decided to invest in the future and build the world’s most modern technology in continuous casting, which will provide high productivity and excellent steel quality, while focusing on optimized manpower and energy consumption thanks to the most advanced digitalization tools.

Commissioning of this record-breaking jumbo continuous casting machine is scheduled to take place at the end of May 2021.

Source and photo: SMS group