Horizontal Casting Machine

Concept consists of channel-type induction furnace and holding furnace, together with graphite die and cooler assembly and runout track with withdrawal machine and cut-off device. Molten metal flows from the melting-furnace to a holding or casting furnace which, acts as a reservoir of molten metal maintaining the required casting temperature.

TThe furnaces for melting and for casting are lined with refractory high-alumina fire bricks with similar ramming mix for the inductors. The melting takes place under a reducing atmosphere with a floating charcoal cover ensuring on copper and copper alloys low level of oxygen in the final product. Under the prevailing reducing conditions the service life of the refractory is generally extremely good.

Water-cooled graphite dies are attached to the holding crucible. During the continuous casting operation metal flows into the graphite casting die where it solidifies. The solidified strands are intermittently withdrawn in a 'pull-pause' sequence by means of withdrawal equipment. After leaving the graphite die, which is housed within the primary cooler. the cast strands pass through a secondary cooler in the form of a water 'sparge' which removes the surplus heat contained in the solidified billet. Water 'sparge cooling' beyond the exit of the die is much more thermal efficient than using a graphite water-cooled sleev.e cooler.

The majority of continuous casting installations in use today operate in the horizontal mode. The reason for this is mainly logistic, based on ease of product handling and to some extent safety in operation. There are, of course, inherent problems applying horizontal as opposed to vertical casting mainly related to gravity-induced directional cooling; however, in most cases these difficulties can be accommodated.