32 CONTINUOUS CASTING
Nozzle clogging for ‘Si’ killed steel
Billet casting through the metering nozzle for ‘Si’ killed steel is an established practice. At one stage
Si killed steel for metering nozzle casting was considered to be quite free from nozzle clogging. The
steelmaker only had to keep the Al level low. Nozzle clogging was more of an issue with Al killed steel,
says PK Ghosh*
HOWEVER, with demand for quality, yield,
and lower alloy consumption, nozzle
clogging can occur for ‘Si’ killed steel. For
a plant, it may not be for all the heats and
that baffles and influences the perception
and remedial measures.
This paper describes how the problem
of nozzle clogging was solved for two
different grades of steel in two different
Plants – Plant A for 0.80% carbon and Plant
B for 0.15% Carbon.
The root cause of the problem was
established as low soluble oxygen at the
end of the treatment.
A unique programme was established
for ‘Ca’ addition for high carbon grade.
This programme was worked out after
identifying the crucial process parameters
and coming up with a ‘Ca’ treatment
programme to ensure 100% success.
To eliminate nozzle clogging for
low carbon grade, ‘Ca’ treatment was
eliminated with a unique non-metallurgical
action.
Discussion
Plant A - Nozzle clogging of high carbon
steel:
This plant encountered nozzle clogging
with a maximum severity for AISI 1080-
Fig 1. Speed Graph of Clogging Heats
* President, Steeltap International LLC, New Jersey, USA
March 2019
Cont casting - GOSH AIST.indd 1
84 Grade. This led to a quality problem,
slowing down the productivity and rejection
of billet.
Typical failures are shown in the Figs. 1
and 2.
Insight in to nozzle clogging
The most common belief is that a high Al
Fig 2. Speed Graph of Clogging Heats
level (>0.007%) is the reason for nozzle
clogging, which is true in many cases but
it was not the case for this plant (Plant A).
The Al level was always below 0.004% and
nozzle clogging occurred in the Al range of
0.002 % - 0.004%. It was suspected that
‘CaS’ formation could be a reason behind
the clogging. However, SEM analysis did
not show any CaS presence in the steel
sample. Finally, it was ascertained that the
incidences of nozzle clogging were closely
connected with the final oxygen level of the
steel at the end of ladle refining.
All high carbon steel grades are ‘Si-
killed’ and the main inclusions are MnO(x)
SiO2(y) type. The values of subscripts x and
y depend on the chemistry of the steel or
rather the relative molar percentages of Mn
and Si in the steel. From the casting angle,
the values of Mn and Si are important
because they decide the subscripts x and y
and whether the inclusion shall be liquid at
casting temperature. There are two rules of
thumb that can be used.
One rule envisages that the Mn2/Si
should be more than 1.60 and in another, it
is estimated that Mn/Si should be minimum
3.00.
The main constituents of Si killed steel
are Fe are C, Mn and Si, but if the steel is
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13/03/2019 10:14:43