Development of PPR model for the production

system: Continuous Casting of Steel

1.Development of PPR model for the production system: Continuous Steel Casting
Plant
Production systems cover three main parts being sources of requirements related to life cycles
which are products, processes and resources.
They are interdependent with each other. Products are produced by processes, which are
executed by resources.

1.1 Products
Products are the intended output of the production system. They are characterized for production
system owners based on bill of materials and bill of operations.
The project is to design a continuous steel casting production system which can produce good
quality steel bars and billets.
The different raw materials and intermediate products during production processes are flux,
water, slag and solidified steel.
In the PPR model, products are represented by:

1.2 Process
A continuous steel casting plant is used to produce solidified steel billets or slabs from molten
metal. Different processes are executed on the resources to produce the required products. It
involves the transformation of inputs like materials, energy, and information to the desired
output.

The different processes involved in our continuous steel casting plant are as follows:

1. Molten metal is tapped into the ladle from furnaces.

2. Molten metal is poured into a tundish with a filter and flux is added to it.
3. Continuous flow of filtered molten metal happens through a dip tube to the water-
cooled Cu- mold and it solidifies at the edge zone of the mold.
4. The partially solidified strand of steel formed is pulled down using a roller.
5. The steel strand is cooled with water in an arc shaped cooling chamber and is bent
using deflection rollers.
6. The steel strand is straightened using a drift straightening machine.
7. Steel strand is cut to length using a traveling cutting torch.
8. Heat treatment is used to improve the mechanical properties of the steel bar.
9. The surface of the steel bar is smoothened using the surface finishing process.
10. A quality check is carried out to evaluate the basic properties of the steel bar.
 11. Each steel bar is labeled with identity code and batch code.
12. The steel bars are transported to the warehouse using forklifts and cranes.

In the PPR model, processes are represented by:

1.3 Resources
Resources enable the production processes which in turn produce finished products.
The different resources used in the continuous steel casting production system are given below.
● Ladle
● Tundish with filter
● Water cooled Cu-mold
● Dip tube
● Cooling chamber
● Deflection roller conveyor
● Drift straightening machine
● Roller conveyor
● Traveling cutting torch
● Heat treatment station
● Surface finishing station
● QC station
● Labeling Station
● Crane/Forklift

In the PPR model, resources are represented by:

1.4 PPR Diagram

 Figure 1: PPR model of continuous steel casting plant

1.5 Bill of Operation

1. Pouring of molten steel into tundish

2. Mixing of flux and filtering of molten steel
3. Removal of slag
4. Pouring the molten steel into water cooled Cu-mold
5. Downward pulling of edge solidified strand of steel
6. Final cooling of partially solidified steel bar
7. Straightening of solidified steel bar
8. Cutting of steel bars
9. Conveying of steel bars
10. Temperature post processing (Depends on intended product quality. For example:
Annealing method)
11. Surface post processing (Depends on the purpose and intended use)
12. Quality checking
13. Collection of rejected steel bars
14. Labeling of QC inspected steel bars
15. Transportation of Labeled steel bars to warehouse

1.6 Bill of Materials

1. Molten steel
2. Flux
3. Steel bars
4. Metal bin for rejected steel bars