052.Improvements to copper casting machine for Ferroalloys.pdfVIP

THE IMPROVEMENTS TO COPPER CASTING MACHINE FOR FERROALLOYS 1 J. Bullón, A. More and J. M. Míguez Ferroatlantica I+D , Pol. Ind. Sabón, Arteixo, 15142, La Coru?a, Spain 1 Moresteel, Schweizertalstr,52/5, A 1130 Wien, Austria Email: jbullon@ferroatlantica.es; jmmiguez@ferroatlantica.es; moresteel@nextra.at ABSTRACT In 2000 Ferroatlantica started a project with the aim to develop a new casting machine for silicon and other ferroalloys. Until now, it has been cast more than 25.000 tons of silicon for the chemical and metallurgical market. This system has improved the process yield, productivity and product quality which place’s Ferroat- lantica at the top of technology development in this field. After the first presentation of the Ferroatlantica’s casting machine at Infacon X, we would like to show the improvements in the control which have permitted us to increase the lifetime of the copper and to obtain, at the end of the machine, the right product size for the customer avoiding the current necessity of crushing and sizing the lumpy metal. Furthermore, we have improved the system in relation to the obtaining of smaller granulometries at the end of casting machine. Not only is this kind of machine cost competitive for special silicon applications but also for other normal ferroalloys with different specifications of size and thickness. 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CASTING MACHINE The basic machine consists of one copper table and two iron tables. The width and length of these tables have been designed so that the cooling of the elements is very efficient and the copper, whose melting point is somewhat more than 1000oC can receive the molten metal which arrives at 1500oC. The flow and speed of the water are very important parameters for the life span of the cooper plate and these were achieved thanks to a very adequate design of the refrigeration circuit. Thermocouples have been installed to measure both the temperature of all the water circuits as well as of