145-mm-thick slab cast on funnel mould

Chinese steelmaker Yukun Iron and Steel Group succeeded in producing 145-mm-thick slabs at its new Danieli QSP-DUE plant at Yuxi, Yunnan province.

This is an unprecedented slab thickness for a direct casting and rolling plant.

Such a groundbreaking milestone was achieved by using a 152-mm funnel mould, confirming the Danieli-patented DySen caster as benchmark slab-casting technology.

Increased slab thickness means improved overall strip quality thanks to a higher reduction ratio in the mill, and new possibilities in the application of the QSP-DUE process for the production of quality hot-rolled coils.

This achievement was possible thanks to the sturdiness and flexibility of Danieli equipment and automation, and the skill of the Yukun team.

The Danieli QSP-DUE plant of Yukun is designed to produce low- and medium-carbon, HSLA and medium-carbon high-alloyed grades in ultralight gauges down to 0.8 mm in endless mode, and very thick gauges of up to 25.4 mm in coil-to-coil mode.

Featuring two casting strands, and endless casting-rolling on one, for a production capacity exceeding 4.5 Mtpy of hot-rolled strip, the plant is the highest performing direct casting-rolling plant in the world.