Technology & Steel Application - News

Posted on 23 Sep 2013

World’s largest continuous caster for blooms comes on stream

Dongbei Special Steel in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, successfully commissioned an 800-mm bloom continuous caster of SMS Concast, Switzerland. That means the company is now operating its third continuous bloom caster from SMS Concast.

Bloom handling in the new bloom continuous caster of Dongbei Special Steel.

“This continuous caster is a milestone in terms of mechanical, electrical and process engineering. It sets a new benchmark in the steel casting industry,” said Luis Hernandez, CEO of SMS Concast. “We integrated various technological innovations. The fact that Dongbei has chosen us as its partner three times already proves we are on the right course with our technology.”

With the new plant, Dongbei and SMS Concast are continuing their long-lasting partnership. Just like the previous plants in Dongbei- Beiman (2002) and Dongbei-Dalian (2011), the new continuous caster produces high-quality special steel blooms. It comes with an annual capacity of up to 450,000 tons. The machine casts blooms with diameters of 600 to 800 millimeters.

Dongbei Special Steel uses the blooms to forge large shafts, tool steel, and stainless steel on its hydraulic presses and radial forging machines from SMS Meer. It supplies these products to the oil, energy, aircraft, and automotive industry.