The factors affecting powder consumption of mould fluxes

Powder consumption, Qs, is an important process variable in the continuous casting of steel but there is no agreement on the factors affecting Qs. This study seeks to identify those factors which have an effect on Qs .A large database containing powder consumption values and casting conditions, mould flux and steel composition data from a large number of steelworks has been analysed using statistical techniques to identify those factors which have significant effect on powder consumption. The following parameters, in decreasing order, were found to be significant (at the 95% confidence level): casting speed, viscosity, stroke length, oscillation frequency and break temperature.