Responding to customers’ needs with custom-engineered fluxes
Just as tailor-made suits provide the best fit for the wearer, so custom-engineered fluxes offer the optimum performance for continuous casting operations.
by Marc McClymonds, Technical Support Manager
The highly competitive nature of the modern steel industry requires steel casters to be acutely sensitive to customer demands on the properties, quality, price and delivery.
Casting fluxes are a key element in allowing steel shops to meet these expectations. Added to the mold in the continuous casting process , these engineered materials:
- protect the steel meniscus from reoxidation
- absorb non-metallic inclusions to improve steel cleanliness
- provide thermal insulation to prevent premature solidification
- optimize heat transfer between the shell and the mold to prevent surface defects
- lubricate the steel shell and prevent sticking
Calderys is a leading supplier of fluxes for the tundish and continuous casting mold market. The company specializes in providing custom-engineered solutions, tailored to the specific requirements of the casting application – whether that’s billet, bloom, beam blank, slab or thin slab.
Calderys' steel casting fluxes
Calderys’ philosophy: an intimate relationship between flux supplier and customer.
“The customization cycle is pretty continuous,” explains Marc McClymonds, Calderys’ Technical Support Manager for Steel Casting in the US. “We’ll visit customers regularly to assess the performance of our fluxes, and assist with any issues they may be having, or changes they may be planning, to their casting process.”
This customer-centric approach is backed by a tradition of steel casting innovation, which has established a broad and deep knowledge of the continuous casting process and of steel metallurgy. Calderys relies on this expertise to design the optimum flux for the desired outcome, assuring the highest possible levels of steel quality and process excellence.
“There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to flux design,” Marc continues. “It’s therefore crucial to maintain regular contact with our customers so we can react to their evolving needs. It’s a traditional strength of our business that continues to set us apart from the field.”
Mold fluxes and feeding equipment, paired together to complete our offer in continuous casting.
Calderys was also the first supplier of mold flux feeding equipment in continuous casting. This ensures a more consistent application of the flux for greater stability and uniformity of results, while also reducing flux consumption. The technology continues to advance with the latest generation of flux feeders equipped to offer full automation for improved mold flux thickness control, consumption monitoring, and process integration.
“We’re also working to improve the sustainability of the raw materials used to produce our fluxes, with an eye on reducing our carbon footprint – and by extension, that of our customers,” concludes Marc. “This is a trend we see coming increasingly to the forefront and is in line with our corporate goals to be good stewards of the environment and to combat climate change.”
Calderys had the pleasure of meeting with its customers and partners during AISTech 2022 in Pittsburgh, USA. We thank everyone for making this show a great success!
Calderys' steel experts at AISTECH 2022