ISD’s DMKD commissions new continuous caster No. 3

The Ukrainian steelmaker Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD) has announced that its subsidiary Dneprovsky Iron and Steel Works named after F. Dzerzhinsky (DMKD) has commissioned its new seven-stranded continuous caster No. 3 supplied by Austria-based plantmaker Siemens VAI.
 
Accordingly, hot testing at DMKD's new continuous caster was started on January 28, 2011, with steel teeming being performed at all seven strands at the same time. The first product to be produced at the new facility was 150 x 150 mm square billet. Total commercial casting amounted to over 500 mt of continuously cast billets.
 
DMKD's new continuous caster No. 3 with an annual capacity of 1.4-1.7 million mt has now commenced commercial operations, with 15 meltings being reached.
 
Following the commissioning of its new continuous caster No. 3, DMKD can now simultaneously operate three continuous casters, i.e., continuous caster No. 1 with 1.4-1.7 million mt capacity, continuous caster No. 2 with 0.7 million mt capacity, and continuous caster No. 3 with 1.4-1.7 million mt annual capacity. Thus, the production capacity of DMKD's continuous steel casting department may amount to 3.5-4.1 million mt per year. The maximum production capacity of the converter shop if two converters and the ladle-furnace facility are operated can reach 4.2 million mt per year. The share of continuous casting of steel in DMKD's total steel output can reach 83-97 percent.