Mould thermal monitoring: a window on the mould

Corus R,D&T at Teesside Technology Centre has developed over a number of years a mould thermal monitoring (MTM) system based on an array of thermocouples in the mould copper plates. The system is installed on the Corus slab casters in the UK, on slab casters at Outokumpu (UK), Sidmar (Belgium) and Kosice (Slovakia) and, at the time of the 4th European Continuous Casting Conference, was also on the medium thickness slab caster at Tuscaloosa (USA), which was sold to Nucor in 2004. The MTM system was also under development on the thin slab caster at Trico (USA) before plant closure (subsequently bought by Nucor), and aspects are currently being developed on the Corus DSP (direct sheet plant) thin slab caster at IJmuiden (The Netherlands). While a prime function is detection and prevention of sticker type breakouts, the MTM system allows real time assessment of thermal conditions, provides a valuable input for online grading and, most important, enables modifications to mould powder practices to be assessed. The present paper briefly outlines recent developments to the MTM system and presents examples of the use of the system to assist mould powder developments.