Improving the technology for cooling, heat-treating, and conditioning continuous-cast slabs of chromium-bearing ferritic steel

A new technology has been developed, tested, and introduced at the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Combine to process cast slabs of titanium-free chromium-bearing ferritic stainless steel 12Kh17. The technology includes a decrease in the temperature and duration of the heat treatment administered in furnaces or replacement of that treatment by slow cooling of the steel in stacks near other hot metal. The technology also entails a decrease in the maximum temperature allowed for abrasive conditioning and the elimination of additional and repeat heat treatments. These changes have shortened slab processing time, increased output, expanded the range of rolled products being made, and improved the economic indices of the production process.