Study of the Deskulling Problem of Tundi

This paper reports an investigation carried out on the deskulling problem of tundishes at the Mobarakeh Steel Plant in Iran. Bad deskulling of tundishes is a major problem in continuous casting of steel, stemming from chemical reactions between the refractory lining and slag carry over from ladle to tundish. A post-mortem analysis of the slag/commercial magnesia-olivine mix refractory interface was conducted using techniques such as XRF, XRD, OM, TEM, SEM, and EDS. The findings indicated that the volume of slag carry over from ladle to tundish has a direct effect on refractory wear in the tundish. The percent of tundishes where the skull was locked into the safety lining depended on the slag basicity and the amount of Al2O3 in the tundish slag. It was shown that a direct corrosion mechanism occurs in basic slag and in acidic slag containing low alumina, while an indirect corrosion mechanism occurs in acidic slag with high alumina. These results offer insights into improving the efficiency and reducing the wear of tundish linings in steel production processes.