Improvement in casting practice by controlling the drainage rate and hearth liquid level to develop an efficient casthouse management practice in blast furnace

The key to excellent casthouse operation are low cost, high productivity, dry hearth and high casting rate while minimising the consumable material. The stable blast furnace operation requires proper control of drainage rate of liquid hot metal and slag from hearth. The productivity of blast furnace can be effectively increased if drainage rate is considerably increased. If the drainage rate is controlled, the periodic tapping of hot metal and slag from hearth can be made effective. This paper highlight the improvement made in casting practice by controlling the hearth liquid level in blast furnace. The improvements have made significant change in casthouse management. It is well demonstrated that various casthouse operations have migrated from one regime of operation to another regime and various consumable items are significantly reduced. The importance of increasing the drainage rate in improving the productivity of blast furnace is explained in details.