Method for operating a horizontal strip casting facility and apparatus for carrying out the method

In the operation of a horizontal strip casting facility, each lengthwise segment of a metal strip is continuously scanned in a fan shape across the entire width of the metal strip, immediately after emerging from a mold associated with a furnace. An infrared scanner is used to perform the scan, and passes temperature values, taking into consideration the emissivity values corresponding to the material being cast, to a computer. In the computer, on the basis of those temperature values, a color-graded graphic diagram and/or a temperature profile diagram depicting the temperature over the width of the metal strip are created and displayed on at least one monitor. The speed of the metal strip, the volumes of cooling water for the mold, the withdrawal parameters, and the melt temperature in the furnace are controlled as a function of the temperature profile that is ascertained. For this purpose, the computer is coupled to a stored-program control system which in turn is connected to a withdrawal unit and to a curling unit for coiling the metal strip.