To maximise the quality of the tundish process, steel manufacturing often uses disposable, dry-set lining materials. The dry mix is set between the tundish form and the back lining material. After this, the dry mix is hardened by using either heat from the back lining or form heating. Although the current dry mix practices have many advantages, the downside is that it creates dust around the tundish bay.

As experts in refractory materials, we want to share five practical tips to reduce the amount of dust around the tundish bay.

1. Adjust the nozzles

If the dry mix is fed into the bottom of the back lining, form or tundish with nozzles, make sure that the ends of the nozzles are as close as possible to the target. The shorter distance will significantly reduce the amount of dust.

2. Check the material specifications

Ask your mix supplier to check if the amount of fine grains / dust could be reduced in the product’s grain size distribution. Make sure to also ask about whether a dust binder could be added to the material.

3. Break the bags correctly

Breaking the bags into the installation silo too aggressively or quickly will create more dust around the tundish. With that in mind, break the bags as carefully as possible.

4. Update your installation equipment

Dry mixes are often installed by using machines equipped with nozzles or, simply, by using bigbags with long sleeves. However, there is also special equipment that will make the installation faster and reduce the amount of dust. One such piece of equipment is the Cruiver, which you can see at work here: https://youtu.be/UCc4oDKmmwY

5. Use silo deliveries

Instead of bags, the dry mix can be delivered in bulk silos. The material in the silo vehicle is fed into the customer’s silo, and from there to the installation equipment. Silo deliveries do not involve breaking bags, which reduces dust around the tundish. When you do not use bags, you also reduce crane traffic and free up storage space. In addition, the customer will also save on the cost of bags and pallets in waste management.