Use of 140-ton ladles to transport liquid pig iron

Abstract

At the end of 2003, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Combine began to use 140-ton ladles instead of 100-ton ladles to transport liquid pig iron to its oxygen converter shop. The larger ladles comprised roughly 55% of the ladle stock in 2006 and transported 65% of the pig iron to the shop. Use of the 140-ton ladles has markedly improved adherence to the tapping schedule and sharply reduced the number of inadequately processed blast-furnace heats. It has also increased the temperature of the pig iron in the converter shop due to the smaller heat losses in the larger ladles.