Following start-up on December 10, 1999, the strip caster at Krupp Thyssen Nirosta GmbH (KTN), Krefeld/Germany has now completed hot commissioning. The project team in Krefeld achieved a uniform strip quality ideally suited for further processing with the very first 36 tonne test heat of NIROSTAâ 1.4301. All subsequent hot tests also produced high-quality cold-rollable material. The strips cast were 1,100 millimeters wide and two to three millimeters thick. The first coils have already been cold rolled from hot band manufactured on the strip caster.

In view of the good results achieved in the commissioning phase, plans are now being finalized to expand the line. The next step will see the installation of a hot forming unit followed by a double coiler to provide the basis for testing of continuous operation. The current pre-industrial strip caster has a heat capacity of 90 tonnes and an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes. Ultimately a capacity of around 400,000 tonnes per year is planned.

The strip casting process produces wide, thin strip direct from the molten steel which satisfies both technical and economic requirements. Slab casting and hot strip rolling are eliminated. The strip caster in Krefeld is the first of its kind in Europe. It is designed to produce NIROSTA® stainless strip in thicknesses of 1.5 to 4.5 millimeters and widths of up to 1,450 millimeters. The process is based on the vertical double-roll principle.

ThyssenKrupp Steel, Voest Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI) and the French steel producer Usinor are collaborating on the EUROSTRIPâ project to develop strip casting technology to industrial maturity. The line was designed by VAI on the basis of the results of the pilot strip casting lines in Terni, Italy, and Isbergues, France, and the work of the KTN strip casting team.