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Summary

The system consists of a series of complementary refractory products for building a disposable insulating working lining in tundishes.

Description

The GARNEX system has been in use since 1972 and in its time adopted by at least 1/3 of the worlds continuous casting plants in 120 countries. GARNEX comprises chemically basic, magnesite based, insulating refractory boards used to form a disposable lining in continuous casting tundishes.

Application

The GARNEX system is supplied to individual tundish design in easy to handle board form which lock together to form an impenetrable joint. The boards are simply placed in position around the tundish. Fit is achieved by wedging or by the use of interlocking boards. A high grade refractory cement is used to seal all joints. The GARNEX boards are installed into a warm, dry refractory lined tundish. A granular refractory ‘backfill’ is then introduced behind the GARNEX boards to support the system.

Function

By virtue of being chemically basic, the GARNEX board system has superior resistance to slag and steel attack and is suitable for casting high alloy steel grades. It is usually used for stoppered tundishes, so that a separate heating system for the stopper rod/submerged nozzle combine is not required. In addition, by virtue of being preheated before casting, gas pick up problems is minimised with GARNEX.

The GARNEX system can be fully preheated under the main tundish burners before casting. About 90 minutes of preheating is normally adequate. However, GARNEX boards have withstood even up to 180 minutes of preheating.

GARNEX also gives the benefits of maintaining consistent tundish temperatures during casting, greatly simplifying skull removal and speeding up tundish turnaround, thereby minimising the number of tundishes in use.

Benefits

	Can be used with or without preheat
	Short tundish turn round time
	Excellent insulation resulting in low tundish shell temperature
	The tundish skull is removed quickly and easily without sticking or ‘hang up’
	High insulative properties of the system results in better permanent refractory life