Concast recently started up a new, single-unit meltshop at Nucor’s facility in Jewett, Texas. The new one million ton/year (900,000 tonne) plant consists of a 100-ton (82-tonne) electric arc furnace, twin-station ladle furnace and a four (five)-strand Convex Technology^® continuous caster.

The Nucor-Jewett EAF is a high-shell, full-platform, EBT design with spray-cooled shell and roof. Power-on times are as short as 26 minutes. The furnace also features single-bucket scrap charging and Concast’s ConsoTech oxygen and carbon injection for faster melting, reduced energy consumption and optimal foaming slag generation. The LF is a twin-ladle design with water-cooled roofs.

The Convex Technology continuous caster features compact cartridge-type moulds, consisting of the mould tube, water jacket, top and bottom flanges and foot rolls. The moulds are pre-assembled and self-centering, with automatic connections for mould cooling water and lubrication. The ‘plug & play’ design enables a cartridge to be exchanged in less than 10 minutes.

Automation Levels 1 and 2 for the entire meltshop and caster were designed and supplied by Concast’s Process Automation Division.

The Nucor-Jewett plant will produce blooms and billets in seven section sizes in steel grades ranging from low- to medium-Carbon. (Future production of special steel grades has also been considered in the caster’s design, as well as the installation of a 5th strand.) In order to assure highest quality across this broad product range, Concast’s innovative compact hydraulic mould oscillation system allows precise on-the-fly fine-tuning of the oscillation parameters.