Norsk Hydro, A.s.

Ardal Og Sunndal Verk A.s.

Bjarne Heggset

Idar Kjetil Steen

Karl Venangs

Torstein Sae Buttedther

Torstein Saether

Sverre Hanaset

Casting equipment for continuous or semi-continuous direct chill casting of metals, in particular the casting of billets or ingots of aluminum, has a mold cavity (4) with an inlet (2) that is upwardly open, an intermediate, inwardly facing and heat insulated overhang or hot-top (8), and an outlet with a vertically movable supporting device (5). A slit (10) supplies water to cool the molted metal. The wall in the mold cavity is wholly or partly constituted by a permeable material, whereby oil and/or gas are supplied through the permeable material to form an oil and/or gas layer between the metal and the wall of the mold to prevent the metal from coming into direct contact with the wall of the mold. The oil and gas are supplied separately through two independent, and, by means of a sealing element (14) or the like, physically separated rings or wall elements (12, 13). The upper wall element (12) for the supply of oil, is arranged above the area where the freezing front of the metal is located, while the lower wall element for the supply of gas is arranged directly opposite to the freezing front (19) of the metal (11) and extends from a lower part of the mold cavity and beyond the contact point between the metal and the mold wall.

Casting equipment

A device for the discontinuous charging of molten metal into a vacuum chamber which is continuously held under vacuum includes a charging vessel or tundish on which is disposed a fixed transfer pipe so positioned that the tundish can be rotated about the axis of the pipe to such an extent that the pipe's input orifice is lifted above the surface of the metal flow in the tundish, while at the same time the pipe is withdrawn from the vacuum chamber. The chamber is sealed with a plate valve.

Apparatus for discontinuous charging of molten metal into a vacuum

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Frei, Norway

Bjarne Heggset