Norsk Hydro, A.s.

Torstein Sae Buttedther

Idar Kjetil Steen

Karl Venangs

Bjarne Heggset

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.

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Sunndals.o slashed.ra, Norway

Torstein Sae Buttedther