Process and Quality Improvements at U. S. Steel Fairfield Tubular Steel Operations

A new era of steelmaking at U. S. Steel Fairfield began in October 2020 when the plant restarted with brand-new EAF, newly added tank degasser and upgraded bloom caster. The learning curve for producing high-quality round blooms was fast-paced, where caster operation and bloom quality were needed to be improve continuously. This paper discusses various steelmaking and casting process improvement steps which led to significant operation stabilization focusing on caster reliability, productivity increase and superior bloom quality. Cooperation across various departments was crucial to achieve an 80% improvement in breakout occurrences, significant increase in maximum casting speed and improvement in steel cleanliness.

Authors:

Rudolf Moravec | United States Steel Corporation
 

Mr. William Schlichting | United States Steel Corporation
 

Mr. John Ruf | United States Steel Corporation
 

Mr. Fred Mantooth | U. S. Steel – Fairfield Works
 

Jitin Samuel | U. S. Steel – Fairfield Works
 

Session Chairs:

Tim Carnrike | Shinagawa Advanced Materials Americas, Inc.
 

Darrell Sturgill | HWI, A Member of Calderys
 

Lidia Yakovleva | Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor