The first domestically-produced versatile continuous caster compatible with slab, bloom, and beam blank, with completely independent intellectual property rights and designed and supplied by CERI, successfully cast a beam blank at 9:58 am on March 10, 2023, at Anshan Huixin Casting Industry Co., Ltd. of Liaoning Zizhu Group. At 10:58 am, the billet was smoothly extracted from the mold, with a hot test section of 500×470×180 mm, and produced using Q235B steel. The equipment operated normally, the casting process was stable, and the hot testing was successful. The maximum reserved section for the heavy beam blank on this continuous caster is 1300x520x140 mm, which is the largest section in the world.

CERI summarized the technical deficiencies of the continuous beam blank caster and developed a compatible and improved secondary cooling system to address the technical challenge of uneven surface temperature distribution that easily leads to cracking in the beam blank. CERI also pioneered the application of automatic ingot-stripping technology to heavy beam blanks, greatly simplifying the ingot-blocking operation and saving the cost of casting pieces. The use of beam blanks instead of large steel bloom for rolling H-beam saves manufacturing costs for customers and improves enterprise competitiveness.