Solidification and crystallization properties of CaO-SiO₂-Na₂O based mold fluxes

Crystallization properties play an important role in keeping a smooth running of continuous casting process and high surface quality of cast strands. To reduce fluorine pollution in slag, a new type of CaO-SiO₂-Na₂O (CSN) based mold flux was studied. The solidification and crystallization properties, including crystallization temperature, crystallization ratio and solidification mineragraphy, were measured, which were compared with the CaO-SiO₂-CaF₂ (GF) mold flux. The results show that the crystallization performance is equal to the high fluoride mold powder and CSN can be used for peritectic steel grades sensitive to longitudinal cracking in continuous casting.