Abstract: A method of producing raw material pellets, including forming pellets from a mixture of an iron oxide powder, a coal powder and a binder material after adding adjusting water to the mixture, and drying the pellets, wherein the binder material comprises at least one of tar and at least one of carboxymethylcellulose and polyvinylalcohol.

Abstract: Several methods and production facilities are provided in order to solve several problems encountered in conventional methods and facilities for producing reduced iron by reducing raw material pellets of a mixture of an iron oxide powder and a reducing material powder in a rotary bed-type reducing furnace and by melting the reduced iron in a sealed-type electro-blast furnace.

Abstract: In the production of reduced iron by agglomerating a mixed powder of an iron material and a reducing agent to form compacts like briquettes or pellets, and reducing the compacts in a high temperature atmosphere, when the temperature of reduced compacts is 900° C. or higher, the oxide content in the reduced compacts is set at 11 % or more, and the basicity of the reduced compacts is set at 0.5 or higher.

Abstract: A billet continuous casting machine comprises, a jacket for cooling an outer wall of a quadrangular tubular mold with cooling water, electromagnetic brakes disposed outside the mold and decelerating the flow of poured molten metal in the mold, an X ray-based level sensor for detecting the level of molten metal in the mold, notched portions formed at the corners of a quadrangular lower part of the mold, spray nozzles for spraying a cooling liquid directly onto the notched portions, and elastically pushing unit for imparting a pushing force corresponding to the static pressure of the molten metal to unnotched portions of the quadrangular lower part of the mold to push the unnotched portions inwardly of the mold, whereby molten metal is continuously poured into the cooled mold to solidify the molten metal so that a cast piece quadrangular in cross section is continuously produced. Delay in solidification at sites near the corners of the cast piece is eliminated, and high quality, high speed casting is realized.

Abstract: There is provided a belt coating material for a belt type continuous casting, which is capable of adsorbing the intermediate between a cast slab and the coating material to prevent the intermediate from remaining on the slab, and reducing the averaged heat flux during the casting to avoid an occurrence of cracking in a medium carbon steel. The belt coating material comprises: (1) a powder having a composition comprising 10 to 40 weight % of SiO.sub.2, 1 to 10 weight % of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, 10 to 40 weight % of CaO, 10 to 30 weight % of Na.sub.2 O, 1 to 10 weight % of MgO, 10 to 20 weight % of F, and 1 to 5 weight % of LiO.sub.2, the powder being prepared by once melting the blended components, solidifying the melt, and crushing it into the powder to adjust the average grain diameter of the powder to be equal to or smaller than 10 .mu.m; (2) 0.1 to 10 weight % of graphite mixed into the powder to provide a mixture, the graphite having the same grain diameter with the powder; and (3) 0.

Abstract: A hot rolling line is constructed by a pair or a plurality of pairs of rolling rolls disposed opposingly on an upper side and on a lower side of a workpiece (1) to be rolled that is pinched in between the rollers. A descaling apparatus (5) has jet flow nozzles disposed so that two jetted flows, being liquid, gas or plasma, are opposing flows so as to collide with the surface of a strip on the upstream side of the rolling rolls and then collide with each other. The jet flow nozzles are disposed, so as to incline in a direction to face each other so that the angle of inclination is 15.degree. to 60.degree. from the horizontal direction of the strip surface.