Practices in Brazil have shown that the use of a cold tundish is operationally feasible and offers several benefits, including: a 70% reduction in the time for machine return after interruptions at the beginning of the cycle; a reduction of natural gas consumption; a 90% increase of the lifetime of the tundish lids, and; improvement of the working conditions on the casting platform due to heat and noise reductions. The practice was not found to have any influence on the quality of the product. In order to use a cold tundish successfully, an efficient and controlled drying of the tundish is required (Worrell et al., 2010. p. 97).The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) energy guide, Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the U.S. Iron and Steel Industry, discusses energy efficiency practices and technologies that can be implemented in iron and steel manufacturing plants. This guide provides current real world examples of iron and steel plants saving energy and reducing cost and carbon dioxide emissions.
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/industry/Iron_Steel_Guide.pdf?25eb-abc5