Trends in today’s steel production show increasing demands for highly sophisticated steel grades. Therefore, the steel industry will eventually be required to install optimal performing technologies through out the entire steel making process. In 2010, Salzgitter Flachstahl put continuous casting machine into operation, in the end of 2010 - the 2nd LD converter and in the beginning of 2012 - the third one. One process that will need to be addressed is the steel cleanliness in the liquid steel phase, especially duringthe BOF tapping process. A new converter gate, in operation by Salzgitter Flachstahl, was designed to upgrade the tapping technology for converters to a higher level in terms of clean steel, productivity, yield and availability — at reduced costs. Push-through of bottom place and refractory layout are shown, environmental impact portfolio are analyzed depending on productivity and yield, without slag retaining system and with TAP and CG converters. Lifetime of refractory parts (including changing due to logistic reasons) and daily down time per converter are compared for TAP 120 and CG 120.

1. Bücher G.; Grethe U.; Kempken J.;  Amsler H.; Collomb, F.: More than 15 000 heats slag free tapping with the Interstop tap hole gate TAP 120, Proc. 2. Europ. BOF Congress, Tarent, Italien, 1997.