Ladle
A ladle is in the metallurgy , a container for the casting of liquid metal in a casting mold . There are three types of ladles.
Open pan
Open pans are the most commonly used pouring ladle. They have a so-called crane casting hanger to attach the ladle to a crane. The center of gravity of the pan is balanced in such a way that it can be tilted by means of the handwheel and thus poured out of the pan. The pan is open and has a pouring spout through which its contents are poured out.
Drum pan
Drum pans are closed ladles, which minimizes their heat loss. They only have a small pouring opening, through which the contents flow out when the pan is slightly tilted.
Stopper pan
Stopper pans are closed pans with a pouring opening at the bottom of the pan. This pouring opening is provided with a stopper which is opened for pouring by pulling the stopper rod connected to the stopper. This prevents that the floating on the molten metal slag passes during pouring into the metal. Stopper pans are mainly used in cast steel . If the stopper rod is omitted, the pan is closed by means of slide plates under the spout, which can be opened and closed using hydraulics. Pans constructed in this way are known as slide pans and replace the stopper pan if the liquid material is not poured directly but is further processed in secondary metallurgical units.
Some ladles can be electrically heated to compensate for temperature losses between the melting furnace and the casting area. This is often more economical and associated with a lower risk of damage to the material than a previous higher heating of the melt.
