Numerical Simulation and Application of Tundish Cover Argon Blowing for a Two-Strand Slab Continuous Casting Machine
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Model Description
2.1. Governing Equations and Boundary Conditions
- The argon blown into the tundish and the air remaining in the tundish were regarded as incompressible fluids.
- The whole process of protective casting was regarded as isothermal, and the energy loss of tundish was ignored due to the high temperature in tundish after baking and the low specific heat capacity of argon and air.
- The temperature of argon blown into tundish was assumed to be the same as that of tundish, and the natural convection in tundish was ignored.
- The effect of argon flow on molten steel and slag was ignored.
2.2. Experimental Facility and Numerical Model
2.3. Model Validation
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Numerical Simulation
3.1.1. Calculation of the Sealing Scheme of Tundish Cover Holes during the Period of Empty Tundish
3.1.2. Calculation of Argon Flow Rate during a Period of Empty Tundish
3.1.3. Calculation of Argon Flow Rate during a Period of Normal Casting
3.2. Industrial Application
4. Conclusions
- (1)
- The process of ABTC shows a great protective casting effect in avoiding increasing nitrogen and losing titanium and aluminum. As for the steel grade of M3A35, the average increment of nitrogen content (△w[N]) decreases by 90%, and the average losses of titanium △w[Ti] and aluminum △w[Al] decrease by 12.7% and 7.1%, respectively.
- (2)
- During ABTC, the injecting hole and baking holes should be sealed, and the argon flow rate should be ≥220 Nm3/h to obtain better protective effects during a period of empty tundish.
- (3)
- During a period of normal casting, the rational argon flow rate is 80 Nm3/h due to the strong air entrainment in the isolated injecting chamber.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Item | Value |
---|---|
Slab section size, mm × mm | 230 × 1300 |
Casting speed, m·min−1 | 0.9–1.2 |
Depth of molten steel during normal casting period, mm | 1000 |
Diameter of baking hole, mm | 380, 360 |
Diameter of argon pipe, mm | 30 |
Distance between molten slag surface and tundish cover, mm | 250 |
Density of argon at 288 K, kg·m−3 | 1.6228 |
Density of air at 288 K, kg·m−3 | 1.225 |
Viscosity of argon, kg·m−1·s−1 | 2.125 × 10−5 |
Viscosity of air, kg·m−1·s−1 | 1.789 × 10−5 |
Mass fraction of oxygen in air | 0.21 |
Mass diffusivity of mixture, m2·s−1 | 2.88 × 10−5 |
Total flow rate of argon blowing, Nm3·h−1 | 60, 100, 120, 140, 200, 220, 240, 260 |
Mesh | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total cell number | 192,236 | 325,618 | 508,483 | 612,348 |
Total node number | 998,050 | 1,878,166 | 2,932,932 | 3,532,026 |
Average volume faction of oxygen | 0.04846 | 0.04765 | 0.04591 | 0.04511 |
δoxygen = |VFoxygen-i − VFoxygen-4|/VFoxygen-4 | 0.0743 | 0.0563 | 0.0179 | – |
Scheme No. | Seal of Tundish Cover Hole |
---|---|
1 | Stopper hole 1–2, baking hole 1–4 |
2 | Injecting hole, baking hole 1–4 |
3 | Injecting hole, stopper hole 2, baking hole 1–4 |
4 | None |
Item | Value |
---|---|
ABTC during a period of empty tundish | Argon flow rate: 220 Nm3/h; Time of argon blowing: 3 min |
ABTC during a period of normal casting | Argon flow rate: 100 Nm3/h; Time of argon blowing: all the other time |
Steel grade | M3A35 |
Steel composition, wt% | C ≤ 0.002, Si ≤ 0.005, Mn: 0.05~0.08, Ti: 0.065~0.085, Al: 0.02~0.035, Cr ≤ 0.05, Ni ≤ 0.05, Mo ≤ 0.01 |
Casting speed, m/min | 1.12 |
Section size of slab, mm × mm | 1300 × 230 |
Heat No. | Trial Group with ABTC, ×10−6 | Control Group without ABTC, ×10−6 | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
End of RH, w | Tundish, w | Increment, △w | End of RH, w | Tundish, w | Increment, △w | |||||||||||||
[N] | [Ti] | [Al] | [N] | [Ti] | [Al] | [N] | [Ti] | [Al] | [N] | [Ti] | [Al] | [N] | [Ti] | [Al] | [N] | [Ti] | [Al] | |
1 | 15 | 760 | 434 | 15 | 710 | 350 | 0 | −50 | −84 | 16 | 750 | 448 | 17 | 700 | 360 | 1 | −50 | −88 |
2 | 12 | 820 | 427 | 16 | 760 | 380 | 4 | −60 | −47 | 16 | 800 | 462 | 28 | 750 | 420 | 12 | −50 | −42 |
3 | 14 | 800 | 422 | 13 | 710 | 310 | 0 | −90 | −112 | 16 | 820 | 466 | 16 | 700 | 360 | 0 | −120 | −106 |
4 | 19 | 760 | 395 | 18 | 730 | 340 | 0 | −30 | −55 | 0 | 790 | 474 | 23 | 760 | 450 | 23 | −30 | −24 |
5 | 16 | 770 | 407 | 17 | 720 | 360 | 1 | −50 | −47 | 24 | 810 | 470 | 22 | 730 | 390 | 0 | −80 | −80 |
6 | 15 | 820 | 436 | 17 | 770 | 390 | 2 | −50 | −46 | 0 | 800 | 418 | 27 | 750 | 340 | 27 | −50 | −78 |
Average | 15 | 788 | 420 | 16 | 733 | 355 | 1 | −55 | −65 | 12 | 795 | 456 | 22 | 732 | 387 | 10 | −63 | −70 |
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Li, Y.; Wu, C.; Xie, X.; Chen, L.; Chen, J.; Yang, X.; Ma, X. Numerical Simulation and Application of Tundish Cover Argon Blowing for a Two-Strand Slab Continuous Casting Machine. Metals 2022, 12, 1801. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12111801
Li Y, Wu C, Xie X, Chen L, Chen J, Yang X, Ma X. Numerical Simulation and Application of Tundish Cover Argon Blowing for a Two-Strand Slab Continuous Casting Machine. Metals. 2022; 12(11):1801. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12111801
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Yang, Chenhui Wu, Xin Xie, Lian Chen, Jun Chen, Xiaodong Yang, and Xiaodong Ma. 2022. "Numerical Simulation and Application of Tundish Cover Argon Blowing for a Two-Strand Slab Continuous Casting Machine" Metals 12, no. 11: 1801. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12111801