Water Modelling Experiments of Argon Bubbling Curtain in a Slab Continuous Casting Tundish

Fluid flow characteristics in a two‐strand slab tundish with Ar bubbling curtain were studied in water modelling experiments. It was found that the Ar bubbling curtain can greatly improve the flow characteristics in the tundish with a weir, a dam and a turbulence inhibitor. It dramatically increased the peak concentration time and plug volume and greatly decreased the dead volume, but hardly influenced the minimum residence time. Therefore, the fluid flow characteristics in a tundish with Ar bubbling curtain were favourable to the flotation and separation of inclusions from molten steel. The flow characteristics with low gas flow rate and short distance of the Ar bubbling curtain from the tundish outlet were better than those with high gas flow rate and large distance of the curtain from the outlet.     

气幕挡墙对中间包内钢液流场影响的数值模拟

根据实际中间包的操作工艺参数,采用欧拉-欧拉两流体模型,用数值模拟法模拟计算了中间包底吹对钢液流动的影响.结果表明,底吹改变了中间包内钢液的流动状态,在气幕挡墙的两侧分别形成了方向相反的回流区.底吹气体流量对钢液流动状态、气泡分布影响显著,底吹气体流量太大或太小都不利于改善钢液的流动状态.     

Fluid flow behaviour in slab continuous casting tundish with different configurations of gas bubbling curtain

Abstract

Fluid flow characteristics in a two strand slab continuous casting tundish with different configurations of argon gas bubbling curtain (GBC) were investigated in physical modelling experiments. It was found from this research that the GBC with a small flow rate acted as a gas dam and could greatly improve the flow characteristics in the tundish. It increased dramatically the peak concentration time and plug flow volume, decreased greatly the dead volume, created surface directed flow and eliminated short circuiting. Therefore, the fluid flow characteristics in a tundish with GBC were favourable to the floatation and separation of inclusions from molten steel. The flow characteristics with low gas flow rate and short distance of the bubbling curtain from the tundish outlet were better than those with high gas flow rate and large distance of the curtain to the outlet. The optimal configuration for the improvement in fluid flow characteristics was turbulence inhibitor (TI)–weir–dam–GBC (TI–W–D–GBC), followed by TI–channel weir (CW)–GBC, TI–W–GBC and TI–GBC.     

Mathematical modelling of the geometry influence of a multiple‐strand tundish on the momentum,heat and mass transfer of steel flow

Simple changes on tundish geometry may lead to significant improvements of transport phenomena of liquid steel in tundishes. In the present case steel flow in a six‐strand billet trough type tundish is mathematically simulated. Numerical results indicate the existence of a high fluid turbulence in the pouring zone and recirculating flows. Steel temperatures in the strands are also different, which from practice it would mean different qualities of billet among the strands. A simple change of design by widening the pouring box improves all the steel flow characteristics. First the turbulence in the pouring box is decreased, the recirculating flows are eliminated and steel temperatures in the six strands become closer to each other. Using a computational technique known as volume of fluid, surface topography of bath including the covering slag was simulated for both types of tundishes. These simulations predicted an open eye of the slag layer for the first tundish while in the second this phenomena was avoided. Thus, it was demonstrated the original hypothesis that small changes in tundish design may lead to a more controlled steel flow.     

气幕挡墙中间包夹杂物去除的水模型研究

以连铸1500mm×250mm板坯的中间包为原型,几何相似比1/3,采用自制多孔透气砖进行中间包底吹气的水模型试验。结果表明,气幕挡墙中间包中,夹杂物通过斯托克斯机理上浮,气泡吸附和钢液上扬流动而上浮去除;当吹气量≥0.08m~3/h,距入口中心533～800mm处形成有效的气幕挡墙,显著改善钢液流动性,夹杂物去除率由不吹气的44.86%增加至72.86%,并改善小颗粒夹杂物的去除。工业试验表明,采用气幕挡墙,使T[O]降低12%以上。     

气幕挡墙中间包内渣钢界面卷混现象

 中间包内采用气幕挡墙是有效去除钢水中细小夹杂的新技术。采用物理模拟方法,研究了连铸中间包采用气幕挡墙时其内流动行为和渣钢界面卷混现象,考察了吹气流量、气幕位置以及与湍流控制器组合对中间包内的渣钢界面的影响规律。结果表明,气幕挡墙的位置和吹气量是影响中间包卷渣的主要因素。     

Plume characteristics and liquid circulation in gas injection through a porous plug

Various forms of plumes have been identified following the injection of air at different rates through a porous plug into water contained in a ladle-shaped vessel. Discrete bubbles form at the plug and rise uniformly through the column of liquid at gas flow rates up to 14 cm³/s cm² of plug surface; at higher flow rates, groups of bubbles increasingly coalesce into larger gas pockets, and beyond about 40 cm³/s cm², the gas globes are large enough to cover the entire plug surface before detachment and gradual disintegration as they rise through the body of liquid. The gas fraction, as well as bubble frequency, bubble velocity, and bubble size, have been measured in the various dispersion regimes by means of an electroresistivity probe. The radial distributions of gas fraction and bubble frequency are approximately bell-shaped about the axis of flow, and the reduced values are close to Gaussian functions of the reduced radial distance from the axis. The gas fraction along the axis has been correlated to the reduced height of the plume; it increases with decreasing distance above the plug and with increasing gas flow rate. The axial bubble frequency shows a decrease in the vicinity of the plug with the onset of bubble coalescence, but the values of the frequencies at all gas injection rates converge to about 12 s⁻¹ toward the surface of the bath. The mean bubble velocity increases with increasing flow rate but drops once coalescence is fully established. Conversely, there is a sudden increase in the mean bubble diameter with the onset of coalescence. The axial and radial components of the velocity of the liquid surrounding the plume have been measured by means of a Laser-Doppler Velocimeter (LDV), and the results show that the circulation patterns are identical, irrespective of the dispersion regime. The axial flow which is upward in the vicinity of the plume decreases in magnitude with increasing radial distance, ultimately reversing to an in-creasing downward flow beyond a certain distance from the plug axis. Similarly, the radial flow which is outward from the plume near the liquid surface decreases steadily with depth and eventually reverses to an inward flow at a depth independent of the gas injection rate. The profiles of the axial velocities are almost sigmoidal, except in the coalescence regime, where the effect of turbulence is profound at the upper liquid layers. The radial liquid velocities are generally small relative to the axial components, only about one-fifth as large, considering the maximum average values.     

Modelling the effects of off-centered ladle streams on fluid flow of liquid steel in a slab tundish

The effects of off-centered ladle streams on fluid flow of liquid steel in a two-strand slab tundish were studied using water modelling techniques and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Fluid flow in an off-centered ladle stream was compared with a centered ladle stream. In a centered position the proposed arrangement (turbulence inhibitor plus dams) yields higher fractions of plug flow than the current arrangement (baffles). This effect is stronger at the high casting rate. An off-centered position increases dead volumes at a low casting rate of 1.7 t/min. At the high casting rate of 3.8 t/min, effects of the off-centered position are decreased although the TI-D arrangement always renders better flow characteristics. Velocity fields determined with PIV measurements, demonstrated that the TI-D arrangements provide the fluid with a plug flow characteristic.     

不同位置气幕挡墙方案对两流连铸中间包内流场的影响

在相似理论的基础上,通过水力学模拟对两流板坯连铸中间包3种不同气幕挡墙形式下的包内流场进行研究。实验结果表明：在同一吹气量（28L/h）时,气幕挡墙置于中间包端部（方案一）,在气幕的两侧形成两个方向相反的回流区域,延长了钢液的平均停留时间,采用该方案时中间包内死区比例为18.5%;气幕挡墙置于中间包墙坝之间（方案二）,也形成了两个较大的回流区,增加了钢液间的混合和夹杂物的去除,中间包内死区最小为17.4%,为三种方案之最优;气幕挡墙置于中间包挡墙之前（方案三）,气幕挡墙并未形成有效的气幕,中间包内部流体未得到充分混匀,出现27.5%的较大的死区。     

Transient steel quality under non-isothermal conditions in a multi-strand billet caster tundish: part I. Analysis of fluid flow,thermal behaviour and inclusion behaviour

A numerical model based on computational fluid dynamics was used to simulate the effect of non-isothermal conditions on melt flows in a multi-strand billet caster tundish. To start with, water was used as the operating fluid in a one-third scale tundish to calculate the fluid flow and temperature fields under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The model was then extended to the full-scale tundish with molten steel as the operating liquid in order to simulate the conditions in a real plant. It was observed that using step inputs of 10° and 23° for water and steel cases, respectively, changed the fluid flow patterns significantly, more so at locations far from the inlet, due to stronger buoyancy-driven natural convective flows. The temperature distribution and inclusion trajectories within the tundish were also affected due to the presence of non-isothermal conditions.     

Mathematical simulation of fluid dynamics during steel draining operations from a ladle

Fluid flow dynamics during ladle drainage operations of steel under isothermal and nonisothermal conditions has been studied using the turbulence shear stress transport k-ε model (SST k-ω) and the multiphase volume of fluid (VOF) model. At high bath levels, the angular velocity of the melt, close to the ladle nozzle, is small rotating anticlockwise and intense vertical-recirculating flows are developed in most of the liquid volume due to descending steel streams along the ladle vertical wall. These streams ascend further downstream driven by buoyancy forces. At low bath levels, the melt, which is close to the nozzle, rotates clockwise with higher velocities whose magnitudes are higher for shorter ladle standstill times. These velocities are responsible for the formation and development of a vortex on the bath free surface, which entrains slag into the nozzle by shear-stress mechanisms at the metal-slag interface. The critical bath level or bath height for this phenomenon is 0.35 m (in this particular ladle design) for a ladle standstill time of 15 minutes and decreases with longer ladle standstill times. At these steps, the vertical-recirculating flows are substituted by complex horizontal-rotating flows in most of the liquid volume. Under isothermal conditions, the critical bath level for vortex formation on the melt free surface is 0.20 m, which agrees very well with that determined with a 1/3 scale water model of 0.073 m. It is concluded that buoyancy forces, originated by thermal gradients, as the ladle cools, are responsible for increasing the critical bath level for vortex formation. Understanding vortex mechanisms will be useful to design simple and efficient devices to break down the vortex flow during steel draining even at very low metal residues in the ladle.     

四流中间包气幕挡墙水模拟研究

采用不同参数的多孔透气砖进行了25 t四流中间包的底部吹气水模拟实验,结合RTD曲线和标准差分析,研究透气砖面积(210～105 mm×56～28 mm) 、4种吹气位置和吹气量(60～120 L/h)对中间包液体流动特性的影响,并与不吹气的情况进行了对比。结果表明,中间包吹气能改善液体的流动特性,均衡其在不同水口间的停留时间,并能延长峰值时间和降低死区体积。透气砖靠近挡墙,采用小气量和小面积更有利于改善现有中间包流场。     

连铸中间包气幕挡墙水模拟实验研究

通过水模拟实验,研究了气幕挡墙位置、气体流量及采用双透气砖对中间包流场的影响;认为采用气幕挡墙可有效延长钢水在中包的平均停留时间,降低死区,混匀钢水;并提出工业性试验的可行性建议。     

Fluid Dynamics of Vortex Formation in Tundish Operations: Physical Modelling

The present study focuses on the fluid dynamics of vortex formation in tundish operations using a physical water analogue model and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements. The aim is to get fundamental knowledge of the nature of vortex formation that clearly represents this flow phenomenon. The results indicate that vortex formation is directly related to the highly turbulent flows present in the tundish. Great changes of velocity fields during short times and large distances between the upper edge of the dam and the free surface of the bath enhance the formation of vortex flows. Therefore, increasing tundish capacity does not guarantee steel cleanliness through long residence times if the dam height is not adjusted to the new level of liquid in the tundish.     

Physical and mathematical determination of the influence of input temperature changes on the molten steel flow characteristics in slab tundishes

Transient fluid flow behavior in a tundish with two different arrangements, a bare tundish and a tundish using flow control devices, was studied using physical modeling and a mathematical model. The study places special emphasis on buoyancy effects, particularly transient buoyancy effects due to step change in inlet temperature. For the bare tundish case, the inertial forces are strongly dominant, while in the arrangement using flow control devices, tundish with turbulence inhibitor and low dams, the buoyancy forces are dominant. The results were compared to those representing the real behavior, considering temperature variations, for each tundish arrangement. This comparison made possible the determination of the probable implicit error that could be present in the estimation of the fluid flow characteristic behavior used for the design of the tundish geometry and flow control devices when the temperature variations are not considered.     

两流板坯连铸58t中间包过滤器的水模型试验和应用

通过几何相似比0.29:1的水模型试验了湍流抑制器+挡墙+挡坝和湍流抑制器+挡墙+过滤器两种控流装置的钢液流动,研究了通道式过滤器对58t中间包钢液流场的影响。结果表明,原中间包（湍流抑制器+挡墙+挡坝）活塞区体积小,死区体积高达29.53%,优化中间包加入过滤器后（湍流抑制器+挡墙+过滤器）短路流基本消失,钢液的实际平均停留时间延长,死区体积由29.53%减小至13.52%。50t中间包,230mm×1100mm连铸板坯,拉速1.25~1.30m/min工业生产结果表明,使用过滤器后,中间包浇注区的夹杂物尺寸明显小于冲击区,中间包浇注区T[O]由原86×10^-6降至30×10^-6,连铸坯大多数夹杂物尺寸≤10μm,没有发现≥30μm夹杂物。     

Mixing and Residence Time Distribution in an Inert Gas-Shrouded Tundish

Tracer dispersion experiments were carried out in a multi-strand tundish by injecting 1 (N) NaCl solution into water. The variation of dimensionless concentration–time curves known as C-curves and mixing times with different gas flow rates were studied. The proportions of dead, mixed, and dispersed plug volumes were calculated using the ‘modified mixed model.’ The observations were explained by analyzing the behavior of the bubble plume, incoming jet velocity, and turbulent kinetic energy within the tundish.     

薄板坯连铸中间包吹氩行为的物理模拟

中间包吹氩是适应洁净钢冶炼的新技术、新方法。依据相似原理,在实验室建立了一定相似比的薄板坯连铸中间包物理模型。比较了传统堰坝组合,吹氩气幕挡墙分别代替堰、坝对中间包流体流动特征的影响,并尝试在中间包内采用双气幕挡墙的控流方式。结果表明,气幕挡墙分别代替堰、坝,中间包停留时间和死区体积与堰 坝组合十分相近;双气幕挡墙代替堰 坝组合,除死区体积较大外,停留时间接近堰 坝组合。上述结论为气幕挡墙技术的进一步应用提供了参考依据。     

连铸中间包湍流控制器水模实验研究

通过水模实验，研究了湍流控制器对连铸中间包流体流动的影响。合理结构的湍流控制器能够改善中间包流体流动特性，最小停留时间增加，活塞流体积提高，死区体积下降。实验观察发现，中间包采用湍流控制器后，在两块上渣堰之间的液面流动平稳，可以减少卷渣现象。