Clogging behavior of submerged entry nozzles for Ti-bearing IF steel

The nozzle clogging behavior of Ti-bearing IF steel was studied by metallographic analysis,scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS）,and X-ray diffraction（XRD）.According to the experimental results,nozzle clogging primarily appears three layers.There are a lot of large-sized iron particles in the inner layer and mainly slag phase in the middle and outer layers.The principal clog constituents of the inner layer are loose alumina cluster inclusions and granular shaped alumina inclusions,containing iron particles. The clog constituents of the middle layer are mainly dendrite alumina inclusions.The primary phases existing in nozzle clogging are FeO·TiO2 and FeO·Al2O3 besidesα-Al2O3 and a-Fe.The FeO·TiO2 phases among the deposits adhere the deposits together firmly enough to lead to the inferior castability of Ti-bearing ultra low carbon steel compared with that of Ti-free low carbon Al-killed steel.

Effect of electromagnetic stirring on flow field in mold under submerged entry nozzle clogging

A physical model with mercury as analog was developed to investigate the influences of electromagnetic stirring（EMS） on flow field in slab continuous casting when the submerged entry nozzle（SEN） was clogged with different clogging rates（0,10% ,25% ,and 50% ）. The flow field in mold under different EMS currents（0, 40 A, and 60 A） was measured by an ultrasonic Doppler velocimeter. The results proved that the flow field in the mold was a typical double roll structure under non-clogging SEN. As the SEN clogging rate increased, the flow field structure was transformed from a double roll to asymmetry flow. When the clogging rate reached 50%, the up circulation disappeared on the clogged side. The zone under the meniscus near the narrow face was a non-flowing area. EMS could correct bias flow caused by SEN clogging and improve the symmetry of the flow field during SEN clogging.

Research Progress on Anti-clogging Technology of Submerged Entry Nozzles for Continuous Casting

The causes, the formation process, and the prevention of submerged entry nozzle(SEN) clogging were introduced. The influence of electric field on the SEN clogging was focused on, including the basic theory and measurement of SEN charging,the preliminary research on SEN charging, the influence of molten steel on the wetting behavior of refractory materials in electric field, and the influence of electric field on the oxide inclusions in molten steel. Based on the influence of the hydrodynamics, chemistry and other factors on refractory materials, structure, inclusion particle transfer and adhesion, many anti-clogging researches have been carried out, such as optimizing process conditions, compositing anti-clogging inner lining materials, innovating SEN structure and applying physical fields, which solve the problem of SEN clogging to a certain extent.However, the problems of weak adaptability and superficial study on clogging mechanism are still prominent. The electric field control is a new technology to prevent clogging. Although it has achieved certain results in on-site continuous casting trials,some problems such as the method of applying electric field, the electric field parameters and the equipment still need to be gradually improved, and the surface characteristics of inclusions and SEN materials at high temperatures need to be further studied. It was pointed out that the combination of materials and applied electric field will become an important direction for SEN anti-clogging technology.

An Innovative Submerged Entry Nozzle Design for Billet and Bloom Casting

Fluid flow in the mold has a significant impact on the quality of continuously cast steel products.Since it is strongly influenced by the SEN design,attention has to be paid on its geometry.In this paper the main principles of a novel SEN type will be described.Water modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)are applied to characterize the flow pattern under different conditions.Furthermore,the interaction with electromagnetic stirring(M-EMS)is analyzed by means of a liquid melt model.Finally,actual steel plant performance data and observations are discussed.

Velocity Monitoring of Molten Steel in a Continuous Casting Mold Using Three Submerged Entry Nozzle Designs

The horizontal and vertical velocity components of molten steel in a slab continuous casting mold produced by three different two-port Submerged Entry Nozzle (SEN) designs are monitored and compared using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. These two ports designs correspond to a conventional cylindrical SEN, a plate SEN and an anchor-shaped SEN. Four monitoring points at the molten steel in the centered vertical plane were selected to track the horizontal and the vertical component of the velocity vector. Two of them are located near the free surface and the remaining two are located in the vicinity of the SEN discharge nozzles. Some statistical values of the time series of above the velocity components are analyzed and correlated with the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and the Karman vortex streets, which cause mold powder entrapment in the molten steel.

Anchor-Shaped Design of a Submerged Entry Nozzle for the Continuous Casting of Steel

An anchor-shaped geometrical design for a Submerged Entry Nozzle for the slab continuous casting of steel is presented in this work. To evaluate its performance, transient 3D multiphase numerical simulations were carried out using the Computational Fluid Dynamics technique. The performance of the proposed nozzle is numerically compared with that of a conventional cylindrical nozzle. Computer results show that the chance of formation of Karman’s vortexes and powder entrapment becomes small for the anchor-shaped SEN.

Design of a submerged entry nozzle for optimizing continuous casting of stainless steel slab

To solve slag entrapment and casting slab defects in the process of stainless steel continuous casting,submerged entry nozzle(SEN)for slab casters operating at casting speed of 1 m/min was developed based on 3D numerical simulation and water modeling experiments by controlling the outlet shape and angle of original SEN with oval and 15°angle outlet under current industrial use.Mathematical simulations of fluid velocity at outlets with different shapes and angles of SENs have been carried out.The results showed that oval outlet with 5°and 15°angle led to asymmetric rotating flow pattern at outlet,as well as square outlet with 15°angle,but symmetric flow pattern formed at square outlet with 5°angle.The effect of these SENs on meniscus stability,flow field and slag entrapment behavior of stainless steel slab casting mold was further studied by water modeling experiments.The results showed that difficult floating fine droplets formed when the angle of outlet was 15°under the dual effect of vortex convection and shear force due to the strong swirling flow from outlet and rotating flow of outlet.However,outlet with 5°angle could lead to the formation of larger slag droplets,while the oval outlet with 5°angle could result in the scour to the mold wall.Thus,the square outlet with 5°angle was a relatively ideal solution for the submerged entry nozzle from the aspects of the stability of the mold and the slag entrapment behavior.After the design of a new SEN according to the experimental result,the solidification structure of continuous casting slab was obviously improved by industrial test.

Flow field, heat transfer and inclusion behavior in a round bloom mold under effect of a swirling flow submerged entry nozzle

Flow field,heat transfer and inclusion behavior in a 700 mm round bloom mold under the effect of a swirling flow submerged entry nozzle(SEN)were investigated with the aim to enhance the casting process.The results indicate that the impinging flow phenomenon,which is commonly observed in conventional single-port SEN casting,was completely suppressed by the swirling flow SEN coming from a novel swirling flow generator design in tundish.Steel from the SEN port moved towards the mold wall in 360 direction,leading to a uniform temperature distribution in the mold.Compared to a conventional single-port SEN casting,the steel super-heat was decreased by about 5 K at the mold center,and the temperature was increased by around 3.5 K near the meniscus.In addition,the removal ratio of inclusions to the mold top surface in the swirling flow SEN casting was found to be increased.Specifically,the removal ratio of spherical inclusions with diameters of 1,10,50 and 100μm was increased by 18.2%,18.5%,22.6% and 42.7%,respectively.Furthermore,the ratio was raised by 18.2%,20.8%,21.5% and 44.1%for non-spherical inclusions,respectively.

Formation of Dense Inclusion Buildup on Submerged Entry Nozzle by Electric Current Pulse

In this work, low-density electric current pulse （ECP） has been applied to submerged entry nozzle （SEN） and its effect on the morphology of the inclusion buildup and the distribution of the inclusions in slab has been explored. The results reveal that under the unique effects of ECP, part of small inclusions less than 10 μm is expelled through the boundary layer along the current direction to form dense inclusion buildup. This method is of great potential to prolong the service life of SEN and improve the quality of the steel product.

Analysis on clogging of submerged entry nozzle in continuous casting of high strength steel with rare earth

The type of inclusions in tundish steel and the formation mechanism of the submerged entry nozzle(SEN)clogging in the continuous casting of the rare earth(RE)high strength steel without calcium treatment were studied based on the plant trials and thermodynamic calculation.It was found that Ce_(2)O_(3) and CeAlO_(3) in tundish molten steel were transformed into Ce_(2)O_(2)S+CaO-Al_(2)O_(3) with the size of 2-3 lm during cooling.When the flow velocity of molten steel on surface of the SEN was slow due to the boundary layer effect,Ce_(2)O_(3) inclusion in molten steel reacted with Al_(2)O_(3) in the SEN refractory to form CeAlO3.With the continuous erosion of molten steel and reaction,the compositions of CeAlO_(3),Al_(2)O_(3) and CaO were aggregated,and the clogging layers with different zones were formed on surface of the SEN.Meanwhile,a small amount of molten steel remaining in the arc zone and corner zone of the SEN formed solidified steel.When calcium treatment is canceled,the reaction probability between inclusions in molten steel and refractory should be reduced by improving the material and shape of the SEN.

Optimization of submerged entry nozzle parameters for ultra-high casting speed continuous casting mold of billet

Controlling the flow behavior in the mold in an appropriate way is the basis for realizing the billet ultra-high speed continuous casting.Based on the new proposed physical water modeling experiment considering the effects of solidified shell and hydrostatic pressure,the flow behavior in the mold with cross section of 160 mm 9160 mm during continuous casting of billet is regulated by optimizing the inner diameters and immersion depths of submerged entry nozzle at the ultra-high casting speeds of 5.0–6.5 m/min.The results show that under the premise of no slag entrainment,as well as uniform coverage and keeping good fluidity of liquid slag layer on the top free surface of the fluid in the mold,the appropriate parameters of submerged entry nozzle under the ultra-high casting speed of billet are 50 mm in inner diameter,95 mm in outer diameter and 180 mm in immersion depth.And on the basis of the obtained parameters of submerged entry nozzle,it can be known that the reasonable ranges of level fluctuation and impacting depth of the stream in the mold are about 0.82-1.11 and 593-617 mm,respectively.

Physical and computational study of a novel submerged entry nozzle design for twin-roll casting process

With significant emphasis on reducing the turbulence in the bath and the need for effective distribution of metal along the roller length in twin-roll casting,a novel submerged entry nozzle(SEN)configuration with two“gap regions”was provided.The“gap regions”of the new SEN divide the bath into two parts,the“upper melt bath”(casting region)and the“lower melt bath”(rolling region).The newly designed SEN was tested by using both full-scale water modeling experiments and numerical simulations.Results demonstrated that the turbulence could only be found near the rotating roller surfaces.The“gap regions”can make the near-wall flows more uniform.They can also prevent the instabilities in the“upper melt bath”to be transferred to the“lower melt bath”,thus improving the stability of the process.Moreover,the novel SEN can stabilize the meniscus where the initial solidification occurs.This is achieved by increasing the SEN immersion depth,which in turn,can enlarge the volume of the upper part of the bath.

Development of a New Subermerged Entry Nozzle in Thin Slab Caster

The fluid flow in the mould of the thin slab continuous caster has a large intluence on the quality of slabs and its productivity.The fluid flow pattern can be controlled by the SEN (Submerged Entry Nozzle) structure. Traditional SEN can not decrease the surface turbulence and penetration depth at the same time, especially at high casting speed. In order to improve the fluid flow in the mould, a new structure SEN-Dissipation SEN have been invented. The water modeling experiments proved that the dissipation SEN could satisfy, the needs of fluid flow condition in the mould at high casting speed.

Analysis of Corrosion Behavior of ZrO_(2)-C Slag-line Materials in Continuous Casting

In view of the service failure and low continuous casting production efficiency due to the corrosion of refractories at the slag-line in submerged entry nozzles,a submerged entry nozzle for low-carbon aluminum killed steel continuous casting in one steel plant was sampled and taken as the research object to analyze the causes and the mechanism of refractory corrosion at the slag-line.The results show that the core issue of the corrosion and necking of the slag-line materials is that the slag-line material are eroded,dissolved,and reacted by the mold flux gradually.Therefore,it is important to suppress or avoid the contact and reaction between the mold flux and slag-line materials.

EFFECT OF SEN DESIGN ON SURFACE FLUCTUATION AND SOLIDIFYING SHELL IN SLAB MOLD AND ITS OPTIMIZATION

Turbulent flow and heat transfer coupled with solidification in slab continuous casting mold was studied by numerical simulation method. Volume of fluid （VOF） model is used to solve steel-air two-phase flow problem and enthalpy-porosity scheme is introduced to solve the fluid flow problem involving solidification. Contributions of various nozzle port angles and port widths and heights on the free surface fluctuation and the thickness of solidifying shell in slab mold were particularly investigated, based on which the structure of submerged entry nozzle was optimized. Flow inside the common nozzle port cannot fill the entire outlet area, having a recirculation in the upper portion of the port, which is enlarged for the nozzle port with both larger height and width. Results show that the flow in mold cavity is mainly controlled by the nozzle port angle. The increase of the angle of upper face of the port to shape a roughly streamlined inner-wall improves the effective area fraction of the nozzle, resulting in less jet impingement, weaker free surface turbulence and thicker solidifying steel shell.

INFLUENCES OF CASTING SPEED AND SEN DEPTH ON FLUID FLOW IN THE FUNNEL TYPE MOLD OF A THIN SLAB CASTER

In recent years, thin slab continuous casting technology has been widely used to improve the quality of the product and to reduce the cost. One of the challenges faced by this technology is to design reasonable flow patterns, which strongly affect the surface and inner properties of the final slab in the mold. With the fixed scales and complex geometrical structures of nozzle and funnel type mold, a series of numerical simulations are made to analyze the flow patterns in melt steel using finite volume method based on structured body fitted coordinate grids. The CFD （computational fluid dynamics） package is validated first using one typical case described in previously published studies, and then it is developed to study the effect of operational parameters on fluid flow in thin slab caster. Two operational parameters, casting speed and SEN （submerged entry nozzle） depth, are mainly considered for numerical analysis. On the basis of present simulations, the reasonable SEN submergence depths corresponding to different casting speeds are suggested according to fluid flow characteristics like, flow jet impingement on the narrow side of the mold, flow speed of the melt steel beneath the meniscus and the recirculation region. This is the first stage of study on the numerical analysis of the whole thin slab casting process with electromagnetic brake.

Behavior of Liquid Steel in Mold for Thin Slab Caster

The comparison of different submerged entry nozzles(SEN)was made by numerical simulation regarding the influence of liquid steel flow field,heat transfer and mold fluxes,as well as solidification shell stress and surface quality of thin slabs.The optimum internal shape of mold and the SEN were obtained.The foundation for choice of internal shape and casting parameters of mold was built.

Effect of SEN structure on the mold level fluctuation and heat transfer for a medium thin slab caster

It is important to select suitable parameters of a submerged entry nozzle （SEN） for optimizing the flow and temperature patterns in a mold. The effect of SEN design on the mould level stability, meniscus steel flow velocity, and heat transfer of the mold of a medium thin slab caster was studied by means of 1：1 water modeling and industrial testing. The advantages of a 2-port SEN compared with a 3-port SEN are the following： more optimal flow patterns with a lower mold level fluctuation and a lower meniscus steel flow velocity; proper powder consumption without slag bears due to a reasonable liquid powder thickness. The argon flow rate can be reduced and the mold average heat flux and temperature near the edges of the copper plate are reduced. At a casting speed of 2.5 m·min^-1, the mold level fluctuation lies within ＋5 mm. In addition, soft cooling of the steel shell in the mold is realized, which is suitable for casting crack susceptible steel grades.

Finite Element Analysis on Thermal Stress of SEN

Thermal stress of SEN was studied by using finit element analysis（ FEA）. The results disclose：（ 1） fo the tapered zone of SEN,the thermal stress reaches it peak after casting for about 30 s,at this moment,th axial stress is the largest,the circumferential stress come the second and the radial stress is the smallest;（ 2）when SEN suffers the thermal stress,the inner wall suf fers the pressure stress,and the shorter the distance from the inner wall is,the larger the pressure stress is; th outer wall suffers the tensile stress and the shorter the dis tance from the outer wall is,the larger the tensile stres is; the axial stress holds a dominant position in the ta pered zone,while the circumferential stress takes the lead in the cylindrical zone;（ 3） as angle α of SEN’s taper ed zone increases, the thermal stress grows obviousl when α is larger than 110°; while the thermal stress re duces obviously,when α is larger than 140°; thus,fo SEN design,it is essential to avoid the interval of α =110°- 140°.