Mathematical Modeling of Draining of Dual-Strand Caster Tundish With Unequal Throughputs at United States Steel Corporation
Mathematical modeling of the tundish draining process was undertaken in response to the pouring of slag into the caster mold during draining of the dual-strand caster tundish at one of United States Steel Corporation’s plants before a tundish change. It was observed upon dumping of the tundish that the tundish skull was mostly slag on one side (the strand with the slag in the mold) and nearly all steel on the other. The current study attempted to reproduce the tundish draining event via mathematical modeling using the PHOENICS computational fluid dynamics software. The tundish draining was modeled for the case where the throughput of one strand was double that of the other strand. Transient flow modeling of the draining process included solving for the pressure and velocities for the two-phase slag-steel flows for two cases, one with a 6-inch thick slag layer and one with a 2-inch slag layer. The results showed that the draining process was affected significantly by the thickness of the initial slag layer. The simulations also qualitatively predicted the tendency of the slag to accumulate on the side with the higher throughput during tundish draining for a dual-strand tundish containing dams on both sides of the pouring area in the center.