Numerical Analysis of the Influence of the Modification of the Ladle Shroud on Fluid Flow Behavior in a One-strand Tundish during Continuous Steel Casting

A tundish is a device from which liquid steel is pour into a mold. Therefore tundish hydrodynamic conditions have a significant impact on solidification during continuous steel casting (CSC) process. Modification of ladle shroud workspace, allows for the modification of liquid steel movement in the tundish. In the following work, numerical simulations were performed which allowed the impact of the modification of the ladle shroud workspace on the liquid steel flow structure in a one-strand tundish to be determined. In order to assess the impact of the modification of the ladle shroud on the behavior of the liquid steel in the tundish, simulations were performed, on the basis of which the percentage share of stagnant, ideal mixing and plug flow zones were determined. In addition, the mixing parameters were determined, allowing the estimation of casting duration during sequential casting. The flow fields of liquid steel for each modification of the ladle shroud were performed. The average velocity of liquid steel flowing through the tundish, the Reynolds number and turbulent intensity were also described. The obtained results showed, among others, that the application of three cylinders with a diameter of 0.041 m into the ladle shroud with a diameter of 0.11 m increases the share of active flow in the tundish in relation to the tundish with Conventional Ladle Shroud. At the same time, applying a ladle shroud with a diameter of 0.11 m during casting is the most favorable in relation to the hydrodynamics of the tundish.

Comparison of Optimization-Regulation Algorithms for Secondary Cooling in Continuous Steel Casting

The paper presents the comparison of optimization-regulation algorithms applied to the secondary cooling zone in continuous steel casting where the semi-product withdraws most of its thermal energy. In steel production, requirements towards obtaining defect-free semi-products are increasing day-by-day and the products, which would satisfy requirements of the consumers a few decades ago, are now far below the minimum required quality. To fulfill the quality demands towards minimum occurrence of defects in secondary cooling as possible, some regulation in the casting process is needed. The main concept of this paper is to analyze and compare the most known metaheuristic optimization approaches applied to the continuous steel casting process. Heat transfer and solidification phenomena are solved by using a fast 2.5D slice numerical model. The objective function is set to minimize the surface temperature differences in secondary cooling zones between calculated and targeted surface temperatures by suitable water flow rates through cooling nozzles. Obtained optimization results are discussed and the most suitable algorithm for this type of optimization problem is identified. Temperature deviations and cooling water flow rates in the secondary cooling zone, together with convergence rate and operation times needed to reach the stop criterium for each optimization approach, are analyzed and compared to target casting conditions based on a required temperature distribution of the strand. The paper also contains a brief description of applied heuristic algorithms. Some of the algorithms exhibited faster convergence rate than others, but the optimal solution was reached in every optimization run by only one algorithm.