Abstract
As part of the search for new areas of application of liquid metal coolants, their use for cooling crystallizers of steel in continuous casting machines instead of water has been proposed. This solution will reduce energy costs in the production of steel due to the implementation of the steam-power cycle with the generation of electricity. This article describes the results of the justification of the optimal liquid metal coolant and the modeling of cooling of a round crystallizer channel by it. It is shown that the eutectic alloy of lead with bismuth, which was successfully used as a coolant for ship reactors in the Soviet Union, is best suited to solve this problem. A comparative simulation of cooling of hardened steel in a round channel with a lead-bismuth eutectic with temperatures of 180 °C and 450 °C and water with a temperature of 20 °C revealed that replacing water with a liquid metal coolant practically does not reduce the efficiency of steel production. The greatest heat flux is removed from the steel crystallizer at a temperature of lead-bismuth eutectic at the inlet of the steel crystallizer equal to 180 °C. The temperature of the lead-bismuth eutectic at the outlet of the steel crystallizer reaches 400 °C, which is sufficient to generate electricity in the steam-power cycle. The choice in favor of modeling in comparison with the experiment was made in accordance with current trends in cost reduction due to the use of computer-based calculation tools. It is advisable to continue research to select the wall material and determine the optimal shape of the cooling channels of the crystallizer for maximum intensification of heat transfer between hardening steel and lead-bismuth coolant.
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