Effect of different removal conditions on the growth and removal of inclusions in the molten steel in a two-strand tundish

Abstract

In the current study, mathematical models were developed to predict the concentration, size distribution of inclusions in a two-strand tundish. The effect of the floating velocity, the velocity of the molten steel, and the turbulent fluctuation velocity on the removal of inclusions at the interface between the molten steel and slag was also studied. Meanwhile, the composition, amount, and size of inclusions in the steel were detected and the content of the total oxygen was obtained from the industrial trial. The calculated results were well validated by the measured ones. The strong stirring energy was greatly beneficial to the collision and growth of inclusions in the molten steel. When only considering the floating velocity, the removal fraction of inclusions was 23.4%. Furthermore, the contribution of the velocity of the molten steel and the turbulent fluctuation velocity to the removal fraction of inclusions at the top surface in the tundish was 23.2% and 14.5%, respectively. Finally, the mathematical model only considering the floating velocity can accurately predict the growth and removal of inclusions in the tundish.