Abstract
Steel products have experienced long-standing problems such as unstable product quality and low product homogeneity. In the continuous casting process, realizing constant-temperature pouring is an effective way to improve product homogeneity. Plasma heating can compensate for the temperature drop during casting with a tundish and maintain a stable degree of superheating of the molten steel in the tundish. Plasma heating has a certain impact on the cleanliness of the molten steel and on the tundish covering flux in the tundish while compensating for the temperature drop. This paper uses SEM-EDS, XRD and FactSage to analyze the cleanliness of molten steel and the characteristics of the tundish covering flux before and after plasma heating. The results show that the number density of inclusions in the tundish is significantly lower after heating, improving the floating removal of small-sized inclusions; after heating, the surface morphology of the tundish covering flux sample appears transparent and glassy, with uniform morphology. XRD results show that the tundish covering flux after plasma heating exhibits no crystal precipitation and is amorphous and that there is a certain regularity before and after heating; there are no obvious changes in the composition of the tundish covering flux in the liquid phase area.
Highlights
Plasma is the fourth ubiquitous state of matter in addition to solid, liquid and gaseous states [1,2].Plasma is widely used in mechanical processing, metallurgy and chemicals, aerospace and other industries due to its high energy density, high conductivity, high brightness, etc. [3,4,5]
In the process of tundish casting, the heat absorption of refractory materials, the radiative heat dissipation of molten steel and the lack of a timely supply of high-temperature molten steel in the abnormal pouring period lead to the severe reduction in the temperature in the tundish, and the superheating fluctuates greatly, which affects the quality of the cast slab
The ability of plasma to heat molten steel in tundishes has been generally accepted [10,11,12,13], and numerous scholars [14,15,16,17] have carried out simulation research on the plasma heating process
Summary
Plasma is the fourth ubiquitous state of matter in addition to solid, liquid and gaseous states [1,2]. The ability of plasma to heat molten steel in tundishes has been generally accepted [10,11,12,13], and numerous scholars [14,15,16,17] have carried out simulation research on the plasma heating process. The variations in the cleanliness of liquid steel and the properties of the tundish covering flux in the plasma heating process need to be further researched. According to the production practice of plasma heating tundishes in a certain factory, this paper analyzes the change of inclusions in molten steel due to plasma heating in tundishes and the influence of the heating on the tundish covering flux to provide technical production guidance for a comprehensive explanation of the tundish plasma heating technology
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