Mathematical Modelling and Simulation of liquid steel flow phenomena and temperature distribution in an optimized tundish design of a continuous caster

Ankit Bhardwaj,S Tummala,S Kosaraju,P Bobba,S Singh

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202130901079

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the fluid flow of molten steel in a continuous casting tundish using numerical simulations for better inclusion floatation and its separation. The tundish geometry was designed using Autodesk FUSION 360 and the analysis were performed on ANSYS FLUENT. The investigations were done on steady-state as well as transient conditions. To scale back vortexing and turbulence within the tundish, turbo stoppers and flow modulators, e.g. dam and weirs were placed for an optimized and efficient flow inside the tundish and its behavior on the spacious flow structure was explored. The strategic placements of the flow modifiers produced higher turbulence in the recess region of the tundish resulting in better turbulent flow withinside the inlet region of the tundish. Thereby a more homogeneous fluid flow is formed with better conditions for particle separation. Analysing the flow behavior we have determined the inclusion floatation using particle tracking method form dense discrete phase modelling along with multiphase eulerian-lagragian model. Reduction in dead volumes was achieved in the spatial flow due to better intermixing which further reduced the metal loss and increased the yield of the tundish using the fluid flow analysis. Analyzing eddy formations in the spatial geometry of the tundish structure made it easy to evenly distributes the flow-induced shear. This determined the lesser turbulence on the free surface of the steel flow resulting in less reduction of the liquid steel surface.

Highlights

Steel production underwent a drastic change in the middle of the 20th century when ingot casting was replaced by the continuous casting process
In continuous casting, this cut only needs to be made at the beginning and end of each sequence, where tons of steel are cast resulting in significantly less waste material
Due to presence of turbo furniture, there was a few striking backs of the flow towards the inlet while the rest were dispersed throughout the flow volume

Summary

Introduction

Steel production underwent a drastic change in the middle of the 20th century when ingot casting was replaced by the continuous casting process. The tip of each ingot has to be cut off after being removed from the mould, which leaves behind scrap metal. In continuous casting, this cut only needs to be made at the beginning and end of each sequence, where tons of steel are cast resulting in significantly less waste material. 95 percent of steel today is made using the continuous casting process. In the continuous casting process, the molten-refined steel is often delivered to the caster in ladles of 50 metric tonne capacities. Temperature distribution and non-metallic particles concentration in the ladle, tundish and mould are of decisive importance for the quality of the steel

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Conclusion