Tundish Flow Regulation With Advanced Refractory Designs

摘要

During the modem steelmaking continuous casting process, the molten metal is flowing from the ladle to the tundish and continuously from the tundish to the mold. This metal flow transfer is a key operation of continuous casting which affects strongly the solidified shell profile, floatation of the non-metallic inclusion and mold flux entrainment by large meniscus level fluctuations. In order to improve steel quality and to achieve a better flow control, design of the casting channel geometry in particular in the flow regulation region is critical. The flowrate from tundish to mold is controlled by restricting the opening with either a stopper rod comparable to a needle valve or a tundish slidegate. There is a wide variety of stopper nose geometries and throttling plate diameters with different degrees of sensitivity and controllability of steel flow. Dimensions of the casting channel, the geometry of both the stopper nose / the nozzle seat or of the tundish nozzle / the throttling plate and the gas injection will influence the flow control performance.