Angular Re‐Positioning of a Five Ported SEN versus EMS Braking to Stabilize Flows at the Upper Slag‐Liquid Steel Interface

Abstract

The control of fluid flows within the mold region of continuous casters is a key factor in improving the quality of cast products. The performance of two different flow modifiers in the curved mold region of a typical square billet caster are compared. The flow modifiers investigated in this work are a 5-ported Submerged Entry Nozzle (SEN) and a Brake-Electromagnetic Stirring (Brake-EMS) unit, interacting with a Main-EMS. Two different commercial software programs, ANSYS Fluent and COMSOL, are used to develop a numerical Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD) model of this system, in order to study the efficiency of the selected flow modifiers. According to the simulated results, the dual-EMS unit (Brake-EMS together with Main-EMS), intensifies the swirling flows in the mid-region of the mold, but cannot decrease the intensive vertical upward flows that are being generated toward the meniscus corners. The proposed radial angulation of the SEN's exit ports, working in tandem with the Main-EMS, not only develops swirling flows at the midsection of the mold, but also transforms the vertical upward flows to a horizontally rotating flow near to the upper surface of the caster. This slight modification calmed flows at the liquid steel meniscus, thereby reducing mold powder entrainment (MPE).