MODELLING HEAT TRANSFER THROUGH REFRACTORY OF CONTINUOUS CASTING SUBMERGED ENTRY NOZZLE

The presented studies are related to the complex heat transfer phenomenon during the CC of the steel, giving the first insights into the problem of the energy losses through the refractory of the CC SEN, leading to the parasitic solidification, which can in turn provoke clogging formation on the internal SEN surface. The utilized solidification model was previously developed by the authors and has been implemented using OpenFOAM® CFD software package. The simulation setup consists of the multi-area domain: a hot liquid metal is injected via SEN into the continuous casting mould; the mould is subjected to the oscillations in casting direction; the top surface of the liquid metal is covered with a slag layer; ambient air is taken into account by means of the corresponding convective heat exchange; the cooling of melt is done by copper mould with water box and at the secondary cooling zone below the mould exit; a thin (3 mm) slag skin is introduced between the mould and solidified shell. The simulation results, verified by the industrial measurements and observations, showed great agreement with the real process.