Title

TUNDISH STOPPER OPTIMISATION

TUNDISH STOPPER OPTIMISATION

Authorship

Hanse, Eric

Hanse, Eric

I am this author

DOI

10.5151/2594-5300-0056

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Abstract

In steel continuous casting operation, the Tundish Stopper is an essential component. Every aspect of its functionalities has been studied in order to optimize performance and cost. In addition to the material itself, attention has been focused on the general design, connections and fittings relating to argon injection, and reliability of gas flow and nose redesign. The design has been reviewed completely in order to get a lighter piece, still giving or even increasing its overall mechanical resistance. The new overall design, called “PROFILER”, allows a weight saving from 15% to 35%. The argon connection called “ARGOROD” has been optimized and gives an extremely tight system with gas loss lower than 0.2 L/Min. A special way of injecting gas through a calibrated pipe, inserted in the nose, shows a very predictable backpressure during pre-heating and casting. The new sophisticated nose design, named “RIPPLE” has been thoroughly checked to get an optimized flow pattern at the shroud entrance. New material has been developed including low graphite material with very good erosion resistance for the most of the steel grades, including aggressive types.

In steel continuous casting operation, the Tundish Stopper is an essential component. Every aspect of its functionalities has been studied in order to optimize performance and cost. In addition to the material itself, attention has been focused on the general design, connections and fittings relating to argon injection, and reliability of gas flow and nose redesign. The design has been reviewed completely in order to get a lighter piece, still giving or even increasing its overall mechanical resistance. The new overall design, called “PROFILER”, allows a weight saving from 15% to 35%. The argon connection called “ARGOROD” has been optimized and gives an extremely tight system with gas loss lower than 0.2 L/Min. A special way of injecting gas through a calibrated pipe, inserted in the nose, shows a very predictable backpressure during pre-heating and casting. The new sophisticated nose design, named “RIPPLE” has been thoroughly checked to get an optimized flow pattern at the shroud entrance. New material has been developed including low graphite material with very good erosion resistance for the most of the steel grades, including aggressive types.

Keywords

Continuous casting; Flow control; Tundish stopper.

Continuous casting; Flow control; Tundish stopper.