Practical aspects of the design, operation and performance of caster spray systems *

B. Patrick, B. Barber, D. Brown (Corus R, D & T, Teesside Technology Centre)

SPRAY CHARACTERISTICS AND HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT (htc) MEASUREMENTS

Improvements have been made to slab, bloom, billet and thin slab caster secondary cooling systems giving better control of strand surface temperature and quality. This has been achieved by a combination of laboratory-based tests of spray characteristics and heat transfer coefficient (htc), innovative mathematical modelling and detailed on-plant measurements of temperatures and spray conditions.

Detailed spray nozzle testing is regularly carried out at Corus R, D & T, Teesside Technology Centre (TTC) on both water-only and air-mist nozzles to improve the design of secondary cooling systems, provide input to mathematical models, assess alternative nozzle designs and to examine the effects of various operational parameters on nozzle performance. Air-mist and water-only type nozzles each have advantages as indicated in table I.
Table I : Comparison of advantages of water-only and air-mist nozzles. Tableau I : Comparaison des avantages respectifs des systmes d'arrosage l'eau seule ou par brouillards.
Water-Only Cheaper nozzles Cheaper/easier installation No air costs Less scale generated Air-Mist Less blockage More uniform coverage Mist cools rolls More efficient - Less water required, wider flow range Better turndown at low speeds

Spray characteristics measurement

Pressure versus flow characteristics and distribution measurements in both the transverse and longitudinal directions are carried out on nozzles both singly and in combination ; for example, testing of adjacent fan jet nozzles has shown that spray distributions are not simply additive in the overlap area but that the two sprays collide and thus interfere with one another (fig. 1). The spray test equipment at TTC has recently been upgraded to enable testing of very large air-mist nozzles used on the thin slab caster of Trico Steel Co, where both water and air flow rates and pressures are varied during casting (fig. 2). Most Corus casters operate air-mist nozzles at a constant 2 bar air pressure whereas at Trico, as well as varying the water pressure in the normal way, the air pressure is varied between 2 and 5 bar ; thus, this gives a very wide operating range.
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* Subject of a presentation at the 2000 ATS International Steelmaking Conference (Paris, December 13-14, 2000, Session 2). The authors are grateful to the European Coal & Steel Community for financial support for many parts of the work described. They would also like to thank Dr A S Normanton, Manager, Aluminium & Steel Casting Department of Corus R, D & T, Teesside Technology Centre, for permission to publish this paper. La Revue de Mtallurgie 2001.

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Aspects pratiques concernant la conception, l'exploitation et la performance des systmes d'arrosage des machines de coule continue
B. Patrick, Dr B. Barber, D. Brown (Corus R, D & T, Teesside Technology Centre)

Des amliorations ont t apportes aux systmes de refroidissement secondaire de machines de coule continue de brames, de blooms, de billettes et de brames minces, pour obtenir un meilleur contrle de la qualit et de la temprature de la surface du produit. Pour cela on a utilis les rsultats d'essais de laboratoire sur les caractristiques d'arrosage et le coefficient de transfert thermique (ctt), de modlisations mathmatiques originales et de mesures dtailles sur site.

Mesure des tempratures de surface et des conditions de pulvrisation sur la chane de production
Les mesures de temprature de surface du produit en cours de solidification sont effectues par diffrentes techniques utilisant soit des pyromtres optiques tenus la main, soit des pyromtres optiques balayage fixs sur la ligne, soit des camras infrarouges ou encore des thermocouples noys dans le produit. Les pyromtres optiques sont particulirement utiles pour dvelopper et optimiser le rglage des jets. Les pyromtres balayage et les camras infrarouges donnent des informations plus dtailles comme la variation de la temprature dans le sens transversal du produit. Les thermocouples introduits dans le produit sont la meilleure technique dans la chambre de pulvrisation, et les mesures fournissent des donnes dtailles sur le rgime de refroidissement entre les rouleaux, pouvant tre utilises pour les modlisations mathmatiques. D'autres informations importantes peuvent tre obtenues partir de vrifications sur place des conditions de fonctionnement du jet de pulvrisation, par vrification visuelle de l'alignement des jets et des bouchages, ou en utilisant un systme de vrification automatique de jets associ au matriel de contrle de certaines lignes.

Mesure des caractristiques d'arrosage et des coefficients de transfert thermique (ctt)

Des tests dtaills de systmes d'arrosage par pulvrisation ou atomisation sont rgulirement mens au Centre de Technologie de Teesside, Corus R, D & T, en vue d'amliorer la conception des systmes de refroidissement secondaire des machines de coule continue, de fournir des donnes pour les modlisations mathmatiques, d'tudier de nouvelles techniques d'arrosage et d'examiner l'effet des diffrents paramtres opratoires sur l'efficacit de l'arrosage. Les courbes de pression dbit sont dtermines et des mesures de la rpartition du jet en sens longitudinal et transversal sont effectues dans le cas de busettes isoles ou multiples ; ainsi, dans la zone commune deux busettes voisines, les effets d'arrosage transversaux ne sont pas simplement additifs, mais les jets s'interpntrent avec des phnomnes d'interaction. L'quipement d'essai des dispositifs d'arrosage a rcemment t amlior pour permettre d'tudier les grosses busettes d'arrosage par brouillard utilises sur la ligne de coule de brames minces de Trico Steel Co, qui fonctionnent avec une pression et des dbits d'eau et d'air qui varient pendant la coule. Les ctt des jets sont mesurs dans les conditions de rgime permanent dfinies dans le cadre d'une recherche CECA antrieure. En plus des mesures de routine des ctt ncessaires pour l'obtention des donnes utilises dans les modlisations mathmatiques, la mthode peut servir tudier l'influence de divers paramtres sur les ctt mesurs, comme celle de la temprature de surface du produit et celle de la couche superficielle de calamine. Les ctt peuvent aussi tre affects par la temprature de l'eau pulvrise, et aussi par le fait que les jets sur les coules fonctionnent dans un espace restreint entre le produit et les rouleaux de support, ce qui cause un effet de tunnel ; des informations supplmentaires peuvent tre dduites des mesures de temprature de la surface du produit.

Modlisation mathmatique et calage

Une modlisation fine de la solidification du produit par la mthode des diffrences finies en deux dimensions a t dveloppe et perfectionne depuis un certain nombre d'annes : elle permet de calculer la croissance de la peau solidifie et l'volution de la temprature de surface sur la longueur et la largeur du produit. De plus, le modle peut calculer les isothermes dans la phase liquide et les profils de temprature dans la section ou la longueur du produit. Une modlisation inverse a aussi t dveloppe. Elle part des tempratures mesures par les thermocouples noys et calcule le ctt en chaque point de la zone de refroidissement entre les rouleaux (c'est--dire sous les jets, dans l'espace entre les jets et les rouleaux, aussi bien que sous les rouleaux). De cette manire, le ctt en chaque point peut tre quantifi en dtail et utilis pour affiner la modlisation des tempratures de la ligne de coule.

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En plus des donnes provenant des essais en laboratoire sur les caractristiques de jet, et des mesures de temprature faites sur place, les modlisations peuvent tre optimises en utilisant les donnes provenant des mesures sur le circuit d'eau et de l'examen de la qualit interne du produit : ainsi, on peut tudier la relation entre l'intensit de la sgrgation axiale et les rsultats des essais sur buses et de la modlisation.

Grce cette dmarche, les systmes de refroidissement secondaire ont t amliors sur toute une srie de machines de coule continue, ce qui a permis de mieux contrler le procd et d'amliorer la qualit.

Fig. 1 htc graph. Twin nozzle setup. Fig. 1 Profil de ctt dans le cas de l'arrosage par deux buses jumeles.

Fig. 2 Pressure/flowrate for a large air-mist nozzle at various air pressures. Fig. 2 Relation entre la pression et le dbit d'eau pour de grosses buses d'arrosage par brouillard, pour diffrentes pressions d'air.

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Spray heat transfer coefficient measurement

Spray htcs are measured under steady-state conditions using a test rig (fig. 3), developed as part of an ECSC project (1). An oxygen/propane burner is used to maintain a test sample at a constant surface temperature whilst the sample is sprayed. Two thermocouples are embedded in the sample at known depths, and from the measured temperatures of the two thermocouples the heat flux through the sample is calculated, from which the measured htc can then be computed. As well as routine measurements of spray htcs for use as input to mathematical models, the effects of various parameters on measured htc can be examined such as strand surface temperature, surface scale, spray water temperature, and the influence of strand support rolls. Figure 4 shows the results of measurements of htcs at different surface temperatures of the test sample ; the htc can be seen to be constant as the surface temperature is reduced to around 700C, but htc then increases rapidly at temperatures below 700C as stable film boiling breaks down. This is known as the Leidenfrost effect in which the stable superheated film of steam at the sprayed surface breaks down and is penetrated by the water spray giving partial film boiling resulting in a rapid rise in cooling. The effect of surface scale on measured htc has also been investigated by carrying out similar measurements of the

Fig. 3 Spray heat transfer measurement equipment. Fig. 3 Dispositif de mesure du coefficient de transfert thermique dans le cas de buses d'arrosage.

effect of surface temperature, using both mild steel samples and stainless steel samples in the htc test rig ; the results (fig. 5) show little difference in the measured htc for both the mild steel and the stainless steel test samples thus indicating that surface scale had little effect. However, during these tests, it was observed that surface roughness, caused by a deposition of calcium compounds from the spray water, did increase the measured htc, probably because of penetration of the superheated steam film layer. Presumably if the scale layer were rough, then there would

Fig. 4 Measurement of heat transfer coefficient at varying temperatures. Fig. 4 Mesure du coefficient de transfert thermique pour diffrentes tempratures du produit.

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Fig. 5 Effect of temperature on measured htc for mild steel and stainless steel samples. Fig. 5 Influence de la temprature sur les ctt mesurs sur des chantillons d'acier inoxydable et d'acier doux.

Fig. 6 Effect of spray water temperature on measured htc. Fig. 6 Influence de la temprature de l'eau pulvrise sur les ctt mesurs.

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Fig. 7 htc measurements for air-mist sprays by different works. Fig. 7 Mesures de ctt pour des jets de brouillard d'eau faites par diffrentes usines.

have been an influence but in these tests the surface scale on the mild steel sample was smooth. The effect of spray water temperature on measured htc has been reported in the literature (2). Figure 6 derived from reference (2) shows the influence of spray water temperatures ranging from 20C up to 80C for different spray water impact densities. At the low water impact densities which are used on most conventional casters, there is little difference with spray water temperature. However, at higher impact densities (which may be approached on some thin slab and billet casters), there is an increasing influence. Htc measurements can also be used to examine cooling at different positions in the confined area between strand support rolls which causes a tunnel effect. A simulation of strand, roll and spray cooling was carried out by Clausthal University as part of a joint ECSC project with the authors (1) (3). Htcs were measured at different positions in the gap between caster support rolls. Many different workers have reported carrying out laboratory measurements of spray htcs using differing methods. Figure 7 shows a comparison of different measurements for air-mist sprays for varying spray water impact densities. In all cases, as expected, htc increases with impact density.
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However, there is a very wide variation between different workers. The Corus TTC measurements are in the middle of the range. This wide variation demonstrates the need for on-plant measurements of strand surface temperatures in order to resolve the differences and to be able to calibrate mathematical models.
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ON-PLANT MEASUREMENTS OF SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND SPRAY CONDITIONS

Strand surface temperature measurements are made by different techniques including hand-held optical pyrometers, fixed and scanning optical pyrometers, thermal imaging cameras and embedded thermocouples. Optical pyrometers are particularly useful for developing and optimizing spray codes of practice. An example of continuous strand surface temperature results from a fixed optical pyrometer viewing between strand support rolls for a Corus caster is shown in figure 8. In this case it was demonstrated that surface temperature increased as casting speed increased ; spray codes of practice were therefore changed to correct this, such that the surface temperature now remains constant with casting speed. Scanning pyrometers and thermal imaging cameras give more detailed information such as temperature variation across the strand.
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Fig. 8 Variation in temperature with casting speed. Fig. 8 Variation de la temprature avec la vitesse de coule.

Because of the difficulty of maintaining optical pyrometers in the spray chamber, an embedded thermocouple technique has been developed (1) (3) based on earlier BHP work (4). Typical measured surface temperatures are shown in figure 9 for different positions down the strand, together with temperatures calculated by the mathematical model. Large sharp dips in temperature occur under rolls and smaller wider dips occur under sprays. Thus the embedded thermocouple results give detailed data on the cooling regime between rolls (fig. 10) which can be used as input data for mathematical models. Further important information can be obtained from on-plant checks of spray nozzle condition by examining

spray zone pressure versus flow relationships (blockages or leaks will change the relationship), by visual checks of nozzle alignment and blockages, or by use of automated spray checking devices on some strand condition monitor equipment. Spray zone pressure versus flow characteristics will indicate leaks if flows are too high or blockage if flows are too low. Valuable information can also be obtained from spray detection sensors on Strand Condition Monitor heads. The monitored results will indicate the position of blocked or misaligned sprays.

Fig. 9 Measured and calculated surface temperatures. Fig. 9 Tempratures de surface mesures et calcules.

Fig. 10 Cooling regime between rolls. Fig. 10 Rgime de refroidissement entre les rouleaux.

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Fig. 11 Analysis of heat transfer in roll gap. Fig. 11 Analyse du transfert de chaleur dans l'espace entre les rouleaux.

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING AND CALIBRATION

A sophisticated two-dimensional finite difference strand solidification model has been developed and refined over a number of years which calculates the solid shell growth and surface temperatures along the length and across the width of the strand. In addition, the model can calculate liquidus isotherms and internal temperature profiles across sections and along lengths of strand. An inverse model has also been developed which uses embedded thermocouple measured temperatures (fig. 9) to calculate the htc (fig. 11) at each point in the cooling regime between rolls (fig. 10), under the sprays, in the gaps between the sprays and the rolls, as well as under the rolls. In this way the htc at each position can be quantified in detail and used in refining modelling of strand temperatures. In addition to data from laboratory testing of nozzle characteristics and on-plant strand temperature measurements, the models can be optimized using data from sump position measurements and from examination of internal quality characteristics of the cast strand ; for example, by examination of the uniformity of segregation across a slab centreline together with spray nozzle test results and model results.
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fer coefficients, together with detailed on-plant measurements of strand surface temperatures and spray conditions, and finally by the development and use of sophisticated mathematical models which are calibrated from the measured results. The use of these methods gives better control of the casting process and improved product quality.
s (1)

REFERENCES
BARBER (B.) et al Determination of strand surface temperatures in continuous casting. Final report ECSC. Contract 7210.CA/832 ; CA/184. REINERS (H.), JESCHER (R.), SCHOLZ (R.) Heat transfer during continuous casting cooling because of spray water. Steel Research, 60, No. 10 (1989), p. 442-450. BARBER (B.) al Determination of strand surface temperature and heat transfer during continuous casting. La Revue de Mtallurgie-CIT, 93, n 11 (1996), p. 1403-1412. DAVIES (R.) et al Fourth International Continuous casting conference, Brussels (1988), p. 645-654.

(2)

(3)

(4)

CONCLUSION

Improvements have been made to the design of caster secondary cooling systems by a combination of laboratorybased measurements of spray characteristics and heat trans390 La Revue de Mtallurgie-CIT Avril 2001