Characteristics of molten steel flow and plasma heating in the tundish^*

Caractéristiques des écoulements d'acier et chauffage par plasma en répartiteur

Abstract

In the tundish of Kakogawa works’ No. 4 Continuous Caster, the temperature and the flow of the molten steel were simulated. A new tundish configuration has been adopted, which has a remarkably large capacity of 80 tons without dams and weirs, to promote the floatation of inclusions and to decrease the temperature fluctuation. Furthermore, an alternating current plasma heater has been installed to compensate for the heat loss from the tundish and to maintain a constant temperature of the molten steel. The characteristics of the heat efficiency, heat transfer, and countermeasures of the temperature deviation have been investigated.

By applying the new tundish and AC plasma heater, the steel quality at the unsteady state is effectively improved to that at the steady state and the temperature fluctuations of the molten steel can be controlled within the range of ± 4 °C.