Journal of Research and Development
Open Access

Abstract

Study of the Clogging Phenomenon of Submerged Nozzles in Continuous Casting

Florian Huber*, Bruno Schachner, Jessica Zofia Gottsberger, Peter Benedikt and Andreas Florian Zierer

The continuous casting nozzle, which guides and protects the flow of liquid steel, undergoes a progressive reduction in its internal diameter following the accumulation on the internal wall of non-metallic inclusions. This narrowing of the channel is due to a mechanical attachment (non-metallic inclusions) which results from the turbulent regime of the flow of the liquid steel. This phenomenon is very often associated with the casting of low carbon steels deoxidized exclusively with aluminum. Clogging generally leads to a slowing down of the casting speed and, in severe cases, to the total stoppage of the installation and consequently to the appearance in the slab of the defect called resumption of casting or belt. The aim of this work is to determine the nature of the deposit and the blocking mechanism of the pouring nozzles. For that, a chemical analysis as well as tests concerning the adhesion of the deposit were carried out on samples taken from damaged pouring nozzles. We found that it was at a load of 187.5 kgf that the rupture of the sample took place, during the interfacial indentation tests, which represents a very high level of adhesion. On the other hand, chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence of the deposits revealed a fairly high level of Alumina (Al2O3=90%) which undoubtedly comes from inclusions resulting from the deoxidation of the metal. It can therefore be said that the clogging phenomenon is produced by a continuous attachment of non-metallic inclusions to the rough walls of the nozzle.

Published Date: 2024-11-29; Received Date: 2024-10-28