The cooling system of the continuous casting mold mainly uses circulating cooling water to take away the heat released when the molten steel solidifies to achieve cooling and shaping of the cast slab. Its working process is as follows:
Cooling water supply: The cooling system usually uses a dedicated water pump to deliver treated cooling water to the copper mould tube. These cooling waters have suitable temperature, pressure and flow to meet the cooling needs. Generally speaking, the temperature of the cooling water will be maintained within a certain range, such as 30-50℃, and the pressure will be adjusted according to the structure and process requirements of the crystallizer, usually around 0.3-0.6MPa.
Water distribution and flow: The cooling water entering the copper mould tube will be distributed through a series of channels and nozzles so that it flows evenly through the outer wall of the copper mould tube. In the slab copper mould tube, the cooling water may flow along the channels set on the long and short sides of the copper tube to form a uniform cooling water flow field; in the round billet crystallizer, the cooling water usually flows around the copper tube in a ring manner. This ensures that the ingot is cooled evenly over the entire circumference or surface, avoiding quality problems caused by local overheating or uneven cooling.
Heat exchange: When the cooling water flows through the outer wall of the copper tube of the crystallizer, it exchanges heat with the copper tube. The inner wall of the copper tube contacts the high-temperature molten steel, absorbs a large amount of heat released during the solidification of the molten steel, and then transfers the heat to the cooling water on the outer wall. Since the temperature of the cooling water is lower than that of the copper tube, the heat will be transferred from the copper tube to the cooling water, causing the temperature of the cooling water to rise.
Hot water reflux and treatment: After the hot water that has absorbed the heat flows out of the crystallizer, it will return to the water treatment equipment of the cooling system through the reflux pipe. In the water treatment equipment, the hot water will go through cooling, filtering, descaling and other treatment processes to remove impurities and scale in the water, reduce the water temperature, restore it to a suitable state, and then be pumped to the crystallizer for circulation again.
In order to ensure the normal operation and cooling effect of the cooling system, various monitoring and control devices will also be equipped, such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, flow controllers, etc., to monitor the temperature, pressure and flow of cooling water in real time, and automatically adjust according to process requirements.
