The heat released from the cooling of molten steel from the pouring temperature to room temperature includes three parts:
(1) Overheating of molten steel: the heat released from the cooling of molten steel from the pouring temperature to the solidification temperature.
(2) Latent heat of solidification: the heat s released from the cooling of molten steel from the liquidus temperature (TL) to the solidus temperature (Ts)
(3) Physical sensible heat: the heat released from the cooling of the steel from the solidus temperature to the room temperature.
The latent heat of solidification is mainly determined by the steel composition. It is 273kJ/kg for pure iron and 310kJ/kg for low-carbon steel. Only when the latent heat is released can the molten steel solidify. To increase the solidification rate is to accelerate the release of the latent heat. Therefore, the release rate of latent heat is directly related to the productivity of continuous casting.
