Thermal stratification of steel flow in tundishes with off-centred ladle shrouds using different flow control designs

Thermal stratification of steel flow in a tundish with off-centred ladle shrouds using two flow control arrangements was studied using a non-isothermal water model. One of the flow control arrangements consisted of a pair of baffles (arrangement B) and the other one consisted of a turbulence inhibitor and a pair of dams (TI-D). Positions of the ladle shroud were centred, off-centred one ladle shroud diameter (1D) and off-centered two ladle shroud diameters (2D). Thermal experiments involved feeding higher temperature water and monitoring the effects at various locations within the liquid. For any position of the ladle shroud and casting rate, the TI-D arrangement yielded smaller thermal gradients of liquid inside the vessel and higher plug flow volumes. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements demonstrated a close relationship between the velocity fields and the buoyancy number that relates thermal buoyancy forces with inertial forces for a given casting rate. Buoyancy forces were estimated through the thermal responses at the outlet and it was found that the TI-D arrangement prolonged the lifetime of the buoyancy effects to a greater extent than the B arrangement due to the effects of the turbulence inhibitor.