Proceedings of the 22

th

National and 11
th
International
ISHMT-ASME Heat and Mass Transfer Conference
December 28-31, 2013, IIT Kharagpur, India



HMTC13xxxxx




SIMULATION OF LIQUID STEEL FLOW INSIDE THE MOULD: EFFECT OF SUBMERGED ENTRY
NOZZLE


Kiran Kumar K
NIT Warangal
Warangal-506 004
INDIA
kiran@nitw.ac.in
Hari Naik
NIT Warangal
Warangal-506 004
INDIA
Email
Praveena Devi N
S R Engg. College
Warangal-506004
INDIA
praveenadevi@gmail.com
B Ramesh Babu
NIT Warangal
Warangal-506 004
INDIA
brb.bec@gmail.com






ABSTRACT
A mathematical and computational model is
developed to numerically simulate the liquid steel flow inside
the mould in a continuous casting (CC) unit. A three
dimensional model (3-D) is presented in this paper.
Standard k turbulent model is used along with SIMPLE
algorithm to solve system of equations. Discharge jet angle
plays a vital role in the casting process with reference to the
casting defects. Discharge angle should be set such that jet
delivered into the mould should not cause excessive erosion of
the solidified shell at the impingement zone at the narrow face
of the slab section and there should not be much turbulence at
meniscus. Jet discharge angle depends on the angle of
Submerged entry nozzle (SEN) outlet port. A shallow jet
discharge angle delivers liquid metal directly to the meniscus,
resulting in an excess surface turbulence and promoting
entrapment of slag into liquid steel. Whereas, deeper jet
angles drives the liquid steel too deep into the pool, causing
less inclusion floatation in the mould.


NOMENCLATURE
P Static pressure, N/m
2
Q Flow rate, m
3
/min
Molecular viscosity, N-s/m
2
Vc Casting Speed (m/min)
W mould width (mm)
SEN Submerged Entry Nozzle
F Maximum force of steel at incidence angle, (N)
Density of steel ( kg/m3)
D Diameter
g Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)
U Absolute velocity (m/s)
Under-relaxation factor
I Unit tensor
Stress tensor
ij
Dissipation tensor
Re
t
Turbulent Reynolds number
General variable
v
r
Velocity vector

ur
Angular velocity vector
A
ur
Surface area vector

Diffusion coefficient for

Gradient of
S
Source of per unit volume
faces N
Number of faces enclosing cell
f
Value of convicted through face f
( )
n

Magnitude of normal to face f

Under-relaxation factor
k
G Generation of turbulence KE due to mean velocity
gradients
b
G Generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to
buoyancy
k
and

Inverse effective Prandtl numbers of k and

respectively
k
S and S

User-defined source terms for k and

,respectively
k
and

Turbulent Prandtl numbers for k and

,respectively
S Surface
V Volume
1
C

,
2
C

,
3
C

,
4
C

Constants
Suffix:
i x coordinate
j y coordinate
k z coordinate
t turbulent
in inlet
out outlet
f face


INTRODUCTION
Continuous casting of steel is a very complex process
involving turbulent flow physics. Figure 1 shows the
schematic of the continuous casting process. In this process,
the molten steel flows from the tundish through a submerged
entry nozzle (SEN) into the copper mold.

Figure: 1 Schematic of continuous casting process [1].

Both the steady-state flow pattern and transient variations in
the mold cavity are important to steel quality in continuous
casting. Excessive meniscus velocities and surface turbulence
lead to inclusion defects due to slag entrainment and level
fluctuations in the mold. Insufficient surface flows lead to
meniscus freezing and other surface defects. The mold flow
pattern should be optimized to achieve a flat surface profile
with stable meniscus velocities of the desired magnitude and
minimum turbulence.
Most of the steel plants all over the world are producing
the flat products by continuous casting technique. Therefore it
is very important to understand the role of liquid steel flow in
the mold for better quality of steel product. Extensive
mathematical and experimental work was carried out by
various researchers in the past. Brian G. Thomas [2]
investigated on the formation of several different types of
defects related to flow phenomena. The amount of gas
injection into the tundish nozzle to avoid air aspiration is
quantified by modeling. Chaudhary.R et al.[3] have compared
computational models and experiments with a one-third scale
water model to characterize flow in the nozzle and mold to
evaluate well-bottom and mountain-bottom nozzle
performance. Velocities predicted with the three-dimensional
k- turbulence model were well agreed with both particle-
image velocimetry and impeller measurements in the water
model. Gupta and Lahiri [3] carried out 2-D studies on the
effect of submergence depth, port diameter, port angle, and
nozzle exit velocity on the flow pattern in the mould of
continuous casting. They concluded that the meniscus profile
keeps on fluctuating at any casting speed. Glitz K et al. [4]
worked on different experimental and numerical in order to
evaluate the steel-slag interface dynamics. Simulations of
water flow in continuous casting molds are carried out
employing the software ANSYS CFX 11.0. The results are
compared to experimental and numerical results published in
the literature. ANSYS CFX results presented good
agreement with the experimental data. Rajat Kumar Das,
Sukanta Kumar Das [6] proposed that the free surface is wavy
in nature. Three different submerged entry nozzle (SEN)
models were taken for numerical analysis. Contribution of
water velocity, different port to Bore ratio (P/B), size of upper
recirculation roll on free surface were investigated for
designing a submerged entry nozzle. It was observed that
Pent-Roof type nozzle is a better one as it shows lesser
fluctuation. Hence, in this paper effect of various port angle of
SEN is studied by developing numerical modeling in CFD
commercial software FLUENT.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL AND NUMERICAL
ANALYSIS
CFD is a numerical technique to obtain an approximate
solution numerically. We have to use a discretization method,
which approximate the differential equation by a system of
algebraic equations, which can be then solved on computer.
The approximations are applied to small domains in space
and/or time so that the numerical solutions provide results at
discrete locations in space and/or time. Accuracy of numerical
solutions is development on the quality of discretization
method.
The Mass Conservation Equation :
The equation for conservation of mass, continuity
equation, can be written as follows:

( )
.
m
v S
t

+ =

r
(1)
The eqn. 1 is the general form of the mass conservation
equation and is valid for incompressible as well as
compressible flows. The source S
m
is the mass added to the
continuous phase from the dispersed second phase (e.g. due to
vaporization of liquid droplets) and any user-defined sources.
For steady state incompressible fluid flow, the continuity
equation is given by

( )
.v F =
r
(2)
Where,

$ $
i i i
i j k
x x x

= +

$
(3)

$ $
i j k
v u i u j u k = + +
r
$
(4)
Momentum Conservation Equation
Conservation of momentum is an inertial (non-
accelerating) reference frame is formulated by

( ) ( )
( )
. . v v v p g F
t

+ = + + +

r r r ur ur
(5)
Where, g =
ur
gravitational body force,
F=external body forces (e.g. that arise from interaction with
the dispersed phase), F also contains other model-dependent
source terms such that porous media and user defined sources.
The stress tensor is given by
)
2
.
3
V V VI
( |
= +
(
\
ur ur
(6)
Where, the second term on the right hand side is taken for
consider the effect of volume dilation.
For steady state incompressible fluid flow, the momentum
conservation equation is given by

( )
( )
. . vv p g F = + + +
r r ur ur
(7)
Turbulent Model :
Standard k- model
The simplest complete models of turbulence are two-
equation model in which the solution of two separate transport
equations allows the turbulent velocity and length sales to be
independently determined. The standard k- model in
FLUENT falls within this class of turbulence model and has
become the workhorse of the practical engineering flow
calculations in the time since it was proposed. Robustness,
economy, and reasonable accuracy for wide range of turbulent
flows explain its popularity in industrial flow and heat transfer
simulations. It is a semi-empirical model, and the derivation of
the model equations relies on phenomenological
considerations and empiricism. The standard k- model is a
semi- empirical model based on model transport equation for k
is derived from the exact equation while the model transport
equation for as obtained using physical reasoning and bears
little resemblance to its mathematically exact counterpart. In
the derivation of the k- model, it was assumed that the flow is
fully turbulent, and defects of molecular viscosity are
negligible.
Transport equations for the standard k- model
The turbulence kinetic energy k, and its rate of dissipation , is
obtained from the following transport equations:

( ) ( )
i
i k b m k
i i k j
k
k ku G G Y S
t x x x

( |
|
+ = + + + + (
|

( \
(8)
And
2
1 3 2
( ) ( ) ( )
i
i k b
i i j
u C G C G C S
t x x x k k

( |
|
+ = + + + + ( |

( \
(9)
The turbulent (or eddy) viscosity,
t
, is computed by
combining k and follows:

2
t
k
C

= (10)
The values of constants used are
C
1
=1.44, C
2
=1.92, C

=0.09,
k
=1.0,

=1.3
Discretization
A control-volume based technique is used to convert the
governing equations to algebraic equations that can be solved
numerically. This control volume technique consists of
integrating the governing equations about each control
volume, yielding discrete equations that conserve on each
control volume basis. Discretization of the governing
equations can be illustrated most easily by considering the
steadystate conservation equation for transport of a scalar
quality over control volume V as follows:
. .
v
v d A d A S dV

= +

r ur ur
(11)

$ $
i j k
i j k
X X X

(
( (
= + +
(
( (

(

$
(12)
Equation (11) is applied to each control volume, or cell, in the
computational domain.
. ( ) .
faces faces
N N
f f f
f f n
f f
v A A S V

= +

r ur ur

Where,
$ $
f
i j k
A A A i A j A k = = + +
ur
$

. f f
f
V A =
ur ur
Mass flux through the face f
The equations solved by FLUENT take the same general
form as the given above and apply readily to multi-
dimensional, unstructured meshes composed of arbitrary
polyhedral. FLUENT stores discrete values of the scalar at
the cell centers, however, face values
f
are required for the
convective terms in equation and must be interpolated from
the cell center values. This is accomplished using an upwind
scheme. Upwinding means the face center values are derived
from quantities in the cell upstream, or upwind, relative to
the direction of the normal velocity v
n
in equation 13.
FLUENT allow us to choose from several upwind schemes:
first-order, second-order upwind, power law and quick. The
diffusion terms in equation are central-differential and are
always second-order accurate.
Under relaxation
Because of the nonlinearity of the equation set being
solved by FLUENT, it is necessary to control the change of .
This is typically achieved by under-relaxation, which reduces
the change of produced during each iteration. In a simple
form, the new value of the variable within a cell depends
upon the old value, old, the computed change in , , and
the under-relaxation factor, , as follows:

old
= + (14)
Descretization of the continuity equation
0
faces
N
f f
f
j A =

(15)
Where, Jf = the mass of flux through face f,
The face value of the velocity is momentum-weighted
averaging, using weighing factors

0 1
( ) f
f f c c
J J d P P = + (16)
Where, p
c0
and p
c1
= the pressures within the two cells on
either side of the face, and J
f
contains the influence of the
velocities in these cells. The term d
f
is a function of a
p
, the
averaging of the momentum equation a
p
coefficients for the
cells on either side of the f.
Discretization of the momentum equation
The discretized x-momentum equation is:
.
p nb nb f
nb
a u a u P Ai S = + +

$
(17)
The pressure field and face mass fluxes are not known a prior
and must be obtained as a part of the solution.
FLUENT uses a co-located scheme, whereby pressure and
velocity are both stored at cell centers. However, equation (17)
requires the value of the pressure at the face between cells.
Pressure at the face is interpolated using momentum equation
coefficient.
2.1 Convergence criteria
Scaled residual has been selected as the convergence criteria.
The conservation equation for general variable at cell p is

p p nb nb
nb
a a b = +

(18)
Here a
p
is the center coefficient, a
nb
are the influence
coefficients for the neighboring cells and b is the contribution
of the constant part of the source term s
c
in S=S
c
+S
p
and of
the boundary conditions.

p nb p
nb
a a S =

(19)
Unscaled residual R

is defined as:

nb nb p p
cellsP nb
R a b a

= +

(20)
Scaled residual is defined as:

nb nb p p
cellsP nb
p p
cellP
a b a
R
a

+
=

(21)
The unscaled residual for continuity is defined as:

c
cellsP
R RateofmasscreationincellP =

(22)
Scaled redual; for continuity equation is defined as:

5
c
iterationN
c
iteration
R
R
R

= (23)
The denominator is the largest absolute value of the
continuity residual in the first five iterations. As a
convergence criterion, these scaled residuals have been
continuously monitored and the iteration continues till the
values is 1 10
-6
. It has been observed that with these default
convergence criteria, simulated solution is reasonably
accurate. However in case where the geometry is complicated,
these default criteria have been further reduced to get a better
solution.

COMPUTATIONAL MODEL

Figure 2: Actual Continuous casting (CC) unit

Actual schematic of CC unit is shown in figure 2. A
3-D computational model with meshing is shown in Figure 3.
With the aid of computational fluid dynamics, the complex
internal flows inside the mould can be predicted. Thus it is
useful to get the desired casting with less defects. This article
describes the three-dimensional simulation of internal flow
inside the mould. A commercial three-dimensional Navier-
Strokes code called FLUENT with a turbulent model is used
for simulation of present problem. In calculation finite-volume
method is used for discretization of governing equations for
this problem.
Assumptions
The simulation of flow inside the copper mould is
done on following assumptions.
1. Steady state condition.
2. Incompressible flow.
3. Constant fluid properties.
4. There is no leakage of fluid.
Mould walls are smooth.




Solution technique
Following technique is used for simulation of this
problem.
1. Copper mould is modeled using boundary layer
mesh.
2. Standard k - turbulent model is used for turbulent
fluid flow.
3. The most appropriate numerical scheme for the flow
equations is segregated implicit solver used for this
model. The residuals decrease very fast and other
monitored solution parameter reach convergence.
4. The 0.0001 residual is used for convergence of
velocity and turbulence parameters.
5. The first order upwind scheme is used for momentum
equation.
6. The second order scheme is used for the pressure
correction.
7. The under relaxation factor applied for 0.3 for
pressure, 0.7 for momentum equation, 0.8 for
turbulent kinetic energy and 0.8 for dissipation rate
are used for fast convergence of solution.
8. Liquid-solid is used as fluid.
a. Simulation conditions:

Parameters
Steel caster
(full scale)
Nozzle port angle
Nozzle port area
Nozzle bore diameter
Nozzle outer diameter
SEN depth
Average port
velocity
Fluid flow rate
Casting speed
Mold width
Mold thickness
Domain width
Domain thickness
Domain length
fluid
fluid
slag
Liquids temperature
Solidus temperature
Inlet temperature

+25
o
to -25
o

69.9 mm (W) X80.1 mm (H)
75 mm
129 mm
180 mm
0.886 m/s

595.4 LPM
1.76 m/min
1500 mm
225 mm
750 mm
112.5 mm (at the top)
3600 mm
7020 kg/m
3
(steel)
0.006 kg/ms (steel)
3000 kg/m3
1750K
1760K
1800K

Table 1 Simulation Conditions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 4: Computed velocity field in the slab caster mould for
parallel port SEN(0
o
)

Simulations were carried out by varying outlet port angles
(+30
o
, +15
o
, 0
o
, -15
o
, -30
o
) of SEN. It is observed from the
results that the flow of the liquid steel inside the mould splits
into two recirculating zones as shown in figure 4. Irrespective
of the port angle similar trends were observed for all the cases
considered. Upper recirculation helps in flotation of non-
metallic inclusions present in liquid steel to the free surface
where there are absorbed by the molten flux layer. Lower
recirculation is important for the dissipation of superheat of
liquid steel. Figure 5 presents the stream function contours of
the parallel port case (central axisymmetric of total mould is
presented). From the Fig 5 it can be observed that the steam
lines are strong in the lower part.
Increase in turbulent kinetic energy (k) appears to be
steppes the jet angle. These turbulent parameters also have an
important influence on the temperature field. It is observed
that the turbulent kinetic energy is maximum at nozzle port
due to the strong shear layer around each incoming jet.
Maximum also appears where jet impinges at the narrow face
wall. At this point, the local generation of turbulence is greater
than the transport of turbulent from vicinity. Low the turbulent
kinetic energy leads to corresponding diminish in the flow
field. Values of maximum and minimum turbulent kinetic
energy is presented in Table 2.

Figure 5: Stream function contours of parallel port

Almost similar results were observed with different port
angles. Maximum varesults were observed for most upward
and downward port angles have much influence on
corresponding flow field. Higher the turbulent kinetic energy
results in higher heat flux leads to lower the temperature.
From the Table 2 it can evident that at higher angles, whether
it may upward or downward, turbulent kinetic energy is high
which causes higher heat flux thus lower is the temperature.
Nozzle port
angle
Minimum Maximum
0
0
2.252 x10
-3
0.7089
+15 2.3531 x10
-3
0.7103
-15 1.212 x10
-3
0.7423
+30 2.54 x10
-3
0.7448
-30 7.8 x10
-3
0.80507
Table 2: TURBULENT KINETIC ENERGY

Variation of wall shear stress along the narrow face wall
mould for different port angles is presented in the Fig 6. Shear
stress is zero at the meniscus and at the center of jet
impingement area at the wall. Away from this point shear
stress again increases till it attains maximum value. Wall shear
stress is of special significance from the view point of erosion
of solidifying shell which in the mould. Erosion causes
thinning of solid shell, which may lead to breakout of the
casting.
Heat flux found to be maximum at point of impingement
point, which is expected. Heat flux along the narrow face wall
is taken, because it is the area from which maximum heat
transfer is taking place. Heat flux along the narrow face wall,
which is our area of interest for getting good casting is found
out for all port angles and was shown in Figure 7. Dirrerent
port angle cases results different values of heat fluxes. It is
because of the variation of the velocity discharge angles,
which invariably changes the momentum. It also varies with
the turbulent kinetic energy. Great reduction in the values of
heat flux is observed for low values of turbulent kinetic energy
and high values for higher turbulent kinetic energy. Maximum
heat flux is observed in case of lower port angles. Maximum
heat flux results in maximum heat transfer rates. It greatly
affects the quality of casting. This may causes the hot spots,
which is not desirable and is a casting defect.



Figure 6: wall shear stress along the center of narrow face wall


Figure 7: Total surface heat flux along the center of narrow
face wall

CONCLUSIONS
A three dimensional computational model which can be used
to study the flow behavior of liquid steel inside the continuous
casting unit is presented in the present paper. Following
conclusions can be drawn:
The bulk steel flow from the port of the SEN where
entering into the mould , splits into two, giving to
upper and lower recirculation zones in the mould.
Surface heat flux is found maximum at impingement
point and this results in casting defects.
30
0
downward port angle gives minimum wall shear
stress than the existing parallel port , which greatly
effects the casting quality

REFERENCES
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