9th ECCC European Continuous Casting Conference – ECCC 2017

Non-metallic inclusion have a strong impact on the final product quality in steel production. Thus, inclusion removal from the melt is an important aspect of achieving the intended steel properties. In continuous casters the tundish can be utilized to enhance inclusion removal. One method to promote inclusion removal within the tundish is the installation of an argon bubble curtain. The aim of this work was to implement a model for inclusion removal within the CFD framework of OpenFOAM. This model considers agglomeration of non-metallic inclusions as well as argon bubble flotation. A population balance for a finite number of inclusion size-classes is solved to account for the agglomeration of inclusions. Argon bubble flotation is considered in the model likewise. The open source CFD framework OpenFOAM was chosen for the implementation as it offers the most freedom and flexibility. The bubbly flow within the tundish is modeled by using the Euler-Euler model (two fluid model). The inclusion removal model is implemented in a modular fashion so that it can be easily extended. In order to demonstrate the model we compare the inclusion removal efficiency of the three cases: pure agglomeration without argon bubbling, pure agglomeration with argon bubbling, and agglomeration and argon bubble flotation. This model offers a tool to investigate the efficiency of argon bubbling on inclusion removal.