Thermostatic cover for improving energy and technological efficiency of steel mills

National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Krasnokazarmennaya Ulitsa 111250, 14, Moscow

^* Corresponding author: strogonovkv@yandex.ru

Abstract

The article proposes a technical solution for reducing the energy costs of casting process and providing more stable production conditions, specifically, the use of a thermostatic cap. Two variants of steel casting are considered: with and without the application of a thermostatic cover using the example of a bucket with a capacity of six tons of steel. The technical challenge is to reduce heat losses through the bucket neck to ensure the stability of the melting temperature throughout the casting and to reduce the temperature of metal release from the steelmaking unit. The design of the thermostatic cover with specifications, as well as the duration of process steps in the steel casting with and without the use of a thermally insulated cap are described. The balance calculations were carried out using MathCAD environment, which confirmed significant energy savings with a slight increase in casting time associated with the appearance of an additional technological operation for installing the thermostatic cover after pouring. Using ANSYS Academic software, a study was carried out on the thermal fields of the ladle and steel at various stages of casting for two options, which confirmed the effectiveness of using a thermostatic cover.