Online Dynamic Control of Secondary Cooling for the Continuous Casting Process

Aiming to reduce the occurrence of the surface and internal defects in the products, a dynamic secondary cooling control system was developed. The purpose of the system was to keep the surface temperature of the strand constant regardless of changes in casting speed. To accurately predict and control temperature in real time during the continuous casting process, A fast, accurate transient solidification and heat transfer model that serves as a “software sensor” was developed, which provide feedback to a control system. The control methodology and software suitable for online control of continuous casting cooling process were also designed. In order to maintain the target temperature profile throughout the steel, the new software system continuously read the operating conditions and adjusts the spray-water flow rates in the secondary cooling zone of the caster. The control system is demonstrated by simulation and the results show that the control system is capable of running in real time on billet caster.