Optimum spray cooling in continuous slab casting process under productivity improvement

In addition to casting speed, an improper control of temperature at the strand surface and center directly affects the product quality (e.g., cracking) in the continuous slab casting. In this study, an optimal control of temperature at the surface and center is achieved by using an optimal secondary cooling rate with a consistent casting speed. To optimize the cooling rate, both a solidification model based on a finite difference technique and an objective function, which satisfies the metallurgical criteria and the resource consumption, are developed. Case studies on quality and productivity improvements are raised and searched an optimal solution by a genetic algorithm. The results show that the effective maintain of the strand temperature with low water consumption can be achieved under the increased casting speed.