Abstract
In continuous casting, the molten steel is poured from the ladle to the tundish through a nozzle located at the bottom of the ladle. This process, however, must be stopped before the ladle is completely emptied to avoid slag carryover to the tundish. The amount of steel that remains unteemed in the ladle is usually significant, so steel plants are highly interested in studying different ways to improve the process. In the present work, experimental studies using water models and numerical simulations have been employed to analyse the conditions needed for vortex formation and investigate the influence of geometrical and flow parameters on the amount of wasted steel. Both experimental and numerical results lead to the conclusion that no vortex formation is expected to take place during ladle drainage under industrial conditions.
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