Method and strand guide device for operating a cooling chamber

A method for operating a continuous caster (100), comprising:

• deflecting a cast strand (13) after it exits a mold (40) of the continuous caster (100) into a horizontal orientation in a strand guide device (10) arranged downstream of the mold;
• cooling the cast strand (13) as it passes through a cooling chamber (1) inside the strand guide device (10) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) causing steam (5) to form inside the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam (5) forms, at least together with sucked-in secondary air, a steam-air mixture (5′) which is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• and
• extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1) using a suction device (20) which comprises
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) opening into the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) and the suction fan (8);
• and
• depleting the steam-air mixture (5′) by a separator (6) arranged in the suction duct (7) of the suction device (20) and by a further separator (6′).

A method for operating a continuous caster (100), comprising:

• deflecting a cast strand (13) after it exits a mold (40) of the continuous caster (100) into a horizontal orientation in a strand guide device (10) arranged downstream of the mold;
• cooling the cast strand (13) as it passes through a cooling chamber (1) inside the strand guide device (10) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) causing steam (5) to form inside the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam (5) forms, at least together with sucked-in secondary air, a steam-air mixture (5′) which is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• and
• extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1) using a suction device (20) which comprises
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) opening into the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) and the suction fan (8);
• and
• depleting the steam-air mixture (5′) by a separator (6),
• wherein preconditioned steam-air mixture (5′) after passing the suction fan
• to an extent of a first portion is returned to the cooling chamber (1);
• and/or
• to an extent of a second portion is supplied to a conditioning device (Z) to there be further conditioned.

A method for operating a continuous caster (100), comprising:

• deflecting a cast strand (13) after it exits a mold (40) of the continuous caster (100) into a horizontal orientation in a strand guide device (10) arranged downstream of the mold;
• cooling the cast strand (13) as it passes through a cooling chamber (1) inside the strand guide device (10) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) causing steam (5) to form inside the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam (5) forms, at least together with sucked-in secondary air, a steam-air mixture (5′) which is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• and
• extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1) using a suction device (20) which comprises
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) opening into the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) and the suction fan (8);
• and
• depleting the steam-air mixture (5′) by a separator (6);
• and
• blowing additional air (14) into the cooling chamber (1) by a pressure fan (4), the pressure fan (4) being installed opposite the suction opening (3) of the suction device (20).

A strand guide device (10), comprising:

• strand guide rollers (2) for guiding a cast strand (13) that has been cast by a mold (40) arranged upstream of the strand guiding device (10);
• a cooling device (30) with a cooling chamber (1) for cooling the cast strand (13) as it runs through the cooling chamber (1) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) thereby forming a steam-air mixture (5′) within the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam-air mixture (5′) is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• a suction device (20), which includes
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) in the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) to the suction fan (8), for extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1);
• and
• a separator (6, 6′) for depleting pollutants (33) from the extracted steam-air mixture (5′),
• wherein the separator (6) is arranged in front of the suction opening (3) of the suction device (20) in the cooling chamber (1, 1′) for condensing the coolant (33) within the cooling chamber (1, 1′), and
• wherein the cooling chamber (1) has a waste water channel (24) for draining off the condensate (22).

A strand guide device (10), comprising:

• strand guide rollers (2) for guiding a cast strand (13) that has been cast by a mold (40) arranged upstream of the strand guiding device (10);
• a cooling device (30) with a cooling chamber (1) for cooling the cast strand (13) as it runs through the cooling chamber (1) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) thereby forming a steam-air mixture (5′) within the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam-air mixture (5′) is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• a suction device (20), which includes
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) in the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) to the suction fan (8), for extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1);
• a separator (6, 6′) for depleting pollutants (33) from the extracted steam-air mixture (5′);
• and
• a pressure fan (4) for blowing additional air (14) into the cooling chamber (1), the pressure fan (4) being arranged opposite the suction opening (3) of the suction device (20) in the cooling chamber (1).

A strand guide device (10), comprising:

• strand guide rollers (2) for guiding a cast strand (13) that has been cast by a mold (40) arranged upstream of the strand guiding device (10);
• a cooling device (30) with a cooling chamber (1) for cooling the cast strand (13) as it runs through the cooling chamber (1) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) thereby forming a steam-air mixture (5′) within the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam-air mixture (5′) is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• a suction device (20), which includes
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) in the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) to the suction fan (8), for extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1);
• a separator (6, 6′) for depleting pollutants (33) from the extracted steam-air mixture (5′);
• and
• a first partial air return line (11) for returning at least a first portion of preconditioned steam-air mixture (5′) from an extended suction duct (9) into the cooling chamber (1).

A strand guide device (10), comprising:

• strand guide rollers (2) for guiding a cast strand (13) that has been cast by a mold (40) arranged upstream of the strand guiding device (10);
• a cooling device (30) with a cooling chamber (1) for cooling the cast strand (13) as it runs through the cooling chamber (1) by spraying a coolant (33) onto the cast strand (13) thereby forming a steam-air mixture (5′) within the cooling chamber (1), wherein the steam-air mixture (5′) is at least partially saturated with the coolant (33);
• a suction device (20), which includes
• a suction fan (8),
• a suction opening (3) in the cooling chamber (1), and
• a suction duct (7) connecting the suction opening (3) to the suction fan (8), for extracting the steam-air mixture (5′) from the cooling chamber (1);
• and
• a separator (6, 6′) for depleting pollutants (33) from the extracted steam-air mixture (5′),
• wherein the cooling device (30) has a first and a second cooling chamber (1, 1′) which are arranged one behind the other in a casting direction (G) within the strand guide device (10);
• wherein the first and the second cooling chamber (1, 1′) are connected to one another via an air duct (50);
• and
• wherein an air washer (52) is arranged in the air duct (50) for filtering and/or cleaning a steam-air mixture (5′) flowing in the air duct (50) counter to the casting direction (G) from the second cooling chamber (1′) arranged further downstream in the casting direction of the first cooling chamber (1).