Cooling mechanism for use in continuous metal casting

Continuous metal casting equipment comprising:

• (a) at least two guide rollers which, during use of the metal casting equipment, contact a metal strand being cast, said guide rollers being spaced apart from one another in the direction of movement of the strand;
• (b) a cylindrical nozzle, said cylindrical nozzle being cylindrical about an axis which is parallel to the direction of movement of the strand, the interior of said cylindrical nozzle defining a cylindrical residence chamber, said cylindrical nozzle being located on the side of a plane parallel to the strand and passing through the axes of said at least two guide rollers opposite to the strand and having a central line which is perpendicular to and intersects said axis of said cylindrical nozzle, the extension of said central line passing midway between said at least two guide rollers;
• (c) an air-water mixture supply pipe sized, shaped, and positioned so that, during use of the metal casting equipment, it introduces a stream comprising a mixture of air and water into said cylindrical residence chamber concentrically to said central line;
• and
• (d) at least two spaced exhaust holes formed in said cylindrical nozzle on the side thereof adjacent to said at least two guide rollers, said at least two spaced exhaust holes being equidistant from said central line and being separated by an imperforate surface against which, during use of the metal casting equipment, the stream of air and water impinges and is broken into a fine mist, each of said at least two spaced exhaust holes being sized and shaped so that the spray emitted therefrom during use of the metal casting equipment is fan shaped in cross-section in the plane which includes said axis of said cylindrical nozzle and said central line and is bounded by a first line which is parallel to said central line and tangental to the adjacent one of said guide rollers and a second line which is inclined inwardly towards said central line, said at least two spaced exhaust holes and said cylindrical nozzle being sized, shaped, and positioned so that the sprays emitted by said at least two spaced exhaust holes during use of the metal casting equipment cross each other between said cylindrical nozzle and the strand and so that the spray emitted by each one of said at least two spaced exhaust holes during use of the metal casting equipment impinges upon a portion of the strand which is on the opposite side of a plane which is perpendicular to the strand and tangential to the farther removed one of said at least two guide rollers.