Cooling Bar Layout for Uniform Metal Strip Width Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling devices for metal items, such as metal strips, have limited options for adjusting coolant distribution across the width, leading to inadequate cooling of narrow strips and over-cooling of wide strips, resulting in uneven cooling and potential material damage.
Innovation Solution
The cooling device features cooling beams with differently designed impact areas, allowing for customizable coolant distribution by varying the pressure and volume flow in each area, enabling precise control over the coolant's distribution across the metal goods' width, including the use of multiple parallel beams with individual exposure areas and adjustable pressure/volume flow settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If uniform coolant flow rate is applied across all cooling beams, then the cooling system is simple to operate, but narrow strips are inadequately cooled while wide strips are over-cooled
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple cooling beams, each further divided into multiple application areas with independent coolant flow control. This segmentation allows each zone to be optimized for its specific position and function, enabling precise control over coolant distribution across different strip widths and positions.
Solution Approach 2:
Each cooling beam's application areas are designed with locally optimized characteristics - different surface areas, different coolant flow rates, and different pressures - to match the specific cooling requirements of each region. This local quality approach ensures that narrow strips receive adequate cooling while wide strips avoid over-cooling.
2Device complexity
If uniform application area is used across all cooling beams, then the device structure is simplified, but stepped coolant application occurs resulting in streak-like cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling beams are segmented into multiple application areas along their longitudinal direction, with each area having independently controllable coolant flow. This segmentation allows the system to eliminate stepped coolant application by distributing coolant more uniformly across the width of the rolled material.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic control of coolant flow rates in each application area, allowing real-time adjustment to achieve uniform coolant distribution. The ability to individually control coolant flow in each zone enables the system to adapt to varying requirements and eliminate the stepped application pattern.
3Device complexity
If limited adjustment options are provided for coolant flow rate distribution, then the control system is simpler, but inadequate accommodation of varying strip widths and cooling requirements occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented to provide independent control of coolant flow rate for each application area in each cooling beam. This fine-grained segmentation of control enables the system to accommodate varying strip widths and cooling requirements by adjusting each zone independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system provides dynamic adjustment capabilities for coolant flow rates across multiple zones, allowing real-time optimization for different strip widths, temperatures, and chemical compositions. This dynamic control achieves the desired parabolic coolant distribution and prevents material damage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for almost any desired coolant distribution across the metal goods' width, including parabolic distributions, ensuring optimal cooling by adjusting coolant pressure and volume flow based on the metal's width, temperature, and chemical composition, thereby preventing material damage from uneven cooling.
Implementation Method 1
Cooling devices for metal items, such as metal strips, have limited options for adjusting coolant distribution across the width
Implementation Method 2
coolant distribution across the width of the metallic material to be cooled
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a cooling device (100) for cooling a metal good, more particularly a metal strip, and to a method for operating said cooling device. Such cooling devices having a plurality of cooling bars (110-n) arranged in parallel in groups, for applying a coolant (300) to the metal good (200), are known in the prior art. It is also known that the individual cooling bars have at least two different application regions I, II in the longitudinal direction thereof, which can be individually controlled with valves (130) by means of a control device (120). In order to be able to set a desired distribution function of the coolant over the width of the metal good as accurately as possible, the cooling device according to the invention provides that application regions of the same type in at least two cooling bars (110-1, 110-2) within a group G are designed differently with respect to the contour thereof and/or with respect to the surface area thereof.