Numerical Modeling of Flow in a Large Quench Tank

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed to simulate isothermal flow in a large quench tank used for heat treating of steel. As a surrogate for a full simulation of quenching, the isothermal model enables a computational economical comparison of many different design configurations of the quench tank. The model includes most of the geometric complexity of the tank including the skip, the heavy beams used to support it, deflector baffles used to control the flow, and the inlet ducting. Partial factorial screening studies are conducted to identify the most important design variables. The second phase of the project involves examining four new conceptual designs for the quench tank. The outcome of the second phase was the identification of a promising new design that could be realized by the addition of ducting to the existing design. The contributions of this research include a better understanding of the parameters affecting large scale batch quench processes and the development of new directions for quench tank design.