Claims
- 1. In a process for continuously casting a metal allow comprising cooling molten alloy in a shell-forming zone and further cooling said alloy by direct chill with a coolant to form a continuous ingot, the improvement comprising:
- casting lithium-containing alloy;
- performing said direct chill cooling with a coolant comprising a modified hydrocarbon coolant containing less than a predetermined level of moisture content; and
- recirculating said coolant continuously to perform said direct chill cooling while controlling said moisture content.
- 2. The process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said coolant comprises less than an explosive reaction-forming amount of water.
- 3. The process as set forth in claim 2 wherein said controlling comprises applying a moisture barrier over the modified hydrocarbon.
- 4. The process as set forth in claim 2 wherein said controlling moisture content comprises monitoring said moisture content and drying said coolant as required to maintain said moisture content less than said predetermined level.
- 5. The process as set forth in claim 4 wherein said drying comprises dry fluid sparging and heating said coolant.
- 6. A method of continuously casting a lithium-containing alloy comprising:
- cooling a lithium-containing alloy sufficiently to form a continuous ingot having a substantially solid shell;
- cooling said ingot by direct chill with an organic coolant; and
- controlling moisture content in said organic coolant.
- 7. A method as set forth in claim 6 wherein said organic coolant comprises a modified hydrocarbon coolant.
- 8. A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein said coolant comprises ethylene glycol.
- 9. A method of continuously casting a lithium-containing light metal alloy comprising:
- cooling a lithium-containing light metal alloy sufficiently to form a continuous ingot having a substantially solid shell; and
- cooling said ingot by direct chill with an organic coolant capable of providing a direct chill comprising a rapid quench to form a shell of sufficient thickness substantially to avoid bleed-outs and a subsequent lower heat transfer for stress relief.
- 10. A method as set forth in claim 9 wherein said rapid quench comprises a nucleate boiling heat transfer and said subsequent lower heat transfer comprises a convective heat transfer.
- 11. A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein said organic coolant comprises ethylene glycol.
- 12. A method as set forth in claim 11 wherein said coolant comprises less than an explosive reaction-forming amount of water.
- 13. A method as set forth in claim 12 wherein said coolant contains less than about 25 volume percent water.
- 14. A method as set forth in claim 13 wherein said coolant contains less than about 10 volume percent water.
- 15. A method as set forth in claim 14 wherein said alloy comprises an aluminum-lithium alloy.
- 16. A method as set forth in claim 15 wherein said coolant contains less than about 5 volume percent water.
- 17. In a process for continuously casting a metal alloy comprising cooling molten alloy in a shell-forming zone and further cooling said alloy by direct chill with a coolant to form a continuous ingot, the improvement comprising:
- casting lithium-containing alloy; and
- performing said direct chill cooling with a coolant comprising ethylene glycol.
- 18. The process as set forth in claim 17 wherein said coolant comprises less than an explosive reaction-forming amount of water.
- 19. The process as set forth in claim 18 wherein said coolant contains less than about 25% water by volume.
- 20. The process as set forth in claim 19 wherein said coolant contains less than about 10% water by volume.
- 21. The process as set forth in claim 20 wherein said alloy comprises an aluminum-lithium alloy.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 850,488 filed Apr. 11, 1986, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation of application Ser. No. 550,466 filed Nov. 10, 1983 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,295.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
2515284 |
Zeigler et al. |
Jul 1950 |
|
4000625 |
Beerens et al. |
Jan 1977 |
|
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
850488 |
Apr 1986 |
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Parent |
550466 |
Nov 1983 |
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