SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SECONDARY SPRAY COOLING IN CONTINUOUS CASTING

A system and method is provided for cooling a continuous casting, which includes determining, for each element of steel, the steel residence time in each cooling spray zone of the secondary cooling and determining residence time flow rates as a function of average speed, grade, mold heat removal and section size of the steel strand. The system modifies the residence time flow signal using a feedback error flow signal that is derived in a feedback flow control loop. The feedback error flow signal is derived by comparing the actual measured specific flow GAL/FT.sup.2, based on the actual measured quantity of specific cooling water that each element of steel has received, with a calculated reference specific flow. The specific flow signal is further used to determine whether the system is to use the modified residence time flow or whether the flow should be shut off when the measured specific flow exceeds a maximum reference specific flow.