ISSN 1983-4764

IMPROVING DESCALE PERFORMANCE WITH THE

DESCALEJET® PRO*
Lesli Peterson1
Christy Hofherr2

Abstract
Spraying Systems Co® has continued to develop and evolve descale nozzles
through the years. The most recent addition to the descale nozzle line, the
DescaleJet® Pro, provides more impact and a more uniform distribution than
previous descale nozzles. The improved performance has been achieved through
multiple design changes such as a smoother approach, updated vane design and
improved carbide orifice. In addition to providing improved spray performance the
nozzle also lasts longer than previous versions. The new technology has been
thoroughly tested in the lab using impact measurements and accelerated wear
testing. In addition to lab testing the nozzle has provided improved performance and
longer wear life for those that have made the change to the new technology. The new
nozzle technology and the benefits to the rolling mill will be discussed.
Keywords: Descale; Rolling mill; Impact.

1 Project Engineer, Spraying Systems Co., Wheaton IL, USA.

2 Director, Industrial Division, Spraying Systems Co., Wheaton IL, USA.

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

704
 ISSN 1983-4764

1 INTRODUCTION

Hot strip mills use high pressure hydraulic nozzles in the descaling process to
remove scale from the steel surface. It is important to remove the scale to prevent
defects in the material and to increase the life of the rolls. This scale is formed by a
direct reaction of metal with oxygen, water and other elements. The type of scale
formed will depend on a number of factors including- base material, temperature,
time in the furnace and type of furnace. In theory the spray cools the outer scale
layer causing a temperature difference between the base material and the scale.
This causes the scale to create cracks and allow the spray to penetrate through the
scale. The water then turns to steam and helps to lift the scale from the base
material. Lastly the sprays push the loose scale off of the surface of the steel.
Through the years the nozzle design has evolved to provide a more efficient impact
profile. The most recent nozzle development the DescaleJet® Pro provides more
impact and longer wear life compared to previous designs.

2 BACKGROUND

Original dovetail nozzles used for descaling were little more than flat spray nozzles
with a tungsten carbide insert. These nozzles provided longer wear life at the high
pressures but did little to reduce turbulence and frictional losses inside the nozzle. In
addition early descale nozzles did not offer an integral strainer so nozzles frequently
became plugged. The 1st generation descale nozzle provided a flow straightener
behind the nozzle orifice. This worked to help straighten the flow which improved the
impact of the nozzle. Even further improvements were made with the second
generation nozzle. This nozzle had a more streamlined high impact attachment and
the high impact attachment included a strainer.
However no nozzle can exceed the total theoretical force and it is the same for all
nozzles of the same flow rate and pressure. The maximum force a nozzle can
produce is governed by the equation:
I T  QV
I T  Total Impact Force
  Density
Q= Flow Rate
V= Velocity
In order to reach this maximum force the nozzle needs to be optimized to reduce as
many losses as possible.
The latest development, the DescaleJet® Pro, further improves descale nozzle
technology. The DescaleJet® Pro has
 Updated vane design;
 Wider orifice cut for a wider effective coverage;
 Larger internal area for reduced frictional losses and increased impact;
 New carbide material for longer wear life.

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

705
 ISSN 1983-4764

Figure 1: DescaleJet Pro section view

2.1 DescaleJet® Pro Improvements

Vanes are used in descale nozzles to help straighten the flow before it reaches the
nozzle exit. In descale header design the flow enters the nozzle 90 degrees to the
nozzle exit. The flow then turns and travels a short distance to the nozzle exit. The
bend in the flow path creates turbulence in the flow and needs to be eliminated or
reduced in order to optimize the impact force of the nozzle. If the turbulence is not
reduced before exiting the nozzle the result will be low impact levels. High
turbulence before the nozzle exit can reduce impact levels up to 50%.

0,4
0,35
0,3
0,25
Force (lb)

0,2
0,15
0,1
0,05
0
0,0
0,4
0,8
1,2
1,5
1,9

2,3

2,7

3,1

3,5

3,9

4,2

4,6

Figure 2: Impact graph for descale nozzle with no high impact attachment

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

706
 ISSN 1983-4764

0,8
0,7
0,6
0,5
Force (lb) 0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0
0,0
0,4
0,8
1,2
1,5
1,9

2,3

2,7

3,1

3,5

3,9

4,2

4,6

5,0
Figure 3: Impact graph for same nozzle as in figure 1 with high impact attachment

The DescaleJet® Pro uses a two vane configuration with a total of ten offset fins.
The number of fins is increased by a total of four compared to the 2 nd generation
descale nozzle. In addition to the greater number of fins the overall length of the
vane approach has increased providing a longer flow straightening distance. The
levels of turbulent kinetic energy in the DescaleJet® Pro are shown in illustration 4.

Figure 4: CFD Analysis of turbulent kinetic energy in the DescaleJet® Pro

The highest amounts of turbulent energy are seen at the top of the strainer where the
flow bends 90 degrees. As the flow passes through the two vane configuration of the
DescaleJet® Pro the turbulent energy is reduced. As flow moves closer to the orifice
the levels of turbulent energy have been reduced two levels of magnitude.
The wider orifice cut provides a wider effective coverage compared to previous
versions. A wider effective coverage is beneficial because there are higher impact
levels at the edges of the spray pattern. This will allow the nozzles to be placed
closer to the steel surface and further apart from each other. This also reduces the
amount of water in the overlap area and reduces the risk of overcooling in the
overlap zones.

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

707
 ISSN 1983-4764

Figure 5: Coverage comparison of Pro vs 2nd generation nozzle

The internal diameters of the DescaleJet® Pro have been increased. By increasing
the internal area the frictional losses are reduced and more of the force of the spray
is maintained when it exits the orifice. The end result is a higher impact force.
In order to determine how much more impact the DescaleJet® Pro produces impact
testing was done using a patented process to measure the load throughout the entire
spray pattern. A small pin is attached to a load cell which moves through the spray in
an X-Y grid pattern and is controlled by two servo motors. The force of the spray
pushes down on the pin and the data is collected by a data acquisition system. The
end result is a complete picture of the force profile of the spray pattern.

Figure 6: 3-D impact testing device

Figure 7: Movement of load cell underneath spray pattern

The impact testing device was used to measure the impact force of the dovetail, 1st
generation, 2nd generation and Pro DescaleJet® nozzles. The DescaleJet® Pro
provided higher impact values than all previous versions.

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

708
 ISSN 1983-4764

Ia vs. Pressure at 8" Spray Distance

180

160

140
Avg. Specific Impact (Ia), psi

120

100

80

60
Dovetail Series
40 1st Generation
Second Generation
20 DescaleJet Pro

0
500 1000 1500 2000
Spray Pressure, psig
Figure 8: Impact vs Spray Pressure at a constant spray height

Mill A had replaced the 2nd generation nozzles with the DescaleJet Pro nozzles. The
DescaleJet Pro nozzles provided the same coverage and flow rate of the previous
nozzles and were placed in the same header. The mill saw a significant increase in
impact resulting in cleaner steel. The mill is now considering reducing the amount of
water being used to achieve a similar impact level with the DescaleJet Pro as with
the 2nd generation nozzle; however that project is still ongoing while the mill
researches the affect the reduced water will have on the temperature of the slab. It is
important to consider how changes in the descale process will affect the overall
performance of the rolling mill.
Improving the carbide in the nozzle orifice has allowed for longer wear life. This has
been proven under laboratory conditions and mill applications. Under laboratory
conditions a slurry mixture was sprayed through both the DescaleJet® Pro and the
second generation descale nozzle. Identical sizes were used for each nozzle series.
The test was stopped every hour and the nozzles were checked for both flow rate
and spray angle at 40 psi. The test was run until the flow rate of all nozzles had
reached 15% above the original flow rate.

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

709
 ISSN 1983-4764

Pro

2nd
Generation

0 50 100 150 200

Figure 9: Time to reach 15% above initial flow rate during accelerated wear test

The DescaleJet® Pro lasted 1.5 times longer than the previous descale nozzle
series. This indicates that a mill will be able to go longer between nozzle changes.
This will allow the mill to run more tons without having to stop to change nozzles.
Mill B was able to see this improvement. Previously they had been using the 2nd
generation descale nozzle in their roughing descaler. After switching to the
DescaleJet® Pro TC3230E nozzle they were able to see a 30% increase in wear life.
No change was made to the water quality at this time. The increased wear life can
be attributed to the improved carbide material. Improving the wear life of the material
has allowed this mill to run longer and see improved descale quality over a longer
period of time.

2.2 Summary

The DescaleJet® Pro has improved and enhanced descale nozzle technology in the
rolling mill. When using the DescaleJet® Pro a mill will benefit by having a wider
effective coverage, higher impact and a longer wear life. This will allow a mill to run
the descale header more efficiently and longer than with previous nozzles.

* Technical contribution to the 51st Rolling Seminar – Processes, Rolled and Coated Products,
October 28th to 31st, 2014, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil.

710