Plant selection for hot strip mill upgrading. Prevention of heat loss using panels

Hot strip mills are being pressed to roll product to ever tighter specifications. Demand is increasing for heavier coils, thinner gauges, harder materials, all with more uniform metallurgical and physical properties. To meet increasingly stringent customer demands many mills are being re-vamped to improve performance. The main problem for the finishing mill is non-uniformity of entry temperatures. Rather than embarking upon expensive hot mill revamps many mill operators would do well to consider simpler and proven means of conserving transfer bar heat and thereby increasing mill output in addition to reducing fuel costs. The first and still the most efficient of such plant is the Encopanel system first installed at BS Lackenby works in 1982. The Encopanel system insulates the transfer roller table between the roughing and finishing mills. This system is described.