The section rolling mill

Put into operation for first test rollings in the summer of 1984, the section rolling mill of Stahlwerk Thüringen GmbH was erected between 1980 and 1984 as a combined section rolling mill. Maxhütte Unterwellenborn awarded the contract for the construction of this mill to a Belgium consortium. The rolling mill started production in 1985. The necessary equipment was installed by "Schloemann & Siemag", a company based in Düsseldorf. In the summer of 2002 important plant equipment of the mill were replaced by new ones (reheating furnace, staging, straightener, saws, and automation system).

This roll mill, one of the most modern section mills of its kind in Europe, provides facilities for rolling both Duo and universal rolling processes. In contrast to continuous operation where the sections are rolled in staging arranged one after the other, in this reversing mill the section bar is run forwards and backwards in several passes through rolls that are either provided with "grooves" or universal rolling processes.

Before rolling, the beam blanks are placed in a natural gas fired pusher furnace where the products, the beam blanks - both our own as well as those from external suppliers - are heated to a temperature of approximately 1,200 °C.

exit pusher type furnace

Beam blanks that have been cast at our own steel plant (hot charging) are about 500 °C hot when charged into the furnace. This warmth "transfer" creates heating energy savings and therefore synergy effects. This is done by water under high pressure (170 bar). A machine will take the blanks out of the furnace that have then the correct temperature for rolling. Layers of oxide that have built up during the reheating process are removed by means of a high-pressure water descaler (170 bar).

roughing stand

tandem group

The three rolling stand assemblies in the rolling mill include, in the rolling sequence, a break down stand coupled with a cropping saw, a tandem group and a finishing group.

Using beam blanks of the almost finished dimensions from the electric steel plant means fewer passes through the rolls and less rolling time per blank.

cooling bed