Intermediate thickness twin slab caster and inline hot strip and plate line

A method of making coiled plate, sheet in coil form or discrete plate comprising the steps of:

• a) selectively continuously casting either a single strand having an intermediate thickness and a width up to about 125 inches or a pair of strands each having an intermediate thickness and a total width of said pair of strands to about 120 inches;
• b) shearing each said strand into a slab of predetermined length;
• c) flat passing said slab back and forth through a pair of tandem hot reversing mills to form an intermediate product of a thickness sufficient for coiling, wherein said pair of tandem hot reversing mills has a coiling furnace on each of an upstream and downstream side;
• d) coiling said intermediate product in one of said coiler furnaces;
• e) passing said coiled intermediate product at least once between said coiler furnaces through said pair of tandem mills to reduce said coiled intermediate product to an end product of desired thickness;
• and
• f) finishing said end product into one of coiled plate, discrete plate or sheet in coiled form.

An intermediate thickness slab caster and inline hot strip and plate line comprising:

• a) a continuous twin strip caster for forming either a single strand having a width up to about 125 inches or two parallel strands having a total width of said pair of strands up to about 120 inches;
• b) an inline shear means for cutting each said strand to a slab of desired length;
• c) a reheat furnace inline with said shear means;
• d) a pair of tandem hot reversing mills inline with said reheat furnace for reducing each said slab exiting said reheat furnace to an intermediate thickness product sufficient for coiling;
• e) a pair of coiler furnaces, one located upstream of said tandem hot reversing mills and the other downstream, said coiler furnaces capable of receiving and paying out said intermediate thickness product as it is passed between the coiler furnaces and through said tandem hot reversing mills as the product is being reduced to an end product thickness;
• and
• f) a finishing line downstream of and inline with said pair of coiler furnaces and said tandem hot reversing mills.

An intermediate thickness slab caster and inline hot strip and plate line comprising:

• a) a continuous strip caster for forming at least one strand of an intermediate thickness;
• b) inline shear means downstream of said caster means for cutting each said strand to a slab of a desired length;
• c) a slab conveyor table inline with said shear means;
• d) a reheat furnace having an entry end inline with said slab conveyor table for receiving slabs therefrom;
• e) a feed and run back table positioned at an exit end of said reheat furnace;
• f) a hot reversing mill means inline with said feed and run back table for reducing each said slab exiting said reheat furnace to an intermediate thickness product sufficient for coiling in a minimum number of flat passes, said hot reversing mill means including at least two hot reversing mills;
• g) a pair of coiler furnaces, one located upstream of said hot reversing mill means and the other located downstream, said coiler furnaces capable of receiving and paying out said intermediate thickness product as it is passed between the coiler furnaces and through said hot reversing mill means so as to be reduced to an end product thickness;
• and
• h) a finishing line downstream of and inline with said pair of coiler furnaces and said hot reversing mill means.

An inline method of casting steel slabs and converting them into finished strip or plate product comprising the steps of:

• a) simultaneously casting two strands from a single caster;
• b) cutting each of said strands into a plurality of slabs of predetermined length;
• c) feeding such slabs into an inline heating furnace;
• d) extracting said slabs onto a continuous processing line including at least two reducing mills and a pair of coiler furnaces, one said coiler furnace positioned upstream of said two reducing mills and the other coiler furnace positioned downstream of said two reducing mills;
• and
• e) reducing said slabs into a product of desired thickness on said at least two reducing mills.