Dual-purpose facility of continuous hot-dip coating and continuous annealing

A dual-purpose facility of continuous hot-dip coating and continuous annealing which is configured so as to be switched between a continuous hot-dip coated material production line in which a steel strip annealed in an annealing furnace including a cooling zone is immersed into a hot-dip coating bath and a continuous annealed material production line in which the steel strip bypasses the hot-dip coating bath and is guided out of the annealing furnace into an air outside the furnace, the dual-purpose facility comprising:

• a gas discharge path that discharges atmosphere gas in the annealing furnace from a gas discharge port provided in an outlet side of the annealing furnace into the air outside the annealing furnace, the gas discharge port positioned downstream from the cooling zone;
• and
• a path opening and closing unit for opening and closing the gas discharge path,
• wherein the path opening and closing unit opens the gas discharge path when the dual-purpose facility is used as the continuous hot-dip coated material production line and closes the gas discharge path when the dual-purpose facility is used as the continuous annealed material production line.