US 9,180,506 B2Granted

Manufacturing methods and apparatus for targeted cooling in hot metal rolling

AssigneeNovelis Inc.

InventorsKrzysztof Ryszard Januszkiewicz, Timothy Francis Stanistreet

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Abstract

A rolling mill apparatus and methods of hot rolling with targeted cooling. In one aspect, a mill having multiple roller stacks includes a cooling system that directs the bulk coolant flow to a heat exchanger having first and second heat exchangers in parallel. The first heat exchanger is adapted to cool the heated coolant to a first temperature for use in a first coolant stream discharged through a first set of nozzles during rolling, while the second heat exchanger is adapted to cool heated coolant to a lower temperature for use in a second coolant stream at a second temperature lower than the first for discharge through a second set of nozzles downstream to facilitate rolling or coiling of the rolled metal.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A sheet metal rolling apparatus for rolling a sheet metal, said sheet metal rolling apparatus comprising:

a first roll stand and a second roll stand positioned in series in a conveyance direction along which the sheet metal is conveyed, wherein each of the first and second roll stands includes a pair of rolls through which the sheet metal is rolled in the conveyance direction from an entry side to an exit side of each pair of rolls;
a first set of cooling nozzles for discharging a cooling fluid to an entry surface of the pair of rolls of one of the first and second roll stands, the first set of cooling nozzles comprising one or more cooling nozzles;
a second set of cooling nozzles for discharging the cooling fluid to an exit surface of the pair of rolls of one of the first and second roll stands downstream of the first set of cooling nozzles along the conveyance direction, the second set of cooling nozzles comprising one or more cooling nozzles;
a heat exchanger system that cools the cooling fluid heated by at least one of the pair of rolls after discharge from the first and second set of cooling nozzles sufficiently for subsequent discharge through the first and second set of cooling nozzles, wherein the heat exchanger system comprises:
a first heat exchanger for transferring heat from the heated cooling fluid to cool the cooling fluid to a first temperature;
and
a second heat exchanger for transferring heat from the heated cooling fluid to cool the cooling fluid to a second temperature lower than the first temperature;
and
a piping system through which the cooling fluid collected after discharge from the first and second sets of cooling nozzles is transported to the heat exchanger system and the first and second set of cooling nozzles, the piping system routed such that cooling fluid exiting the first heat exchanger is discharged by the first set of cooling nozzles and cooling fluid exiting the second heat exchanger is discharged by the second set of cooling nozzles.

6 more elements

A method of sheet metal rolling, said method comprising:

rolling a sheet metal between a pair of rolls of each of a first roll stand and a second roll stand of a rolling mill, the first and second roll stands positioned in series along a conveyance path of the sheet metal;
discharging a cooling fluid at a first temperature from a first set of cooling nozzles during rolling to an entry surface of the pair of rolls of one of the first and second roll stands;
discharging the cooling fluid at a second temperature from a second set of cooling nozzles to an exit surface of the pair of rolls of one of the first and second roll stands during rolling, wherein the second temperature is lower than the first temperature and wherein the second set of cooling nozzles is downstream of the first set of cooling nozzles along the conveyance path;
collecting the cooling fluid discharged from the first and second set of cooling nozzles, the cooling fluid having been heated by the sheet metal during rolling;
cooling a first portion of the collected cooling fluid in a first heat exchanger to the first temperature by pumping the cooling fluid therethrough;
cooling a second portion of the collected cooling fluid in a second heat exchanger to the second temperature by pumping the cooling fluid therethrough;
and
pumping the cooling fluid cooled in the first heat exchanger to the first set of cooling nozzles concurrent with the pumping of the cooling fluid cooled in the second heat exchanger to the second set of cooling nozzles.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/201,303Filed 7 Mar 2014 · us provisional application
Priority: 15 Mar 2013
Published: US 2014/0260483 A118 Sep 2014
Granted: 10 Nov 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

B21B 37/74
Control devices or methods specially adapted for metal-rolling mills or the work produced thereby: temperature control, e.g. by cooling or heating…
B21B 1/26
In a continuous or semi-continuous process: by hot-rolling , e.g. Steckel hot mill
B21B 27/10
Lubricating, cooling or heating rolls: externally
B21B 45/0206
Cooling: coolants