Roll for handling a load in a furnace usable in a continuous casting and rolling process for thin carbon steel slabs

A water-cooled handling roll for handling a load, in particular a thin slab, in a furnace for heating, temperature maintaining and for buffering of said load in a continuous casting and rolling process, wherein said water-cooled handling roll comprises:

• a first shaft internally hollow, which longitudinally runs around a first longitudinal axis, said first shaft comprising an outermost surface and an innermost surface, wherein said outermost surface of said first shaft is coated by an insulating and/or refractory material, and wherein said innermost surface of said first shaft defines an inner cavity of said first shaft;
• a plurality of supporting wheels for supporting said load, said supporting wheels being stably fixed to said outermost surface of said first shaft;
• a second shaft arranged within said inner cavity of said first shaft in a position coaxial to said first shaft, an outermost surface of said second shaft having, over at least a first longitudinal length, a smaller diameter than the diameter of said inner cavity of said first shaft so as to define a gap between said first shaft and said second shaft,
• centering rings arranged inside said gap and stably integral with said second shaft, said centering rings having a diameter smaller than said diameter of said inner cavity of said first shaft;
• cooling water circulation means housed at least in part within said second shaft.