From scrap to finished bars: the machines a steel mill needs
A step-by-step guide to melting, casting and rolling steel, the machine that does each job, and how to ask Jantrayan for a quotation.
What machine are you looking for?
Type a machine name or a step of the work.
- Scrap shear
- Baling press
- Induction furnace
- Ladle
- Continuous casting machine
- Reheating furnace
- Rolling mill stands
- Quenching system
- Cooling bed
- Cold shear
- Bundling machine
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Steel machines
Step 1: Scrap preparation
Scrap shear
A heavy hydraulic blade that cuts long or bulky scrap into pieces that fit the furnace.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 1: Scrap preparation
Baling press
Squeezes loose, light scrap into dense bales, so it charges into the furnace easily and melts evenly.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 2: Melting
Induction furnace
A crucible wrapped in a water-cooled copper coil; an electric current induces heat inside the scrap until it melts.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 2: Melting
Ladle
A steel vessel lined with refractory brick that carries molten steel from the furnace to the casting machine; its chemistry is adjusted here.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 3: Continuous casting
Continuous casting machine
Pours molten steel into a water-cooled mould, from which a solid square strand is drawn out and cut into billets.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 4: Reheating
Reheating furnace
A long, fuel-fired furnace that heats cold billets evenly through to rolling temperature.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 5: Rolling
Rolling mill stands
Pairs of grooved rolls in a row; each pass squeezes the hot billet longer and thinner until it becomes a bar of the right size.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 5: Rolling
Quenching system
Sprays water onto the hot bar as it leaves the last stand, hardening its surface while the core stays tough.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 6: Cooling and bundling
Cooling bed
A wide rack of notched bars that walks the hot bars sideways through the air until they are cool and straight.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 6: Cooling and bundling
Cold shear
Cuts the cooled bars, several at a time, to standard lengths.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machineStep 6: Cooling and bundling
Bundling machine
Counts the cut bars, gathers them into bundles and ties them with wire for dispatch.
Availability subject to feasibility check
Request this machine
How a steel mill works
The main steps in a mill that melts scrap and rolls it into bars, and the type of machine that usually does each one. Some mills buy billets and only roll.
Scrap preparation
Scrap is sorted, cut to size and pressed into bales so it melts evenly.
Machines at this step: Scrap shear, Baling press
Melting
Scrap is melted in a furnace and the chemistry of the steel is adjusted in the ladle.
Machines at this step: Induction furnace, Ladle
Continuous casting
Molten steel is cast into long square bars called billets, which are cut to length as they cool.
Machines at this step: Continuous casting machine
Reheating
Billets are heated evenly in a furnace until they are soft enough to roll.
Machines at this step: Reheating furnace
Rolling
The hot billet passes through a line of rolling stands that make it longer and thinner, then water cooling hardens the surface of the bar.
Machines at this step: Rolling mill stands, Quenching system
Cooling and bundling
Bars cool on a bed, are cut to standard lengths, counted, tagged and bundled.
Machines at this step: Cooling bed, Cold shear, Bundling machine
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