Abstract: Direct flame preheating section for continuous metal strip processing lines, comprising a connecting zone between an active zone provided with burners capable of operating in “no flame” mode and a recuperative zone for preheating the strip by exchange with combustion fumes originating from the active zone, the connecting zone having chambers capable of orienting the flow of fumes such that they flow head-on relative to the strip when exiting the active zone and entering the recuperative zone depending on the direction of flow of the fumes.

Abstract: Method for reducing unevenness in a strip subjected to cooling by spraying of liquid, or a mixture of gas and liquid, along a cooling zone of a continuous heat treatment one, the cooling intensity being adjusted in the direction of travel of the strip so as to achieve a relative position between the Leidenfrost temperature and at least one temperature at which the metallurgical structure changes such that said cooling intensity minimizes the internal stresses of the strip, and device for implementing the method.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for removing residues present on a metal strip at the outlet of a cooling stage of a continuous line, the residues being formed during a cooling of said metal strip by a non-oxidizing liquid solution for the metal strip and a stripping liquid solution for the oxides present on the surface of the strip, or by a mixture of this liquid solution and a gas. The method according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a step of reducing the residues by hydrogen.

Abstract: Disclosed is a device for removing mattes from the surface of a liquid metal bath inside a duct of a line for continuously coating a metal strip having first and second faces, the first face being intended to come into contact with a bottom roller, comprising a compartment via which the liquid metal inside the duct is replenished by being drawn off by a pump to which the compartment is connected, characterized in that the compartment is capable of being removed by disassembly means without the metal strip needing to be cut.

Abstract: A method for controlling a furnace for reheating iron and steel products, comprising forming an infrared image, using an infrared camera, of an upper face of a product over the width and at least partially over the length thereof when said product is arranged on a predetermined discharging surface; digital processing comprising binarization of the infrared image into two classes of pixels, one class that corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of scale that is bonded on the face of the product and one class that corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of scale that is not bonded on the face of the product; determining the amounts of non-bonded scale and of bonded scale on the upper face of the product on the basis of the binarized image; modifying furnace control parameters on the basis of the determined amounts of non-bonded scale and of bonded scale.

Abstract: Rapid cooling section of a continuous metal strip treatment line, where the strip is cooled with a spray of liquid or a mixture of gas and liquid using nozzles located on each side of the strip. Along the direction of movement of the strip, it includes at least one row of flat spray nozzles across the strip followed by at least one row of cone spray nozzles across the strip.

Abstract: A heat energy recovery installation installed on a beam reheating furnace equipped with burners includes a turbine that generates electricity by implementing a Rankine cycle on an organic fluid coming from calories derived partly from the fluid used for cooling the tubular beams via a first intermediate circuit, and in part from flue gases from the burners by way of a second intermediate circuit.

Abstract: The invention concerns a method for accentuating the orientation of the grains of a continuous steel sheet (1), in particular for producing electrical sheet steel, said method involving, during the movement of the steel sheet (1) in the longitudinal direction of same, a longitudinal stretching of the steel sheet (1) in a stretch region (1d) in which the steel sheet (1) moves at a temperature of between approximately 750° C. and approximately 900° C. The invention also concerns a device for implementing said method in which the stretching is carried out by two tensioning blocks (41, 42) comprising traction rollers arranged to move and guide the steel sheet (1). The invention further concerns a facility for producing electrical sheet steel comprising a line comprising a rolling mill and on which said method and said device are implemented downstream from the rolling mill.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and device for determining the loss on ignition of at least part of an iron and steel product during passage through a furnace upstream of a descaler. The device includes electromagnetic sensors, with at least one arranged to scan the product's lower surface near the furnace outlet, the sensor oriented so the scanning plane of the electromagnetic radiation from the sensor is perpendicular to a direction of movement; a set of at least two electromagnetic sensors upstream of the descaler, oriented so their scanning planes are substantially on a single plane perpendicular to the direction of movement of the at least part of the product; and at least two electromagnetic sensors downstream of the descaler, oriented so their scanning planes are substantially on a single plane perpendicular to the product's movement direction. The sensors determine the height of the product upstream and downstream of the descaler.

Abstract: A heat energy recovery installation installed on a beam reheating furnace equipped with burners includes a turbine that generates electricity by implementing a Rankine cycle on an organic fluid coming from calories derived partly from the fluid used for cooling the tubular beams via a first intermediate circuit, and in part from flue gases from the burners by way of a second intermediate circuit.

Abstract: A method for reducing nitrogen oxide NOx emissions during combustion of a gaseous fuel in a burner intended for a naked-flame or controlled-atmosphere reheating furnace, for reheating steel products or for continuous coating and/or annealing of metal strips, wherein a first dilution is carried out by mixing combustion air with combustion products upstream from or in the body of the burner, and a second dilution is carried out directly at the level at which the gaseous fuel reacts with the combustion air, mixing the fuel with a recirculated portion of the flame or products of partial combustion, the double dilution enabling the physical and chemical properties of the gas to be modified in order for the burner to operate with low oxygen rates and obtain a flame that produces a very low level of NOx production regardless of the temperature of the enclosure in which the combustion takes place.

Abstract: Burner for an oven for reheating siderurlogical products such as billets, blooms or slabs, or for heat treatment oven, which is equipped with a fuel injection device and with an oxidant feed body feeding feed orifices with oxidant, the burner having an axial direction; the injection device is designed to provide a central injection of fuel via an orifice in, or parallel to, the axial direction of the burner; the oxidant feed body includes two sets of four oxidant feed orifices, each set including two orifices situated above a horizontal plane passing through the axial direction of the burner, and two orifices situated below this plane, the orifices of a second set being further away from the horizontal plane than those of the first set, the geometric axes of the orifices of the two sets making angles of inclination with respect to the axial direction of the burner.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for continuous thermal treatment of a steel strip. The strip passes through consecutive thermal treatment chambers, is quickly cooled in at least one of the chambers by spraying liquid onto the strip, or by spraying a fluid made up of gas and liquid or spraying a combination of gas and liquid forming a mist. After quick cooling, a protective metal layer is deposited on the strip by dip coating. The cooling fluid strips iron oxides or other alloy elements contained in the steel to be treated, minimizing oxidation and reducing the oxides on the strip. Spray pressure and distance are chosen to facilitate the stripping property and the mechanical action of the sprayed fluid, reducing the layer of oxides on the strip. The temperature of the strip at the end of the cooling step is the temperature necessary for carrying out the desired treatment cycle.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for optimizing the supply of energy, over a time interval I of duration D, to an installation equipped with N energy distribution devices operating in all-or-nothing mode and by duration modulation, an operation duration Ai being allocated to each of the N energy distribution devices over the time interval I by a command/control system of the installation. According to the method: a schedule is defined over the time interval I by means of the time division of the set of operating sequences of the N energy distribution devices (B1, B2 . . .

Abstract: The invention relates to a heat recuperator (R) for a radiating tube burner having a burner pipe and an exhaust pipe (1), the recuperator being placed at the outlet of the exhaust pipe (1) and including a heat exchanger (E) that comprises: an outgoing section (5) for directing the air to be preheated to a ferrule (6), placed on the end of the recuperator, from the fume intake side, and a return section (7) opening towards a pipe (8) for supplying air from the burner, the assembly being provided such that part of the fumes are led through, and mix with, the combustion air; the heat exchanger (E) occupies only part of the cross-section of the exhaust pipe (1), the other part (1a) of the cross-section remaining free for the fumes; the combustion air is heated by the fumes in the outgoing section (5) and in the return section (7), being radially shifted outside the outgoing section (5) and immersed in the fumes.

Abstract: Furnace for melting batch materials comprising: a tank (3) covered by a crown (4); a combustion zone (5) provided with burners (6); an inlet (8) for charging it with the batch materials; a downstream outlet for the melted materials, the tank containing a melt (7) when the furnace is operating and the batch materials forming a batch blanket (G) that floats on the melt and is progressively melted; the furnace includes, near the charging inlet (8), an intense heating means (B), predominantly covering the width of the batch blanket, for melting a surface layer of the materials introduced and for increasing the emissivity of the batch blanket.

Abstract: A method for printing a precision structure on the surface of a glass strip advancing continuously at a rate of at least 1 m/min, using an etching roller (27) applying a printing force against the surface to be etched, the structure to be produced including protruding and recessed regions which have radii of curvature, a preliminary thermal conditioning (26 and 32) being performed upstream of the etching roller; the thermal conditioning is designed to ensure a temperature of the strip (J) over the print thickness and a cooling (29) downstream of the etching roller (27) to ensure a controlled fixing of the structure; the method according to the invention making it possible to determine the parameters that are intimately linked for obtaining a particular structure, notably the print temperature, the printing force and the cooling rate, taking into account a degree of creep between the molding radius (R1) and the post-creep radius (R2).

Abstract: Unit for the surface treatment of flat glass, in particular in the form of a ribbon or a sheet, especially by modifying the chemical, optical or mechanical properties, or the deposition of one or more thin films, comprising heating and cooling means for creating a controlled temperature gradient through the thickness of the glass, means for heating that face to be treated, in order for it to always be at the required temperatures and for the times necessary for obtaining effective treatments of the surface thereof and means for cooling the opposite face in order for this opposite face to have a viscosity of between 1013 dPa·s and 2.3×1010 dPa·s.

Abstract: Method and device for coating a continuously moving metal strip, according to which said strip, after having received its coating, is heated in a heating section, especially for evaporating solvents and for drying or curing the coating, and then cooled in water. A continuous series of sheet-metal elements is provided between the inlet of the tunnel furnace and the outlet of the water cooler so as to make the whole assembly gas-tight, and a device for atmosphere separation by injection of a gas at a temperature above the dew point of the solvents is placed between the outlet of the tunnel furnace and the inlet of the water cooler.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for monitoring the cooling of a moving metal belt (B) in a cooling section of a continuous processing line by spraying a liquid or a mixture consisting of a gas and a liquid onto the belt, the cooling depending on parameters including the temperature, speed, and current characteristics of a cooling liquid, wherein according to said method: one or more areas are determined in which cooling parameters are such that the local removal of a vapor film on the surface of the hot belt is carried out or capable being carried out, leading to the redampening of the belt; and at least the temperature of the cooling liquid is adjusted as a cooling parameter in the thus-determined area(s) so as to maintain, or return to, a cooling into a vapor film on the surface of the belt.