Induction Technology

REPORTS

Induction heating in hot

rolling mills
by Anis Abdurahman, Dirk M. Schibisch
Integrated minimill concepts for the production of hot strip have been in successful operation for many years. All the plant
components, from the vertical casting machine through the roller hearth furnace right up to the compact rolling mill are installed
in line to enable a continuous process from the liquid steel phase right through to the coiled hot strip. Increasing demands
on productivity and the quality of the rolled goods can be met today by integrating flexible induction units into these lines.

ew demands are currently leading to a further

development of the traditional minimill concept
with the following benefits [1]:
Higher production up to 4 mio. t/a
More stable thin strip rolling down to <1 mm as substitution for cold rolling (endless process)
Production of high-strength, cryogenic strips for tube
production in the thickness range 0.5 to 1 inch.
Within these innovative minimills, there is a need for an intelligent temperature increase at various points. Induction heating
is used for this, hence creating an added value for the end
customer that is reflected directly in an improved product
quality with lower production costs and that with a sustainably environmentally friendly, CO2-free method of operation.
One advantage of induction heating is that a large amount
of energy can be introduced into the material to be heated
within a very short time. This physical phenomenon allows
the plant to be built compactly and with a small footprint. The
inductor can be selectively employed where a temperature
increase or temperature adjustment is necessary.

INDUCTION HEATING METHOD

With the induction technology, the metal workpiece is
generally surrounded by a coil in which electricity flows
and is induced a magnetic flux in the workpiece.
This magnetic flux in turn generates an eddy current in
the workpiece which generates heat in the workpiece due
to the specific resistance of the material.
As a result, a contact-free temperature increase can be
achieved in the workpiece thanks to the flow of electricity.
Depending on the power and frequency of the electricity,
the temperature in the workpiece can be very precisely
influenced (Fig. 1).

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In hot rolling lines, different coil forms are used, depending on the slab or strip thickness (Fig. 2).
During longitudinal-field heating, the workpiece is completely surrounded by the coil. The resulting eddy currents
flow at the current penetration depth along the slab surface. It is to be recommended upstream or downstream of
the roller hearth furnace or downstream of the roughing
stand where there is still a sufficient strip thickness.
Thanks to their simple construction, these longitudinalfield inductors are very sturdy and suitable for use in rolling
mills and can therefore be easily integrated into the process.
Transverse-field heating, on the other hand, is used for
thin strips. A special coil construction ensures that the
induced currents do not neutralise one another on the
upper and lower sides of the thin strip. As even very thin
strips can be heated in this way, this method is employed
between the last finishing stands. There they can be moved
into or moved out of the process very flexibly.
The advantages of induction can be summarised as follows:
Energy consumption only during effective production
High power density over a short process length
Competitive price (investment and life cycle costs)
Independent of gas and oil as fuel
U
 niform heating of the slab with short heating time
and reduced scale formation.

BASIC CONFIGURATION OF AN INDUCTION HEATING UNIT IN A ROLLING MILL

The induction heating unit consists of the following modules (Fig. 3):
Mains transformer
Frequency converter
Capacitors

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Induction Technology

REPORTS

Fig. 1:
The principle of
induction heating

Inductor
Recooling system
Open-loop and closed-loop control unit.
The function of the mains transformer is to transform the
mains voltage into the operating voltage of the frequency
converter. The mains transformer acts as the link between
the customers mains power supply and the induction heating unit. The voltage supplied by the mains transformer
is a 3-phase AC voltage. By the frequency converter this
AC voltage is first transformed into DC voltage, and then
converted into single-phase AC voltage with the required
operating frequency.
The capacitors serve as a capacitive energy accumulator
and form the oscillating circuit together with the inductor,
in other words the inductive load. The inductor is a coil
which generates the magnetic field and hence transports
the alternating current from the oscillating circuit into the
workpiece. The inductor proper is water-cooled as it is not

only heated by the high currents, but is also exposed to

the heat radiated by the workpiece.
The busbars and power cables have to transport currents up to 10,000 A and higher. These high currents also
generate heat in all the current-carrying components. This
heat is compensated by the recooler which is designed
according to the process, water temperature and ambient
conditions. It coordinates the amount of cooling water
required during operation. The main components of the
recooler are the heat exchangers which transfer the heat
loss to the works water [2].
The open-loop and closed-loop controller performs the
online commutation of the required power, depending on
the strip speed, strip inlet temperature and the demanded
strip outlet temperature. Furthermore this unit monitors the
actual temperatures, all control and monitoring functions
of the medium-frequency converter and the complete
periphery, including the recooler.

USE OF INDUCTION HEATING IN

HOT ROLLING MILLS
The solidified slab from the thin slab caster enters the roller
hearth furnace with an inlet temperature of around 1,000 C
and leaves it again at around 1,150 C. For some special
applications, e.g. thin strip rolling or for certain materials
such as silicon steel, however, higher slab temperatures are
an advantage. The slab thickness is then reduced in the following hot rolling mill. Fig. 4 shows a CSP hot rolling mill.
Thanks to its compact design, the heating unit can be
employed anywhere in the line where a temperature increase is required for example at the inlet or outlet of the
roller hearth furnace, between the roughing stand and
the first finishing stand of the mill, or between the last
finishing stands.

Fig. 2:
Function of
longitudinal-field
and transverse-field
heating
Longitudinal-field heating for slabs > 5 mm

or slabs > 5 mm

72

Transverse -field heating for strips < 5 mm

Transverse -field heating for strips < 5 mm

Fig. 3: Principle circuit diagram of an induction heating unit

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Induction Technology

USE UPSTREAM OR DOWNSTREAM

OF THE ROLLER HEARTH FURNACE
In modern minimills, the roller hearth furnace can only be
used for holding and buffering of the temperature. An induction heating facility arranged upstream allows the active
heating zone of the roller hearth furnace to be eliminated.
This makes the furnace shorter, hence directly reducing gas
consumption and consequently also the CO2-emissions of the
roller hearth furnace, an induction heating facility can raise
the slab temperature and flexibly adapt the ingoing temperature into the rolling process to an optimum level so that
special processes such as thin strip rolling are also possible.
The temperature gradient caused by the non-uniform
cooling of the slab when the leading end is already in the
rolling mill, while the trailing end is still in the roller hearth furnace is also compensated by intermediate induction heating.
An additional benefit of induction heating downstream
of the roller hearth furnace: The furnace can be operated at
a lower temperature. Apart from the sustainable reduction
in the consumption of fossil fuels, this also results in a longer
service life of the refractory material and of the transport
rollers in the roller hearth furnace. A lasting reduction in
the maintenance costs and times for the conventional roller
hearth furnace can be achieved.
The fact that with induction the heat is generated
directly in the slab and that very fast results in a significant
reduction in scaling of the slab surface. Less scale is formed
due to the short dwell time at the necessary temperature,
leading not only to a higher metallic yield but also to less
wear of the rolls as scale is very abrasive.
The optimum energy efficiency of the whole process is
thus achieved by the intelligent combination of roller hearth
furnace and induction heating unit. As already explained
above, the roller hearth furnace is operated at lower tempe-

Fig. 4: CSP hot rolling mill (source: SMS Siemag)

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REPORTS

ratures and the material and application-specific optimum

rolling temperature is provided flexibly by induction.
Furthermore, at temperatures of around 1,120 C in the
roller hearth furnace, dry rolls can be used to guide the
slab through the furnace. At these temperatures their service life is not limited and no localised heat loss occurs as
would be the case with the water-cooled rolls that would
be absolutely essential at furnace temperatures of above
1,200 C. The gas consumption is significantly reduced.
Thanks to this combination of roller hearth furnace with
dry rollers and induction heating, up to 10 % of the energy
consumption can be saved, depending on the product mix.

USE IN THE VARIO ROLLING MILL

In Vario rolling mills, induction heating is employed between
the roughing stand and the first finishing stand. This is an
innovative technology for the production of micro-alloyed
steel grades in API quality, i.e. for high-quality tube steels.
The induction heating ensures a uniform temperature
level between these two mill stands so that a higher relative
thickness reduction is achieved. The high temperature level
allows higher degrees of forming to be attained.
Furthermore, the as-cast microstructure is completely
eliminated and a very homogeneous microstructure is obtained thanks to recrystallisation even in up to 20 mm thick
slabs. The following Fig. 5 shows the metallurgical effect [3].
One example shows the two retractable induction units
between the roughing stand and the finishing stand for
a high production capacity of up to 4mio. t of API steel
grades, e.g. API X70 (Fig. 6).

USE OF THE ENDLESS ROLLING PROCESS

The endless rolling process is outstandingly suitable for
stable production of thin strips down to < 1 mm and can

Fig. 5: Metallurgical effect of recrystallisation

73

Induction Technology

source: SMS Siemag

REPORTS

Fig. 6: Retractable induction units

between roughing stand and
finishing stand. Each unit has a
maximum output of 4.5 MW with
600 mm installation space

Fig. 7: Induction reheating between

the finishing stands for selective
temperature increases during the
rolling of thin strip grades

thus replace cold rolling in some cases. The maximum

rolling speed, however, is limited to 8 m/s. During the rolling process, the strip continuously loses heat. If a given
temperature now has to be reached at the last mill stand
for either metallurgical or process reasons, this can only be
achieved by selective induction reheating between the last
two or three intermediate stands (Fig. 7).
In the example, a temperature of around 950 C is necessary at finishing stand 6. Since, due to the relatively slow rolling
speed, this temperature is already reached behind finishing
stand 3, three integrated induction heating units between
the last three finishing stands can ensure the necessary temperature of 950 C at the end of the rolling process (Fig. 8).

CONCLUSION
Induction heating is an energy-efficient process with a high
specific power density over short process lengths and can
thus be outstandingly integrated into or even retrofitted
in innovative minimill production lines.
A downstream induction temperature booster allows the
conventional furnace to be shortened and operated at lower
temperatures. This helps to maximise the service life of the
refractory material and of the furnace rollers. Furthermore, it
enables the use of non-cooled dry rollers which, with a given
production mix, allows an energy saving of around 10 %
compared with operation with cooled transport rollers.
At the same time the use of induction sustainably reduces the gas consumption of the roller hearth furnace, and
hence the CO2-emissions.
The flexible temperature control of the induction heating permits optimum inlet temperatures into the rolling
mill. The higher temperature level between the first two
mill stands permits a larger thickness reduction, the com-

74

Fig. 8: Flexible transverse-field modules

with a maximum output of 3.2 MW
with 550 mm installation space

plete elimination of the as-cast structure and recrystallisation of the microstructure.

In the endless rolling process for very thin strip grades
or silicon steels, compact, integrated induction units between the finishing stands compensate the temperature
loss and guarantee the right temperature level at the end
of the finishing mill.
Overall, induction heating in minimills offers the operators a wide range of new possibilities which further increase their competitiveness and permit the production of
particularly lucrative steel grades.

LITERATURE
[1] Newsletter Metec special edition June 2011
[2] Development and evaluation of inductive reheating concepts
in the hot rolling mill [Vogt: Elotherm; Master thesis 2011]
[3] Newsletter SMS group 3/2011

AUTHORS
Dipl.-Ing. Anis Abdurahman
SMS Elotherm GmbH
Remscheid, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)2191/ 891-319
a.abdurahman@sms-elotherm.com
Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. Dirk M. Schibisch
SMS Elotherm GmbH
Remscheid, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)2191/ 891-300
d.schibisch@sms-elotherm.com

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