Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02613975 2007-12-31
TRANSLATION (HM-799PCT):
WO 2007/006,478 Al PCT/EP2006/006,590
METHOD AND PRODUCTION LINE FOR MANUFACTURING METAL STRIPS MADE
OF COPPER OR COPPER ALLOYS
The invention concerns a method and a production line for
producing metal strip from copper or copper alloys by casting
and rolling.
Until now, metal strip of this type made of soft metals,
such as copper or copper alloys, has been produced by casting
in slabs (DE 692 22 504 T2). After it has been cooled, the
slab must be reheated and rolled out to the required thickness
in a hot rolling process. The hot rolling is followed by
milling of the upper and lower surfaces, inspection, and
coiling into a coil. The metal strip is unwound from the coil
and passed through a reversing mill. After a cold rolling
operation, it is coiled into a coil and in this form is
annealed in a box annealing installation for microstructural
refinement or is continuously annealed in uncoiled form. It
is then pickled, washed, dried, and temper rolled, and the
surface is reinspected before the strip is coiled.
The operating costs to be expended for this and the
investment costs for new construction and plant design with
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available useful floor space are basically very high. Metal
strip made of copper or copper alloys are cast and rolled in
horizontal casting processes at, for example, 15-20,000 t/year
and with significantly lower investment costs.
Increased capacity, which is presently demanded by the
market (30,000 to 70,000 t/year), can no longer be
economically achieved with the present cost structure.
The objective of the invention is nevertheless to realize
the increased capacity that is being demanded in combination
with lower operating costs and reduced plant investment costs.
In accordance with the invention, the stated objective is
achieved by casting the melt into copper strip in a vertical
and/or horizontal continuous strip casting process, cleaning
the copper strip by milling its upper side and underside,
subjecting it to a cold rolling process, and preparing it for
shipment, or first annealing, pickling, washing and drying it,
and possibly subjecting it to a temper rolling step, and then
inspecting it and preparing it for shipment. The advantages
are that a slab casting installation, heating of the slab to
rolling temperature, and hot rolling are completely
eliminated. Furthermore, it is advantageous that the cold
rolling process can be flexibly adapted to the planned
production amounts, for example, by virtue of the fact that
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the cold rolling can be operated at optimum strip temperature
on the delivery side.
In one embodiment, stacks of sheets can be produced from
inspected coils by cutting the copper strip to length.
In another embodiment, coilable narrow copper strips can
be produced from inspected coils by slitting the copper strip.
It is advantageous to effect temperature control during
cold rolling by lubricating the copper strip with oil on the
run-in side and cooling it with cold or cryogenic inert gases
on the runout side. Various media can be used for cooling.
In this regard, it is advantageous if the set-point
assignment for the rolling parameters is set to a maximum
strip temperature of 120 C. In this way, the parameters
(actual values) for casting and milling can be connected to
the rolling process.
The method can be still further improved if the coils of
copper strip that have been cold rolled under temperature
control to final strip thickness are further refined in their
microstructure either in a box annealing installation in the
form of a coil or in a continuous annealing operation and then
pickled, washed and dried, subjected to a surface inspection,
and then further processed in coil form.
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The production line for producing metal strip from copper
or copper alloy with at least a melting installation, a
casting installation, and a rolling installation is preferably
designed for cold forming from 23 mm to 0.2 mm copper strip
thickness.
To achieve the stated objective with respect to the
equipment, it is proposed that the melting installation be
followed in succession in the direction of production by at
least one vertical continuous strip casting installation
and/or one horizontal continuous strip casting installation, a
milling installation immediately downstream, a strip uncoiler,
a cold rolling installation, a strip coiler, and an annealing
installation. A casting installation for slabs, which cool
and then must be reheated to rolling temperature in a furnace,
and a hot rolling mill itself are completely eliminated. This
means not only lower capital expenditure for the construction
of the production line but also lower operating expenses
(lower repair costs and shorter repair times) and at the same
time greater productivity of the plant.
Additional advantages are realized in the further course
of the production line:
The cold rolling installation consists of a reversing
mill.
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The milling installation is located immediately
downstream of the vertical continuous strip casting
installation. It is advantageous that the copper strip runs
directly into the next installation.
The vertical continuous strip casting installation, the
milling installation, and the reversing mill follow one
another in immediate succession. The copper strip runs into
the following installation without interruption.
The cold rolling installation consists of a tandem mill.
The vertical continuous strip casting installation, the
milling installation, and the tandem mill follow one another
in immediate succession. The copper strip runs from
installation to installation without interruption.
To realize higher rolling capacities, it is advantageous
for two parallel upstream vertical continuous strip casting
installations and milling installations to be assigned to the
tandem mill.
To realize a higher casting capacity relative to the
rolling installation, one vertical and one horizontal
continuous strip casting installation, each with a milling
installation installed immediately downstream of it, are
installed upstream of the tandem mill.
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When there are two casting installations, the production
line is designed in such a way that with two parallel-casting
vertical continuous strip casting installations, a reversing
mill follows each milling installation.
In another combination for casting / milling and
rolling, parallel-producing vertical and horizontal
continuous strip casting installations are each followed by a
reversing mill.
For all combinations of the production line, it is
provided that the annealing installation consists either of a
box annealing installation for coils or of a continuous
annealing installation in the form of a strip floating
furnace.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method
of producing metal strips from copper or copper alloys by
casting and rolling, the method comprising: casting a melt in
at least one of a vertical and horizontal strip continuous
casting process to form copper strip; cleaning the copper
strip by milling an upper side and a lower side of the copper
strip; cold rolling the copper strip; annealing the copper
strip; and inspecting the copper strip and making ready for
despatch in the form of inspected coils.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a
finishing line for producing metal strips of copper or copper
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alloys, comprising a smelting device wherein arranged in
sequence one after the other to follow the smelting device in
succession in a finishing direction are at least one vertical
strip continuous casting device and horizontal strip
continuous casting device, directly succeeding a milling
device, a coil unrolling device, a cold-rolling device, a
coil rolling-up device and an annealing device..
The drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the
invention, which are explained in greater detail below.
-- Figure 1 shows a modular view of the entire
production line with the individual units.
-- Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a production line
with a combination based on local conditions that consists of
a continuous strip casting installation with a milling
installation.
-- Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a production line
with a combination that consists of a continuous strip
casting installation / milling installation / reversing mill.
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- Figure 4 shows a block diagram of a production line
with a combination that consists of a continuous strip casting
installation / milling installation / and tandem mill.
-- Figure 5 shows a block diagram of a production line
with a combination that consists of a continuous strip casting
installation / milling installation and tandem mill.
-- Figure 6 shows a block diagram of a production line
with two parallel continuous strip casting installations, each
of which is combined with a milling installation, and a tandem
mill.
-- Figure 7 shows a block diagram of a production line
with one vertical and one horizontal continuous strip casting
installation, each of which is immediately followed by a
milling installation, and a tandem mill.
-- Figure 8 shows a block diagram of a production line
with parallel vertical continuous strip casting installations,
followed by parallel milling installations and parallel
reversing mills.
-- Figure 9 shows a production line with a parallel pair
of vertical and horizontal continuous strip casting
installations, each of which is followed by a reversing mill.
To produce a metal strip 1 from a soft material (Figure
1), molten metal 2, e.g., copper or a copper alloy, is cast
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from a melting furnace (not shown in detail) in a continuous
strip casting process, and the copper strip 4 is descaled by
milling 5 with support rollers arranged obliquely opposite
each other on the upper side 5a and the underside 5b of the
copper strip 4, subjected to a cold rolling process 6,
subjected to a surface inspection 12, coiled into a coil 13,
and then prepared for shipment.
A coil 13 can also be returned to the cold rolling
process 6 for further reduction of the thickness 18 of the
copper strip. The microstructure, which is thus very strongly
compressed, is coiled into an inspected coil in a treatment by
annealing 7, pickling 8, washing 9, drying 10 and possibly a
temper rolling step 11, followed by an inspection 12.
Stacked sheets 14 are then produced from the coils 13,
whose surfaces have been inspected, by cutting the copper
strip 4 to length. The sheets are then sent for shipment.
Alternatively, coilable narrow copper strips 17 are produced
from the inspected coils 13 by slitting 16 the copper strip
and are then sent for shipment (in the arrow direction).
To produce a desired microstructure and analogous
properties for the protection of the work rolls, the cold
rolling process 6 can be carried out in such a way that the
copper strip 4 is lubricated with oil on the run-in side
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(Figure 1, left) or cooled and cleaned with cold or cryogenic
inert gases, e.g., nitrogen, on the runout side (Figure 1,
right). The set points for the rolling parameters are set to
a maximum strip temperature of 120 C on the runout side.
The final strip thickness 18 is obtained under
temperature control on the basis of an advantageous process of
this type, and the coils 13 of copper strip are treated either
in a box annealing installation 31 with the strip in coil form
13 (upper part of Figure 1) or by a continuous annealing
process 7 in order to refine the microstructure and to make
the copper strip soft again. This is followed by pickling 8,
washing 9, drying 10, and coiling into coils 13 that have been
subjected to a surface inspection 12.
A melting installation 20 (e.g., an electric furnace)
supplies melt to a casting installation 21, which consists of
a vertical continuous strip casting installation 24a or may
also consist of a horizontal continuous strip casting
installation 24b in special cases or in cases in which such an
installation is already present.
Cold deformation from 23 mm to 0.2 mm copper strip
thickness 18 preferably takes place in a rolling installation
22 immediately downstream of the casting installation 21 and
the milling 5.
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The melting installation 20 is followed in succession in
the direction of production 23 by at least the vertical
continuous strip casting installation 24a or in exceptional
cases an existing horizontal continuous strip casting
installation 24b, an immediately downstream milling
installation 25, a strip uncoiler 26, the cold rolling
installation 22, a strip coiler 27, and an annealing
installation 28, all of which are arranged in succession in
the direction of production 23.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the cold
rolling installation 22 is a reversing mill 29. It is an
essential part of the invention that the milling installation
25 immediately follows the vertical continuous strip casting
installation 24a (or the horizontal continuous strip casting
installation 24b). The milling installation 25 is followed by
a reversing mill 29, the box annealing installation 31, a
strip floating furnace 32a, together with the temper rolling
step 11 and, if desired, a step in which the strip is cut to
length 15 with a flying shear and in which the strip is slit
16 into narrow copper strips.
In the production line according to Figure 3, the
vertical continuous strip casting installation 24a, the
milling installation 25, and the reversing mill 29 form a
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functionally interacting unit.
In Figure 4, the cold rolling unit 22 consists of a
tandem mill 30. The milling installation 25 again follows
directly after the vertical continuous strip casting
installation 24a.
In accordance with Figure 5, which illustrates an
arrangement similar to that of Figure 3, the vertical
continuous strip casting installation 24a, the milling
installation 25, and now a tandem mill 30 form the interacting
unit. The box annealing installation 31, the strip floating
furnace 32a, the temper rolling step 11, and possibly the
cutting to length 15 and/or the slitting 16 follow this unit
in the same way as in the preceding Figures 2 to 4.
In Figure 6, the casting capacity is increased. To this
end, two parallel upstream vertical continuous strip casting
installations 24a, 24a and their associated milling
installations 25 are assigned to the tandem mill 30.
According to Figure 7, one vertical continuous strip
casting installation 24a and one horizontal continuous strip
casting installation 24b, each with its own functionally
connected milling installation 25, are arranged upstream of
the tandem mill 30.
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In Figure 8, two parallel vertical continuous strip
casting installations 24a, 24a and their respective milling
installations 25 are each followed by a reversing mill 29 at a
customary fixed distance.
Figure 9 shows an arrangement in which vertical and
horizontal continuous strip casting installations 24a, 24b in
parallel production are each followed at the customary
distance by a reversing mill 29.
The annealing installation 28 consists either of a box
annealing installation 31 for coils 13 or a continuous
annealing installation 32 in the form of a strip floating
furnace 32a.
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List of Reference Numbers
1 metal strip
2 melt
3 continuous strip casting process
4 copper strip
milling
5a upper side of the metal strip
5b underside of the metal strip
6 cold rolling process
7 annealing
8 pickling
9 washing
drying
11 temper rolling step
12 inspection
13 (inspected) coil
14 sheets
cutting to length
16 slitting
17 narrow copper strips
18 copper strip thickness
19
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20 melting installation
21 casting installation
22 (cold) rolling installation
23 direction of production
24a vertical continuous strip casting installation
24b horizontal continuous strip casting installation
25 milling installation
26 strip uncoiler
27 strip coiler
28 annealing installation
29 reversing mill
30 tandem mill
31 box annealing installation
32 continuous annealing installation
32a strip floating furnace
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