2. Rolling of finished products

2.1 Reheating furnaces

Upon exiting the blooming or continuous casting process, the semi-finished products take the form of:

• blooms: roughly square section measuring 100 mm × 100 mm to 320 mm × 360 mm, their length varies greatly and can exceed 14 m;

• billets: smaller squares (100 mm × 100 mm to 155 mm × 155 mm) of varying lengths, used to feed wire mills and forges.

All these products, generally taken from cold storage, must be heated to a temperature that allows rolling. This temperature is a compromise between easy rolling and fuel economy. It is around 1,200°C for a high-capacity wire rod mill.

To achieve this result depending on the product...