ELECTRO-TREATMENT OF CONTINUOUS STRIP

1455989 Electrolytic treatment of moving continuous strip USS ENGS & CONSULTANTS Inc 7 July 1975 [21 Jan 1975] 28576/75 Heading C7B Continuous strip 3 is passed horizontally through a bath 2 between at least two (or preferably an odd number) electrode pairs 5a-5b, 6a-6b, 7a-7b, arranged in the bath with their axes parallel to the plane of the strip and extending perpendicular to the direction of strip travel. The upper electrode of each pair has a convex surface facing the top of the strip, and the electrodes of each pair are offset by a distance between vertical axes through their longitudinal axes which is greater than half the sum of their effective cross-sectional widths. Insulating baffles 9 between each electrode pair allow strip passage while constraining the major portion of the electric current to travel through the strip. The power supply G is adapted to provide a current density of 500-10000ASF, and adjacent pairs of electrodes are maintained at opposite polarity while electrodes of each pair are equipotential. Non- conducting rollers and rods 4a, 4b, 8 prevent strip/ electrode contact and headers 10 provide electrolyte flow sufficient to prevent concentration polarization. Pickling of ferrous metal in H 2 SO 4 is referred to.