Process and apparatus for Cooling Hot-Rolled Steel Rod

1,173,037. Cooling metal rod. TEMPLE BOROUGH ROLLING MILLS Ltd. and BRITISH ROPES Ltd. July 16, 1968 [July 21, 1967], No.33712/67. Headings C7A and C7N. Steel rod from a rolling mill is, without the positive application of intermediate cooling, formed into non-concentric overlapping rings on a conveyer, and is then cooled forcibly by the application of a coolant which is generally air but may be another gas or a liquid at an average rate of at least 700‹ C. per minute through the range 750‹C. to 500‹C., but not so rapidly that bainite is formed. The rate of cooling through the range in which ferrite or cementite is formed is preferably greater than that through the range in which pearlite is formed and may be at least 1000‹C. per minute. Cooling may be effected by a series of fans, the first of which creates a greater flow of air than do subsequent ones. As shown in Fig. 3, rod leaving the final stand 1 of the mill passes without positive cooling to reeler 4, which causes it to fall in the form of overlapping rings 7 on to conveyer 6, by means of which it is carried through chamber 9 to cooler 20. The conveyer is preferably a roller conveyer, the rollers being tapered to effect relative movement between them and the rings. Chamber 9 is divided by partitions 19 into four sections, each of which has its own fan.