The steel blooms leave the Finishing mill. They travel along the live rolls. Detectors measure the length of each bloom. Each bloom will be cut into equal length pieces as required by the customer. The blooms are cut by a steel blade called a hot saw. The pieces are called billets. They are still very hot (950 to 1000°C) at this stage. The billets are collected and placed in cooling pits or beds for controlled cooling. Once cool, send the billets to the Inspection department for final analysis and quality controls.
The Hot Saws
A: Hot bloom approaching the saws
B: Hot saws for cutting the steel blooms
C: Steel billets
D: The live rolls are like a conveyor belt for moving billets
E: Steel billets – ready to be cooled
F: Cooling pits
G: Inspection department for quality control tests. Each billet is checked.
