High-Temperature Slab Handling Overhead Crane: Continuous Casting and Slab Yard Operations
High-temperature slab handling overhead crane is a specialized lifting device designed for handling slabs, particularly high-temperature slabs. It is mainly used to transport hot slabs from the continuous casting line to slab yards or reheating furnaces, as well as to handle room-temperature slabs in finished product yards for stacking and vehicle loading/unloading operations. The crane is capable of lifting slabs or large billets with a thickness of 150 mm or more. The temperature of hot slabs can exceed 650 °C.
- Capacity: 20 t – 150 t
- Span: 17 m – 39 m
- Lifting height: 5 m – 23 m
High-Temperature Slab Handling Overhead Crane Advantage
- High Load Capacity: The crane features a heavy-duty structure that is robust, durable, and capable of handling large loads, making it suitable for harsh working conditions. The hoisting mechanism is flexibly connected to the bridge girder, ensuring balanced force distribution and enabling quick and easy installation.
- Real-Time Monitoring: High-precision sensors are installed in the hoisting mechanism to enable real-time monitoring. This ensures smooth and synchronized lifting at dual lifting points with minimal comprehensive synchronization error.
- Stable Anti-Sway Performance: The entire crane is equipped with variable frequency drive (VFD) control, providing smooth starting and braking for safe and convenient operation. A combination of wire ropes and a rigid anti-sway device enhances lifting safety while effectively reducing load swing.
- High-Temperature Resistance: Key structural components such as the main girder and end carriages are protected with thermal insulation measures, allowing the crane to withstand intense heat radiation and ensuring long-term stable operation in high-temperature workshop environments.
High-Temperature Slab Handling Overhead Crane Application
The slab handling overhead crane is a key logistics equipment in the iron and steel metallurgical industry. It is mainly used for the transfer, stacking, and process handling of slabs, especially high-temperature slabs, and plays a critical role in core production stages. Its typical application scenarios are concentrated in three major areas of steel production:
- Continuous Casting Workshop: In continuous casting shops, this type of overhead crane is responsible for transferring hot slabs from the caster run-out roller table to the slab buffer area. It is required to accurately grip high-temperature continuously cast slabs at 600–1200 °C and lift them to the slab cooling area or transport them directly to the hot rolling mill.
- Hot Rolling Mill Charging Bay: In the raw material bay of the hot rolling mill, the slab handling crane mainly performs slab yard stacking management and truck loading operations. It must handle slabs of different specifications, using adjustable slab tongs to accommodate varying slab thicknesses and widths. Slab tongs equipped with a rotating function can turn slabs by 180 degrees, meeting the furnace orientation requirements of the hot rolling process.
- Slab Finishing Area: The crane is used for slab surface inspection, grinding, and finished slab stacking. Although the ambient temperature in this area is relatively lower, high positioning accuracy is required, typically within ±3 mm. In some steel plants with plate production lines, this type of overhead crane is also responsible for transferring slabs from the reheating furnace to the rolling mill, placing extremely high demands on the reliability and operational stability of the equipment.
High-Temperature Slab Handling Overhead Crane Cases
50+50 Ton Slab Handling Overhead Crane for Shandong Iron and Steel Group
- The crane is equipped with electrically adjustable slab tongs as the lifting device, integrated with multiple monitoring and sensing systems, digital speed control, and advanced automation control technologies.
- Due to the harsh working environment with intense heat radiation, where slab temperatures can exceed 650 °C, the crane extensively uses high-strength materials to enhance service life. Digital speed control systems and guiding devices ensure smooth operation and precise positioning.
- Multiple monitoring and sensing systems—including PLC control, weighing systems, fault display, and positioning devices—are applied to the crane, providing a solid foundation for future automation and intelligent control upgrades.
- While improving overall performance, the crane incorporates multi-directional maintenance-free design features from a human-centered perspective, significantly reducing maintenance workload and labor intensity.
Slab Handling Overhead Crane for Steel Plants
- The hoisting mechanism adopts a dual lifting point, four-rope reeving system, providing enhanced safety and reliable load handling.
- A two-girder, two-rail configuration with an integral trolley assembly ensures uniform wheel load distribution and stable operation.
- The slab tong lifting device is equipped with clamping force assurance measures. The tong tips and jaws are made of special heat-resistant and wear-resistant materials, suitable for high-temperature slab handling.
- Variable frequency speed control is applied to all crane motions, offering energy-efficient operation, smooth performance, and convenient handling.
