HICON/H2
horizontal bright annealing line for steel strip
HICON/H2
horizontal bright annealing line for steel strip

EBNER | Products | Steel industry | Bright annealing line for steel strip

Heat treatment furnace facilities for the steel industry

HICON/H2 bright annealing lines

for low-alloyed and high-alloyed steel strip and special grades.

Highest quality, greatest efficiency and best performance for alloyed steel strip.

These factors define our bright annealing lines and are the basis for global success. Today, more than 60 bright annealing lines produce material to the strictest quality standards in 16 countries.

EBNER‘s integrated strip cleaning system optimally prepares the strip for downstream heat treatment.

The EBNER bright annealing concept in vertical or horizontal form is designed with the proven muffle concept to make use of the pure hydrogen atmosphere with lowest dewpoint
(-60 °C) for these oxidation-prone alloys. The result is a clean, damage-free surface as well as perfect mechanical values in the annealed strips.

EBNER technology can process strip with a very high width to thickness ratio. Strip processed at these facilities, at temperatures up to 1230 °C, may range between 0.025 and 5.0 mm in thickness and up to 1600 mm in width.

On request, the facility can be implemented to comply with standards required by the automotive or aerospace industry according to CQI-9 (AIAG) or AMS2750.

Advantages of the EBNER bright annealing design concept:

Muffle design (metallically-encapsulated workload space)

  • lowest dewpoints (-60 °C)
  • shortest purging and heating-up times (abt. 10 h)
  • processing temperatures up to 1230 °C (through use of our patented double-muffle design)
  • lowest possible amount of heat loss (process atmosphere cannot penetrate the insulation)
 

Muffle may expand freely (liquid seal)

  • no force exerted on muffle
  • highly-stable muffle shape
  • long muffle service life

100 % hydrogen atmosphere and defined atmosphere flow

  • oxide-free strip surface thanks to best possible H2/H2O ratio (REDOX potential)
  • boron dust issues are minimized
 

Integrated dancer (inside workload space)

  • precise regulation of strip tension in the furnace, without influence on the sealing system
  • lowest possible strip tensions
  • processing thin strip and foil is possible
  • prevention of strip breaks

Hands-free heat treatment

  • flawless strip surface

Heating technology

  • tuned to match all elements of the system (muffle, insulation, furnace shell, exhaust gas system)
  • lowest NOx emissions due to the latest EBNER burner technology
  • alternative: emission-free electric heating system

EBNER strip cleaning technology

  • efficient separation of oil/water
  • perfect preparation of strip surface for subsequent heat treatment

Maintenance-friendly facility design

  • easy-to-maintain muffle, removal not required
  • muffle can be removed while still within the tower
  • regular repair of thermal insulation is not required
  • heating system repair is not required

Optimized furnace designs

  • For thin strip and foil applications (precision strip)
  • For high-performance facilities focused on high throughputs
  • For high-temperature facilities with processing temperatures up to 1230 °C (through use of a patented double-muffle design)
  • Facilities may employ either vertical or horizontal configurations
  • Strip cleaning facilities with or without alkaline cleaning agents

Eco-friendly facility design – lowest possible utility consumption

  • Central recuperator / special insulation
    low natural gas consumption
  • Hydrogen regeneration system
    savings of 50 – 70 % in fresh H2
  • Special sealing systems
    low nitrogen consumption
  • 100 % H2 process atmosphere
    lowest power consumption
  • Waste heat used for heating at the strip cleaning unit dryer
    savings of up to 300 MW/y in electricity
  • Waste heat used for heating at the strip cleaning unit tank
    savings of up to 2000 MW/y in electricity
  • Cleaning with pure demin water in zone 1
    savings of abt. 50 % in lye

Highest degree of operational safety

  • proven and TÜV-certified safety system

Lowest overall costs when calculated across entire service life (Total Cost of Ownership)

 

Applications.

  • Austenitic CrNi alloy steels
  • Ferritic Cr alloy steels
  • Martensitic Cr alloy steels
  • FeNi alloys
  • Si alloyed steels
  • Ti alloyed steels
  • Mn alloyed steels
  • Co alloyed steels
  • Clad steel strip
  • Duplex steels
  • Titanium and Ti alloyed steels
  • AlCr alloyed steels