Rolling Mill and EOT Cranes

At American Crane & Equipment Corporation, we’re proud to provide industry-leading manufacturing, maintenance, and installation services for a wide range of material handling and overhead equipment applications.

Steel rolling mills, demand the most reliable, high-quality crane solutions available, as cranes in these environments must be able to cover long distance at high speeds, handle extreme temperatures, and carry loads of various shapes and sizes.

What are Steel Rolling Mill Plants?

Steel rolling mill plants produce various types and shapes of hot steel. In these intricate production systems, intermediate steel products undergo shaping and finishing processes to obtain their final form and dimensions. Wire rods, bars, angles, C-channels, joists, flat components and plates, beams, and both heavy- and lightweight steel sections are all produced in rolling mills.

In most cases, a steel slab is heated in a reheating furnace before being rolled into shape in finishing, hot rolling, or cold rolling mills. Some applications require their steel to be both hot and cold rolled.

During the rolling process, metal is passed through pairs of rolls to reduce its thickness and make it uniform. “Hot rolling” refers to the process used when the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, while “cold rolling” refers to the process used when the temperature of the metal is below its recrystallization temperature.

Steel Rolling Mill Plant Types

Depending on the specific application, manufacturers make use of various types of rolling mills, including:

TMT Bar Rolling Mills: These mills produce TMT bars and rod steel, as well as deformed bars for use in the construction sector.
Structural Rolling Mills: Using ingot and billets as raw materials, structural rolling mills produce I-beams (girders), U-channels, angles, T-sections, flats, rounds, and more.
Light Section Mills: These mills produce smaller components such as gate channels, section squares and rounds, flats, Z-sections, T-sections, channels, 6 mm bars, and 8 mm bars, using rolling scarp, ship plate, and ingot as raw materials.

Rolling Mill Machinery: Rolling Mill and EOT Cranes (Electric Overhead Traveling Crane)

The hot steel in rolling mills requires high-performance machinery for handling and transport. In order to remain malleable, these slabs and billets must often be moved at extremely high temperatures, with exceptional reliability. Electric overhead traveling cranes, or EOT cranes, are critical to this process. Their key roles include:

Moving Hot Metal: There’s often a long distance between a plant’s melt shop and the rolling area, making transport cranes essential to the flow of manufacturing. They also can help feed steel into the rollers, as well as move the soft, hot metals from casting areas into storage and transport pieces to and from furnaces for reheating when necessary.
Sensitive Positioning and Load Handling: Limited factory floor spaces demand efficient movement. Reliable cranes help operators make the most of their work areas, aiding in accurate positioning of steel on conveyors and the safe handling of the wide range of metal products that pass through the shop, including slabs, billets, and coils.

EOT cranes are the most common type of overhead crane and can be found in most factories; their electric operation is controlled by pendant, operator cabin, or radio/IR remote. For heavier lifting of 20 tons or more, double beam/girder bridge cranes offer additional support for the trolley and hoist. When the bridge girders ride on top of the runway beams, these cranes are considered to be “top running.”