An apparatus (100) and method for the production of elongated metal products such as bars, rods or the like: A rolling mill (10) with at least one rolling stand (5); a casting station (20) with at least a first casting line (2a) and at least a second casting line (2b), each line (2a, 2b) being operable to produce respective elongated intermediate products (b2a, b2b), such as billets; wherein at least the first casting line (2a) is directly aligned with the rolling mill (10), the first casting line (2a) being configured to feed the rolling mill (10) with a fully continuous casting strand or with cast elongated intermediate products; and the second casting line (2b) is not aligned with the rolling mill (10). A bidirectional transfer device (30) for transferring elongated intermediate products (b2b) of the second casting line (2b) alternatively in a first direction from the second casting line (2b) to the first casting line (2a) to align the elongated intermediate product (b2b) with the rolling mill (10) or in a second direction from the at least second casting line (2b) to a cooling bed (40).

In production of a reactive metal using a melting furnace for producing metal having a hearth, ingots can be efficiently produced by efficiently cooling the ingots extracted from the mold provided in the melting furnace. In addition, an apparatus structure in which multiple ingots can be produced with high efficiency and high quality from one hearth, is provided. A melting furnace for producing metal is provided, the furnace has a hearth for having molten metal formed by melting raw material, a mold in which the molten metal is poured, an extracting jig which is provided below the mold for extracting ingot cooled and solidified downwardly, a cooling member for cooling the ingot extracted downwardly of the mold, and an outer case for keeping the hearth, the mold, the extracting jig, and the cooling member separated from the air, wherein at least one mold and extracting jig are provided in the outer case, and the cooling member is provided between the outer case and the ingot, or between the multiple ingots.

A casting/rolling installation for producing hot-rolled strip. In order to save investment costs for the roll changing device in a corresponding installation with two parallel casting lines, without a roll change taking place in the process in a less operationally reliable and more complicated manner, the roll changing device is configured in the form of a rotary table and arranged in the intermediate space between the two casting lines.

An apparatus (100) and method for the production of elongated metal products such as bars, rods or the like: A rolling mill (10) with at least one rolling stand (5); a casting station (20) with at least a first casting line (2a) and at least a second casting line (2b), each line (2a, 2b) being operable to produce respective elongated intermediate products (b2a, b2b), such as billets; wherein at least the first casting line (2a) is directly aligned with the rolling mill (10), the first casting line (2a) being configured to feed the rolling mill (10) with a fully continuous casting strand or with cast elongated intermediate products; and the second casting line (2b) is not aligned with the rolling mill (10). A bidirectional transfer device (30) for transferring elongated intermediate products (b2b) of the second casting line (2b) alternatively in a first direction from the second casting line (2b) to the first casting line (2a) to align the elongated intermediate product (b2b) with the rolling mill (10) or in a second direction from the at least second casting line (2b) to a cooling bed (40).

Plant for the production of metal products comprising: a main rolling line configured to roll thin slabs; a main casting line of thin slabs associated downstream to a heating and/or maintenance furnace to heat and/or maintain the cast thin slabs at a uniform temperature, the main casting line being positioned upstream of and aligned with said main rolling line, the main rolling line being configured to roll the thin slabs arriving at least from the heating and/or maintenance furnace; an auxiliary rolling line provided with at least one rolling unit configured to roll conventional slabs and obtain thin slabs, and with a transfer unit positioned downstream of the rolling unit and configured to transfer the thin slabs rolled by the latter to the heating and/or maintenance furnace.

The invention concerns a method and a plant for obtaining strips (S), wherein the plant has at least three casting lines (11, 12, 13) disposed in parallel, of which two are lateral (11, 13) and one is central (12), and at least two rolling lines (14, 15) aligned with two of said at least three lateral casting lines (11, 12 13).