This mini-mill produces commodity steel, primarily in the form of structural items such as I-beams, channels, and angles, from recycled scrap carbon steel. The plant was originally built before WW II and has undergone numerous ownership changes and facility upgrades in the years since. Major components of the plant include an NKK United DC arc furnace with 70-ton tap weight, a ladle metallurgy station, a 14-stand rolling mill, and a continuous billet caster, built by Demag and placed into service in 1991. It was this continuous caster that Revere was asked to upgrade in 1996.

The Casting Process

Molten steel flows from a ladle to a tundish vessel, and from there to four water-cooled oscillating molds. From the bottom of each mold, a red-hot strand of steel emerges vertically. Each strand has a rectangular cross section that ranges from 4 x 4 inches to 7 x 12 inches, depending on the mold used. Support rollers reorient the strands to the horizontal, and another set of rollers straighten them. Torches cut off billets to lengths varying from 8 to 25 feet, and the billets are conveyed to a cooling bed area before being weighed and stacked.