A ladle turret with a slewing bearing drawn in blue.

Smelting works engineering

The term "smelting works engineering" involves the application of engineering principles to manage and improve the processes involved in smelting or steel production, with a focus on improving efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability. It encompasses the entire process of steel production, along with the machinery and applications involved.

A smelting or steelworks plant is crucial for the production of unrefined iron and steel from iron ore. These machines rely on both ball bearing and roller bearing slewing rings for optimal performance. Nearly all reputable manufacturers in the field of smelting technology rely on the individually crafted and manufactured products offered by Rothe Erde, ensuring efficiency and reliability throughout the production process.

Our solutions in the smelting technology sector

Strip rolling mills

Converters are used to produce steel out of unrefined iron. To ensure that several hundred ton-heavy skip vessels remain mobile, converter bearings are used. Very slow swivel movements combined with regular shock loads demand a very high static load-bearing capacity of the bearing. Our converter bearings for this sector are designed to be able to withstand high loads against the backdrop of a low number of rotations, whilst reducing the risk of permanent deformation.

Typical products: Toroidal roller bearings I Spherical roller bearings

Needle hole plug drilling machine

To allow molten unrefined iron to run from the furnace, tapping is carried out at regular intervals. For this, the lower lock, the so-called needle hole of the furnace, is opened. The needle hole drilling and plug machines must be able to guarantee both the precise drilling of the needle canal and its subsequent plugging. Renowned manufacturers around the globe rely on Rothe Erde and use our slewing bearings, which have been especially designed to meet these requirements.

Typical products: Four-point bearings I Double four-point bearings

Converter bearings

Converters are used to produce steel out of unrefined iron. To ensure that several hundred ton-heavy skip vessels remain mobile, converter bearings are used. Very slow swivel movements combined with regular shock loads demand a very high static load-bearing capacity of the bearing. Our converter bearings for this sector are designed to be able to withstand high loads against the backdrop of a low number of rotations, whilst reducing the risk of permanent deformation.

Typical products: Toroidal roller bearings I Spherical roller bearings

Electric furnace cover

The ladle turret and swifter are in permanent use and set in their loading position. Roller bearing slewing rings made by Rothe Erde are used here: They guarantee the continuous operation of the continuous casting line and can withstand the high loads. This means that they can be used for several decades.

Typical products: Three-row cylindrical roller bearing

Section mills

In section mills, steel is reshaped by large rollers into, for example, rails, sections and heavy profiles.They are exposed to considerable forces. To better distribute the loads, multi-row bearings are often used for this scope of application. Our cylindrical roller bearings and tapered roller bearings are among the most established bearing designs in section mills.

Typical products: Double-row tapered roller bearings I Multi-row tapered roller bearings

Lance slewing mechanism

In steelmaking, the carbon found in the unrefined iron is oxidised by the targeted supplying of oxygen. Lance slewing mechanisms are used in this process. Rothe Erde develops slewing bearings especially for this scope of application, which can even safely withstand the extreme environmental temperatures.

Typical products: Four-point bearings I Profile bearings (LKD) I Cross roller bearings

Ladle turret/swifter

The ladle turret and swifter are in permanent use and set in their loading position. Roller bearing slewing rings made by Rothe Erde are used here: They guarantee the continuous operation of the continuous casting line and can withstand the high loads. This means that they can be used for several decades.

Typical products: Three-row cylindrical roller bearing

Vacuum swivel joint

Swivel joints are movable parts of a pipe. They are used to transport fluids or gases between two system parts that move relative to each other. This presents a unique challenge during construction: The swivel joints must be able to carry out pivotal movements and slow swivel movements simultaneously, within a radius of 360°.

Bearings made by Rothe Erde are used for this as they are developed to be able to not only easily absorb the pressure load, but also external forces.

Typical products: Four-point bearings I Profile bearings (LKD) I Double-row wire tilted roller bearing

Continuous casting plants

Rolling ingots and extrusion billets are manufactured in continuous casting plants. Depending on the material being used, very high temperatures may prevail during production. Therefore, in order for operation to be reliably maintained, our bearings must be highly heat resistant. Since continuous casting plants are used in various different locations, other features are also important: Multi-row roller bearings used for loading and unloading ladle turrets must be able to absorb moments of high levels of tilting and shock loads. Bearings which are used as part of the roller guide must, in turn, be designed for low numbers of rotations and high loads.

Typical products: Spherical roller bearings