Solution or product offered in this case study
Custom-designed TAIFUJet air nozzles
Key reason for implementation
The strategic installation of custom-designed air nozzles effectively solved the problem of water removal in the surface conditioning process of steel sheets.
Problem experienced by the customer
A steel production plant used general-purpose air nozzles to blow off water from the edges of steel sheets during the surface conditioning process after cold rolling.
However, the air nozzles were fixed in position, directed at the edges of steel sheets of a specific width. A problem arose when the width of the steel sheets fed into the process changed.
For example, when narrower steel sheets were fed into the process, the air nozzles would blow outside the edges of the steel sheets, preventing the airflow from contacting the edges and making it impossible to remove water adequately.
Insufficient water removal caused uneven plating color on the steel sheet surface, and even minor imperfections led to water stains. This problem occurred up to five times a week, prompting the customer to contact us for a solution.
IKEUCHI's Proposal
Our standard air nozzles have a spray width of 42 mm, but we custom-designed nozzles with a width of 100 mm to meet the need for water removal over a wider area.
Furthermore, we proposed an arrangement where multiple wide-area nozzles are installed along the flow direction of the steel sheets, symmetrically positioned with varying spacing across the width.
This arrangement allows for flexible adaptation to different steel sheet widths: outer nozzles are used for wider sheets, and inner nozzles are activated for narrower sheets, enabling the system to accommodate changes in sheet width.
Results obtained
The system can now efficiently remove water, regardless of variations in steel sheet width. This has significantly reduced water removal issues and consistently maintained product quality.
References
https://www.dry-fog.com/en/projects-technology/cases/nozzle-steel-003/
