Modern 6-Strand Caster	Rotary Billet Heating	Rotary Piercing Mill (RPM)
Lorain's 6-strand continuous caster incorporates the latest steel processing technology. This unit is capable of producing more than 600.000 annual tons of high quality rounds for superior seamless tubular products. These rounds are conditioned, as required, after visual inspection.	The billets are now brought to the proper temperature for piercing by heating them in a rotary hearth furnace.	The billet is gripped by the rolls, which rotate and advance it over the piercer point, forming a hole through its length. Large sizes go through a second piercing mill.

Second Piercer (Elongator)	Reheating Furnace	Plug Rolling Mill
This piercing operation further increases the diameter and length and decreases the wall thickness.	Before further working, the pierced billets are again brought to forging temperature in the reheat furnace.	In this operation the pierced billet is rolled over a plug to reduce the diameter and wall thickness and to increase the length.
(Rotary Roll 16" - 26")	(Rotary Roll 16" - 26")	(Direct Roll 10 3/4" - 16")

Reheating Furnace	Rotary Expanding Mill	Reeling Mill
Shells must again be heated to forging temperatures for further working.	For pipe 16-inch diameter and over, the diameter is enlarged and the wall thickness reduced to approximate finished dimensions in the rotary mill.	The rolls of the reeling mill grip the pipe and advance it over a mandrel, burnishing both the inside and outside surfaces of the pipe.

Reheating Furnace	Sizing Mill	Cooling Table
The purpose of reheating at this stage is to obtain uniformity of temperature for sizing.	The pipe, reheated if necessary, passes through a series of rolls where it is formed into a true round, and sized to the exact required diameter.	After sizing, the pipe is allowed to cool on a slowly moving conveyer table.

Finishing

Rotary Straightener	NDT Inspection	Facing and Beveling
Here the pipe is brought to the required straightness. The "crop ends" of standard seamless are then cut off before end beveling.	At this station pipe is electromagnetically inspected to detect body wall imperfections.	An expanding arbor holds the pipe in line while a revolving head faces and bevels the end of the pipe.

Hydrostatic Testing	Final Inspection
The finished pipe is visually inspected and is subjected to a hydrostatic test as a strength and leak check before shipping.	A final visual inspection is given the pipe prior to stenciling, loading and shipping.