G. Arvedi, The President of AcciaieriaArvediSpA, Cremona, Italy; andrea.bianchi@ast.arvedi.it

In 2009 Arvedi’s new ESP (Endless Strip Production) line started operation with a fully endless process from the caster to the downcoiler for the production of quality carbon steel coils in gauges down to 0.8 mm. The ISP process has evolved and improved and after 18 years of development has realized the original idea of a completely endless process, ESP, oncea dream, now a reality. The present paper serves to highlight the aims of the ESP process and its achievements after one year of industrial operation by showing the problems faced in various process phases, the solutions applied and the results achieved. Arvedi’s experience supports its view that the initial idea, patented in 1988, is still one of the best technological, technical, industrial and commercial solutions for casting and rolling for the production not only of hot rolled coils, but also plates. Technological problems are solved over time through technological progress, know-how and experience. The benefitsof a truly endless cast-rolling process are shown in terms of yield, product mix and quality, energy consumption and investment costs. On the basis of the results obtained so far, the productivity of the process is expected to rise further by increasing mass flow, i. e.speed and slab thickness in the continuous caster. Production of hot rolled high-quality steels in thin and ultra-thin gauges, with physical and metallurgical properties comparable with those of cold rolled strips, is possible in a simple and compact system that respects the minimum time of the steel’s change of state.