process for the production of stainless steel strip and integrated rolling mill

摘要

A strip of stainless steel, which is cast and/or hot rolled and which is dark colored by oxides on the surface of the strip, remaining from the foregoing manufacture of said cast and/or hot rolled strips, is cold rolled in one or more cold rolling passes (11-13) following after each other, so that the thickness of the strip is reduced by 10-75% and so that the oxide scales crackle, i.e. so that fissures are established in the oxide layers. Thereafter, the strip is annealed in a furnace (18) having a furnace atmosphere obtainable by heating the furnace by means of burners which consume a liquid or gaseous fuel, which is combusted by means of a gas which contains at least 85 vol-% oxygen and not more than 10 vol-% nitrogen, wherein a furnace atmosphere is created, in which the strip can be annealed without oxidising the metal surfaces which are exposed through the crackling, in a way which would make the subsequent descaling and pickling difficult.