Central Steel & Wire Co. of Chicago, this autumn began operation of a "smooth clean surface" (SCS) sheet cleaning line at its Central Coil Processing division plant in Portage, Ind., where hot-rolled sheet and plate are cold-reduced and further processed.

Steve Fuhrman, general manager for carbon coil and flat-rolled products, says the process, developed by The Material Works in Red Bud, Ill., brushes away scale to produce a high-quality surface.

"The heart of the patented SCS process is a controlled 'brushing away' of all except for a thin layer that is called wustite," says Fuhrman. "This layer of scale is microns thick and provides rust resistance which increases the shelf life of the product."

The cold-reduction process at the Central Coil Processing facility eliminates residual stresses and produces flat sheet and plate that remains stable after further processing, explains Neal Locke, a sales specialist for flat-rolled steel products. So, after the coil is cleaned in the SCS system, he says, the firm is providing buyers with "a cold-reduced product that also has a superior surface finish suitable for all applications regardless of the level of sophistication that is required."

"In today's marketplace, selling metal requires more than on-time delivery of quality material," says Locke. "Our customers require a supplier to be fully integrated into their process and be willing to invest time and assets to lower the total cost of doing business.

So, the use of SCS replaces pickling and oiling of sheet and plate. The removal of oil from surface processing provides a cost savings through the "leaning" of chemicals and clean up required before painting. Locke adds that the lack of oil reduces the contamination with expensive chemicals—which can create a problem during downstream welding, tooling and machining—and reduces disposal costs. Other Central Steel & Wire marketing officials say the new SCS product has been proven to increase laser speeds by up to 30%.