Electric Annealing Line Takes Combustion Out of Stainless Steel Strip Processing

Stainless steel strip gets its bright finish in a furnace. At OTELINOX in Romania, the heat for that step now comes from electricity instead of burners. Japanese furnace maker CHUGAI RO has delivered an electrically heated bright annealing line, called BA3, which passed its final acceptance test in August 2026.

CHUGAI RO, based in Osaka and founded in 1945, designs and builds industrial furnaces and heat treatment equipment. The new line handles stainless steel strip from 0.07 to 1.0 mm thick and 600 to 1,320 mm wide. The contract was signed in January 2023; after design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning, the first coil came off the line in December 2025.

^{Photo: CHUGAI RO}

No Burners in the Furnace

Because BA3 is heated electrically, no CO₂ is emitted from combustion during processing, and CHUGAI RO expects the line to lower emissions in production. The company names EV batteries and heat exchangers for data centres as growth markets for the strip that comes off the line. It has not published figures for energy use or the expected emissions reduction.

Five Decades of Annealing Lines

The two companies have worked together since 1977, when CHUGAI RO supplied OTELINOX with continuous annealing and pickling lines. A first bright annealing line, BA1, followed in 2002, and BA3 was ordered as a repeat project. For CHUGAI RO, it is a reference for its electric heat treatment business in Europe, a market it wants to grow. Steel’s material journey also appears on MaterialDistrict in The Metal House, built from truck pressings and steel offcuts.

Source: CHUGAI RO (press release, 30 October 2026, via APOC Wire) · Images: CHUGAI RO