SMS group supplied two roller-hearth furnaces to Acroni’s steel plant in Jesenice, Slovenia. The furnaces are part of a heat-treatment line that recently produced its first heavy plate. The line is equipped with a high-temperature roller-hearth furnace for hardening and normalizing. The furnace consists of two chambers, in which the plates are annealed in a nitrogen-based inert-gas atmo­sphere. Radiant tubes heat the material indirectly up to 1100°C (2012°F). The line also includes a low-temperature roller-hearth furnace for plate reheating. This open-fired furnace can quench and temper plates at temperatures between 400-800°C (752-1472°F). Acroni’s plant is designed for plates with thicknesses ranging from 3-100 mm (0.12-4 inches) and a maximum width of 2,500 mm (98.5 inches).