Ladle lifts solve the steel industry re-bricking problem
The term ladle in the steel industry essentially shares its name with a soup ladle in that it holds a liquid. In the steel industry, that liquid isn’t soup but rather super-heated, molten metals. This steel is transferred from the furnace to the casting facility via the ladle.
Ladles take a lot of abuse from the high heat they are continuously subjected to. But ladles don’t go into this process alone. Their interiors are bricked to insulate the steel ladle from the molten metals. As you can imagine, these firebricks do not have a long life expectancy once they have been laid. In fact, re-bricking of steel ladles is an ongoing process. Enter the ladle lift. Handling Specialty’s ladle lift is designed to be craned into a ladle and operate from within as the bricklayer re-bricks the interior of the ladle. The labourer operates the ladle with a hand-held pendant to raise it on its scissor lifts as he lays the firebrick.
In past years scaffolding would be erected inside the ladle to perform this service – much like scaffolding along the side of a house. This practice was deemed inefficient and unsafe. Companies like Handling Specialty realized the benefit of designing a piece of equipment which could speed up the process of re-bricking– ladles, and the ladle lift was born. Options like custom profile tops for different ladle designs, hardened fluid runs, reinforced platforms, manual lowering valves, “armoured” HPU, shackles for four-point lifting by overhead or jib crane and unique levelling legs are all available on Handling’s Ladle lifts.
