Abstract:
A strip is continuously passed through a molten salt bath in a main tank having a central longitudinal baffle providing passageways at each end thereof. A sink guide roll is provided for the strip at the exit half of the tank. A heating tank is located along one longitudinal side of the main tank at the entry end thereof and has front and rear connecting openings with the main tank. An agitator is positioned at the front end of the heating tank. A forward tank section located along the other side of the tank has a bottom opening connecting therewith. An intermediate tank section has upper and lower compartments, the upper compartment serving as a sludge settling basin. A rear tank section has an agitator therein and is connected to the forward tank section through the lower compartment. Small openings adjacent the top of the upper compartment open into the main tank and to the rear tank section. The bath is continuously circulated from the rear tank section back around the baffle, forward into the rear end of the heating tank, through the heating tank and across the front end of the main tank into the forward tank section and then back into the rear tank section.