TECHNOLOGY ROAD MAP FOR INDIAN STEEL INDUSTRY

23rd March 20123

A C R DasIndustrial AdviserMinistry of Steel

World Steel Production : 1527 MTIndian Steel Production : 72 MTWorld Ranking in Production : 4thWorld Ranking in Consumption : 3rd Projected Capacity by 2016-17 : 150 MTProjected Capacity by 2019-20 : 200 MTProjected Capacity by 2030 : 500 MTIndian Steel Production is bound to grow manifold in years to come to sustain Growth in infrastructure /Construction, Automotive , Capital Goods and Consumer Durable Sector i.e economic growth .

Structure of Iron & Steel Industry in IndiaType of PlantNumber of UnitsTotal Capacity(million tonnes per year)BF-BOF based Integrated Steel Plant829.997EAF Based Integrated Steel Plant310.600EIF based plant117028.833EAF/ EOF based mini steel plant37+29.500Gas Based DRI plant38.000Coal Based DRI plant41826.600Mini BF based Pig Iron plant42-Ferro Alloy Units1734.045Hot Re-Rolling Mills179440.844Cold Re-Rolling Mills6510.200Galvanising Units205.593Colour Coating Units60.515Tin Plate Units20.250Wire Drawing Units691.222Indian Steel Industry is highly fragmented with a variety of process routes and thousands of small & medium units for iron & steel making and also downstream processing

Process Routes in Integrated Steel Plants in India

PlantProcess RouteCapacity (million tonnes per year)SAIL, BSP, BhilaiBF-BOF/THF3.925SAIL, DSP, DurgapurBF-BOF1.802SAIL, RSP, RourkelaBF-BOF1.900SAIL, BSL, BokaroBF-BOF4.360SAIL, ISP, BurnpurBF-BOF0.500RINL, VSP, VishkapatnamBF-BOF2.910Tata Steel, JamshedpurBF-BOF6.800JSW Steel, BellaryBF/Corex-BOF7.800JSW Ispat Steel, DolviDRI/BF-Con Arc3.600JSPL, RaigarhDRI/BF- AC EAF2.400Essar, HaziraDRI/HBI/BF/Corex- DC EAF4.600Even in Integrated Steel Plants, diverse process routes for iron making are adopted, not visible elsewher.

World: 2 main process routesBasic Oxygen Furnace (BOF): ~ 70%Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): ~ 29%Others:~ 1%

India: 3 main process routesOxygen Furnace (BOF/THF):~ 45%Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): ~ 23%Electric Induction Furnace (EIF):~ 32%

Induction Furnace Play dominant role in steel production in India-a unique feature. Quality issue remain unresolvedBF-BOF route is likely to gain momentum.

Iron & Steel Making is resource intensive and Energy Intensive and have environmental Ramifications. Globally 18 Tonnes of CO2 /tcs is emitted. India 2.5-3 T/tcsGlobal CO2 emission is around 30 billion tonnes /year.Indias contribution is around 1.15 billion tonnes/ year (4%), of which Steel sector contributes 117 million tonnes/ year (10%).Integrated steel plants largest point sources of CO2 emission and 85% of CO2 is from iron making. With the increase in production, energy consumption and GHG emissions will also increase correspondingly adding to Global Warming: an issue of international criticism. Therefore, it is necessary that along with capacity build-up, suitable mitigation strategies are inbuilt into the strategy.

Advanced steel plants in the world already operate close to theoretical limits.There is ambitious target to cut CO2 emission by 50% by 2050 which is not possible adopting conventional technologies and would require Breakthrough Technologies. Steel Making countries/ regions have embarked on programmes to achieve targeted CO2 emission: ULCOS (EU) COURSE 50 (Japan)CO2 Breakthrough Programme (USA) POSCO Breakthrough Technology Programme (Korea)Breakthrough Technologies being explored are: innovations in BF (Oxygen Operation), Hydrogen Reduction, Electron Reduction, Use of Biomass, Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) etc.

The Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) in Indian Steel Plants have declined substantially from 10 Gcal/MT in 1990 to 6-6.5 Gcal/MT in 2009 and are still declining.Best available technologies indicate SEC of around 4.5-5 Gcal/MT for BF-BOF route and 4 Gcal/Tcs for gas based DRI-EAF unit.Integrated steel plants in India are 50% more energy intensive than global average.The same holds good for CO2 emission also.There remains large scope for improvement of energy intensity & reduction of CO2 emission even without pursuing breakthrough technologies.

India is committed to reduce GHG Emission Intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020 over 2005 level, through pursuits of proactive policies. Voluntary Initiatives by Steel Plants under Corporate Responsibility for Environment Protection (CREP) for energy efficiency improvement and reduction of GHG emission.National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) under National Action Plan for Climate Change for energy efficiency improvement.Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT), a flagship market based mechanism to enhance cost effectiveness in improvements in energy efficiency in energy intensive large industries. PAT is legally binding and there are penalties for non fulfillment of earmarked targets.GOI Sustainability Development Guidelines: 5% of total MOU score for large PSUs to cover sustainability projects with expenditure of 0.1 % of profit (after tax).

Gradually transform the technological face of the Indian steel industry to achieve international benchmarks in long term perspective through:Modernisation & Technological upgradation of the existing plants to phase out old/ obsolete/ energy inefficient/ polluting production facilities. Adoption of State-of-the-art technologies in Green Field Plants.Harnessing of Waste Heat at every step of the production process. Guidelines of modern/ state of art technologies are available in several reference documents: SOACT Handbook of APP, BAT Handbook of EU. Numerous commercially established energy conservation technologies: Sinter Cooler Waste Heat Recovery, Coke Dry Quenching (CDQ), Coal Moisture Control (CMC) in Coke Ovens, BF Top Pressure Recovery Turbine (TRT), waste heat recovery from BF stove waste gases, OG boiler in BOF, Regenerative Burners, Near Net Shape casting etc.: agenda for immediate adoption.Strategies to ensure Raw material security- utilisation of low grade ore through beneficiation & agglomeration or through Direct Smelting, beneficiation of high ash coal and other inputs.Pursuing Research & Development Programmes for Low Carbon Footprints and production of value added/ high performance steel.Securing talent and skilled manpower to support the above strategies.

BF is the most energy intensive units and call for specially directed initiatives to improve the productivity and energy efficiency:Process improvements viz. revamping/conveyorization of stock house and increasing screening efficiency of ore, sinter and coke, strengthening stoves capacity, increasing blast volume and flow rate, increasing oxygen enrichment of blast, higher hot blast temperatures of at-least 11000 C etc.High level of alternate fuels injection to drastically reduce coke rate: incorporation of technologies for injecting pulverized/ granulated coal (+ 200 kg/thm), oil (100 kg/thm), Natural gas (100 kg/thm) and waste plastics granules.Adoption of energy efficiency measures in existing and new blast furnaces e.g. Top pressure Recovery Turbine, use of waste heat stove gas for preheating of gas, high efficiency stoves etc. Increase in campaign life by introduction of various measures like copper staves, Silicon carbide and monolithic linings in stack and bosh, closed circuit demineralized water and provisions for regular monitoring of heat flux all along the furnace height and cross-section, use of titanium bearing material as a regular hearth protection measure etc. Application of sophisticated probes (under and overburden probes, vertical probes etc), models and computerized expert system for process analysis, control and optimization are very important tools for bringing about quantum jump in productivity levels of Indian blast furnaces.Efficient casting practice through up-gradation of cast house equipment, clay mass and liquid disposal system, incorporation of powerful mud gun and drilling machines etc.

Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)Accounts for 45% of iron production in India 25% gas based & 75% coal basedTechnology of Natural Gas based plants world class and energy consumption in Gas DRI-EAF is the lowest, but no growth because of non availability of natural gas.Technology of Coal based plant is mixed and energy consumption in Coal DRI-EAF units highest. Technological obsolescence, Poor quality of inputs/products and higher environmental emissions are issues of concern. Solutions: Syn-gas based DRI plant ( Economic Viability?)Improving energy efficiency and reduction of environmental emission in coal based DRI plants failing which gradual shut down of inefficient& polluting plantsJumbo Rotary Kiln of Outotech: a ray of hope.FASTMET: Reduction of ore-coal composite pellets in RHF using coal, coke breeze and carbon bearing waste as a reductant. DRI with high degree of metallization can be charged in EAF in SME sector.ITmk3: Flexible and environment friendly technology for smelting iron ore fines using non-coking coal to produce iron nuggets with 96-97% iron in a RHF. Ideal material for EAF /SME sector.

Smelting Reduction ProcessesPrimary objective is to produce liquid iron directly from iron ore (fines & concentrates) and non coking coal, by-passing agglomeration and coke making requirements (reduced investment cost : 10-15%). Plant emissions contain only insignificant amounts of NOx, SO2, dust, phenols, sulfides and, ammonium besides far lower waste-water emissions. The promising alternative technologies which have been commercialized/ are in the process of commercialization and appear to be relevant are COREX, FINEX, HISMELT, HISARNA, TECHNORED etc.

Process CharacteristicsMerits/DemeritsStatusCorex is a two-stage process: in the first stage (Reduction Shaft), iron ore is reduced to DRI using the reduction gas (65-70% CO + 20-25% H2) from the Melter Gasifier and in the second stage (Melter Gasifier), DRI produced in reduction shaft is melted to produce hot metal. Merits: Cost saving (up to 15%) and Environment friendly vis--vis Coke oven-sinter plant.-BF route Demerits: Limited modular size (largest corex plant is of 1.5 million tonne capacity), Dependence on lumps/ pellets/ coke/ weak coking coal, high consumption (cost) of oxygen, necessity of gainful utilization of Corex gas and generated coal fines.COREX is a proven smelting-reduction (SR) process developed by Siemens VAI for the cost-effective and environment friendly production of hot metal. Well established in India and abroad- JSW Steel and Essar steel successfully adopted the Corex process (C-2000 Module) .

Process CharacteristicsMerits/DemeritsStatusFINEX: an innovative iron making technology developed by Siemens VAI and POSCO.Like Corex, Finex also involves two reactors- Fluidised Bed Reactors (FBR) and Melter Gasifier (MG). In the FBR, iron ore fines are reduced to sponge iron fines which are compacted to produce Hot Compacted Iron (HCI). The HCI is then charged in MG where non coking coal briquettes (65%) are also charged. The balance (35%) coal is injected in the MG as PCI. The top gas from the FBRs is treated to remove CO2 and part of gas (30%) is re-cycled for use in the FBRs. Merits: Direct use of iron ore fines, no need of lumps/pellets. Significant reduction of SOx, NOx and dust emissions.Limitations: i) Necessity of inputs in melter gasifier largely in lumpy form (lumps/ briquettes) ii) Need of either lumpy coal or coal briquettes.iii) Like Corex gas, Finex gas is also of high calorific value and needs to be utilized gainfully to make the process economically viable. iv) The claims on lower CO2 emission vis--vis Blast Furnace route is yet to be established and needs further investigation. The FINEX process has been successfully demonstrated at Pohang, POSCO in two modules- at 0.75 MTPA and 1.5 MTPA.

Adoption of this process is also being considered for POSCOs venture in Orissa.

SAIL has signed an MOU with POSCO to incorporate the technology under JV for creating a 2.5 3.0 MTPA additional capacity at Bokaro Steel Plant.

Process CharacteristicsMerits/DemeritsStatusDirect use of iron ore and coal fines in a single step reactor. Involves moderate to high degree (70% and above) of post combustion. The gas generated during the reactions is post combusted to around 50% just above the bath and the heat energy of the post combustion is transferred back to the main process through the liquid fountain of molten iron bath, instead of recovering it as export gas. This reduces the coal and oxygen requirement of the process. A distinguishing feature of the process is oxidation level of the slag bath (5% FeO in slag), which helps in partitioning of a large portion of phosphorous to slag. Further, silicon is practically absent, making the hot metal an ideal feed for BOF. Being a bed less process, problem faced in BF in handling high alumina ore is resolved to a large extent.The process seems to have considerable promise in Indian context.However, Process is not yet fully proven1st demonstration plant 0.8 MTPA commissioned in 2005 at Kwinana, Western Australia. Major shut down in February, 2006 for modification. Since its restart in March, 2006, the Plant achieved a capacity utilisation of about 60%. Plans to scale up the size (internal diameters) of the SRV from 6m to 8m for achieving a production of 2 MTPA from the single module. However, due to market softening in 2008, the demonstration unit was put down without any definite plan for restart. Remains closed .JSPL signed an agreement with RIO Tinto for the transfer of the existing plant to JSPL site to take the development forward.

ProcessMerits/DemeritsStatusCombines coal preheating and partial pyrolysis in a reactor, a Cyclone Furnace for ore melting of partially reduced ore and a Smelter Reduction Vessel for final ore reduction and iron production.

The three separate technologies associated with Hisarna have been proven independently at small scale.Significantly less coal usage and thus reduces the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

A flexible process that allows partial substitution of coal by biomass, natural gas or even hydrogen (H2). Developed as part of the EU- ULCOS programme, can produce hot metal from iron ore fines (incl. slime) using non-coking or thermal coal or charcoal. Rio Tinto and Tata Steel have commissioned a 65,000 tpa pilot plant at the IJmuiden Steel Works in Netherlands. The process is claimed to most energy efficient with least CO2 emission having a 20% reduction in CO2 emission and 50% when combined with CCS.

Process CharacteristicsMerits/DemeritsPresent StatusA ne approach to iron making using cold bonded self reducing pellets /briquettes produced from iron ore fines, low met DRI or iron bearing residues plus low cost solid fuels (green pet coke fines, high ash coal/coke, charcoal/ biomass or carbon bearing residues.

Pellets/Briquettes smelted in a high efficiency of unique Shaft Furnace with very low stack height using combination of hot & cold blast requiring no additional Oxygen.Merits: Flexibility to used different types of raw materials. Eliminates need of Coke oven, sinter plant and tonnage oxygen plant i.e lower investment and opration cost (30%) . Clean & Green Technology.Demerits: Limited module size but flexible to be combined to add up capacity.A Demo plant of 75,000 tpa is under operation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Technology still at first stage of maturity.

Proposal to set up a 300,000 tpa industrial plant ( 4 modules of 75000 tpa) in next two years.

Steel has a future in India & and there are strong fundamentals to support the growth.Indian steel production is growing and is expected to grow at 8-10% decadal growth rate. Helping hand required from Government to resolve contentious issues like land acquisition, amicable policies for environment & forest clearance and creating an investment friendly atmosphere. Technological Upgradation to adopt commercially available energy efficient clean and green technologies in all production units to maximise productivity with minimum damage to the environment and minimise energy consumption an CO2 emission . New Plants must adopt stat-of-the-art technologies. BF most established route of iron production and likely to grow, followed by DRI & SR routes.Raw material upgradation and new Product development have to be given due importance. Increased R&D investment development of design & engineering capabilities necessary to support long term growth in the steel sector.