bhilai steel plant pre final project

BHILAI STEEL PLANT

MARKETING AND BUSINESS PLANNING

Submitted By:

AMAR DEEP TOPPO

PRN - 11020241036

Program and Batch [2011-13]

Symbiosis Institute of International Business

Under the guidance of

Project Guide with designation NAVNEET SHARMA

Jr Manager (M& BP)

Faculty mentor with designation Ms. Viraja Bhat

AMAR DEEP TOPPO 23RD JUNE 2012

CONTENT

Over view of the organization

Why supply chain is Important

Part – l

Chapter - 1 Demand and supply of steel and Demand forecast

Part – lI

Chapter - 2 Understanding Supply chain of Bhilai steel Plant and Supplies of Raw material

Chapter - 3 Coal and coal chemicals

Part – lV

Chapter - 4 Productions (Making of Steel)

Chapter - 5 Diversified Product (Different Mills)

Part V

Chapter - 6 Inventories, Distribution Network and Logistics

Chapter - 7 Information Technology

Suggestions

Inventories, Logistics, New technologies and Energy saving

REFERENCES


Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks foremost to Mr.

Navneet Sharma (Jr. Mgr, M & BP Dept.) for guiding me in this project and his

indispensible inputs in this Corporate Experience.

I would like to thank Ms. Sushmita Dey, Ms. Yamini Tamrakar, Mr.

Arindam, S.S Parida, W Williams, Kamal Raja Shekh, P.K Sahu and Mr. P. Rajeev

from the M & BP Dept. of Bhilai Steel Plant, for their support in providing

information and guidance towards successful completion of the project.

I am thankful Mr. A. V. Fuley, Vocational Training Coordinator, (HRD- BTI

Section) BSP towards facilitation of the training and coordinating with the

marketing department.

I would also like to thank other employees of the M & BP Dept. for their

continued support through this Project tenure.

Last but not the least, I am thankful to my project guide, Mrs Viraja Bhat for

mentoring me through the duration of this project.


Executive Summary

This report provides an analysis of the Supply chain Management for the financial year

2011-12 and tries to recommend ways to improvise these ratings at SAIL-BSP. The

Project investigates for major Factors, namely; Raw material, Productions, Distribution

and Information technology.

The project flow starts through the demand, supply and domestic

production of steel and projected production over coming years, than dealing with the supply

chain of Bhilai Steel Plant and going through every step of supply chain in detail and

understanding the flaws and opportunity to improve in every step which can help the Plant in

different ways.

After knowing the supply chain, recommending some suggestion which can help

in decreasing the lead time and inventories, and some technology which can improve the

production capacity and quality and last but not the least some suggestion related to energy and

environment savings


Organization Profile

BHILAI STEEL PLANT was set up with the help of the USSR in 1955. The nine - time winner of Prime Minister's Trophy for best integrated steel plant in the country, Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) had been India's sole producer of rails since its inception to the very recent times and heavy steel plates and major producer of structural. The plant is the sole supplier of the country's longest rail tracks of 260 metres.

The plant also specializes in other products such as wire rods and merchant products. Since BSP is accredited with ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Standard, all saleable products of Bhilai Steel Plant come under the ISO umbrella. The plant is accredited with SA: 8000 certification for social accountability and the OHSAS-18001 certification for occupational health and safety. Among the long list of national awards, Bhilai has won the CII-ITC Sustainability award for three consecutive years. Bhilai Steel Plant has been the flagship integrated steel plant unit of the Public Sector steel company, the Steel Authority of India Limited, being its largest and most profitable production facility. In the 2004-05 fiscal year, it was the Steel Authority of India Limited's most profitable plant. It is the flagship plant of SAIL, contributing to the largest percentage of profit.

At Bhilai IS0:14001 has been awarded for Environment Management System in the Plant, Township and Dalli Mines. It is the only steel plant to get certification in all these areas. The Plant is accredited with SA: 8000 certification for social accountability and the OHSAS-18001 certification for Occupational health and safety. These internationally recognised certifications add value to Bhilai's products and helps create a place among the best organisations in the steel industry. Among the long list of national awards it has won, Bhilai has bagged the CII-ITC Sustainability award for three consecutive years.

PRODUCT-MIX TONNES/ANNUM

Semis 5,33,000

Rail & Heavy Structural 7,50,000

Merchant Products(Angles, Channels, Round & TMT bars)

5,00,000

Wire Rods (TMT, Plain & Ribbed) 4,20,000

Plates (up to 3600 mm wide) 9,50,000

Total Saleable steel 31,53,000

Location : Forty kms west of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh, along the Howrah-Mumbai railway line and the Great-Eastern highway, stands Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Authority_of_India_Limited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Authority_of_India_Limited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USSR

BHILAI STEEL PLANT PRODUCTS IN DETAILS AND MINES DESCRIPTION

Captive mines

Iron-Ore - Dalli-Rajhara Iron Ore Complex, 80 kms from BhilaiLimestone - Nandini, 23 kms from BhilaiDolomite - Hirri, 150 kms from Bhilai

Coke Ovens

BATT NO. NO. OF OVENS

OVEN HEIGHT(M)

COAL HOLDING CAPACITY PER OVEN

(T)

USEFUL VOLUME

PER OVEN CU.M.

SP.HEAT CONSPN.KCAL/KG

1-8 65 4.3 16.8 21.6 625-675

9&10 67 7.0 32.0 41.6 625-675

Blast Furnaces

3 of 1033 Cu m capacity each 3 of 1719 Cu m capacity each 1 of 2355 Cu m capacity

Hot Metal Capacity: 4.70 MT / year

Steel Melting Shop

Steel-making through BOF, VAD/Ladle Furnace/RH-Degasser and Continuous casting route

3 converters of 110/130 T VAD unit, 2 RH degasser,2 Ladle furnace 4 Slab Casters, 1 bloom caster, 1 Combi caster

Annual Capacity: 1.425 MT Cast steel

Converter Shop:


3 BOF 110/130 T Convertors Secondary Refining facilities : 1 VAD unit, 2 RH degassers, 2 Ladle furnaces, 1

Desulphurisation Unit

Continuous Casting Shop: 4 Slab Casters, 1bloom caster, 1Combi caster

Steel-making through Twin Hearth Furnace (THF) route :

4 THFs of 250 T capacity each Annual capacity 2.5 MT ingot steel

Blooming & Billet Mill

14 pairs of recuperative soaking pits Capacity to produce 2.14 MT/year of blooms Capacity to produce 1.50 MT/year of billets

Rail & Structural Mill

Capacity - 7,50,000 T

Products

Rails - R52 Kg/m & R60 Kg/m ; UTS 880 N/mm2 rails as per IRST-12/96 specifications , Euro norms and international standards.

Thick web asymmetric rail Zu 1-60 Beams - 600,500,450,400,350,300 & 250. Channels - 400,300 & 250. Angles - 200 & 150. Crossing Sleeper. Crane Rails - KP80, 100,120 & 140. Bhilai is the sole supplier of the country's longest rail tracks of 260 metres.

Bhilai Rails

Largest producer and leading rail maker of the world. Four and a half decades of experience in rail making. Produced over 15 million tonnes of rails; 2.7 lakh km in length. Indian Railways- World’s second largest rail company moves exclusively on

Bhilai rails. Bhilai rails are subjected to world’s highest traffic density and axle loads. Rails exported to 10 countries with exports to South Korea, New Zealand,

Argentina, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Ghana, Bangladesh and Malaysia.


Technological Superiority

Steel from LD Convertor – Ladle furnace - RH Degasser – Concast route; achieving world best level of degassing/refining to less than 1.5 ppm of hydrogen in liquid steel in 100% of heats.

Capability to produce as rolled lengths of 80 meter and welded panels up to 260 meters

High degree of Straightness due to world’s most advanced and Laser straightness measurement based end straightening machine.

World class tested rails passing through state of art online NDT equipment; Laser straightness measurement, Ultrasonic and eddy current testing machines

Computer controlled automatic rail handling system and automatic yard mapping for rail storage.

Computerised Rail Tracking system for collection and storage of all process and testing related data of each rail.

Bhilai Rails- Universally Certified

RDSO, Indian Railways RITES Ltd ISO-9001-2000 certified by LRQA (Lloyds Register Quality Assurance) ISO 14000 certified by BIS Crown Agents, London General Superintendence Company, Geneva Lloyds Register Of Shipping Robert W Hunt & Company Overseas Merchandise Inspection Company, Tokyo Egyptian Railways Inspection Team Tuboscope Vetco Gmbh, Deutcheland

Bhilai’s Special Purpose Rails

Copper Molybdenum Corrosion resistant rails High yield strength/ UTS vanadium micro-alloyed rails High conductivity metro rails Copper-Chromium alloyed High strength Rails

Merchant Mill

Capacity - 5,00,000 Tonnes

The modern Plate Mill rolls out heavy and medium plates, as well as those for pipe manufacturers. Plates of wide variety, in any required size, and strength, chemical and physical properties, can be produced here. It has capacity to produce high pressure, boiler quality and high tensile steels. Shipbuilding plates, conforming to Lloyds specifications, and pressure vessel boiler plates, conforming to various ASTM, ASME standards, have withstood the challenges of nature and time. Some of the unique features of the mill are on-line finishing facilities and off-line normalising facilities.


Bhilai has the widest plate mill in the country, and it uses continuously cast slabs as input. Liquid steel produced under controlled conditions in the LD Converters is rinsed with argon gas to homogenise the composition as well as to remove non-metallic inclusions before continuous casting so as to ensure the production of high quality feedstock for the Plate Mill. As per customers' requirement or specifications, plates are normalised in a roller hearth normalising furnace.

New Products

To cater to the changing needs of the customers and to increase the market share, various new products were developed and commercialised through process improvement and Research and Development. The following grades were developed in 2008-09.

1. High Corrosion Resistant & Earthquake Resistant Fe-500 TMT Rebar in 40mm 2. Rockbolt TMT Fe600 in 32mm 3. 12mm Earthquake Resistant TMT Wire Rod in Fe-500 grade. 4. 36mm Earthquake Resistant TMT Rebar in Fe-500 grade 5. Cr-V alloyed 110 UTS Rail 6. Ultra-High strength SAIL MA 600 Plates 7. Low-C, Cu-bearing Structural Steel Plate for Corrosion Resistant Application 8. Thicker Plates (60mm) with ultra low temperature impact toughness at minus

50C in High Tensile BSEN 10025 S355 NL grade 9. High Tensile Weather Resistant Plates in IRS M-41 (SAILCOR) grade for Indian

Railways in 8&10mm 10. High Tensile SBQ quality plates in NV E36 grade 11. Cr-Mo alloyed IS 1570 Grade 53mm Round Bar for High Temperature

Application 12. Thicker plates (115mm) in Structural Quality with guaranteed Ultrasonic

soundness

The Cutting Edge Processes

Steel Making

Vacuum Arc Degassing: This unit ensures production of low sulphur steel with lower gas contents. Precise control of casting temperature, composition and improved steel cleanliness is achieved.

RH Degasser (2nos): A 130 T capacity RH (Ruhrstahi Heraus) Degassing Unit was installed mainly to remove hydrogen from rail steel. All rail heat produced in SMS-II has hydrogen level < 1.5 ppm.

Ladle Furnace (2nos): It is installed to process steel to reduce diversion due to chemistry and to process cold heats or return heats. The 130 T furnace also has benefits like reduction in tapping temperature of BOF, improvement in lining life of BOF, etc. It acts as a buffer between BOF & CCM for holding the heats, reduce consumption of ferro-alloys, carbonisers and deoxidiser and produce a cleaner steel.


Desulphurisation Unit: This has been installed to reduce hot metal sulphur for better steel-making

Environment Management

A conscious corporate citizen, BSP has accorded the highest priority to taking effective measures in the areas of resource conservation, pollution prevention, waste reduction and conversion of waste to wealth. Effective monitoring and analysis has ensured that BSPs compliance is well within the regulatory requirements.

ISO 14001 certification has been implemented in the entire Plant & township as well as in Dalli Mines. The plant has introduced environment friendly coal dust injection system in the Blast Furnaces, de-dusting system and electrostatic precipitators in other units. Besides, Clean Development Mechanisms for greenhouse gas reduction, BSP has taken up the replacement of Ozone Depleting Substance CTC, aided by UNDP. The specific water consumption in BSP at 3.04 cu.m per tonne of crude steel in 2007-08 is one of the lowest in the country.

Energy Consumption Continuous monitoring

Apex Committee Inspection by HODs. Quarter review of Safety activities by ED(W) Fixing responsibility of line managers. Contractor workers safety - IPSS procedure enforcement, contractors' audit,

safety exhibitions Safety workshops

Regular inspections

Inspection of gas pipelines Inspection of structures, equipments and installations Risk Control Grading System implemented in Coke Ovens Battery 9 & 10, Blast

Furnace, SMS-1 and extended to BBM, Foundry Shop, and SMS-II.

Quality Assurance

ISO 9001 SEAL OF QUALITY

All major production units and marketable products in Bhilai Steel Plant are covered under ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System. This includes manufacture of blast furnace coke and coal chemicals, production of hot metal and pig iron, steel making through twin hearth and basic oxygen processes, manufacture of steel slabs and blooms by continuous casting, and production of hot rolled steel blooms, billets and rails, structural, plates, steel sections and wire rods.

PRODUCTION FACILITIES AT A GLANCE


Coke Ovens Batteries: 10 Nos.

8 batteries of 4.35m height consisting of 65 ovens each 2 batteries of 7m height consisting of 67 ovens each

Blast Furnaces : 7 Nos.

3 Blast furnaces each of 1033 cu.m volume 3 Blast furnaces each of 1719 cu.m volume 1 Blast furnace of 2355 cu.m volume

Sintering Plants : 3 Nos.

SP-1 : 4x50sq.m hearth area SP-2 : 3x75sq.m hearth area

1x80sq.m hearth area SP-3 : 1x320sq.m hearth area

Steel Melting Shop-I 4 Twin Hearth Furnaces

Steel Melting Shop-II

Convertor Shop :

3 BOF 110/130 T Convertors Secondary Refining facilities : 1 VAD unit, 2 RH degassers, 2 Ladle furnaces

Continuous Casting Shop:

4 Slab Casters, 1bloom caster, 1Combi caster

Mills

Blooming & Billet Mill Rail & Structural Mill Plate Mill Merchant Mill Wire Rod Mill

Auxiliary Units

Two captive Power Plants - one captive and other in joint venture with 123 MW total power generation capacity

Two Oxygen Plants, Acetylene Plant, Propane Plant Refractory Materials Plants for production of Mag Carb bricks, sinter, dolo,

lime Foundry & Engg. Shops for captive manufacture of spares, assemblies, mould,

forging Coal Chemicals units for recovery of various by-products from coal

carbonization Slag granulation plants

Shop Products Annual Capacity (Tonnes)

Product Dimension range (mm)/ Profile

Width range (mm)

Length (metre)

End use / consumers

Rail & Structural Mill

Rails 750000 45Kg, 52Kg & 60 Kg Rails

13, 26, 65, 130 & 260

Indian Railways, Export


Heavy Structurals

Crane Rails

Crossing sleepers

Beam600x210,500x180450x150, 400,350,300x140250x125Channel400x100, 300x90250x82Angle150x150, 200x200

CR80,100 & 120

Infrastructure Projects

Cranes

Broad gauge sleepersMerchant Mill

Lt. Structurals

TMT

Round

5,00,000 Angle 50x50, 65x6570x70, 75x7580x80, 90x90Channel75x40, 100x50TMT20, 25, 28, 32, 36, 40,45Rounds (Plain)28, 30, 32, 36, 40, 50, 53, 56,63, 67

Engineering and Infrastructure Projects

Wire Rod Mill

Wire Rods(Plain)Wire Rods (TMT)

4,00,000 5.5, 6, 7, 88, 10, 12

Electordes ManufactureInfrastructure Projects

Plate Mill Plates 9,50,000 8 – 160 1500 – 3300

4.5 - 15.0 Boilers, Defence ,Railways, Ship building, LPG cylinders, Irrigation, Export

Semis Bloom, NWS Slab & Billets from BBM

HC Bloom from CCSSlab from CCS

5,53,000 Billets902 , 1002 , 1102 Blooms1502 , 3202

Re-rollers

Pig Iron FoundryBy Products Coal Chemicals

Processed Slag

Ammonium Sulphate (Fertiliser)- Brand Name -RAJA

Tar products,(Pitch, Napthalene, Creosote Oil Road Tar,Anthracene oil, Dephenolised oil, PCM etc.),

Benzol products (NG Benzene, Toulene, Xylene,Solvent oil, Heavy Benzol etc.)

Granulated slag from CHSG Plants & SGP for cement manufacture

SWOT ANALYSIS


OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS FOR SAIL

Opportunities

India is seen as the fastest growing steel economy over the medium to long term. This brings forward an opportunity for SAIL to grow based on domestic demand.

Threats

China the biggest producer and consumer of steel accounts for nearly 45% of the global crude steel production. Any mismatch between demand and supply of steel in China poses a threat for the steel industry worldwide. There are delays in clearances for mines, land acquisition for greenfield projects and environment approvals in India. There is thus delay in converting the intent into project on ground especially in the area of expansion and modernisation. This impedes growth of domestic steel capacity creation.

RISKS AND CONCERNS

The Indian economy has to contend with inflationary trend in recent times. This may lead to further tightening of monetary instruments leading to increased cost of borrowing and dampening of overall demand. India does not have adequate deposit of coking coal, making import dependence critical for integrated steel plants based on blast furnace route of production. Price of imported coking coal has seen steep rise in recent times and there has been a shortening of the contracting period. This is likely to impact the cash flows of the steel companies which are in expansion mode, especially as the end market price for steel has remained more or less stable.

OUTLOOK

The medium to long term outlook for steel in India is robust. India has entered the steel intensive phase of economic development, with sustained investment in infrastructure, construction, urban renewal and high activity level in manufacturing. While there may be short term fluctuations in response to domestic and global concerns, the medium to long term prospects appear very bright.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES

Strength

The diversified product mix and multi-location production units are an area of strength for the company. SAIL as a single source is able to cater to the entire steel requirement of any customer. Also, it has a nation-wide distribution network with a presence in every district in India. This makes quality steel available throughout the length and breadth of the country.


SAIL has the largest captive iron ore operations in India, which takes care of its entire requirement. With plans in place to expand the mining operations, the company will continue to be self-sufficient in iron ore after completion of the on-going phase of expansion. SAIL's captive power plants take care of about 70% of its total power need. With augmentation of capacities of power plants operated under Joint Venture, the company will continue to have security in this key input in future as well.

SAIL's large skilled manpower base is a source of strength. With continuous emphasis on skill based and multi-skill training, Company 30 has been able to achieve the highest ever Labour Productivity at 241 Tonnes per man per year during 2010-11. With emphasis on selective recruitments in critical areas, manning of upcoming facilities and recoupment against superannuation, the manpower profile as well as Labour Productivity would improve further. The company has one of the biggest in-house research and development centres in Asia. SAIL's RDCIS (Research & Development Centre for Iron & Steel) is a source of regular product and process innovation. Low overall borrowings lend strength to the company's balance sheet as it can mobilize resources while keeping leveraging at manageable levels.

Weakness

SAIL is dependent on the market purchase for a key input – coking coal. As India does not have sufficient coking coal deposits, most of the supply is from external sources. As international practice in purchase of coking coal is through annual/quarterly price contract it exposes the company to market risk if the steel prices crash but input prices remain unchanged. Regular superannuation, over the years, has resulted into skill depletion largely in the technical areas. Besides, technological up gradations and modernization also call for consistent efforts towards competency development.

A part of the operations in the company continues to be from energy inefficient processes viz. open hearth and ingot route of production, which will be eliminated only after the completion of the current expansion program. At present around 20% of the products are in the form of semi-finished steel, resulting in lower value addition. This will continue till new rolling mills planned under expansion plan contribute to value addition as almost all semis will be converted to finished steel.

Why SCM strategy is important for an Organization


Supply Chain Strategies are the critical backbone to Business Organizations today. Effective Market coverage, Availability of Products at locations which hold the key to revenue recognition depends upon the effectiveness of Supply Chain Strategy rolled out. Very simply stated, when a product is introduced in the market and advertised, the entire market in the country and all the sales counters need to have the product where the customer is able to buy and take delivery. Any glitch in product not being available at the right time can result in drop in customer interest and demand which can be disastrous. Transportation network design and management assume importance to support sales and marketing strategy.

Inventory control and inventory visibility are two very critical elements in any operations for these are the cost drivers and directly impact the bottom lines in the balance sheet. Inventory means value and is an asset of the company. Every business has a standard for inventory turnaround that is optimum for the business. Inventory turnaround refers to the number of times the inventory is sold and replaced in a period of twelve months. The health of the inventory turn relates to the health of business.

In a global scenario, the finished goods inventory is held at many locations and distribution centers, managed by third parties. A lot of inventory would also be in the pipeline in transportation, besides the inventory with distributors and retail stocking points. Since any loss of inventory anywhere in the supply chain would result in loss of value, effective control of inventory and visibility of inventory gains importance as a key factor of Supply Chain Management function.

A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Supply chains exist in both service and manufacturing organizations, although the complexity of the chain may vary greatly from industry to industry and firm to firm. Below is an example of a very simple supply chain for a single product, where raw material is procured from vendors, transformed into finished goods in a single step, and then transported to distribution centres, and ultimately, customers. Realistic supply chains have multiple end products with shared components, facilities and capacities. The flow of materials is not always along an arbore scent network, various modes of transportation may be considered, and the bill of materials for the end items may be both deep and large.

Traditionally, marketing, distribution, planning, manufacturing, and the purchasing organizations along the supply chain operated independently. These organizations have their own objectives and these are often conflicting. Marketing's objective of high customer service and maximum sales dollars conflict with manufacturing and distribution goals. Many manufacturing operations are designed to maximize throughput and lower costs with little consideration for the impact on inventory levels and distribution capabilities. Purchasing contracts are often negotiated with very little information beyond historical buying patterns. The result of these factors is that there is not a


single, integrated plan for the organization---there were as many plans as businesses. Clearly, there is a need for a mechanism through which these different functions can be integrated together. Supply chain management is a strategy through which such an integration can be achieved.

Supply chain management is typically viewed to lie between fully vertically integrated firms, where the entire material flow is owned by a single firm and those where each channel member operates independently. Therefore coordination between the various players in the chain is key in its effective management. Cooper and Ellram [1993] compare supply chain management to a well-balanced and well-practiced relay team. Such a team is more competitive when each player knows how to be positioned for the hand-off. The relationships are the strongest between players who directly pass the baton, but the entire team needs to make a coordinated effort to win the race.

Part – I


Demand and supply of steel and Demand forecast

Understanding the world demands and need of steel and the history for production of steel

India’s production of steel during various years

Demand forecast for next few years for steel production

CHAPTER- 1


Demand and supply of steel and demand forecast

Regional structure of global steel demand has been changing over time due to many different factors including competitiveness of the local manufacturing, construction activity, and population trends.

Despite the deceleration of growth in the post crisis period developing economies have strong fundamentals for steel demand growth.

Global steel demand has maintained relatively stable recovery momentum so far despite uncertainties and volatilities in the global economy.

Evolution of the euro zone crisis and healthy growth of the emerging economies, especially of China, are critical to current trends.

Global growth in steel production is linked to humanDevelopment

Years MT

1970 595

1975 644

1980 717

1985 719

1990 770

1995 752

2000 849200520102011

114414141527

Source: worldsteel

World crude steel production has increased from 851 megatonnes (Mt) in 2001 to 1,527 Mt in 2011. (28.3 Mt in 1900).

The industry directly employs 2 million people worldwide, with a further 2 million contractors and 4 million in supporting industries.


Considering steel’s position as the key product supplier to industries such as automotive, construction, transport, power and machine goods then using a multiplier of 25:1 the steel industry is at the source of employment for more than 50 million people.

World average steel use per capita has steadily increased from 150 kg in 2001 to 220 kg in 2010.

India, Brazil, Korea and Turkey have all entered the top 10 steel producers list in the last 40 years.

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 20110

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

World crude steel production

Strong needs for infrastructure and industries development


Indian Steel Sector

As per World Steel Association, India was the world's 4th largest producer of crude steel globally in 2010 with a production of approx.68.3 MT of crude steel. According to JPC estimates the finished steel consumption of carbon steel in India grew by 10.8% in 2010-11 over the previous year. There was a reduction in both finished steel imports as well as exports as domestic steel producers expanded to cater to emerging demand. Long products viz. bars and rods and structural performed strongly with high consumption growth. The growth in consumption of flat products was modest. Over the past few years, consumption has been primarily driven by the continuous increase in infrastructure related investment, leading to higher demand for steel. However, the country's per capita consumption is still one of the lowest in the world, presently at 51.7 kg per capita versus 427 kg for China and a global average of approx. 203 kg, leaving a high potential of steel demand with increase in per capita consumption linked to higher income growth. At present, the Indian steel industry faces a supply deficiency as capacity building has lagged growth in consumption. Large green field projects have not been set up in India over the past few years due to regulatory, social and infrastructure bottlenecks. Capacity additions in the short term are primarily brown field projects by existing players.

Current deceleration due to Anti-inflationary policy weak external demand Long term: economy needs modern infrastructure


DEMAND FORECAST

Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today exuded confidence that India will become the world's second largest producer of the alloy by 2013, with an installed annual production capacity of 120 MT.

"Currently, India has the fourth largest steel sector in the world, both in terms of capacity and production. By 2013, India will be the second largest steel producer in the world. It is estimated that India will have a production capacity of 120 MT," Verma said at an Assocham event here.

India's production capacity currently stands at around 80 MT and the minister said the capacity was expected to rise to over 150 MT by 2020. The steel-making capacity of the country was just 51 MT in 2006.

Meanwhile, Steel Secretary P K Mishra said by the end of the current financial year, the steel manufacturing capacity of the country might reach around 90 MT.

"This is likely to cross 110 MT by next financial year when the brownfield capacity addition projects of SAIL, JSW Steel and Tata Steel get commissioned," Mishra said.

The secretary said that growth in steel demand averaged 10 per cent over the last seven years and there was a likelihood that the trend would continue at least for the next decade.

"There are expectations that steel demand in the country may exceed 10 per cent at times, during the next 10-15 years horizon. In such a scenario, our steel production


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tata-steel/stocks/companyid-12902.cms

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jsw-steel/stocks/companyid-8352.cms

capacity should reach 150 MT by 2018," he said.Mishra hoped that the country would be able to meet steel demand through domestic production at least for the next five years. Source - http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-27/news/29816922_1_steel-demand-largest-steel-steel-making-capacity

India has emerged as the fourth largest steel producing nation in the world, as per the recent figures release by World Steel Association in April 2011. In 2010, India was the 5th largest producer, after China, Japan, USA and Russia had recorded a growth of 11.3% in steel production as compared to 2009. Overall domestic crude steel production grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.4% during 2005-06 to 2009-10. The Indian steel industry accounted for around 5% of the world’s total production in 2010.

Total crude steel production in India for 2010-11 was around 69 million tonnes and it’s expected that the crude steel production in capacity in the country will increase to nearly 110 million tonne by 2012-13. Further, if the proposed expansion plans are implemented as per schedule, India may become the second largest crude steel producer in the world by 2015-16.

The demand for steel in the country is currently growing at the rate of over 8% and it is expected that the demand would grow over by 10% in the next five years. However, the steel intensity in the country remains well below the world levels. Our per capita consumption of steel is around 110 pounds as compared to 330 Pounds for the global average. This indicates that there is a lot of potential for increasing the steel consumption in India. (Source- http://www.indiasteelexpo.in/IndustryOverview.php )


http://www.indiasteelexpo.in/IndustryOverview.php

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-27/news/29816922_1_steel-demand-largest-steel-steel-making-capacity

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-27/news/29816922_1_steel-demand-largest-steel-steel-making-capacity

Source for above tables are from planning commission of India for steel sector


Part – II

Understanding the supply chain of Bhilai Steel Plant in detail

Supply of raw material and the location of mines


CHAPTER- 2

Understand Supply Chain of Bhilai Steel Plant and supplies of Raw Materials

Flow of information through ERP

Step 1 Procurement of Raw Materials Step 2 Making of Steel (Production) Step 3 Dispatches and Distribution of Products(Logistics) Step 4 Suppliers to Customers Step 5 Customers


Raw Materialsiron oreCoalDolomite

Production UnitSMS-I,IIRSM, BBMWRM, PM

Distribution and

Dispatch

Suppliers to customersCMODealers

Customers

Supply chain of steel and distribution to different industries

Source - http://www.coutinhoferrostaal.com/valuechain.html


Procurement of Raw materials

Raw materials in steelmaking

Key raw materials needed in steelmaking include iron ore, coal, limestone and recycled steel. The two main steel production routes and their related inputs are:

• The integrated steelmaking route, based on the blast furnace (BF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF), uses raw materials including iron ore, coal, and limestone and recycled steel. On average, this route uses 1,400 kg of iron ore, 770 kg of coal, 150 kg of limestone, and 120 kg of recycled steel to produce a tonne of crude steel.

• The electric arc furnace (EAF) route, based on the EAF, uses primarily recycled steels and/or direct reduced iron (DRI) and electricity. On average, the recycled steel-EAF route uses 880 kg of recycled steel, 150 kg of coal and 43 kg of limestone to produce a tonne of crude steel.


Raw MaterialsCoalIron OreLimestone

ProcessingCoke oven BatterriesSintersCrusher

Iron makingBlast FurnaceEAF

Iron ore

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron and less than 2% carbon. Iron ore is, therefore, essential for the production of steel, which in turn is essential in maintaining a strong industrial base. 98% of mined iron ore is used to make steel. Iron is one of the most abundant metallic elements. Its oxides, or ores, compose about 5% of the earth’s crust. Average iron content for ores is 60% to 65%, after taking into account other naturally-occurring impurities.


Raw Materials

Iron Ore (Dilli

rajhara)

Coking Coal

(Import)

Dolomite (Hiri

mines)

Limestone (Nandini)

• Iron ore is mined in about 50 countries. The majority of iron ore is mined in Brazil, Australia, China, India, the US and Russia. Australia and Brazil together dominate the world’s iron ore exports, each having about one-third of total exports.

• Worldwide iron ore resources are estimated to exceed 800 billion tonnes of crude ore, containing more than 230 billion tonnes of iron.

• Current reserves (extractable using available technology) of iron ore are estimated at 180 billion tonnes. If potential reserves are included, this increases to 370 billion tonnes.

Coal and coke

As iron occurs only as iron oxides in the earth’s crust, the ores must be converted, or ‘reduced’, using carbon. The primary source of this carbon is coking coal. Coal is a key raw material in steel production.

Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce electricity and heat through combustion. Coke, made by carburising coal (i.e. heating in the absence of oxygen at high temperatures), is the primary reducing agent of iron ore. Coke reduces iron ore to molten iron saturated with carbon, called hot metal.

• About 30% of coal can be saved by injecting fine coal particles into the blast furnace, a technology called Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI).4 One tonne of PCI coal used for steel production displaces about 1.4 tonnes of coking coal. Coals used for pulverised coal injection into blast furnaces have more narrowly defined qualities than steam coal used in electricity generation.


Coal Coking and non-coking

Imported from Australia and New zealand

Non coking coal is avaliable in Indian mines

For import ships are used and from port railways are used to transport to plant

Metallurgical/Coking Coal TradeTotal world coking coal trade increased by 28.1% to 270.9 Mt in 2010. Coking coal trade represented 25% of the total global coal trade in 2010.

Top Coking Coal Exporters (2010)

Major Coking Coal Importers (2010)

Steel RecyclingSteel is 100% recyclable, with some 450Mt of recycled steel consumed in 2004. The BOF process uses up to 30% recycled steel (scrap) and around 90-100% are used in EAF production.

• Global steel production is dependent on coal – around 68% of total production relies directly on the input of coal. 761Mt of coking coal and Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) coals are used in global steel production, which is around 12% of total hard coal consumption worldwide.

• Coal reserves are available in almost every country worldwide, with recoverable reserves in around 70 countries. At current production levels, proven coal reserves are estimated to last 119 years.

Steel and raw materials

Efficient use of natural resources is critical to sustainability. Steel’s great advantage is that it is 100% recyclable and can be reused infinitely. The industry uses advanced technologies and techniques to increase production yield rates and to facilitate the reuse of by-products. As a result of the intrinsic recycability of steel and the industry’s sustainability efforts, the value of the raw materials invested in steel production lasts far beyond the end of a steel product’s life.


Sustainability of the supply chain

Iron is a common mineral on the earth’s surface. Most iron ore is extracted in opencast mines in Australia and Brazil, carried to dedicated ports by rail, and then shipped to steel plants in Asia and Europe.

Steelmakers worldwide look to ensure the sustainability of their supply chains. Many companies have policies and requirements for the safety, environmental and ethical performance of their raw material suppliers. Whenever possible, they work with suppliers to make improvements or corrections in cases of non-compliance.

Steel producers are also working together to develop a method for ensuring and demonstrating to customers and other stakeholders that their steel products are responsibly.

Iron ore and coking coal are primarily shipped in cape size vessels, huge bulk carriers that can hold a cargo of 140,000 tonnes or more. Sea freight is an area of major concern for steelmakers, as the high demand for raw materials is causing backlogs at ports, with vessels delayed in queues.

Recycled steel

Recycled steel is a key input needed for all steelmaking process routes. Some steel products contain up to 100 percent recycled content.

• Recycled steel (scrap) can be collected from excess material in steel facilities and foundries (home scrap) or downstream production processes (industrial scrap) and from discarded products (obsolete scrap).

• The availability of home and industrial scrap is closely related to current domestic steel production levels while the availability of obsolete scrap is closely related to levels of past steel production, average product lives and efficient recycling

• Steelmaking is nearing zero-waste, with current material efficiency rates at around 98%. This means that 98% of raw materials used are converted to products or by-products that are used or recycled.

• Slag is the main steelmaking by-product; it is mostly used in cement production, reducing CO2 emissions by around 50%.6 It can also be used in roads (substituting aggregates), as fertiliser (slag rich in phosphate, silicate, magnesium, lime, manganese and iron), and in coastal marine blocks to facilitate coral growth thereby improving the ocean environment.

• Gases produced during steelmaking are fully reused as an energy source either in the blast furnace and reheating furnaces or in power generation plants within the steelworks, saving fossil fuels. Coke oven gas contains about 55% hydrogen and may prove an important hydrogen source in the future.


Recycled steel use in steelmaking

Steel recycling

Steel products naturally contribute to resource conservation through their lightweight potential, durability and recyclability. At the end of a product’s life, steel’s 100% recyclability ensures that the resources invested in its production are not lost and can be infinitely reused. Due to its magnetic properties, steel is easy to separate from waste streams, enabling high recovery rates and avoiding landfills. More steel is recycled worldwide annually than all other materials put together, with about 500 mmt of scrap being melted each year.

Raw Materials India’s Scenario

During 2010-11 almost total requirement of iron ore was met from captive sources, the company's captive iron ore mines have produced about 24.45 million tonne.

However, in case of coking coal, around 25% requirement was met from indigenous sources and balance through imports. During 2010-11, production in captive collieries of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) resulted in annual production of about 1.10 million tonne.

In case of flux, around 35% requirement of limestone and 41% requirement of dolomite were met through captive sources resulted in production of fluxes from captive sources of about 2.33 million tonnes.

For thermal coal, SAIL depends entirely on purchases from Coal India Limited (CIL) except small quantity produced from captive mine. Grant of Stage-I forest clearance & final environment clearances for the Ajitaburu & Budhaburu leases of Manoharpur Iron Ore Mines, Chiria by MoEF in Mar'11 have paved the way for early development of 7 Mtpa state-of-the-art mechanized mines at these leases.

During 2010-11, Stage-I forest clearance for Barsua, Kalta, Bolani & South-Central Blocks of Kiriburu-Meghahatuburu mines have also been granted by MoEF.

Company has also received final environment clearance for integrated Barsua-Taldih-Kalta iron ore mining, beneficiation and pelletisation plant for 8.05 Mtpa (ROM) capacity and also for development of Sitanala coking coal mine of 0.3 Mtpa capacity by MoEF in Oct'10 & Dec'10 respectively.


Captive mines

Iron-Ore - Dalli-Rajhara Iron Ore Complex, 80 kms from BhilaiLimestone - Nandini, 23 kms from BhilaiDolomite - Hirri, 150 kms from Bhilai

Chhattisgarh Government has accorded its approval for renewal of Baraduar Dolomite lease in Sep'10. This will enable SAIL to develop Baraduar dolomite mine for the securitization of low silica dolomite availability for SAIL. "S&T Mining Company Pvt. Ltd.," a joint venture company of SAIL & Tata Steel Limited, has been engaged to develop Bhutgoria mine of BCCL. The mine is estimated to produce 0.36 Mtpa (ROM) coking coal at full capacity which will be shared between SAIL & Tata Steel.

The company has submitted tender to BCCL for construction of washery at Dugda for Non Linked Washery (NLW) coal. The JV company is also considering establishment of a

stand alone NLW coal washery at Bhelatand with an investment of ` 196 crore. Company is also making attempts for allocation of coking coal and thermal coal blocks under Government dispensation route for captive mining to enhance indigenous coal availability.

India is dependent on imports for meeting the increasing requirement of metallurgical coal as its indigenous availability is short, both in quantity and quality. International metallurgical coal market is controlled by few producers who regulate production to maintain high prices extracting large margins from steel producers. After increase of FOB price of metallurgical hard coking coal from US $ 128 per tonne in 2009-10 to US $ 213 per tonne in 2010-11, it has further gone up to US $ 330 per tonne in the first quarter of 2011-12 reaching historic high and impacting returns on steel business. Further, since 2010-11, the suppliers have imposed quarterly pricing in place of annual pricing, exposing the steel producers to vagaries of market volatility too.

To achieve Raw material security, import of Low Silica Limestone is now established and regular imports are being done so as to have cost advantage/alternate source.


Similarly, International source of Low Silica Dolomite is also being identified. The increase in raw material cost was on account of increase in input prices, particularly of imported coal, indigenous coal, limestone, ferro & silico manganese, nickel and other ferro alloys. The stores & spares consumption expenses reduced by 7% and repairs & maintenance expenses increased by 18%.

Means of transportation used for the movement of raw material and their details

Major ports for raw material and export handling of steel

Jawaharla Nehru Port Trust Mumbai Port Trust Cochin Port Trust Kandla Port Trust Pipavav Port Trust Visakhapatnam Port Trust Paradip Port Trust Chennai Port Trust Tuticorin Port Trust Kolkata Port Trust New Mangalore Port Trust


Bhilai Steel Plant

Indian PortAustralia and New zealand

Hirri Mines

Dilli Rajhara

Mormugao Port Trust

Indian Railways are the major means of movement of raw material and goods with in India. Freight is charged according to the classification of product and the policy is decided by Indian Railways. The details of different product and their fare can be obtained through the website given below –http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/traffic_comm/Freight_Rate_2K12/Goods_Tariff_No_46.pdf

Trucks are commonly used for transportation having different capacity and purpose.

RAW MATERIAL CONSUMED BY SAIL 2010-2011

Source – SAIL Annual Report 2010-2011

Source – SAIL Annual Report 2010-2011


CHAPTER – 3

COAL AND COAL CHEMICALS

The most common steel making technology is the Bf-Bof Route. Coke is used in Blast Furnace (BF) both as a reductant and as a source of thermal energy. It involves reduction of ore to liquid metal in the blast furnace and refining in convertor to form steel. The various stages of the steel plant is described below.

COKE MAKING - COAL CARBONISATION: Coking coals are the coals which when heated in the absence of air, first melt, go in the plastic state, swell and re-solidify to produce a solid coherent mass called coke. When coking coal is heated in absence of air, a series of physical and chemical changes take place with the evolution of gases and vapours, and the solid residue left behind is called coke.

Conventional coke making is done in a coke oven battery of ovens sandwiched between heating walls. They are carbonised at a temperature around 1000o-1100o C upto a certain degree of de-volatization to produce metallurgical coke of desired mechanical and thermo-chemical properties. A schematic diagram of Coke Oven Battery is given in Fig. below.

Schematic Diagram of Coke Oven Battery

During carbonisation, coking coals undergo transformation into plastic state at around 350o-400o C swell and then re-solidify at around 500o-550o C to give semi-coke and then coke. In coke ovens, after coal is charged inside the oven, plastic layers are formed adjacent to the heating walls, and with the progress of time, the plastic layers move towards the centre of oven from either side and ultimately meet each other at the centre. During coke making, two opposite reactions take place, viz. condensation and pyrolysis.

The quality and quantity of plastic layer is of extreme importance and it determines the inherent strength of coke matrix. For producing coke of good quality, coals should have certain degree of maturity, good rheological properties (about 200-1000 ddpm by Gieseler Plastometer), wide range of fluidity and low inerts.


The various modification in the coke making which have improved coke yield and reduced sp. Energy consumption are :

Partial Briquetting of Coal Charge (PBCC): The technology involves charging about 30% coal blend in the form of briquettes. Briquettes are prepared using a binder (pitch/ pitch+tar) upto 2. to 3.0% of charge. Coke quality significantly improves as a result of increase in bulk density of charge.

Stamp Charging of Coal : The technology basically involves formation of a stable coal cake with finely crushed coal (88-90% - 3mm) by mechanically stamping outside the oven and pushing the cake thus formed inside the oven for carbonisation. Coal moisture is maintained at 8-10% for the formation of cake. Due to stamping, bulk density of charge increases by 30-35% causing significant improvement in micum indices and CSR values of coke. Oven productivity increases by 10-12% & there is a possibility of using inferior coking coals to the extent of about 20%.

Selective Crushing of Coals: In this technology, the aim is to improve homogeneity of reactive & inert components in coal by reducing the difference properties of coarse & fine size fractions. For petrographically heterogeneous coals like Indian coals, this technology is very helpful.

Dry Coke Quenching: Dry quenching of coke is a major technology for the post-carbonisation treatment which has come up in a big way. Here the red-hot coke is cooled by inert gases, instead of conventional water quenching. It not only effectively utilises the thermal energy of red-hot coke (80% of the sensible heat of coke can be recovered & made use of for production of steam) but also results in improvement of the coke quality (M10 index can be improved by 1 point).

SECONDARY PRODUCTS OF BHILAI STEEL PLANT

Ammonium Sulphate N.G Benzene N.G Toluene Xylene Solvent Oil Still Bottom Oil Soft Medium Pitch Granulated Pitch Pitch Creosote Mixture HP Naphthalene Drained Naphthalene Heavy Benzol Anthracene Oil Light Creosote Oil Light Oil Crude Coal Tar Steamed Out Naphthalene Spillage Naphthalene


Ammonium sulphate (fertiliser), Tar and tar products, (pitch, napthalene, creosote oil, road tar, Anthracene oil, Dephenolised oil, PCM etc.), Benzol & its products (NG Benzene, Toulene, Xylene, solvent oil, by. benzol etc.) Processed slag, granulated slag from CHSG plants & SGP for cement manufacture

CMO – Central Marketing Organization Of Sail India

M-Junction is a platform for sale of secondary product for Bhilai Steel Plant (A 50-50 joint venture between Sail and Tata steel


Bhilai Steel Plant

Primary Product

CMO & Dealers

Customers

Secondary Product

Marketing & B.P

M-Junction

Customers

Part III

Production of steel from the beginning (raw material) till end (different product)

Different mill producing specific product and their detail in brief

CHAPTER - 4


PRODUCTION

The Indian steel industry is characterized by a mix of old and new technologies exhibiting poor to excellent techno-economic performance parameters. The origin of the modern iron and steel industry in India dates back to pre-independence era when the Tata Iron & Steel Co Ltd (TISCO) was set up in 1907 at Jamshedpur. At the time of independence in 1947, the country had three ore based steel plants (TISCO, IISCO, VISL) and a few Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) based mini steel plants. Between 50-70s, large integrated steel plants were set up in the public sector at Bhilai(BSP), Durgapur (DSP), Rourkela (RSP) and Bokaro (BSL), and Steel Authority of India(SAIL) came into being as the largest steel producer in the country. Plants like Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) adopted the state-of-the-art technologies of the time, namely the LD steel making. Another green-field public sector plant i.e Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) was set up in the 90s with quite a few modern technologies and practices of the day.

The economic liberalization of the 90s, witnessed the entry of several large integrated steel plants in the realm of private sector (Essar Steel, JSW Ispat Steel and JSW Steel). The country experienced rapid growth in steel making capacity mainly owing to two factors – new players streaming in to join the race and modernization and expansion of existing plants. During this period, a large number of coal based sponge iron plants and electric induction furnace based steel making plants came into existence. With these, production capacity of steel increased from 21 million tonnes (crude steel) in 1990-91 to over 78 million tonnes in 2010-11.

Iron and Steel Production

Process DescriptionThe production of steel at an integrated iron and steel plant is accomplished using several interrelated processes. The major operations are:

(1) Coke production, (2) Sinter production,(3) Iron production, (4) Iron preparation,(5) Steel production, (6) Semi-finished product preparation,


Different steps in iron making

Source of Diagram- http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/images/blast_furnace2.JPEG


Coke Making Technology: In the Coke making area, though several plants have adopted some of the modern technological innovations viz. pre and post carbonization techniques, more emphasis is needed on adoption of these technologies by all the plants. This would ensure economic production of coke using inferior coal in an environment friendly manner. Stamp Charging as well as Partial Briquetting offer significant improvement in productivity and quality of coke, even with relatively inferior coal. These need to be promoted given the problems of scarce and precious prime coking coal. Most of the Integrated Steel Plants have set up top charge, byproduct coke oven batteries. But the Steel major - Tata Steel has installed the Stamp charge batteries in their 3 million tone expansion programme to ensure higher utilization of medium coking coal and Semi Soft coals. Due to environmental concerns, many steel units established non recovery ovens like JSW, JSPL, Tata Steel etc. Some of these ovens are also equipped with modern technological innovations like vibro-stamp charging and co-generation of power. The new technology has helped to tackle pollution due to leakage of gases from the ovens, as typically found in the conventional by-product coke ovens. The Integrated Steel units need Coke Oven Gas as the fuel for various heating purposes within their plants. If non recovery ovens are put up, the coke oven gas will not be available to meet the energy needs of the steel plants. Besides, the area requirement for non-recovery oven is much higher than that required for the conventional ovens of similar capacity. Therefore, the choice of either of the technologies will need to be subjected to the dual consideration of environmental concerns and energy efficiency. In the quest for adhering to the environmental norms, the Industry has started adopting Coke Dry Quenching (CDQ) technology. But there is a problem of discharging treated waste water from coke oven (which presently finds application in wet quenching of coke) which may be contrary to the objectives of zero discharge. This is an issue to be deliberated on and resolved by the industry and the Pollution Control Authorities. The trend of new investments in top charge batteries is towards establishing taller batteries. While SAIL, RINL and Neelachal Ispat have installed 7 m tall batteries, Bhushan Steel is in the process of setting up a 7.60 m tall battery, the tallest in the country. Taller batteries increase the productivity and reduce the environment pollution due to oven leakages effectively. However there is a need to understand the effect of increased oven height on the AMS (arithmetic mean size) of coke which is considered important for the Blast Furnace operators.

Sinter Production –

The sintering process converts fine-sized raw materials, including iron ore, coke breeze, limestone, mill scale, and flue dust, into an agglomerated product, sinter, of suitable size for charging into the blast furnace. The raw materials are sometimes mixed with water to provide a cohesive matrix, and then placed on a continuous, travelling grate called the sinter strand. A burner hood, at the beginning of the sinter strand ignites the coke in the mixture, after which the combustion is self-supporting and it


provides sufficient heat, 1300 to 1480°C (2400 to 2700°F), to cause surface melting and agglomeration of the mix. On the underside of the sinter strand is a series of wind boxes that draw combusted air down through the material bed into a common duct, leading to a gas cleaning device.The fused sinter is discharged at the end of the sinter strand, where it is crushed and screened.Undersize sinter is recycled to the mixing mill and back to the strand. The remaining sinter product is cooled in open air or in a circular cooler with water sprays or mechanical fans. The cooled sinter is crushed and screened for a final time, then the fines are recycled, and the product is sent to be charged to the blast furnaces. Generally, 2.3 Mg (2.5 tons) of raw materials, including water and fuel, are required to produce 0.9 Mg (1 ton) of product sinter.

Iron Production -

Iron is produced in blast furnaces by the reduction of iron bearing materials with a hot gas.The large, refractory lined furnace is charged through its top with iron as ore, pellets, and/or sinter; flux as limestone, dolomite, and sinter; and coke for fuel. Iron oxides, coke and fluxes react with the blast air to form molten reduced iron, carbon monoxide (CO), and slag. The molten iron and slag collect in the hearth at the base of the furnace. The by-product gas is collected through off takes located at the top of the furnace and is recovered for use as fuel.The production of 1 ton of iron requires 1.4 tons of ore or other iron bearing material; 0.5 to 0.65 tons of coke; 0.25 tons of limestone or dolomite; and 1.8 to 2 tons of air. By-products consist of 0.2 to 0.4 tons of slag, and 2.5 to 3.5 tons of blast furnace gas containing up to 100 pounds (lb) of dust.

The molten iron and slag are removed, or cast, from the furnace periodically. The casting process begins with drilling a hole, called the taphole, into the clay-filled iron notch at the base of the hearth. During casting, molten iron flows into runners that lead to transport ladles. Slag also flows into the clay-filled iron notch at the base of the hearth. During casting, molten iron flows into runners that lead to transport ladles. Slag also flows from the furnace, and is directed through separate runners to a slag pit adjacent to the casthouse, or into slag pots for transport to a remote slag pit. At the conclusion of the cast, the taphole is replugged with clay. The area around the base of the furnace, including all iron and slag runners, is enclosed by a casthouse. The blast furnace byproduct gas, which is collected from the furnace top, contains CO and particulate. Because of its high CO content, this blast furnace gas has a low heating value, about 2790 to 3350 joules per liter (J/L) (75 to 90 British thermal units per cubic


foot [Btu/ft3]) and is used as a fuel within the steel plant. Before it can be efficiently oxidized, however, the gas must be cleaned of particulate. Initially, the gases pass through a settling chamber or dry cyclone to remove about 60 percent of the particulate. Next, the gases undergo a 1- or 2-stage cleaning operation. The primary cleaner is normally a wet scrubber, which removes about 90 percent of the remaining particulate. The secondary cleaner is a high-energy wet scrubber (usually a venturi) or an electrostatic precipitator, either of which can remove up to 90 percent of the particulate that eludes the primary cleaner. Together these control devices provide a clean fuel of less than 0.05 grams per cubic meter (g/m3) (0.02 grains per cubic foot. A portion of this gas is fired in the blast furnace stoves to preheat the blast air, and the rest is used in other plant operations.

Iron Preparation Hot Metal Desulfurization -Sulphur in the molten iron is sometimes reduced before charging into the steelmaking furnace by adding reagents. The reaction forms a floating slag which can be skimmed off. Desulfurization may be performed in the hot metal transfer (torpedo) car at a location between the blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BOF), or it may be done in the hot metal transfer (torpedo) ladle at a station inside the BOF shop.The most common reagents are powdered calcium carbide (CaC2) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or salt-coated magnesium granules. Powdered reagents are injected into the metal through a lance with high-pressure nitrogen. The process duration varies with the injection rate, hot metal chemistry, and desired final sulfur content, and is in the range of 5 to 30 minutes.

Steelmaking Process — Basic Oxygen Furnaces –

In the basic oxygen process (BOP), molten iron from a blast furnace and iron scrap are refined in a furnace by lancing (or injecting) high-purity oxygen. The input material is typically 70 percent molten metal and 30 percent scrap metal. The oxygen reacts with carbon and other impurities to remove them from the metal. The reactions are exothermic, i. e., no external heat source is necessary to melt the scrap and to raise the temperature of the metal to the desired range for tapping. The large quantities of CO produced by the reactions in the BOF can be controlled by combustion at the mouthn of the furnace and then vented to gas cleaning devices, as with open hoods, or combustion can be suppressed at the furnace mouth, as with closed hoods. BOP steelmaking is conducted in large (up to 363 Mg [400 ton] capacity) refractory lined pear shaped furnaces. There are 2 major variations of the process. Conventional BOFs have oxygen blown into the top of the furnace through a water-cooled lance. In the newer, Quelled Basic Oxygen process (Q-BOP), oxygen is injected through tuyeres located in the bottom of the furnace. A typical BOF cycle consists of the scrap charge, hot metal charge, oxygen blow (refining) period, testing for temperature and chemical composition of the steel, alloy additions and re-blows (if necessary), tapping, and slagging. The full furnace cycle typically ranges from 25 to 45 minutes.


Steel Making Technology:

In India, steel making technology may be classified under three major groups, namely, BOF (45%), EAF (24%) & EIF (31%). While BOF and EAF are able to produce the stringent quality steel for high end product segment, EIF sector mostly caters to the need of construction

Steps for making steel after getting iron from Blast furnaceSource of Diagram- http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/images/blast_furnace2.JPEG


a) Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) Steel Making:

The Integrated steel Plants in India are equipped with large and small as well as old and modern BOFs. Bokaro Steel Plant has established a large capacity BOF vessel (300/315 T) which has inherent techno economic advantages over smaller BOFs. Tata Steel is in the process of establishing 300 t BOF shop at Kalinganagar, Orissa. Some of the BOFs are being equipped with the latest technological innovations like concurrent top blowing and bottom stirring practices, modern automation & control facilities including dynamic charge control and better shop floor practices. JSW Steel has recently setup state-of-the-art BOF based steel making shops. Use of carbon bonded magnesia bricks and slag splash /slag engineering (MgO enrichment) have led to substantial increase in refractory lining life. Over 5000 heats are consistently achieved by BOF steel producers. However, there are still units within India and abroad, which have achieved vessel life beyond 10000 heats. Bhilai (SAIL) has achieved average converter life of 9500 heats with a campaign record of 12325 heats. The industry is engaged in finding ways and means to consistently achieve higher campaign life through hot metal pretreatment, bottom stirring and stable foam practice.

Steelmaking Process — Open Hearth Furnaces –

The open hearth furnace (OHF) is a shallow, refractory-lined basin in which scrap and molten iron are melted and refined into steel. Scrap is charged to the furnace through doors in the furnace front. Hot metal from the blast furnace is added by pouring from a ladle through a trough positioned in the door. The mixture of scrap and hot metal can vary from all scrap to all hot metal, but a half and- half mixture is most common. Melting heat is provided by gas burners above and at the side of the furnace. Refining is accomplished by the oxidation of carbon in the metal and the formation of a limestone slag to remove impurities. Most furnaces are equipped with oxygen lances to speed up melting and refining. The steel product is tapped by opening a hole in the base of the furnace with an explosive charge. The open hearth steelmaking process with oxygen lancing normally requires from4 to 10 hours for each heat.

Semi-finished Product Preparation –

After the steel has been tapped, the molten metal is teemed (poured) into ingots which are later heated and formed into other shapes, such as blooms, billets, or slabs. The molten steel may bypass this entire process and go directly to a continuous casting operation. Whatever the production technique, the blooms, billets, or slabs undergo a surface preparation step, scarfing, which removes surface defects before shaping or rolling. Scarfing can be performed by a machine applying jets of oxygen to the surface of hot semifinished steel, or by hand (with torches) on cold or slightly heatedsemifinished steel.Emissions from sinter plants are generated from raw material handling, windbox exhaust, discharge end (associated sinter crushers and hot screens), cooler, and cold screen. The windbox exhaust is the primary source of particulate emissions, mainly iron oxides, sulfur oxides, carbonaceous compounds, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and chlorides. At the discharge end, emissions are mainly iron and calcium oxides. Sinter strand


windbox emissions commonly are controlled by cyclone cleaners followed by a dry or wet ESP, high pressure drop wet scrubber, or baghouse. Crusher and hot screen emissions, usually controlled by hooding and a baghouse or scrubber, are the next largest emissions source. Emissions are also generated from other material handling operations. At some sinter plants, these emissions are captured and vented to a baghouse.

Blast Furnace -

The primary source of blast furnace emissions is the casting operation. Particulate emissions are generated when the molten iron and slag contact air above their surface. Casting emissions also are generated by drilling and plugging the taphole. The occasional use of an oxygen lance to open a clogged taphole can cause heavy emissions. During the casting operation, iron oxides, magnesium oxide and carbonaceous compounds are generated as particulate. Casting emissions at existing blast furnaces are controlled by evacuation through retrofitted capture hoods to a gas cleaner, or by suppression techniques. Emissions controlled by hoods and an evacuation system are usually vented to a baghouse. The basic concept of suppression techniques is to prevent the formation of pollutants by excluding ambient air contact with the molten surfaces. New furnaces have been constructed with evacuated runner cover systems and local hooding ducted to a baghouse. Another potential source of emissions is the blast furnace top. Minor emissions may occur during charging from imperfect bell seals in the double bell system. Occasionally, a cavity may form in the blast furnace charge, causing a collapse of part of the burden (charge) above it. The resulting pressure surge in the furnace opens a relief valve to the atmosphere to prevent damage to the furnace by the high pressure created and is referred to as a "slip".

Diagram showing the basic process for Steel making


CHAPTER - 5

Diversified product (Different mill)

Plate Mill uses slab steel in its production process by selecting more appropriate variety and quality that match customer's requirements. Reference codes are also applied before feeding them into the production process. The raw materials are calculated to give maximum yields of high quality product in accordance with the pre-rolling process as follows: • Schedule rolling process • Cut raw material with gas • Designate code to help tracking the rolling process • Retouch cut marks before feeding into the production process

After that the prepared raw material is fed into the reheat furnace until reach 1250±10 Degrees Celsius at the rate of 100 tons/hour and passes the process of getting rid of Metal Oxides formed at high temperatures by spraying water of at pressures as high as 150 Bars. The raw material is then rolled back and forth till the desired thickness is achieved. This process is controlled by the Automatic Gauge Control System and its thickness is measured again by X-Ray Machines.

The steel plates that have passed the hot rolling process are air-cooled, during which quality inspection is done on steel surfaces on both sides. Later the steel plates are trimmed and cut to size.

Sources- 09-Chapter3-Section1-Iron & Steel Industry-Page83-119 from website


Introduction to Plate Mills

Rolling mills used to produce steel plate generally consists of following types or groups:

Two-HI or three-HI single stand mill Four-HI reversing mills Tandem mills Semi-continuous and continuous mills Universal mills

The universal mill produce a rolled width, while in all other mills, final widths are primarily attained by edge shearing, though some installations use the edging equipment for both edge working and approximate width sizing.

Semi-continuous and continuous mills

Both semi-continuous and continuous mills constitute multi-pass roughing units, and two or more single-pass continuous units in which the plate is reduced simultaneously to the finish size. The difference between the semi-continuous and continuous mills exists in the roughing section: semi-continuous mills have reversing roughing units and continuous mills come with non-reversing roughing units. In both mill types, two-, three- and four-high stands with or without scale breakers, broadside stands, squeezers, and edgers are used as roughing units, while four-high stands are used as finishing units.

The semi-continuous mill arrangement, although requiring a larger capital investment, has a number of operating advantages over both the single-stand and the tandem-mill types. The total reduction work is divided between individual stands to an even greater extent than in the case of the tandem mills. The roll wear of individual stands is, therefore, less than that of the prior mill types. The total time increment for reduction from slab to plate also is less, and the tonnage capacity per unit of time correspondingly is greater. The reason for the short reduction time and high tonnage exists in that the rolling is performed simultaneously in all or many stands.

Due to short time required to reduce slab, mills of those types are permitted to roll sheets as well as plates.

Universal mills

Universal mills integrate horizontal and the vertical rolls into a single mill unit and work the stock simultaneously. An universal plate mill is a single-stand unit. The purpose of the vertical rolls is not only to work the edges of the stock in the process of reduction, but also to produce a rolled width in conformance with specified standard tolerances. Although universal plate mills producing widths as large as 1524-mm (60-inches) were installed, the bulk of the installations is usually 1219-mm (48-inch) width and under.

Traditionally, large plates produced with universal plate mills were used to fabricate deep wide-flange beams and columns. Since more and more large beams were rolled directly, the number of installations and the capacity of the universal plate mills has decreased rather than increased in the past several decades. The universal plate mills in operation today date back several decades to their installations dates.

References-[21] W.T. Lankford, Jr. et al (ed.): The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel. United State Steel. 1985. ISBN 0-930767-00-4.


Merchant Mill

Semi-finished casting products are intermediate castings produced in a foundry that need further processing before being a finished good. There are four types: ingots, billets, blooms, and slabs.

1 Ingot 2 Billet 3 Bloom 4 Slab

Ingot

Ingots are large rough castings designed for storage and transportation. The shape usually resembles a rectangle or square with generous fillets. They are tapered, usually with the big-end-down.

Billet

Steel billets

A billet is a length of metal that has a round or square cross-section, with an area less than 36 sq in (230 cm2). Billets are created directly via continuous casting or extrusion or indirectly via rolling an ingot. Billets are further processed via profile rolling and drawing. Final products include bar stock and wire.

Centrifugal casting is also used to produce short circular tubes as billets, usually to achieve a precise metallurgical structure. They are commonly used as cylinder sleeves where the inner and outer diameters are ground and machined to length. Because their size is not modified significantly, they are not always classified as semi-finished casting products.

Bloom

Blooms are similar to billets except the cross-sectional area is greater than 36 sq in (230 cm2). Blooms are usually further processed via rotary piercing, structural shape rolling and profile rolling. Common final products include structural shapes, rails, rods, and seamless pipes.

Slab

A slab is a length of metal that is rectangular in cross-section. It is created directly from continuous casting or indirectly by rolling an ingot. Slabs are usually further processed via flat rolling, skelping, and pipe rolling. Common final products include sheet metal, plates, strip metal, pipes, and tubes.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palanquillas.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slabs_stack.jpg

Part IV

Inventory management, different distribution centre, warehouse across India and Logistic used with in plant, dispatch and distribution to customers

Use of Information Technology for greater visibility of supply chain and information flow


CHAPTER 6

INVENTORIES, DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS

Location Decisions

The geographic placement of production facilities, stocking points, and sourcing points is the natural first step in creating a supply chain. The location of facilities involves a commitment of resources to a long-term plan. Once the size, number, and location of these are determined, so are the possible paths by which the product flows through to the final customer. These decisions are of great significance to a firm since they represent the basic strategy for accessing customer markets, and will have a considerable impact on revenue, cost, and level of service. These decisions should be determined by an optimization routine that considers production costs, taxes, duties and duty drawback, tariffs, local content, distribution costs, production limitations, etc. Although location decisions are primarily strategic, they also have implications on an operational level.

SAIL has divided its Branch sales office, dealer District, and ware house in the following manner,

A Still from SAIL Website


Central Marketing Organisation

ISO 9001:2000 certified Central Marketing Organisation (CMO ) is India’s largest industrial marketing set-up. It markets carbon steel produced by the five integrated steel plants of SAIL. Headquartered in Kolkata, it transacts business through its network of 37 Branch Sales Offices spread across the four regions, 25 departmental Warehouses equipped with mechanised handling systems, 42 Consignment Agents and 26 Customer Contact Offices. CMO’s domestic marketing effort is supplemented by its ever widening network of rural dealers who meet the demands of the smallest customers in the remotest corners of the country. With the total number of dealers crossing 2,000, SAIL's wide marketing spread ensures availability of quality steel in virtually all the districts of the country. CMO through its joint venture partner M/s Metal Junction has simplified steel buying by providing net based facilities through its on line ‘e store’, providing door delivery facilities to small house-builders.

A strong IT support system enables real-time network connectivity within the entire CMO network. Extensive customer contact, product and segment specialization, close monitoring of order servicing and feedback analysis through a Customer Satisfaction index are established norms at CMO. The customer-friendly approach of CMO is backed by practical after-sales service. Through the process of Key Account management, CMO provides single-window service to key customers across the country for every business transaction from enquiry to order booking, order tracking to delivery, and even consultancy and after-sales service.

CMO’s International Trade Division

International Trade Division ( ITD), in New Delhi- an ISO 9001:2000 accredited unit of CMO, undertakes exports of Mild Steel products and Pig Iron from SAIL’s five integrated steel plants. Ever ready to meet the exacting demands of its global customers, ITD maintains a close liaison with customers and the production units to cater to the customized requirements of its customers both in terms of quality and sizes.

SAIL’s product basket includes products such as Rails, Structurals, Merchant Products, Wire Rods, Re-Bars, Plate Mill Plates, Hot Rolled Coils, Hot Rolled Plates/ Sheets, Cold Rolled Steels, Galvanised Steels, Cold Rolled Non Oriented ( CRNO ) coils, Chequered Plates, Slabs, Billets and Pig Iron besides cut-to-size Hot Rolled and Cold Rolled materials through its joint venture service centre. Our major products are also covered by stringent certifications such as CE marking TUV and ‘U’ mark required by sophisticated uses in European markets.

ITD has successfully established SAIL’s brand name globally. Among the notable destinations for SAIL products are Japan, P.R. of China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Europe (UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal), Sudan, Oman, UAE and the neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.


The Transport & Shipping Division of CMO headquartered at Kolkata with its branch offices at Haldia, Paradip, Vizag and Kolkata ports, ensures timely import of the key ingredient in steel making, coking coal and handles its entire logistics. It also caters to other plant imports and ensures efficient dispatch of steel exports.

The strategic decisions include what products to produce, and which plants to produce them in, allocation of suppliers to plants, plants to DC's, and DC's to customer markets.


As before, these decisions have a big impact on the revenues, costs and customer service levels of the firm. These decisions assume the existence of the facilities, but determine the exact path(s) through which a product flows to and from these facilities. Another critical issue is the capacity of the manufacturing facilities--and this largely depends the degree of vertical integration within the firm. Operational decisions focus on detailed production scheduling. These decisions include the construction of the master production schedules, scheduling production on machines, and equipment maintenance. Other considerations include workload balancing, and quality control measures at a production facility.

INVENTORIESINVENTORY MANAGEMENT OF STEEL SECTOR

IntroductionInventory is tangible property held for sale in the ordinary course of business, or in the process of production for such sale, or for consumption in the production of goods orservices for sale, including maintenance supplies and consumable stores and spare parts meant for replacement in the normal course. Inventory normally comprises of raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods including by-products, stores and spare parts and loose tools.Inventory constitutes a major element of working capital which needs efficient management. Inventory management covers fixation of minimum and maximum levels, determining the size of inventory to be carried, deciding about the issues, receipts and inspection procedures, determining the economic order quantity, proper storage facilities, keeping check over obsolescence and ensuring control over movement of inventories. Thus, it is important that inventory is properly controlled.

Taking from a case study - As the inventory constitutes a significant part of the total assets of companies in Oil and Steel Sectors, the eight Central Government companies in Oil Sector (two upstream and six downstream) and six Central Government companies in Steel Sector were selected for reviewing the inventory management based on applicable parameters.

Criteria of the reviewThe following criteria were used to review the inventory management system:

Inventory to working capital ratio; Norm vis a vis actual raw material holding and inventory carrying cost; Levels of stores and spares and holding of non-moving /surplus stores and

spares; Inventory turnover ratio and age of inventory in respect of finished goods; System of physical verification of inventory; and Payment of demurrage, punitive charges and dead freight.


Analysis of components of InventoryRaw materials

Raw materials consist of inputs which are used to manufacture goods that require further processing to become finished goods. The very fact that the items are required to be kept in stock means additional stock holding cost or carrying cost to the organisation. It represents the costs that are associated with storing an item in inventory. The different elements of costs involved in holding inventory are (a) Interest on capital / cost of capital,(b) Obsolescence and depreciation, (c) The cost of storage, handling and stock verification,(d) Insurance costs. It is usually expressed as a rate per unit or as a percentage of the inventory value. The inventory carrying cost generally ranges between 25 and 30 per cent of inventory value.

Stores and SparesIn order to ensure optimum level of stores and spares and to effect economies, following stock levels are required to be fixed by every Company and should adhered to:

Maximum Level Minimum Level Re-order Level Danger Level Economic Order Quantity

Compensation paid for detention of a ship, railway wagon, or other cargo conveyance beyond the free time allowed is termed as demurrage. It was observed that during the year 2008-09 Steel Sector companies have paid demurrage charges of and Rs.110.65 crore as detailed below:

RINL 3.32 SAIL 105.97 NINL 1.36 Total 110.65

Punitive charges and Dead freight

(i) The railways recover punitive charges for the quantity loaded in excess of the permissible limit. It was observed that the Steel sector companies paid Rs.36.93 crore to Railways as punitive charges during the year 2008-09 as detailed below:

Company Charges (Rs. in crore)

1. VISP 0.882. RINL 10.233. NMDC 8.564. SAIL 17.26 Total 36.93


(ii) The freight charges paid for the unutilised capacity of the vessel or railway wagonis known as Dead freight. It was observed that during the year 2008-09 SAIL

Inventory Decisions

These refer to means by which inventories are managed. Inventories exist at every stage of the supply chain as either raw material, semi-finished or finished goods. They can also be in-process between locations. Their primary purpose to buffer against any uncertainty that might exist in the supply chain. Since holding of inventories can cost anywhere between 20 to 40 percent of their value, their efficient management is critical in supply chain operations. It is strategic in the sense that top management sets goals. However, most researchers have approached the management of inventory from an operational perspective. These include deployment strategies (push versus pull), control policies --- the determination of the optimal levels of order quantities and reorder points, and setting safety stock levels, at each stocking location. These levels are critical, since they are primary determinants of customer service levels.

LOGISTICS

Transportation Decisions

The mode choice aspects of these decisions are the more strategic ones. These are closely linked to the inventory decisions, since the best choice of mode is often found by trading-off the cost of using the particular mode of transport with the indirect cost of inventory associated with that mode. While air shipments may be fast, reliable, and warrant lesser safety stocks, they are expensive. Meanwhile shipping by sea or rail may be much cheaper, but they necessitate holding relatively large amounts of inventory to buffer against the inherent uncertainty associated with them. Therefore customer service levels, and geographic location play vital roles in such decisions. Since transportation is more than 30 percent of the logistics costs, operating efficiently makes good economic sense. Shipment sizes (consolidated bulk shipments versus Lot-for-Lot), routing and scheduling of equipment are key in effective management of the firm's transport strategy.


Mea

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OutBound Logistic

Ships

Railways

Trucks

InBound Logistics

Rails

Trucks

Convoyer Belts

INBOUND LOGISTIC

Transportation and Diesel Department is responsible for the movement of goods, raw materials in time to production unit scrape, hot metal, and finished product through railway lines. Bhilai Steel Plant has 234.5 km railway track inside the plant. The railway network consists of 974 turnout and 26 diamond crossing. It also has 63 diesel engines and 563 wagons which are in 24 hours working mode for the handling of raw materials and product dispatch.

The inbound logistic is managed by six station and two posts with in this stations and posts goods are sent and receive where ever there is need. This station and posts are –

1. Blast Furnace Station2. Steel Station3. Open Hearth Furnace Station4. Raw Material Station5. Work Station6. Plant Peripheral Yard7. Rolling Mill Post8. Plate Mill Post

Every Station and post has a specific purpose and task to perform out of which Blast furnace Station is the most important one which transfers hot metal. SMS-I and SMS-II are important for production which uses approx. 300 Wagons, Plant Peripheral Yard which is near Jarutari Gate is used for bringing raw material from yard to production unit which is kept as stock bought from different places and Rolling Mill Post and Work Station Handles 2.5 MT Product Dispatch from Bariya Gate Stock Yard. Plate mill coordinate with Raw material Station for handling of 4 MT products

Transportation and Diesel Department has different Sub-department for smooth flow of goods and raw material which are –

1. Traffic Control2. Commercial Control3. Permanent Way Control4. Signal Dispatcher5. Loco and Wagons Operation Control6. Power Control


CHAPTER - 7

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning is IT software that integrates business activities across an enterprise—from product planning, parts purchasing, inventory control, and product distribution, to order tracking. ERP may also include application modules for the finance, accounting and human resources aspects of a business. SAP and Oracle are the two ERP leading vendors.

From a business perspective, ERP today has expanded from simply coordinating manufacturing processes to being the integrator of enterprise-wide backend processes. ERP has also evolved technologically from a monolithic legacy implementation into flexible, tiered, client-server architecture.

BSP has an extensive optical fiber network spread across the plant and township. IT has been deployed extensively for numerous on-line applications for higher efficiency and greater speed. ERP project is live in BSP since 1st April 2009 and MES implementation is under progress.

ERP IN BHILAI STEEL PLANT AND ITS DIFFERENT DEPT (BOTTOM LEFT CORNER)


UTKARSH(ERP) IN BSP AND ITS DIFFERENT APPLICATION SHOWN ON TOP

SAP SRM FOR E-PROCUREMENT


ERP Business Benefits

ERP is an enabler of business benefits, and should not be viewed as a standalone initiative with the requirement to pay back its implementation cost. The most immediate ERP benefits include

(1) Improved visibility of procurement spend and savings from improved sourcing policies, (2) Decrease of work-in progress and days-of-sale-outstanding, (3) Improved productivity through better sales order handling, better procurement operations and more efficient planning.

However, the most important business benefits will often be delivered after the ERP backbone is established, by other initiatives that use the ERP backbone:

Integrated supply chain: from network planning through scheduling and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Easier integration of business processes with business partners Shared services and outsourcing of support functions Increased information transparency to enable better decisions Agility in acquisitions and “carve-outs” or divestments Increased regulatory compliance Robust and future-proofed backbone systems

There are cost savings on the IT side, often around 10-15%, especially when different ERP implementations are being harmonized. These IT savings include: Reduced ERP implementation costs due to a common template Reduced application maintenance costs Lower integration cost due to standard interfaces Lower infrastructure costs

With an awareness of the best practices and a good understanding of ERP project complexities, the risks in an ERP implementation are usually outweighed by the benefits. The ERP discussion on investment return is one of mind-set more than one of standalone business cases.


Suggestions

Logistics

For transportation of iron ore from its mine located at dilirajhara 85 km away from Bhilai Steel Plant uses roads for the means of transport. Trucks as carrier of iron ore is not cheap and has a limited capacity to carry material and during its journey it emits harmful gas from its engine which effects the environment where as pipelines are more eco-friendly and reduces the cost for transportation apart from this it is less noisy. Looking the transportation cost of coal also comparing pipeline and rail for coal transportation pipeline can be a good option for cheaper transportation.

Advantage

1. Unobtrusive Line buried, low visibility, low environmental impact, lower footprint

2. More Secure Better protected, less likely to be vandalized3. Safer Local population better protected, no moving parts to clash with4. Continuous Flow No stop/start operation, less likely to experience product delay

at refinery5. Low Maintenance None on pipeline, minor on pumps, high on filters6. Flexible Alignment Easily adjustable around villages or obstacles7. Shorter Route Fewer vertical and horizontal alignment constraints, resulting in

more direct route8. Easier Stream Crossings Can pass buried under streams without bridging9. Environmentally Friendly Lower footprint, less clearing, does not isolate habitat,

no noise/dust

Disadvantage

1. High Capital and Operating Costs - Slurry Preparation—high capital and operating costs from mine to pipeline for slurry preparation (crushing, grinding, water supply, etc.) Slurry Dewatering—high capital and operating costs for slurry receiving, dewatering filters and associated compressors, cake storage and re-slurrying, water disposal

2. Water Usage Large water requirement for slurry transport3. Rheology Change in ore characteristics can change particle distribution, leading

to possible increase in pumping head and increased filtering4. Blockages May be difficult to locate and remove5. Dewatering Management Expensive to return fi lter water to mine; disposal at

refinery may require treatment before release; downstream issues, including environmental and community, may occur

6. Pipeline Life Long-term pipeline performance, higher-than-expected internal corrosion and erosion


The concentrate of the ore is mixed with water and then pumped over a long distance to a port where it can be shipped for further processing. At the end of the pipeline, the material is separated from the slurry in a filter press to remove the water. Water is usually subject to a waste treatment process before disposal or return to the mine. Slurry pipelines offer an economic advantage over railroad and much less noise disturbance to the environment, particularly when mines are in extremely remote areas.

Iron ore slurry pipe line

Pipelines must be suitably engineered to resist abrasion from the solids as well as corrosion from the soil. Some of these pipelines are lined with high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Typical materials that are transferred using slurry pipelines include coal, copper, iron, and phosphate concentrates, limestone, lead, zinc, nickel, bauxite and oil sands.

Slurry pipelines are also used to transport tailings from a mineral processing plant after that the ore has been processed to dispose of the remaining rocks or clays.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauxite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_polyethylene

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_polyethylene

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slurry

Example of Essar Steel

Essar Steel has commissioned the world’s second longest iron ore slurry pipeline this week. The 267 km long pipeline connects the iron benficiation plant at Bailadilla, Chattisgarh to the pellet plant at Visakhapatnam and passes through the rugged terrains of Chattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

The steel major will also commission an iron-ore benefication plant with an eight million tonne capacity. Both the projects entails an investment of Rs 1,100 crore.

“The two projects were executed in a record time of two years and their commissioning marks the completion of the total integration of Essar Steel’s manufacturing facilities,” said a company spokesperson.

Last year, in September, the company had commissioned the cold rolling complex at its steel plant at Hazira. The world’s longest slurry pipeline, which is 396 km long, is located at the Germano Mines in Brazil.

The Bailadilla pipeline, built by Essar Steel, is designed to carry 8 million tonne of slurry per annum and is expected to reduce Essar Steel’s transportation cost from Rs 550 per tonne to about Rs 80 per tonne.

The pipeline will help the company save at least Rs 200 crore every year, with its capacity set to increase to 4.6 million tonne per year from the present 3 million tonne.

“It is the most environment-friendly way of transporting iron ore fines. The pipeline eliminates logistic bottlenecks, ensuring real time inventory management,” said the spokesperson.

The pipeline infrastructure includes two pumping stations and a valve choking station, apart from terminalling facilities at Visakhapatnam and Bailadilla.

The pumping operation from Bailadilla to Visakhapatnam is monitored and controlled by a computerised supervisory system. The slurry pumps were supplied by Geho, Netherlands and a consortium of JSC Stroytransgaz and Essar Constructions executed the project.

The benefication plant of 8 million tonne capacity is located at Kirandul, adjacent to the Kirandul mines of National Minerals Development Corporation.at present the cost of transportation of ore from Bailadila mines to Vizag by the Railways comes to about Rs 450 per tonne. But the cost will come down drastically to Rs 130 per tonne if the iron ore is carred through the pipeline in the form of slurry.


Essar Steel starts iron ore slurry pipelinePrince Mathews Thomas / Mumbai Mar 10, 2006, 23:06 ISThttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/essar-steel-starts-iron-ore-slurry-pipeline/235224/

Inbound Logistic

Conveyor Belt

High Capacity Conveyor Belt can be used for the movement of material and goods with in the plant since the old loco and wagons have the speed limit of 15-20 km/hr which is not to fast

Conveyor belt are generally design to handle and move material like coal, ores, and finished goods etc from one place to another for short distance which is fast and cheap and eco-friendly compared to diesel engine loco trains.

Advantages

Belt conveyors are capable of handling a wide range of bulk materials from very fine to large lump sizes. Very fine materials such as portland cement are loaded at terminals using belt conveyors. Large lump size materials such as coal are transported from mines using belt conveyors.

Belt conveyors can be designed to handle capacities for any operation. It is common for belt conveyors to unload ships at capacities up to 10,000 tons per hour. Belt conveyors can also be designed for batching operations or to convey a small amount of material between processes.

Belt conveyors can be configured to fit almost any application. A belt conveyor can convey material horizontally, on an incline or a combination of both. It is common to use a single belt conveyor to transport material horizontally a certain distance, then elevate the material on an inclined section of belt conveyor and then horizontally again.

Belt conveyors can be used to stock-pile or reclaim bulk materials. Radial stackers are used for creating large piles of materials such as wood chips, coal or ore. Reclaim belt conveyors are located under the piles to carry the materials into the plant for processing. Belt conveyors require less horsepower to operate than other types of conveyors. Bulk materials are carried on top of the belt and remain static, therefore requiring much less energy to move.


http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/essar-steel-starts-iron-ore-slurry-pipeline/235224/



Belt conveyors have proven to be a reliable method of conveying bulk materials. Industry standards for the design of belt conveyors have been developed by the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (CEMA).

INVENTORIES

Recommendations

In order to have efficient inventory management it is recommended that:

The companies may like to fix stock levels for different categories of stores and spares taking in to account consumption pattern, lead time, storage space, market trends, carrying cost, ordering cost etc.

The companies may consider taking steps expeditiously to dispose the non-moving/ surplus stores and spares;

The upstream oil companies and the steel sector companies should adhere to the norms fixed for holding the inventory;

The steel sector companies may like to device appropriate marketing strategy to reduce the finished goods inventory holding; and

The steel sector companies should take appropriate action expeditiously to investigate the reasons for shortages and prevent such shortages


Inventories of various steel products

Research and Development

A large number of new technologies are presently available in the world particularly in the technologically advanced countries. These are classified according to the technical areas viz. iron ore and coal processing, beneficiation, agglomeration, direct reduction, smelting reduction, coke oven and by-products, blast furnace, basic oxygen furnace, electric furnace, secondary refining, rolling etc. Some of these technologies have already been introduced in India by some producers while others are yet to be explored / introduced. The relevance of these technologies and their feasibility for introduction / adoption in the Indian scenario are discussed in the following paragraphs Beneficiation of Raw Materials There is a lot of scope for research in the beneficiation of materials. Keeping in view the likely shortage of water for beneficiation purposes, the Industry may explore the possibility of dry beneficiation processes such as pneumatic flotation (popular in China). Research on the use of Micro wave in the beneficiation process indicates that the process has the following advantages:

Reduction in grinding energy Improvement in final product yield

The selection of chemicals in flotation process plays an important role in

Improvement of product yield Reduction in ash of coal Better flocculation leading to higher recovery of process water

Technologies are available to improve the yield in flotation process. Some of these are: Development of models to eliminate the dead zones in mechanical cells of fine coal

flotation Improved Spurger designs

Coke Making


a) Conventional coke making (By-Product Recovery coke oven)

Technological innovations like Stamp Charging & Partial Briquetting of Coal Charge (PBCC), Tall ovens/batteries, Leak Proof Doors, Coke Dry Quenching (CDQ) etc may be considered for extensive adoption for enhancing productivity, improving quality and reducing pollution. SCOPE 21, a revolutionary coke production process, which is being developed by Nippon Steel, is expected to reduce energy consumption significantly and also boost production efficiency. Conservation of energy comes from preliminary coal processing and other measures.

b) On-line heating control technology for coke ovens

In today‘s scenario, Level-II computerized controlled battery heating and automation system is essential for all coke ovens to improve coke quality and reduce energy consumption in coke making. This also facilitates adherence to pollution control norms besides reducing coke rate in Blast Furnace. The technology is available with only a few select countries: CETCO, Netherlands, CODECO, Germany, Rautarukki, Finland and Amano, Japan. A version of this technology has also been developed in-house by RDCIS, SAIL for optimization of heat consumption during coal carbonization and has been implemented in BSP, SAIL and DSP, SAIL.

c) Other technological developments for adoption

Development of suitable models to optimize the coal blend to minimize total cost, improve coke quality and oven health and promote ease of pushing.

Accelerated/up-graded automation to improve productivity and quality i.e. level-1 or level-2 depending on the need

Refractory welding for quick repair Other energy conservation programmes

d) Dry-cleaned and Agglomerated Pre-compaction System (DAPS)

The DAPS is a new coal pretreatment process for coke making to enhance coke strength and suppress dust occurrence to improve the environment friendliness of coke making by drying coal, separating fine coal from lump coal and forming the fine coal into agglomerate in dry. In addition to suppressing the dust occurrence, the DAPS has improved the caking property of fine coal by increasing its bulk density. As a result, benefits achieved are:

The strength of the DAPS coke is markedly better than that of the CMC coke both in terms of cold as well as hot strength.

The DAPS makes it possible to increase the use of non or slightly-caking coals by 30% compared to the conventional wet coal charging process, and by approximately 20% compared to by the CMC process, without deteriorating the coke strength

The charging density of coal with the DAPS is approximately 0.80 t/m3, and together with the reduction of coking time due to the decrease in coal moisture, productivity of coke ovens improves by 21% compared with the conventional wet coal charging process.

The DAPS decreases the heat consumption of coke making due to lower moisture content of coal and productivity. The heat consumption decreases by


approximately15% compared to the conventional wet coal charging process at the same production rate.

Direct Reduction and Smelting Reduction

a) Coal gasification for DRI production

A revolutionary and challenging new alternative likely to be suitable under Indian conditions is non-coking coal gasification by the well-established coal gasification (Lurgi Technology) and use of the synthesis gas thus generated (in lieu of natural gas) as the reductant in vertical Shaft Furnace to produce gas based DRI. Indian steel companies adopt this technology to tackle the problem of non-availability of natural gas. Several Smelting Reduction technologies, doing away with coke making or separate agglomeration facilities, have been developed over the years and several are under development. These processes are known for their eco-friendliness and use of non-coking coal directly as reducing agent and energy source and appear to fulfill the requirement of ―sustainable development , i.e. environmental control, pollution control and safety. ‖Therefore, the relevance of these technologies has to be carefully assessed for compatibility in the Indian context. The promising alternative technologies which have been commercialized / are in the process of commercialization and appear to be relevant are:

b) COREX Process

In the COREX process, all metallurgical work is carried out in two separate process reactors, the reduction shaft and the melter gasifier. Since, coking and sintering plants are not required for the COREX process, substantial cost saving up to 20% can be achieved in the production of hot metal. Regarding environmental concerns, COREX plant emissions contain insignificant amounts of NOx, SO2, dust, phenols, sulfides and ammonium with emission values are far below the maximum values allowed by future European standards. Furthermore, waste-water emissions from the COREX process are far lower than those in the conventional blast furnace route. While there are several merits in adopting the process, there are a few concerns, which need to be considered before selecting this process for iron making.

Need for pellets and metallurgical coke/coal to achieve productivity and process consistency

Lower modular sizes requiring large numbers and hence large investment for mega steel plants

High consumption of oxygen Need for gainful utilization of COREX gas for economic viability. Use for power

generation or a reducing fuel is essential for process viability.

There are a number of COREX units operating in India and worldwide. In India, JSW Steel in Karnataka has two COREX reactors. Essar Steel, Hazira is also acquiring two corex C-2000 modules.

c) FINEX process


The limitations of the COREX process with respect to use of iron ore fines directly has led to development of FINEX process at Pohang, POSCO. The process has been successfully demonstrated at 1.5 MTPA level in South Korea. The unique feature of Finex process, is the direct use of iron ore fines and non coking coal to make liquid iron. However, the Melter Gasifier, which melts the reduced iron as well as generates the gas for use in the fluidized beds –appears to need inputs largely in lumpy form requiring compaction of reduced ore at the high operating temperature and reducing atmosphere. While it has been possible to avoid use of coke in Melter gasifier like that in Corex plant, the process needs either lumpy coal or coal briquettes. Briquetting calls for use of binders and suitable processing technology to get strength levels of coke. The Finex plant at Pohang reportedly uses coal injection thereby lowering need of high strength briquettes. Similarly, the reduced iron to be charged in the melter gasifier is also in the form of lump/ briquettes. Thus, while need for agglomeration( pelletising) of ore and use of coke are avoided, these are functionally substituted by alternative, major processing steps requiring substantial additional cost apart from operating and maintenance difficulties. Further, like Corex gas, Finex gas is also of high calorific value and needs to be utilized gainfully to make the process economically viable. The above technological issues and the techno-economics of a commercial scale plant of 1.5 MTPA would decide the commercial viability of the process route. If proved viable on a commercial scale, Finex technology may emerge as a leading iron making technology that will contribute to the sustainable growth to the Steel Industry. It is reported that adoption of this process is also being considered for POSCO‘s venture in Orissa. SAIL has signed an agreement with POSCO to incorporate the technology under JV for creating a 2.5 – 3.0 MTPA additional capacity at Bokaro Steel Plant.

d) HISMELT process

This process differs from Corex or Finex in that it makes direct use of iron ore and coal fines in a single step reactor. The salient feature of the process is that it 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 the 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. Therefore, this process seems to have considerable promise. The first demonstration plant of 0.8 MTPA was commissioned in 2005 at Kwinana, Western Australia. The Plant had a major shut down in February, 2006 for modification. Since its restart in March, 2006, the Plant achieved a production rate of about 60% of its capacity. The hot metal produced had low phosphorus (less than 0.05%) and very low silicon (less than 0.05%). There were further plans to scale up the size (internal diameters) of the Smelting Reduction vessel from 6m to 8m for achieving a production of 2 MTPA from the single module. However, with the market softening in 2008, the demonstration unit was shut down without any definite plan for restart. JSPL recently signed an agreement with Rio Tinto for the transfer of the existing demonstration plant to JSPL site to take the development forward. Hence it can be said that the technology is still at the demonstration stage and would be available for the commercialization, once the teething problems are sorted out.


f) ITmk3 Process

Developed by Kobe Steel, Japan, the process uses a rotary hearth furnace to turn green dry pellets made from low grade iron ore fines and pulverised coal into solid iron nuggets of superior quality( 97% Fe) DRI, suitable for use in EAF, BOF and foundry applications. The process is unique in that nearly all of the chemical energy of the fuel used is consumed and no gas credit is exported from the system. It is claimed that the process is more energy efficient (consuming 30% less energy compared to BF-BOF route), more environment friendly with 40% less emissions and involves less capital and operating cost compared to other technologies, making it attractive for steel plants in the small and medium segments. The process has a very good separation between iron (realized as metallic nuggets) and slag and the purity of iron is also very good. Recovery of iron value from the iron bearing materials is expected to be very high. RHF may be one of the processes for efficient recovery of iron value using the mine wastes such as iron ore slime and Jhama coal. However, in this process considerable percentage of coal ‗S‘ gets into metallic nuggets and hence the use of the product in place of scrap in steel making is likely to be restricted. A commercial plant of capacity 500000 tpa was set up by Mesabi Nuggets at Minnesota, USA. Success of the plant will pave the way for rapid commercialization of the process. SAIL has entered into an agreement with Kobe Steel under JV to set up a 0.5MTPA facility in Alloy Steel Plant, Durgapur.

Developments in secondary refining

In view of increasing demand for quality steel by the consumers, it is apparent that the steel industry needs to pay more attention towards secondary refining and also to continuous casting to improve the quality of steel, reduce energy consumption and increase yield and thereby produce steel at reduced cost. There are several well established technologies viz. RH / RH-OB process, CAS-OB process, LF/ AOD / VOD / VAD / VD for secondary refining which may be adopted depending on their suitability for the specific steel production units. Some of the new technologies that are worth considering are:

Selective use of ‗Wire Feeders to reduce variation of steel alloying elements Slag free tapping to improve steel cleanliness and reduce aluminum consumption. Improve Ladle Insulation to reduce heat loss and achieve better control on super

heat.

b) Developments in continuous casting of conventional slabs:

Out of the few thin strip casting installations in the world, the Castrip process, developed by Nucor / BHP, is a major technological breakthrough for producing thin gauge flat rolled steel sheets. In this process, liquid steel is directly cast into steel strip by the use of twin roll casting process followed by an in-line one stand hot rolling strand to get a desired thickness between 0.7 – 2.0 mm. The Castrip process represents a step-change over thin slab casting and conventional slab casting process. It eliminates the hot rolling process completely and to some extent the cold rolling process as well. This amounts to tremendous cost saving in terms of capital outlay, operational expenditure and the most important being the huge reduction in energy requirements. Long Products: Near net casting is getting popular in the long product segment too. Steel players may take note of these technologies to improve their operations and cut costs.


Casting of thin strip or wire rod has just started getting implemented in a few steel making units in the world. The technology of continuous casting of wire rod is presently being developed by the Arcelor Group and is currently on a pilot scale level. In future when the technology is scaled up to commercial level, the following advantages are expected to accrue:

Possible to cast 15.0 mm rods Direct feeding of coils to wire rod mill Higher yield and low cost of production

JSPL has installed a Beam Blank caster at Raigarh and SAIL has planned a Beam Blank caster facility at Burnpur.

Hot Rolling Technology

a) Hot strip rolling

Several state-of-the-art rolling mills have been set up by the Indian steel plants and others are in the process of acquiring such mills. Some plants are practicing latest techniques like Hot Charging of Slabs, though partially Compact Strip Processing etc in hot rolling areas and reaping benefits in terms of productivity and energy conservation. Schedule-free rolling, high pressure de-scalers, AWC (Automatic Width Control), Use of HSS rolls, Hydraulically controlled AGC for gauge accuracy, Finishing stands with level-2 automation, Roll cross pair, Edge preheaters, Ultra-Fast Cooling in ROT and edge masking system are other developments designed to improve the productivity, quality and rolling efficiency. Improvement in heating efficiency and reduction in fuel consumption in reheat furnaces can be achieved by installation of HEC (High Efficiency Combustion) regenerative burner, which also has a favourable effect on CO2 emission.

Bar and Rod mills

In both LCWR (low carbon wire rod) and HCWR (high carbon wire rod), the customers need major improvement in drawability to achieve higher drawing speeds. This requires wire rods with improvements in microstructure and cleanliness. Controls on dimensional tolerances (+ / - 0.10 mm on diameter) and ovality (0.12mm max) need focus. Product stringency with respect to surface quality and central looseness is continually on the rise. Dimensional tolerances and ovality greatly improve with the Installation of RSM (reducing Size Mill) and improved quality rolls. Due to stricter environmental norms, the acid pickling will be replaced by mechanical descaling. This will necessitate setting of rolling parameters to achieve loose flaky scales after rolling.At the wire rod mill, the length of the Stelmor conveyor places limitation on the consistency of property that can be achieved both in low carbon and high carbon steel. Some of the developments in the cooling area are

Direct inline patenting, Mist cooling Retarded cooling. Hybrid cooling‘ system to achieve re-bars with YS>700 M Pa (Developed by NSC)


A technology for endless casting and rolling (similar to thin slab rolling) has been developed for the production long products. The casting technology for the conventional billet production is also undergoing a massive change. Processes are developed to improve the casting speed (for 130 mm billets) beyond 7 m / min. This will allow the steel producers to achieve high productivity, quality and efficiency. High cast speed helps in production of billets with extremely high residual thermal load which improves the hot charging efficiency. In the bar & rod category, High Speed finishing rolling and delivery system has been developed for the production of re-bars. The main advantage that is claimed is achieving high productivity even in case of small size re-bars (6mm). There is a growing demand for seismic resistance and corrosion resistance re-bars. Demand is also on the rise for fire-resistant, cryogenic resistant and explosion resistant re-bars. Compliance to tighter tolerance norms and improved draw ability of LCWR and HCWR wire rods is the need of the hour. Growth in the automotive sector calls for development of tire cord steels, which no steel maker in India is currently producing. The market demand for the forging quality steel, bearing steel, and boron steel is also expected to increase in near future.

Rail mill

a) Universal rolling of rails In conventional rolling due to smaller reduction ratio and heterogeneous rolling, crack formation is encountered. Universal rolling of rails results in improved surface quality, full section forging by direct pressure, lower roll consumption, and improved mill productivity. Dimension tolerances are also improved using universal rolling. b) Head hardening of rails Increase in axle load and traffic speed induces a greater performance demand of the rails. Normal C-Mn rails have limitation in performance in such severe condition. To cater to the demands of Indian Railways, head hardening of rails is necessary. A suitable method to produce head hardened rails offline/online has to be developed to cater to the demands of Indian Railways.

The most important area of positive Government intervention would be in the sphere of adoption/ adaptation of promising/ emerging technologies like the FINEX, ITmk3, HISMELT etc. to supplement the conventional coke oven-sinter plant-blast furnace based technologies, thereby reducing dependence on hard lumpy iron ore/pellets/sinter, coking coal and harmful emissions. Simultaneously, the Government may also intervene and encourage modernization/ renovation of the existing plants to adopt the state-of-art technologies in the conventional route of iron and steel making.Sources - www.earpa.eu/docs/2005/furore_ road_map _final.pdf

ENERGY SAVING TECNOLOGIES

Improvement in segregated charging of sintering materials - The improvement of segregated charging is to optimize the size distribution along the height of the sinter bedBy this, the permeability increases, and the quality of the sintered ores in the upper layer is improved, resulting in the overall yield improvement.


Further, the return ores are reduced. Accordingly, the coke consumption is reduced and the energy saving effect is achieved.

Pulverized coal injection for blast furnace - Pulverized coal is injected into a blast furnace through tuyeres by a pulverized coal injection device.- The type, size, etc. of pulverized coal injected differs by injection device and blast furnace.- By improving the equipment and operation technology, injection of 50-200 kg/t-pig is now possible, resulting in a large energy saving.

Coal drying and humidity control equipment for coke oven - Fuel consumption in the coke oven is reduced by heating the coal and reducing the humidity. The water content in coal is generally 7 - 11%, which is reduced to about 6%: a level which does not hinder the charging operation by generating dust.Mainly, steam is used for heating coal.Coal humidity control equipment is installed in the middle of the transportation path from the coal blending bed to each of the coal bins for the coke ovens.When the water content in coal is reduced too much, dust is generated during transportation and the resistance in coke operation increases

Sensible heat recovery from main exhaust gas of sintering machine - In this process, using the waste heat boiler, the heat is recovered from the gas of the temperature of about 380°C exhausted from the sintering machine, and then the gas is returned back to the sintering machine. By this method, the heat recovery is increased by about 30% and at the same time, emission of NOx, SOx, etc., into the atmosphere is reduced.

Continuous casting machine - Molten steel is continuously charged into the mold. It is control-cooled from outside and withdrawn as it is solidified from the surface and formed into semis. This machine eliminates the ingot casting, soaking, and slab or billet rolling, and achieves large reduction in fuel and power consumption.

Sources - Other various method of energy saving can be obtained from - www.energymanagertraining.com/.../09-Chapter3-Section1-Iron%20


BIBLOGRAPHY

http://www.apitco.org/Profiles/Profiles%20PRS/Steel%20Melting%20shop.pdf

http://www.swmai.org/Glossary-I.pdf

http://steel.gov.in/Annual%20Report%20(2003-04)/English/chapter-9.PDF

http://www.empirica.com/themen/ebusiness/documents/Study_02-2008_Steel.pdf

http://www.teamorissa.org/convention_%20presentations_%20sessionwise/session-1/session1-2%20energy_efficiency%20_ppt_2.pdf

http://cprr.org/Museum/Rail_Mills_1876.pdf

REFERENCES

http://www.energetics.com/resourcecenter/products/studies/Documents/energy-benchmarking-automotive.pdf




http://cprr.org/Museum/Rail_Mills_1876.pdf








http://www.swmai.org/Glossary-I.pdf



http://www.sail.co.in/

http://www.sail.co.in/sales.php?tag=dealersnetwork

http://www.sail.co.in/pnu.php?tag=bhilai

https://www.sail- bhilaisteel .com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhilai_Steel_Plant

www.sail.co.in/pdf/areport-2010-11.pdf


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhilai_Steel_Plant

https://www.sail-bhilaisteel.com/

http://www.sail.co.in/pnu.php?tag=bhilai

http://www.sail.co.in/sales.php?tag=dealersnetwork

http://www.sail.co.in/

bhilai steel plant pre final project

Documents

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reversing

filled iron

itc sustainability

longest rail

electric arc

modern technological

central government