CII Steel Summit Nov 2009
Future technology in steel
Dr Debashish Bhattacharjee
Director RD&T, Tata Steel Group
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The imperatives
Unprecedented economic crisis globally
Raw materials
Energy and environment
New markets and products
Cost
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Raw materials
Depleting high quality iron ore and coking coal.
Escalating costs
Need for beneficiating high ash coal and high gangue ore
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Energy & Environment
Need to reduce energy consumption
Need to reduce emissions
Existing technology can go so far at a cost
New approach required.
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New products and markets
Need to thwart competition from other materials
High-strength, high-formability together
Need to look at component-specific development
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Cost and productivity
Need to remain competitive
Ability to handle high-gangue raw materials
Ability to take away heat faster
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Breakthrough technologies
If you do not challenge the boundariesbe limited by them
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Raw materials
Reduce ash in coal from 30% to 8%
Beneficiation and use of iron ore slimes
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Energy & Environment
Hydrogen harvesting
Photovoltaic solutions on steel
Low CO2 steel production
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New products
Replacement of zinc in coatings
Next generation high strength steels
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Cost and productivity
High productivity blast furnaces with poor raw materials
30% reduction in cost of ferro-chrome production
Energy efficient fluids
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Better heat transfer
Higher raceway temperatures
Faster casting speeds
Faster hot rolling
Smaller car engines
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Energy efficient fluids
Vol fraction
Con
duct
ivity
micron, mm,
Maxwell
nano
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Effect of nanofluid
1-2 hours saving on a 15 hours cooling cycle.
~10% increase in productivity
Saving in capital expenditure.
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Hydrogen harvesting
COH2 CO2
H2O O C
Molten slag
Energy Catalyst Oxygen sink
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H2H: the Journey%
H2
in p
rodu
ct g
as
15 kg slag2005
500 kg slag2006
10 t slag2007
1 t/min slag2009
FuturePotential
Idea validation
Process improvement
Design improvement
Fine tuning
Optimization
20
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Potential of H2H
Today a fuel:6 GW, -$ 10 Bn, -25 Mt CO2
Future: Low-cost H2 source
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Ferro-chrome
Current process:
Chromite ore beneficiation
Agglomeration
SAF (3500kWh/t, coke)
Ferro-chrome
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Barriers
Refractory nature of ore (Cr, Mg, Al, Fe)
Spinel structure
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Ideas/opportunities
Oxidise to break spinel structure
FeO + O
Fe2O3 + vacancy