Iron & Steel Review September 2011 Issue

Highlights of the Issue

Steel Plants in India's Economic Development

VIEWPOINT

Steel demand is poised to grow in the challenging market
Steel Industry is a flourishing industry in the whole world. The rising demand for it was mainly generated by the development projects that have been going on along the world, especially the infrastructural works and real estate projects.

PUBLIC & PRIVATE SECTOR

Role of Public & Private Sector Steel Plants in India's Economic Development
It was due to the great vision and enterprise of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata that the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was formed in 1907 and the first ingot of the TISCO plant in the Private Sector, at Sakchi (later named as Jamshedpur) in the then state of Bihar, was rolled on 16th February, 1912. This was India's first integrated steel plant in the Private Sector.

Environmental issues can be tackled with specific schemes, but nobody supports illegal mining
There are some complex issues which are making their standpoints a strong one on the market front. However, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), being the largest steel company of India won't get affected by these situations as the company sees a positive sight within this state of affairs.

Bhilai Steel Plant - initiating an effective path of modernization and expansion
As part of SAIL's modernization & expansion (Modex) Plan, Bhilai Steel Plant will expand its crude steelmaking capacity to 7 MTPA. In this latest expansion plan, the focus is on acquiring latest state-of-the-art technology, energyefficient & environmental friendly systems & facilities. World renowned technology and equipment suppliers such as M/s Paul Wurth, SMS Meer, Danieli, ABB and our own L&T and BHEL etc. have therefore, converged in Bhilai Steel Plant to participate in different projects of our Modex programme.

TOPICS & TRENDS

• Essar Steel: Production on the new CSP® plant sets new standards

  On July 15, 2011, the second strand of the CSP® plant (Compact Strip Production) supplied by SMS Siemag, Germany, to the Indian steel producer Essar Steel Ltd. at Hazira in Gujarat, India, was successfully put into operation.

• Monnet's integrated unit to setup by Dec

  Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd. is looking forward to setup its 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) integrated mill at Raigarh by December 2011 which will augment its steelmaking capacity to 1.9 mtpa.

• JSPL orders new sinter plant from Siemens VAI

  Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) placed an order with Siemens VAI Metals Technologies to supply a new sinter plant on a process turnkey basis. The project is part of a new integrated steelworks currently under construction at Patratu, Ramgarh District, State of Jharkhand.

• MEL renamed as Chandrapur Ferro Alloy Plant of SAIL

  Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Limited (MEL), the erstwhile subsidiary of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has been renamed as Chandrapur Ferro Alloy Plant (CFP) following its amalgamation with SAIL effective from June 10, 2011.

• SAIL Chairman reviews expansion work at Bhilai Steel Plant

  The Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Mr. C.S. Verma, visited Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh on August 20, 2011 to review the progress of modernisation & expansion (M&E) activities being implemented in the plant at a cost of about Rs. 17,200 crore. A day later, Mr. Verma also visited the Rajhara and Dalli mines, which provide raw material for BSP. SAIL has laid a thrust upon timely implementation of the company's M&E programme.

• Mr. A.P. Choudhary takes charge as new CMD of RINLVSP

  Mr. Amarendra Prasad Choudhary took over as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which holds state-owned Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). He took charge from Mr. P.K. Bishnoi, who retired on July 31, 2011. Earlier, Mr. Choudhary had been serving the company as Director (projects).

• Mr. Anil Kumar Chaudhary takes charge as SAIL's new Director (Finance)

  Mr. Anil Kumar Chaudhary, 50, has taken charge of the office of Director (Finance) of Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Prior to this assignment, he was Executive Director (Finance & Accounts) at SAIL's Bokaro Steel Plant.

• Mr. HM Nerurkar is new Chairman of TRL Krosaki Refractories Limited

  Mr. Hemant M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited has been appointed as Chairman of TRL Krosaki Refractories Limited with effect from 27th August 2011. The formal announcement was made in the Board Meeting held on that day at Belpahar. He took over from Dr J.J. Irani who was Chairman of the Company for last 28 years.

• Abhijeet Group orders 2 billet casters from SMS Concast

  July 2011, Abhijeet Projects Ltd. (group) Ranchi has awarded SMS Concast with an order for two new billet casters for its plant at Corporate Ispat Alloys Ltd. Both machines will be equipped with three casting strands and represent state-of-theart technology of the Swiss based SMS Concast group. The order includes the latest Concast Automation, erection of equipment as well as supervision services for erection and commissioning. The project is fully executed by the Indian Branch of SMS Concast AG. The first cast is scheduled for mid 2012.

• SAIL Chairman urges ISP for faster project implementation

  The Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Mr. C.S. Verma, visited IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) at Burnpur in West Bengal on 12th August to review progress of its ongoing modernisation & expansion programme being implemented at a cost of about Rs. 16,408 crore. While most of the projects under ISP's modernisation & expansion programme are in an advanced stage of completion, some are close to commissioning stage.

STEEL INTERNATIONAL

ArcelorMittal orders converter tilting drive from SMS Siemag
ArcelorMittal Gent, Belgium, has placed an order with SMS Siemag, Germany, for the design, manufacture and installation of a new converter tilting drive. This shall replace the previous drive which has been operated by the company for forty years.

SMS Siemag to supply new cold rolling complex to Gazi Metal
Siemag, Germany, will supply a new production facility for cold strip, to Gazi Metal (Gazi Metal Mamülleri), Turkey.

TSI to launch daily Turkish imports scrap reference price
The Steel Index (TSI) will increase the publication frequency of its ferrous scrap reference price for Turkish imports of HMS #1&2 80:20 from weekly to daily from 1 September 2011. Turkish scrap import prices are seen as one of the key indicators not only of scrap pricing, but also of steel pricing around the world.

Ziehwerk Plettenberg orders bright steel center
Ziehwerk Plettenberg GmbH & Co. KG from Plettenberg, Germany, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of a new bright steel center. Plettenberg produces bright steel in the diameter range from 8 to 80 mm.

GLOBAL COAL

• NMDC unveiling in Coal sector

  NMDC, (a Navratna PSU of the Govt. of India), is the country's biggest iron ore miner and has successfully completed 52 years of an enriching journey with significant achievements. To enable its diversification into other activities, NMDC's Memorandum and Articles of Association were amended to include Coal mining, Steel production and Power generation. Subsequently, NMDC has taken the first step towards realization its of vision by its foray into Coal mining & Steelmaking beside its core business of iron ore mining. Ministry of Coal, New Delhi has allotted two Coal blocks viz Shahpur East and Shahpur West Coal block to NMDC for commercial mining under Government Dispensation route, these Coal blocks are located in Sohagpur Coal field Umaria & Shahdol District in the state of Madhya Pradesh with geological reserve of about 66 MT and 57 MT (Non Coking grade) on 25th July 2007.

• Tri-Flo®:- The New Generation multistage Heavy Media Separation Technology for High Ash Indian Coals

  Coal remains a vital source of energy worldwide and is essential for the power & steel industry. High quality coal reserves are becoming scarce worldwide. Modern highly mechanized coal mining technologies and their economical optimization reduce the clean coal yield and make it more difficult to control the product quality. When it becomes necessary to improve the quality of run-of-mine coal with a washing process, the selection of the suitable technology is often paramount in achieving operational profitability. For that many mining projects, activity have been started in India to compensate the energy and manufacturing industries. The run of mine ash percentage is typically in the range of 45-55%. This coal is necessary due to the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) issuing to reduce the ash up to a 35% level. The possible solutions Fig - A : Tri-Flo® - Schematic View available are heavy media, jigging, dry washing, forth flotation etc. The Coal processing plant includes the latest technology in coal processing to increase the yield at the specified quality. This paper will present the basis for design for coal washing with: (a) two-density heavy medium separation (Tri-Flo®).

• Coal Industry in India and Significance of German Technology

  Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel resource in the country. India, currently, stands eighth in terms of total World Coal Resources, whereas it is fourth from the point of view of identified reserves. The coal occurrences in India are mainly distributed along the present day river valleys i.e. Damodar Valley, Sone-Mahanadi Valley, Pench-Kanhan Valley, Wardha- Godavari Valley etc. There are 69 major coalfields located in the peninsular India besides, 17 located in the north-eastern region. The bulk of the coal reserves are confined to the southeastern quadrant of the country in West Bengal, Jharkand, Odisha, Chattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh.

• Coal washing process

  Thermal Coal constitutes nearly 87% of the total coal reserves of 264.5 Bt the country is bestowed with. However, nearly 65% of it falls under E,F & G category which would need washing before it can be efficiently fired in Pulverised Fuel Power stations. The washing of Indian thermal coal poses many challenges and this paper highlights some of them and what are the technological solutions available to mitigate these challenges.

• Plant-scale test with Coke from Non-Metallurgical Talcher Coal for the Production of Pig Iron

  As a part of the test programme for the Talcher Industrial Complex, coke obtained by carbonizing Talcher coal in the Central Fuel Research Institute (C.F.R.I.) vertical retort was sent to Barbil for plant-scale experiment for production of pig iron. The tests were conducted in 1960s and the summary of the test results is briefly reviewed in this article.

PRE-ENGINEERED BUILDING

Zamil Steel Buildings India: 'Steeling' the Show
A Saudi Arabia based organisation, established since 1977 with heavy market reach in Middle East, Africa, South East Asia & Europe, known as “World leader in Steel Construction”, Zamil Steel's PEB division is one of the premium Pre-Engineered Steel Building (PEB) manufacturer in the world. They started their newest manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra to cater its customers in India since Nov 2008 and so far supplied more than 500 hybrid PEB buildings from this facility.

KIRBY: Spearheading the PEB Era
Kirby India has served over 3,500 customers with more than 10,000 buildings spread over an area of 15 million sq.m since it started its operations in 1999. To name a few, Kirby India has been associated with companies such as Tata Motors (Tata Nano), Reliance Industries, Mahindra Group, Pipavav Shipyard, Jindal Group, BMW, Renault-Nissan, Suzlon Group, Birla Tyres, Hindustan National Glass, UNICEF, Madhucon Projects, Delhi Metro Corporation, Bangalore Metro, Apollo Tyres, MRF Tyres, JSW-Toshiba, Nokia, Skoda, Siemens Ltd., Sterlite Industries, Ruchi Infrastructure, Hindustan Unilever, P&G, Pepsico, Coca-Cola, ITC Ltd., Soma Enterprise etc.

FOCUS

RAFAKO SA, Poland for CFBC technology in India
Hari Machines Ltd. is now facilitated to offer CFBC Boiler technology from 60 tph to 450 tph with 164 bar pressure and 560 Deg C under Design engineering & Technology from RAFAKO S.A., Poland (largest boiler manufacturing company in Europe) suitable for combustion of washery rejects, dolochar, F-grade coal with high ash contents and biomass.

Rebar Industry in India - A Peek into Emerging Trends in Value Added Rebar
Reinforcement Steel Bars (Rebar) are long steel products that find application in the construction industry. The usage of Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) has become the default standards for construction of residential and commercial structures, flyovers, bridges, water retaining structures, industrial and power plants etc. Rebar constitute about 15-25 per cent of the total materials cost for civil construction.

STEEL METALLICS

Utilisation Potentiality of Coal as a Reductant for the Production of Sponge Iron
In India's production programme for the manufacture of steel, envisage production of more than 70 million tonnes of steel towards the close of this century. This is nearly seven times the present level of production, and therefore, calls for planning in depth in considering the constraints of our own energy resources, particularly coal.

COMPANY NEWS

Talking about power consumption in heavy industry?
Over ages we have been talking about energy losses in the industry and pointing fingers for efficient power generation movers, but have we ever thought about those giant parts adding to the gravity of power transmission chain? Let us talk about one such important contributor to energy consumption by virtue of its bulky design – Rotating spindles.

STEEL COMPANY

Tracing history and growth of Beekay Engineering
Beekay Engineering Corporation, a reputed name for manufacture of equipment and EPC contracts in areas such as Blast Furnace, Sponge Iron, Coke Ovens & Byproducts, Slab Casters, Steelmaking, Ladle Furnaces, Sinter Plants, Rolling Mills, Railways and Material Handling Plants was founded by Late Seth Balkrishanji, father of Shri Vijay Kumar Gupta, the present MD of Beekay Engineering Corporation.

GLOBAL STEEL

Global Steel : demand and production scenario
The global map of steel is showcasing patterns of growth and development and this phase is going to continue in the times to come. In the year 2011, considerable infrastructural expansion in the developing nations and a self-effacing growth chart in developed nations assure to buck up steel demand by 6.5-7% worldwide.

REFRACTORY

Indian Steel Industry and usage of Monolithics
We are aware that the focus of economic power is shifting to BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China). The question is how strong are Indian markets and how our competitors are going to behave. While developed countries will remain the largest consumer and industrial markets, the rise of a massive “Middle Class” is rapidly developing and no doubt that we in India have to create few new dimensions. The growth of Steel is one of them. While Steel Plants use different Refractories and refractories play a very important role for the improvement of productivity, safety and reliability in the steel mill operations, in our country the consumption of Monolithics is still very low. Consumption of Monolithics has to grow from the present level of 25% to atleast 40% to achieve the improvement of productivity, safety and reliability along with lowering of carbon foot print. There are many hindrances for the increased usage of monolithics in steel mill operations and the present paper deals with some of them.

Recycling of Waste Refractories - an Overview
Iron & Steel Industries are consuming 65-75% of total refractories produced in any country. Refractories after useful life remain as waste refractories, which can be gainfully utilized by adopting appropriate waste recycling techniques. Used refractories are secondary cheap sources as raw materials.

REFRACTORY - Face To Face

ACE Calderys - leading ahead as a consistent and inventive refractory solution provider
The company of ACE Calderys stands apart as one of the biggest and experienced refractory providers in the globe. Having an effective blend of performance potential, novel concepts and assorted products, ACE Calderys believes in supplying the accurate refractory solutions to its customers. Mr. Hakimuddin Ali, MD, ACE Calderys shares his opinions about the company's history, present status and ideas of the future with our Editor, Mr. Santosh Mahanti.

MATERIAL HANDLING

ElectroMech - offering effective solutions to industry load handling requirements
In the present day, ElectroMech stands as the major crane manufacturer in the country of India while paving ahead having highest market share and recording 50% average annual growth.

Anupam Industries manufactured first ever 350 T Forging Cranes for L&T
Anupam Industries Limited successfully manufactured and supplied 2 numbers of 350/50 T forging cranes to L&T Special Steel & Heavy Forging plant at Hazira, Gujarat. This is the first-ever forging crane of 350 T capacity manufactured in India. These cranes are manufactured under technical license agreement from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., (MHI), Japan.

KONECRANES SMARTON® Crane: Now comes with revolutionary "Truview® Remote Monitoring services" - A more Safer and Maintenance friendly feature
Condition monitoring, remote monitoring service, wizardassisted start-up - all standard features in the new SMARTON process crane - take safety and reliability to a new level. The objective for the SMARTON crane is to take the calculation of the service life of critical components to a new level. SMARTON can help you to prepare for the future by analyzing the past.

STEEL TECHNOLOGY

Roll Shop Simulator : An innovative way to design Roll Shops
Competition in manufacturing requires new production ideas to provide integrated solutions. Roll shop design has become a highly complex task due to the need to select, in the best available way, the components making up the roll shop while taking into account a large number of constraints such as machine availability and process integration. In this paper, a new method is described based on a software model to simulate the interactions between all the resources present in a roll shop.

New Developments in Drive Trains for Roughing and Plate mills
Due to the rolling of new material grades, the power requirements for roughing and plate mills has increased substantially over the past decades; however the fundamental design of the rolling mills has remained relatively the same. In principle, a power source, such as an electric motor, turns a shaft, either directly or through a gearbox and/or a pinion stand. This shaft, typically called spindle, turns a set of rolls rotating in opposite directions.

The UNI plus coiler - a new development in coiling high-strength strip in large thicknesses
The steel processing industry increasingly demands higherstrength steels with larger strip thicknesses. Above all, two directions of development for hot-rolled steel strip can be stated here. On the one hand, ultra-high strength steel grades are developed with strength levels of more than 1,300 MPa to be used for highly-loaded steel structures or for components particularly resistant to wear. On the other hand, the tube manufacturers' demand for high-strength tube grades rises, as for example API grades X70, X80 and X100 with large final thicknesses of up to 25.4 mm. For meeting these requirements, the product range in the hot strip mills must be extended. This leads to an increase of the loads acting on the plants, which applies in particular to the coiler systems.

Advanced automation technologies for Danieli's mini and micro rebar mills
Recent global economic recession hit hard the ASEAN economies. Among big ASEAN-6 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), those suffered most are Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand due to contraction of economy through negative GDP growth rate. But, even in the down time Indonesia and Vietnam enjoyed positive GDP growth rate. The Southeast Asian region is traditionally large importer of steel.

M/s SGS Technologies - expertise in combustion systems business
M/S SGS Technologies activities include i) indigenously making the burners & combustion systems, ii) supplying & commissioning these burners & systems in India, iii) marketing the burners to government sectors, semi government companies, public limited companies and even to private originations in small sectors, iv) providing solutions for improving productivity & energy saving. M/S SGS Technologies has successfully supplied burners for varied fuels like Furnace Oil, Light Diesel Oil, HSD, NG, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), Coke Oven Gas (COG), Hydrogen, Corex Gas ( CV- 1850 Kcal/Nm3) and lean gases like Blast Furnace Gas (BFG CV- 750 Kcal/Nm3), Producer Gas ( PG CV- 1250 Kcal/Nm3). It is a pleasure to inform that we have executed several projects in reheating furnace area wherein we have replaced Furnace Oil firing with lean gases like BFG & PG.

SEMINAR & WORKSHOPS

National Workshop on "Recent Challenges and Innovations in Castable Refractory Technology" (ICRT-2011)
The Refractory Division of CSIR-CGCRI (Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute), Kolkata and Kerneos jointly organized a one day workshop and seminar on “Recent Challenges and Innovations in Castable Refractory Technology” which laid the point of focus on areas like new refractory aggregate and binder, products and applications for ferrous and non-ferrous, quality control and testing and along with challenges and solutions galore.