TECHNO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR

AUGMENTING INDIAN STEEL CAPACITY

Supriya Das Gupta * & Bhaskar Roy *

* The Authors are with M. N. Dastur & Company (P) Ltd,

Consulting Engineers, Kolkata

 Crude steel production ~ 55 mill. tons

Integrated producers contribution ~70%
Most of the major integrated plants based on
BF-BOF route
DR-EAF & COREX+BF-BOF also adopted in few
plants
Large number of EAF & IF based secondary
units; low capacity utilisation

PRESENT STATUS OF INDIAN STEEL INDUSTRY

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IRON MAKING
BLAST
FURNACE

HOT
METAL

STEEL MAKING
HOT
METAL

COREX

BOF
(INCL. EOF)
OPEN
HEARTH

DR-SHAFT
FURNACE

DRI

DR-ROTARY
KILN

DRI

EAF

INDUCN FCE

PROCESSES ADOPTED IN
INDIAN STEEL INDUSTRY
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LIQUID
STEEL

DR SHAFT
7%

DR - KILN
43%

BF
48%

COREX
2%

Ironmaking

OH
2%

EAF
27%

BOF
41%

IF
30%

Steelmaking

CURRENT CONTRIBUTIONS OF VARIOUS

PROCESSES TO IRON & STEEL PRODUCTION
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INDIAS STEEL DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAMME & LIKELY STRUCTURE
OF THE STEEL INDUSTRY IN FUTURE

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200

180

Million tons

150
~ 10% CAGR

100
50
0

1990

2000

2007

2020

PROJECTED GROWTH OF
STEEL PRODUCTION IN INDIA
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Brown-field
40%

Green-field
60%

LIKELY PATTERN OF STEEL MAKING

CAPACITY AUGMENTATION
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 Larger plant capacities of 12-15 mtpy

Adoption of iron making technologies less
dependent on metallurgical coal
Bigger blast furnaces: 4,000 4,500 cu m
Larger BOF converters of 300-ton heat size
Increased attention towards more environment
friendly technologies/processes
Use of hot metal in EAF charge to reduce
power consumption
Higher production of near net shape cast products
Adoption of gas based DR technology utilising
gasification of non-coking coals

TRENDS IN PLANNING FOR

NEW STEEL CAPACITIES
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Commercialised iron making processes

utilising non-coking coals & producing hot metal

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Process features:
7 units installed, incl. 4 in
India
Requires low ash coal &
some amount of coke
Iron oxide feed
comprises pellet & sized
ore
Largest module about
3,000 tons/day
Large amount of export
gas which has to be
gainfully utilised, eg for
power generation

COREX PROCESS
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Process features:
Only one unit installed
in Australia
Requires low ash coal
Iron oxide feed
comprises iron ore fines
Design capacity not
attained even after
extended period of
operation
No silicon in hot metal

HIsmelt PROCESS
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Process features:
1 unit installed in Korea
Design capacity 1.5 mtpy
Design capacity on
sustained basis to be
demonstrated
Requires low ash coal &
some amount of coke
Iron oxide feed
comprises ore fines with
low moisture content
Substantial amount of
export gas which has to
be gainfully utilised, eg for
power generation

FINEX PROCESS
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 Presently, bulk of Indian steel capacity located inland

For creating new green-field plants, choice of
location will be governed by various factors, eg
Likely sourcing of major raw materials
Target markets for finished products
Infrastructure facilities
Substantial portion of new capacities being planned
at ore based locations

CHOICE OF LOCATION FOR NEW PLANTS

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PROCESS
ROUTE

CAPACITY, MTPY
~0.25

~0.5

BF-BOF

~1

~3

1.05

1.00
1.14

FINEX-BOF
COREX-BOF

1.34

HIsmelt-BOF

1.63

Scrap-EAF

2.13

Scrap-IF

2.13
1.24

Rotary kiln DRI-EAF

Rotary kiln DRI-IF
BF+Rotary kiln DRIEAF

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1.23
1.07

OPERATING COST INDICES FOR

DIFFERENT PROCESS ROUTES

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CAPEX

OPEX

BF-BOF

100

100

COREX-BOF

86

125

HIsmelt-BOF

83

104

BF+Midrex-EAF (50% hot metal+50% DRI)

110

94

BF+Rotary kiln-EAF (50% hot metal+50%

DRI)
COREX+Midrex-EAF (50% hot metal+50%
DRI)

88

113

79

80

Source: Process Route Selection for Tata Steels Chhattisgarh Project by V K Bari, M K Keshari,
A K Das, Vijoy Kumar and Varun Jha, AWAKENING OF THE INDIAN STEEL INDUSTRY:
2005-2020, published by TATA STEEL LIMITED, 2006

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CAPEX & OPEX INDICES FOR DIFFERENT

ROUTES FOR A 2.5 MTPY INTEGRATED PLANT
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CONCLUDING REMARKS
India has embarked on an ambitious steel
development programme
120-130 million tons capacity will be added
over the next decade
Major part of this capacity will be realised
through new green-field plants
Selection of process route will have to be
judiciously done by taking cognizance of
relevant techno-economic & environmental
factors
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Thank you!

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