Visakhapatnam Steel Plant CMD A.P. Choudhary said here on Saturday that the steel industry should find ways and means using the latest technology to convert various wastes generated in the process of steel-making into useful products.
He was speaking after inaugurating the workshop on utilisation of solid industrial wastes for ceramic projects in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
“Steel is the driving force for economic progress of any country. The intrinsic ability of steel, to be completely recycled, offers great prospects for sustainable development.
However, one of the major concerns of the steel industry, today, is the effective utilisation of wastes generated at various stages of steel-making," he said.
He said stringent environmental norms had transformed the scenario of “waste dumping” into “waste management”. "The technologies being developed today, to economically convert waste into wealth, are providing new business opportunities for budding entrepreneurs. It will be of great use to prospective entrepreneurs, interested in production of ceramic tiles, using solid wastes generated in the steel plant."
The CMD complimented the Centre for Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata, for developing the technology for utilisation of steel plant solid wastes. It is estimated that around 0.8 tonnes of solid wastes are generated for every tonne of steel produced, and therefore the opportunity is huge for effective utilisation of the wastes generated, not only from the environment angle, but also as an effective tool for cost reduction.
Umesh Chandra, the Director (Operations), said the RINL had taken up three important projects with CGCRI for use of solid industrial wastes to develop ceramic products, improvement of MGO-C (Magnetia Carbon Bricks) Quality to enhance converter lining life and feasibility studies of CO2 and N2 separation from blast furnace gas for enhancement of its calorific value using membrane technology.
Swapan Kumar Das, the Chief Scientist of CGCRI, and R. Ranjan, ED(Works), also spoke on the occasion. A. Ghosh, Chief Scientist (CGCRI-Kolkata), gave a presentation on refractory recycling. The workshop ended with a demonstration of the ceramic products.