Tata Steel is working on a pilot project that will enable it to use waste material in iron ore.
The project, at the laboratory stage, was with the steel ministry, Tata Steel chief technology officer, T Venugopalan, said. Elaborating on the technology, he said that it would produce sponge iron and make use of lean materials that have higher alumina.
The sponge iron produced would be used for producing steel through the electric arc furnace route and may be used in future projects of Tata Steel. Tata Steel, so far, has been producing steel using the blast furnace technology.
That, however, does not mean that Tata Steel would not be using the blast furnace route any more. “The two technologies will coexist,” Venugopalan said on the sidelines of an event to launch PG course on iron and steel making. Tata Steel today signed a memorandum of understanding with the institutes for the purpose.
As part of the initiative, the Jamshedpur Human Resource Development Centre in association with Veltech would be established. The proposed post graduate diploma in iron and steel making would be a self-funded three year diploma course after BSc for employment in the officer’ category. It would entail active involvement of Tata Steel such as conditional placement at the officer level.