Report for Vocational Training at

Bhilai Steel Plant

(CHHATTISGARH)

Submitted byTushar Kanti Goswami

B. Tech (5th Semester)
Mechanical Engineering
National Institute Of Technology Raipur
Roll No. 13119909

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project is being submitted in
fulfillment of the Vocational Training Programme in Bhilai steel
plant
and is the result of self gained knowledge under the guidance
of various Engineers and other officers.
I further declare that to the best of my knowledge, the
structure and contents of this project are original and the
information and data given in the report is authentic.

Submitted byTushar Kanti Goswami

B. Tech (5th Semester)
Mechanical Engineering
National Institute Of Technology Raipur
Roll No. 13119909

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am truly thankful to all the Faculties who imparted the

lectures on various subjects/topics along with detailed
explanation
about the plant and machinery.
Sipat for giving me the chance of having this wonderful learning
experience.
I would also like to thank the training and placement officer and
all
the teachers of my College, for providing me a chance
especially
Mr. V.K. Gaba for the support and guidance at each and every
step
which helped me secure this vocational training.
All the officials at BSP went out of their way to provide me with
as
much information as they could, inspire of the fact that they
were
laden with their own work. I cant really express my feeling of
gratitude towards them.
A lot of information has also been retrieved from the internet
due
to lack of proper plant visiting facilities.

Bhilai Steel Plant

The Bhilai Steel Plant, located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of
Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as
well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel
products. The plant also produces and markets various
chemical by-products from its coke ovens and coal chemical
plant. It was set up with the help of the USSR in 1955.[1]
The eleven-time winner of the Prime Minister's Trophy for best
integrated steel plant in the country, Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP),
has been India's sole producer of rails and heavy steel plates
and major producer of structural steel. The plant is the sole
supplier of the country's longest rail tracks, which measure 260
metres (850 ft). The plant also produces products such as wire
rods and merchant products. Bhilai Steel Plant has been the
flagship
integrated steel plant unit of the Public Sector steel company,
the Steel Authority of India Limited and is its largest and most
profitable production facility. It is the flagship plant of SAIL,
contributing the largest percentage of profit.
History
The governments of India and the USSR entered into an
agreement, signed in New Delhi on 2 March 1955, for the
establishment of an integrated iron and steel works at Bhilai
with an initial capacity of one million tons of steel ingot.
The main consideration for choosing Bhilai was the availability
of iron ore at Dalli Rajhara, about 100 km from the site;
limestone from Nandini, about 25 km from the plant, and
dolomite at Hirri, about 140 km away. The plant was
commissioned with the inauguration of the first blast furnace by
then president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on 4 February
1959. The plant was expanded to 2.5 million tons in September
1967 and a further expansion to 4 MT was completed in 1988.
The main focus in the 4 MT stage was the continuous casting

unit and the plate mill, a new technology in steel casting and
shaping in India.
Bhilai Steel Plant manages Bhilai Nagar township which has 13
sectors

Facilities
Plant and Facilities

 Process Flow Chart

Environment Management
Captive Mines
Coke Ovens
Blast Furnace
Steel Melting Shops
Rail & Structural Mill
Mills
New Products
The Cutting Edge Processes
Quality Assurance
Captive mines
Iron-Ore - Dalli-Rajhara Iron Ore Complex, 80 kms from Bhilai
Limestone - Nandini, 23 kms from Bhilai
Dolomite - Hirri, 150 kms from Bhilai
Coke Ovens
COAL
NO.
USEFUL
BAT
OVEN
HOLDING
SP.HEAT
OF
VOLUME
T
HEIGHT( CAPACITY
CONSPN.
OVEN
PER OVEN
NO.
M)
PER
OVEN
KCAL/KG
S
CU.M.
(T)
1-8 65
4.3
16.8
21.6
625-675
9&10 67
7.0
32.0
41.6
625-675
Blast Furnaces
3 of 1033 Cu m capacity each

 3 of 1719 Cu m capacity each

1 of 2355 Cu m capacity
Hot Metal Capacity : 4.70 MT / year
Steel Melting Shop
Steel-making through BOF, VAD/Ladle
Degasser and Continuous casting route

Furnace/RH-

3 converters of 110/130 T
VAD unit, 2 RH degasser,2 Ladle furnace
4 Slab Casters, 1 bloom caster, 1 Combi caster
Annual Capacity: 1.425 MT Cast steel
Converter Shop :
3 BOF 110/130 T Convertors
Secondary Refining facilities : 1 VAD unit, 2 RH degassers,
2 Ladle furnaces, 1 Desulphurisation Unit
Continuous Casting Shop: 4 Slab Casters, 1bloom caster,
1Combi caster
Steel-making through Twin Hearth Furnace (THF) route :
4 THFs of 250 T capcity each
Annual capacity 2.5 MT ingot steel
Blooming & Billet Mill
14 pairs of recuperative soaking pits
Capacity to produce 2.14 MT/year of blooms
Capacity to produce 1.50 MT/year of billets
Rail & Structural Mill

Capacity - 7,50,000 T
Products
Rails - R52 Kg/m & R60 Kg/m ; UTS 880 N/mm2 rails as per
IRST-12/96 specifications , Euronorms and international
standards.
Thick web asymmetric rail Zu 1-60
Beams - 600,500,450,400,350,300 & 250.
Channels - 400,300 & 250.
Angles - 200 & 150.
Crossing Sleeper.
Crane Rails - KP80, 100,120 & 140.
Bhilai is the sole supplier of the country's longest rail
tracks of 260 metres.
Bhilai Rails
Largest producer and leading rail maker of the world.
Four and a half decades of experience in rail making.
Produced over 15 million tonnes of rails; 2.7 lakh km in
length.
Indian Railways- Worlds second largest rail company
moves exclusively on Bhilai rails.
Bhilai rails are subjected to worlds highest traffic density
and axle loads.
Rails exported to 10 countries with exports to South Korea,
New Zealand, Argentina, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Ghana,
Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Technological Superiority

 Steel from LD Convertor Ladle furnace - RH Degasser

Concast
route;
achieving
world
best
level
of
degassing/refining to less than 1.5 ppm of hydrogen in
liquid steel in 100% of heats.
Capability to produce as rolled lengths of 80 meter and
welded panels upto 260 meters
High degree of Straightness due to worlds most advanced
and Laser straightness measurement based end
straightening machine.
World class tested rails passing through state of art online
NDT equipment; Laser straightness measurement,
Ultrasonic and eddy current testing machines
Computer controlled automatic rail handling system and
automatic yard mapping for rail storage.
Computerised Rail Tracking system for collection and
storage of all process and testing related data of each rail.
Bhilai Rails- Universally Certified
RDSO, Indian Railways
RITES Ltd
ISO-9001-2000 certified by LRQA (Lloyds Register Quality
Assurance)
ISO 14000 certified by BIS
Crown Agents, London
General Superintendence Company, Geneva
Lloyds Register Of Shipping
Robert W Hunt & Company
Overseas Merchandise Inspection Company, Tokyo

 Egyptian Railways Inspection Team

Tuboscope Vetco Gmbh, Deutcheland
Bhilais Special Purpose Rails
Copper Molybdenum Corrosion resistant rails
High yield strength/ UTS vanadium micro-alloyed rails
High conductivity metro rails
Copper-Chromium alloyed High strength Rails
Merchant Mill
Capacity - 5,00,000 Tonnes
Products
Plain Rounds : dia 28, 32, 36,40, 50,53, 56, 63 & 67
TMT Bars : 25,28, 32, 36, 40 & 45
Lt. Structurals :Channel 100 x 50, 75 x 40
Angles : 50 x 50 x 5 upwards to 90 x 90 x 10
* Customised product campaigns are being taken up for shorter
durations in case of light structurals and rounds for compliance
of smaller quantity orders as per committed delivery within the
month.
Wire Rod Mill
Capacity - 4,20,000 T
Wire Rods (Plain, Electrode Quality & TMT) in 5.5, 6, 7, 8 &
10 mm plain and ribbed, and 12 mm plain in coil form
8, 10, and 12 mm TMT
Plate Mill

Capacity
Plates thickness
Width
Length

9,50,000 T
8-120 mm
1500-3270 mm
5-12.5 M

The modern Plate Mill rolls out heavy and medium plates, as
well as those for pipe manufacturers. Plates of wide variety, in
any required size, and strength, chemical and physical
properties, can be produced here. It has capacity to produce
high pressure, boiler quality and high tensile steels.
Shipbuilding plates, conforming to Lloyds specifications, and
pressure vessel boiler plates, conforming to various ASTM,
ASME standards, have withstood the challenges of nature and
time. Some of the unique features of the mill are on-line
finishing facilities and off-line normalising facilities. Bhilai has
the widest plate mill in the country, and it uses continuously
cast slabs as input. Liquid steel produced under controlled
conditions in the LD Converters is rinsed with argon gas to
homogenise the composition as well as to remove non-metallic
inclusions before continuous casting so as to ensure the
production of high quality feedstock for the Plate Mill. As per
customers' requirement or specifications, plates are normalised
in a roller hearth normalising furnace.
New Products
To cater to the changing needs of the customers and to
increase the market share, various new products were
developed and commercialised through process improvement
and Research and Development. The following grades were
developed in 2008-09.
1. High Corrosion Resistant & Earthquake Resistant Fe-500
TMT Rebar in 40mm
2. Rockbolt TMT Fe600 in 32mm
3. 12mm Earthquake Resistant TMT Wire Rod in Fe-500
grade.
4. 36mm Earthquake Resistant TMT Rebar in Fe-500 grade
5. Cr-V alloyed 110 UTS Rail

6. Ultra-High strength SAIL MA 600 Plates

7. Low-C, Cu-bearing Structural Steel Plate for Corrosion
Resistant Application
8. Thicker Plates (60mm) with ultra low temperature impact
toughness at minus 50C in High Tensile BSEN 10025 S355
NL grade
9. High Tensile Weather Resistant Plates in IRS
(SAILCOR) grade for Indian Railways in 8&10mm
10.

M-41

High Tensile SBQ quality plates in NV E36 grade

11.
Cr-Mo alloyed IS 1570 Grade 53mm Round Bar for
High Temperature Application
12.
Thicker plates (115mm) in Structural Quality with
guaranteed Ultrasonic soundness
The Cutting Edge Processes
Steel Making
Vacuum Arc Degassing: This unit ensures production of low
sulphur steel with lower gas contents. Precise control of casting
temperature, composition and improved steel cleanliness is
achieved.
RH Degasser(2nos): A 130 T capacity RH (Ruhrstahi Heraus)
Degassing Unit was installed mainly to remove hydrogen from
rail steel. All rail heat produced in SMS-II have hydrogen level <
1.5 ppm.
Ladle Furnace(2nos): It is installed to process steel to reduce
diversion due to chemistry and to process cold heats or return
heats. The 130 T furnace also has benefits like reduction in
tapping temperature of BOF, improvement in lining life of BOF,
etc. It acts as a buffer between BOF & CCM for holding the
heats, reduce consumption of ferro-alloys, carbonisers and
deoxidiser and produce a cleaner steel.
Desulphurisation Unit : This has been installed to reduce hot
metal sulphur for better steel-making

Finishing Mill
On line Ultrasonic testing machine in Plate Mill.
-Mandatory on-line testing of API grade plates.
- 100% scanning and edge testing of all plate surfaces.
Computerised tracking of plates in Plate Mill
Plant-wide fiber optic cable networking
Environment Management
A conscious corporate citizen, BSP has accorded the highest
priority to taking effective measures in the areas of resource
conservation, pollution prevention, waste reduction and
conversion of waste to wealth. Effective monitoring and
analysis has ensured that BSPs compliance is well within the
regulatory requirements.
ISO 14001 certification hasbeen implemented in the entire
Plant & township as well as in Dalli Mines. The plant has
introduced environment friendly coal dust injection system in
the Blast Furnaces, de-dusting system and electrostatic
precipitators in other units. Besides, Clean Development
Mechanisms for green house gas reduction, BSP has taken up
the replacement of Ozone Depleting Substance CTC, aided by
UNDP. The specific water consumption in BSP at 3.04 cu.m per
tonne of crude steel in 2007-08 is one of the lowest in the
country.
For the first time, BSP has earned Voluntary Emission Reduction
(VER), a kind of carbon credit for two of its environment-friendly
projects inside the Plant. The projects, namely 'SP-3 waste heat
recovery system' & 'Thyristerisation of last Furnace # 3 & 4
skip hoist electric supply' have been certified under VER by M/s.
RINA, Italy. This will enable BSP to claim revenues for 9,74,743
Tonnes of Co2 Emission reductions till 2007-08, from the
international VER market. These projects will also earn
revenues on an average of 1,65,000 T of Co2 reductions every
year till the completion of 10 year accounting period in each
case.

Abiding by Corporate Responsibility for Environment Protection

(CREP) guidelines & monitoring mechanism, Bhilai has also
taken adequate steps to check fugitive emissions from Coke
Ovens. It has installed Air cooled self sealing doors in Battery-3,
resulting in significant reduction in door emissions. At Battery
#7, water sealed AP caps and Pusher car with door cleaning
mechanism has been introduced.
Green City
Contrary to the popular perception about industrial townships
being dirty and polluted, a green canopy covers the township. A
green-fingered population and a management aware of its
obligations as a corporate citizen have come together for a
massive tree-plantation drive over a period of years as a result
of which afforestation sites and green expanses enrich the
environment in mining and peripheral areas. There are five big
gardens inside the plant and 15 gardens in the township. The
cumulative plantation in the Works area and township is more
than 30 lakhs while in the Mines, it is more than 22 lakhs.
Spread over 167 acres, the sprawling Maitri Bagh that has the
biggest musical fountain in the country, a zoo with 28 species
of animals and birds, an artificial lake with boating facilities, a
toy train etc., attracts over 5 lakh visitors every year.
The residential sectors of the steel city are kept clean and
green by the Plant's Town Administration Department which
also undertakes the civic amenities such as street lighting,
cleaning and maintenance of the tree-lined carpeted roads. The
water to the township is supplied from the Maroda water
treatment plant having a capacity of over 30 million gallons per
day. Water is distributed throughout the township through a
system of underground reservoirs and overhead tanks.
Energy Consumption
Continuous monitoring
Apex Committee Inspection by HODs.
Quarter review of Safety activities by ED(W)
Fixing responsibility of line managers.

 Contractor workers safety - IPSS procedure enforcement,

contractors' audit, safety exhibitions
Safety workshops
Regular inspections
Inspection of gas pipelines
Inspection of structures, equipments and installations
Risk Control Grading System implemented in Coke Ovens
Battery 9 & 10, Blast Furnace, SMS-1 and extended to
BBM, Foundry Shop, and SMS-II.
Quality Assurance
ISO 9001 SEAL OF QUALITY
All major production units and marketable products in Bhilai
Steel Plant are covered under ISO 9001:2000 Quality
Management System. This includes manufacture of blast
furnace coke and coal chemicals, production of hot metal and
pig iron, steel making through twin hearth and basic oxygen
processes, manufacture of steel slabs and blooms by
continuous casting, and production of hot rolled steel blooms,
billets and rails, structurals, plates, steel sections and wire rods.
Bhilai's products come with a complete assurance of
quality.
This is achieved as a result of unrelenting attention and
meticulous procedures at every stage of the process and
upgrading
of
testing
methods
and
equipment.

Right from selection of input material for steelmaking, the

process parameters are kept under close control. Intensive
checking of all quality parameters continues throughout the

subsequent operations of casting, reheating and rolling.

Express analysis with the help of sophisticated, direct-reading
spectrograph and gas analyser ensures a narrow range of
chemical composition. Intensive metallographic investigation
with modern instruments like Scanning Electron Microscope,
Image Analyser and Micro Hardness Tester is carried out to
assess the quality of the product.
The key points of control are :
Chemical analysis of hot metal, liquid steel and final
product.
Inspection of surface and internal quality of the product by
visual and ultrasonic inspection.
Monitoring and control of heating/reheating parameters.
Dimensional and surface check during rolling and on
finished product.
Maintenance of cast identity throughout the process up to
the end product
Human Resource Development:
Training need assessment is a continuing process.
About 19,000 employees are imparted training every year.
The focus is on need-based innovative programmes, such
as Action Collaboration.
Multi-Skilling
Major HRD Interventions
PRODUCTION FACILITIES AT A GLANCE
Coke Ovens
Batteries: 10
Nos.

8 batteries of 4.35m height consisting of

65 ovens each

 2 batteries of 7m height consisting of 67

ovens each

Blast
Furnaces : 7
Nos.

3 Blast furnaces each of 1033 cu.m volume

3 Blast furnaces each of 1719 cu.m volume
1 Blast furnace of 2355 cu.m volume
SP-1 : 4x50sq.m hearth area

Sintering
Plants :
Nos.

SP-2
:
3x75sq.m
1x80sq.m hearth area

hearth

area

SP-3 : 1x320sq.m hearth area

Steel
Melting
Shop-I

4 Twin Hearth Furnaces

Convertor Shop :
3 BOF 110/130 T Convertors

Steel
Melting
Shop-II

Secondary Refining facilities : 1 VAD unit, 2

RH degassers, 2 Ladle furnaces
Continuous Casting Shop:
4 Slab Casters, 1bloom caster, 1Combi
caster

Mills

Blooming & Billet Mill

Rail & Structural Mill
Plate Mill

 Merchant Mill
Wire Rod Mill
Two captive Power Plants - one captive and
other in joint venture with 123 MW total
power generation capacity
Two Oxygen
Propane Plant
Auxiliary
Units

Plants,

Acetylene

Plant,

Refractory Materials Plants for production

of Mag Carb bricks, sinter, dolo, lime
Foundry & Engg. Shops for captive
manufacture of spares, assemblies, mould,
forging

FOUNDRY & PATTERN SHOP

Foundry & Pattern shop is an important Engineering Shop, set
up to meet the
requirement of various ferrous and non-ferrous castings and
cast blanks required for the plant and other Engineering Shops
especially machine shops, for manufacture of spares. It
comprises two major parts, the Pattern Shop and the Foundry
Shop.
THE PATTERN SHOP:
The pattern shop is designed to produce patterns for foundry
needs. The annual
output is rated at 220 Cu. meters. The shop works in G shift. It
is equipped with
modern set of working machine tools. Handling of heavy
patterns at the shop and storage is carried out by overhead
travelling crane operated from floor level. The patterns are
painted according to a code, ticked, labelled and stored, to
enable the patterns to be issued to foundry as and when
required, according to a well-laid out procedure. The pattern
storage room is protected against any fire hazards.

FOUNDRY SHOP
The foundry shop is laid out in five bays, each of length 270
meters. Various
types of castings and their usage is as follows :

Iron Castings : ( Capacity 79000 T/year)

i) Spare parts for machines / equipments.
ii) Ingot moulds.
iii) Bottom Stools.
Steel Castings : ( Capacity 6500 T/ year)
i) Spare parts for machines / equipments.
ii) Twin hearth-charging boxes.
iii) Skull cracker balls.
iv) Spares for Mould bogie.
v) Ladle covers for SMS, Lip ring for CCS.
vi) Pig casting moulds.
vii) Alloy steel Ingots.
Non - Ferrous Castings : ( Capacity 515 T/ Year)
i) Bushings, slide blocks for machines/ equipments.
ii) Monkey for BF & Hollow shaft for SMS.
iii) L.N. body & covers.
iv) Al. Cubes & Al. Shots for SMS-I & SMS-II.

Main Sections of Foundry Shop :

1) Charging and Moulding Material Store : The charging
and moulding material storage is designed to hold 15 days
supply of all raw material used in foundry. The storage bay is
served by overhead travelling cranes with removable magnets.
With the help of electric grabs, all the raw materials are stored
in bins & bunkers.
2) Sand Preparation Section :
In this section, preparation of moulding sands and core sand
mixture for all types of castings is done. The raw silica sand is
received from Sambalpur and Allahabad. Quartzite sand is
supplied by Crushing Plant. The new sand, if wet, is dried in a
rotary dryer in which sand is heated to 200-250 deg.C. The
dried sand is fed in the feeding hoppers, over the sand mixers
of 20 cu.m/hr capacity.
In the sand mixer ; various moulding materials like fire clay,
bentonite, molasses, saw dust etc. are added and mixed. The
sand so prepared is distributed by the system of conveyor belts
throughout the cast-iron, steel and core section. 130 T of mixed
sand is produced by sand mixers for preparing different types
of sand mixtures for core section (about 5 T per day).

3) Iron Foundry :
The Iron foundry can be divided in to the following sub-sections.
i) Cast Iron section.
ii) Mixer section
iii) Moulding section
iv) Ingot Moulds
v) Mould drying chambers.
The estimated annual requirement of the metal is about
1,00,000 tons and the
daily requirements is 270 tons. The moulding section prepares
moulds for all types of castings required under the schedule or
special work requiring upto 30 tons liquid metal.
The Ingot Mould section produces the Ingot Moulds required by
the plant. Each
Ingot Mould weights 8.8. T or 9.3 T and the daily production of
Ingot Moulds are 17 nos. on average. Ingot Moulds are rammed
on two 30 tones jolting machines in the Ingot Mould section.
Top box is prepared for using at top of Ingot Mould for pouring.
The mould drying chambers are used for drying the moulds in
the chamber type drying ovens at the temperature of 300-350
degree cel. There are 6 drying ovens. The 4 drying ovens are of
130 Cu.m. capacity and the other 2 of 60 cu.m. capacity for
drying small castings. These ovens have been provided with an
arrangement for the re-circulation of the products of
combustion. Coke oven gas is used for heating purpose.
Moulding of Bottom Stools in Cast Iron section :
Apart from rammed moulds with bottom chills, "Chill bottom
stools" mouldings
are done by chill mould i.e. in the C.I. section. A better type of
bottom stools are know as "Chill bottom Stools"- these give
more life, and are of better quality. The 30 ton jolting machine
in the CI section: At present this is being used for making self
core of charging boxes.
The Iron foundry is serviced by overhead travelling cranes (75
T, 50 T, 30 T) and cantilever cranes (5T). This section of the
foundry is also equipped with ladle preheating burners. For the
inter bay transfer of materials (castings, moulding boxes,
containers etc.) there are 4 transfer cars of 50T capacity each.

4) Steel Foundry
This section is located in line with the Iron casting section. It is
divided into the
following sub-sections:
I) Steel Melting Section
II) Moulding Section.
The steel melting section is provided with two 5 T direct arc
furnaces with
3-phase supply. Melting and moulding section
operate in 3 shifts on parallel schedule. The furnaces are lined
with mangnesite on the silica bricks on the roof, Water cooling
is provided at electrode holders, roofing, economisers, door
frame and tap hole arc.To charge the furnace its roof is lifted
and shell is rolled out. A pointer attached to the body of the
furnace indicates the amount of forward fill during the slagging
and tapping time. 3 nos of 300 mm diameter electrodes
passing through the roof, supply the electrical energy to the
furnace. Transformer capacity is 28 KVA. Heat time varies from
2-2.30 hrs. for plain carbon steel and 3 -3 1/2 hrs. for alloys
steels. Castings around 10 T. are made by running the furnaces
simultaneously. The moulding section operates in 3 shifts.
Preparation of moulds is carried out on the foundry floor as well
as, for moulding the PCMS (pig castings moulds), in boxes. Two
2.5 T moulding machines are also provided in this section.
There are two cranes one of 30 T. one of 15 T and one
cantilever crane of 15 T capacity.
The mould drying is carried out in mould drying chamber of 60
cu. meters capacity located in this section. Some moulds are
also dried in bigger ovens in IM section.The section is provided
with two 50 T. transfer cars to bring charge materials and to
despatch castings to fettling section.
5) Non - Ferrous foundry
The Non-ferrous foundry is meant to produce liners, bearings,
slide blocks, bushes and other small castings of different types
from brass and bronze
Tones of nonferrous metal. The furnace is of cylindrical shape
having two electrodes. The furnace is rocking type lined with
high alumina fire blocks. Moulds are dried in 11 cu.m. oven.
Aluminum Shots and Cubes section consists of 3 Al. melting
and pouring units and 3 melting crucibles for Al. Cube making.

6) Fettling section :
This section is equipped with the following equipment
I) Knock-Out Machine :
After solidification of the metal in the mould, the moulds are
placed on the 20 T
knockout machine for the separation of mould box, sand and
the casting. From the knock-out machine., the casting is
removed and if necessary washed in the hydraulic chamber.
II) Hydro cleaning chambers : 2 nos.
The hydro cleaning chamber is equipped with central rotating
table and jet of
water operating on high pressure of 150 atm. When the casting
is placed on the table with the water jets hitting the casting, all
sand is removed. Two such chambers are provided in this
section.
III) Milling Machines : 2 nos.
For machining the bottom of Ingot Moulds, two mould milling
machines have
been provided. Each machine has provision of mounting two
ingots at a time for
continuous milling.
7) Cranes :
There are in all 24 E.O.T cranes, including the crane in the new
bay (towards SMS stripper yard)
Additional facility of 4 mt. stage :
1. The Open DE bay in the existing shop has been covered over
a length of 71
meters from column row 20 to 32 in order to provide additional
space for
production of steel castings. A small sand preparation unit, a
drying oven of
capacity 100 cu. m. and a paint mixer have been installed in
this area.
2. A fully covered new bay measuring 12 x 168 m with 10 T EOT
crane has been constructed towards steel melting shop's
stripper yard for storing moulding
tackles and moulding materials. This bay connecting with the
existing AB bay
by extending the 50 T transfer car line form BC Bay.

3. 1 Ton capacity induction furnaces 2 nos. installed in Nonferrous section, for

non-ferrous & alloy cast iron melting : commissioned in Dec.
1995.

BLAST FURNACE
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for
smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron, but also
others such as lead or copper.
In a blast furnace, fuel, ores, and flux (limestone) are
continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while a
hot blast of air (sometimes with oxygen enrichment) is blown
into the lower section of the furnace through a series of pipes
called tuyeres, so that the chemical reactions take place
throughout the furnace as the material moves downward. The
end products are usually molten metal and slag phases tapped
from the bottom, and flue gases exiting from the top of the
furnace. The downward flow of the ore and flux in contact with
an upflow of hot , carbon monoxide-rich combustion gases is a
countercurrent exchange process.
In contrast, air furnaces (such as reverberatory furnaces) are
naturally aspirated, usually by the convection of hot gases in a
chimney flue. According to this broad definition, bloomeries for
iron, blowing houses for tin, and smelt mills for lead would be
classified as blast furnaces. However, the term has usually
been limited to those used for smelting iron ore to produce pig

iron, an intermediate material used in the production of

commercial iron and steel, and the shaft furnaces used in
combination with sinter plants in base metals smelting
The Blast Furnace department consists of 7 Blast Furnace.
Three of them are of 1033 cu.m. useful volume
Three of them are 1719 cu.m.

BF 7 is of 2000 cu.m.
There are 3 main sections of the department:

1. Raw Material Section

2. Furnace Section

3. Auxiliary section

DIFFERENT SECTION OF
FURNACE

REFRACTORY MATERIALS PLANT-II

Refractory Materials Plant (RMP-II) was set up during 4 MT
expansion of BSP to prepare and supply the required quantity of
Lime, Sintered Dolomite and Tar Bonded Dolomite Bricks to
SMS-II.
It has three main units :
1. Lime Shop
2. Rotary Kiln
3. Brick Shop
1.0 Lime Shop :
1.1 The Kilns :
There are two nos. of identical vertical shaft kilns commissioned
in year
1984,with capacity 330 T /DAY for each kiln. One kiln is to make
Lime and other Calcined Dolomite for Converters.
1.2 The process :
Low Silica lime stone of feed size (30-50 mm) or Dolomite
having feed size 30-60mm are weighed and charged to skip
charging bunker.
The limestone is charged at common service hopper at kiln top,
and from this material is fed into kiln shaft. The charged
limestone burns in parallel flow, while the combustion air get
heated when passing through column of limestone above the
burners. The waste gases are conducted to the other shaft,
which pass their sensible heat to the limestone in the
preheating zone. The burning in parallel flow allows a very high
heat exchange. The hot flame comes in contact with the crude
limestone avoiding over burning. Final calcination of charge is
carried out by waste gases. Lime is soft-burnt. High combustion
air temperature and a very favourable fuel consumption are
achieved through regenerative preheating where waste heat is
almost completely utilized. The two shafts are filled with the
charge and connected to each other by a channel. Only one of
the shafts is heated by fuel and other is heated by the waste
gases coming out through the channel from fuel-heated shaft.
Lime is simultaneously burnt in both the shafts. At fixed
intervals reversal takes place. During reversal, the two shafts
are alternately charged and burnt lime is continuously

discharged from both shafts. Since the temperature is high,

cool air is blown from below in both the shafts for cooling the
product, which is then discharged.

1.3 Kiln Operation

PARAMETERS OF KILN OPERATION
The operation of MAERZ kiln is characterized by the following
parameters:

A) BURNING TIME
B) AIR VOLUME
C) FUEL RATE
D) WEIGHT OF CHARGE
A) BURNING TIME
With a MAERZ kiln the shafts are heated periodically. Fuel is fed
always to only one shaft (as well as the combustion air),
whereas through the other shaft waste gases flow to the stack.
The burning time is the time during which fuel is fed to the
shaft, i.e. the time between opening and closing of the fuel
valves.
The time required for reversing from one shaft to the other is
called REVERSING TIME. This is the time between closing the
fuel valve (S) of the shaft which has been fired last and opening
the fuel valves of the following shaft to be fired. Burning time
plus reversing time is called CYCLE TIME.
The adjustment of a determined burning time is by means of
the kiln automation
by adjusting the Digital Counter.
B) AIR VOLUME
As regards the air volume, we distinguish between combustion
air volume and
cooling air volume. Combustion air and cooling air are supplied
by volumetric blowers. The control of the air volume is function
of the driving system of the blowers. With MAERZ Kilns there
are following possibilities. Combustion air as well as cooling air
blowers are driven independently from each other by motors
which.
(i) run only with one speed
(ii) run with determined speed stages.
Combustion air and cooling air blowers are coupled (pulleys)
and are driven by motors according to item (i). The volume of
combustion and cooling air can thus be controlled by the choice
of determined speed stages or by varying the speed of the
continuously variable speed motor.

C) FUEL RATE:
The fuel admitted is determined by the specific heat
consumption of the kiln.
The control of the fuel input is affected by adjusting the flow
rate of the dozing pump in case of fuel oil fired kilns, and by
adjusting the gas flow control valve in case of gas fired kilns.
D) WEIGHT OF CHARGE
This is the quantity of limestone charged into one shaft during a
reversing period. The weight of charge is determined by the
cycle time to be fixed during kiln commissioning.
1.4 Quality (Specification of R/M & Product)
S.No. Che. Compo. Limestone Lime for SMS-II
1. CaO 53% (Min.) 88% (Min.)
2. MgO 2.5% (Max.) 4% (Max.)
3. SiO2 1.5% (Max.) 2.5% (Max.)
4. Al2O3 1.7% (Max.) 3% (Max.)
5. L.O.I. 42.5% 6% (Max.)
6. Reactivity - >320 ml with 4 N HCL in 4 min.
7. Size 30-50 mm 5-50 mm
2.0 Rotary Kiln :
2.1 Brief description :
There is one Rotary kiln for production of calcined lime for SP-3
Rotary kiln was commissioned in the year 1985. The capacity of
kiln is 200 T/day of calcined lime and other details of kiln are as
below :
A. Length of Rotary kiln = 82.5 M
B. Dia of Rotary kiln = 3 M
C. Length of Rotary cooler = 22.5 M
D. Dia of Rotary cooler = 3 M
E. Charging system = by scooping device
2.2 Principle of working :
Weighed raw material is fed with the help of scooping device
and fuel is fired
from discharge end. Material travels during slow rotation of kiln
and heat is transferred to material due to radiation from

refractory, final product is discharged into Rotary cooler and

after cooling, product is continuously discharged on conveyor
belt.

2.3 Kiln operation :

Various operating parameters of kiln operation are :
A. Quantity of feed material.
B. Rotation of kiln.
C. Quantity of fuel.
D. Combustion air volume.
A. Quantity of feed material
Rate of feed material (T/hr) depends on the production rate. It
can vary 0-20 T/
hr. Feed quantity is weighed by belt weigh system called
"Merrick feeder".
B. Rotation of Rotary kiln
Maximum rotation of kiln is 0.9 RPM and it depends upon the
kiln production and product also. Kiln rotation is more in case of
calcinations and lower in case of sintering. More retention time
is required for sintered process. Rotation of Rotary cooler is
fixed (2 RPM).
C. Quantity of fuel
PCM, C.O. gas & both at a time can be used. Rate of flow of fuel
is depending on the production and process. Duplex burner has
been installed to feed PCM or gas. Flue gas after burning,
passes through rotary kiln and goes to chimney by natural
draught or forced draught. 5 mm WC draught is maintained.
D. Combustion air volume
Two blowers have been installed to supply combustion air for
initial firing of fuel (20% of total combustion air). Rest of
combustion is supplemented by controlling draught.
2.4. Quality : Calcined Lime to SP-3
S.NO. Che.Composition Lime Stone Calcined Lime
1 Cao 53.0 %(min) 88 % (min)
2 MgO 2.5% (max) 4 % (max)
3 SiO2 1.5 % (max) 2.5 % (max)

4
5
6
7

Al203 1.7 %(max) -LOI -- 6 % (max)

Size 10-35 mm (-) 3 mm
Reactivity - 320 ml ( Min.)

3 Brick Shop
3.1 INTRODUCTION :
Brick Shop was commissioned in the year 1985. The main
function was to
produce Tar Bonded Dolomite Bricks for converter vessel of
Steel Melting Shop No.2. The production of tar bonded dolomite
bricks for converter was stopped in the year 1987 because of
poor life and production of Magnesia-Carbon Bricks started in
the year 1996. Some refractory masses were developed in the
year 1990. At present shop is producing following refractory
items which affect cost savings.
S.No. Item/Product Used at
1.
Magnesite Mass SMS-II
2.
Runner Mass B.F.
3.
Twin Hearth sleeve SMS-I
4.
Well filler Mass SMS I
5.
Magnesia Carbon Bricks SMS-II
3.2 MAIN EQUIPMENTS :
S.No. Equipment Nos.
1 Hydraulic Press 02
2 Mixer (Planetary type) 02
3 Tube Mill 01
4 Curing kiln 02
5 E.O.T. Crane 01

3.3 PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING OF MAGNESIA

CARBON BRICKS :
Manufacturing activities are divided into following steps (as
written below) :
a) Mixing

b) Ageing
c) Pressing
d) Curing
e) Testing

a) Mixing : Fraction of 2.5-3.5 mm sea water magnesia along

with resin are mixed in LAEIS mixer for one minute and then
lower fractions of sea water magnesia are added and mixed for
few minutes in the mixer. Subsequently pitch and graphite
powder are added and thoroughly mixed for required duration
of time.
b) Ageing :
After getting homogeneous mix, it is stored for 16-24 hours
depending upon
weather temperature. In this way resin is better absorbed by
refractory ingredients and this helps in elimination of
lamination formation during pressing.
c) Pressing :
Mix so prepared after uniform ageing is pressed at 1400
kgs/cm2 in the available 1600 T Russian presses. Cold crushing
strength is between 200 to 220 kg/cm2 and bulk density is 2.75
to 2.80 gm/cc in green condition. Neither cracking nor peeling
off of layer is observed. Size is uniform between 2mm
tolerance. Rejection during production is negligible.
d) Curing :
In order to develop strength these bricks were required to be
heat-treated. In
absentia of tempering furnace it was decided to construct
curing furnace with inhouse resources and curing technology
was decided to get maximum crushing strength.
3.4 TESTING :
Testing & inspection play vital role for success of any product.
These bricks are
tested Regularly by RCL.

3.4.1 BRICK QUALITY NORM:

1. Apparent Porosity - 4 % (max)
2. Bulk density - 2.9 (min ) gm / cc
3. Cold crushing strength - 400 kgs /cm2 (min)
4. Dimensional check - 2mm in length & 1 mm in width &
thickness
5. Coked Porosity - 10 -12 %
I) Coked Porosity :
Coked Porosity test is conducted as follows:
A sample is covered with petroleum coke from all sides and
kept in a muffle
furnace. It is kept in the furnace for 1hour at 1000 C. Furnace
in then switched off. After natural cooling at room temperature
the sample is tested for porosity.

Conclusion
All the minor & major sections in the thermal project had been
visited & also understood to the best of my knowledge. I
believe that this training has made me well versed with the
various processes in the power plant. As far as I think there is a
long way to go till we use our newest of ever improving
technologies to increase the efficiency because the stocks of
coal are dwindling and they are not going to last forever. Its
imperative that we start shouldering the burden together to see
a shining and sustainable future INDIA.