Period between
1960-80
During the decade of the sixties, consideration was given
to the expansion of Tata Steel in the private sector. In July
1961, Tata Steel obtained an industrial license for setting
up alloy steel
Sinter plant: A new 1.37 mtpa sinter plant (SP2) to
raise the total sinter production to 2.5 mtpa and thereby,
increase sinter in blast furnaces to around 65%.
Coke ovens: A coke oven battery with 54 ovens using
stamp charging technology to make coke of internationally
acceptable quality was established. Stamp charging has given
following advantages:
- Superior coke strength after reaction (CSR) compared with
top charged coke, as well as higher bulk density.
- Higher yield of sized coke for the blast furnaces.
- Improved blast furnace productivity because of usage of
coke with better room temperature and high temperature properties.
Waste recovery: 1 Mtpa Waste recycling plant to recover
metallics from the plant was established
Ancillary technologies: The main technology improvement
in phase II was the introduction of coal injection in blast
furnaces. The limited reserves of coking coal in India have
always spurred Indian iron makers to strive for lower coke
rates. Tata Steel commissioned a coal injection unit in 1991
for its F blast furnace. The system developed by Kloeckner
Sstahl Technik (KST) was adopted on the success of coal injection
in F blast furnace; the technology was extended to G blast
furnace as a part of modernisation phase III and thereafter,
also incorporated in D blast furnace.
Modernization phase III
The success of modernization phases I and II and the need
to enter the flat product market, provided the necessary impetus
to embark on the crucial third phase of modernization. Keeping
in view the international and domestic Steel scenario, it
was felt necessary for Tata Steel to set up an internationally
competitive flat products complex. Apart from a one million
tonne hot strip mill, a new one million tonne G blast furnace
was also installed. The landmarks during this phase were:
Ironmaking: To augment steelmaking capacity, a corresponding
increase in hot metal production was necessary. Hence, a highly
automated blast furnace of 1 mtpa capacity, called the G blast
furnace, was commissioned in November 1992.
Steelmaking: A new LD shop 2 with two 130t capacity
LD vessels, with one out of two operating at any given moment,
was commissioned.
New Cold Rolling Mill at Tata Steel
In addition to modernization, Tata Steel has defined its
vision for the next millennium and has embarked on an unprecedented
expansion in flat products. As a first step, taking into account
the doubling of the capacity of the HSM, a 1.2 million tonnes
cold rolling complex has been commissioned in Jamshedpur towards
the middle of the year 2000. Some of the salient features
of this new development are highlighted.
Facilities in the cold rolling complex
Internationally, the technology of cold rolling has developed
to an extremely sophisticated level. This progress has been
augmented by the work on technology by equipment suppliers
around the world, focused on further improving the processes
to produce better products, thereby propelling cold rolled
strips to higher levels of quality and cost competitiveness.
The major facilities include a pickling-cum-tandem cold rolling
mill, an annealing facility, and galvanizing lines.
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