An alloy & special steels manufacturing arm of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Alloy Steels Plant (ASP), Durgapur has collaborated with Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur under the prime minister’s ‘Uchchatara Aviskar Yojana’ (UAY). The agreement has been signed between ASP and IIT-K for research projects.
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The collaboration will focus on technology development in the area of alternative ironmaking routes. The main objective of this collaboration is to accelerate the research & development in sponge iron production by using off-grade coal fines and iron-ore to convert waste to health. The project is expected to enable economical recycling of huge accumulation of unusable coal fines and iron-ore fines available in SAIL mines. HRD Ministry and Steel Ministry will also fund the project apart from ASP.
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Through this collaboration, a Pilot Plant with a capacity of five tonnes per day will be set up at ASP, Durgapur by IIT Kharagpur. ASP will provide raw material and other inputs while IIT-K will take up joint research. The overall time frame of the project is three years.
The project has been titled as ‘Development of Rotary Health Furance (RHF) Technology for Treating Off-Grade Iron Ore Fines of Indian Origin, including Magnetite Ore’.
ASP, Durgapur is a renowned producer of special steels for the strategic sectors like Defence & Railways and others. The main focus of ASP is to promote aggressive cost reduction in recent time to remain competitive in the face of sliding demand for low margins and alloy steels.