PNS
BOKARO
SAIL’s Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) has commissioned a coal dust injection (CDI) pneumatic conveying system for Blast Furnace-3 (BF-3), a significant development expected to generate around Rs 100 crore in annual savings through reduced coke consumption.
Commissioned on August 15, the system transfers pulverised coal from Bokaro Power Supply Company Pvt Ltd (BPSCL) to BF-3, enabling the newly commissioned blast furnace to use coal dust despite having no dedicated coal milling facility.
The project was completed in just four months and involved construction of dumper ramps at the BPSCL Coal Handling Plant, revamping of conveyor arrangements and installation of a dual-blow tank system. Pulverised coal is conveyed through a 650-metre DN250 pipeline and distributed through a 24-way split to BF-3’s individual tuyeres.
Designed for 10 tonnes per hour (TPH), the system demonstrated a theoretical conveying capacity of 15 TPH during commissioning, subject to the production capacity of the BPSCL ball mill. PLC-based automation, nitrogen pressure regulation and dedicated purging arrangements have been incorporated for safe and reliable operation.
The projected savings are based on replacing coke with pulverised coal at a coke replacement ratio of 0.85. Besides improving fuel economics, the system is expected to strengthen BF-3’s operational efficiency and reduce dependence on costlier coke.
The project was executed under the guidance of BSL’s Director In-Charge and ED (Works), with the initiative driven by CGM (Utilities) and contributions from teams of Utilities, SIGS, ETL and CR-M.
