Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has commissioned its first micro pellet plant at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), supporting greater recycling of steelmaking waste and improved raw material efficiency.
The new facility has an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons and was commissioned ahead of schedule.
The plant converts iron-bearing waste fines generated during steelmaking into value-added micro pellets for use in RSP’s sinter plants. Feed materials include steel melting shop and blast furnace sludge, ESP dust, bag filter dust and other micron-sized iron-bearing fines.
Using an agglomeration process, the waste materials are converted into micro pellets ranging from 1-6 mm in size, allowing valuable constituents including iron, calcium oxide and magnesium oxide to be recovered and reused in steel production.
SAIL said the project will reduce consumption of fresh raw materials while addressing environmental issues associated with the disposal of steelmaking waste.
The facility is the first of its kind within SAIL and forms part of the company’s efforts to improve resource efficiency and promote circular economy practices across its steelmaking operations.
India’s Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), inaugurated in 1959 in Odisha, is India’s first public-sector integrated steel plant and a key unit of SAIL. Located in a mineral-rich region with strong rail links, it has a capacity of 4.5 mln tons per annum hot metal and 4.2 mln tons per annum crude steel, producing a range of flat products including HRC, plates, silicon steel, and pipes for the oil and gas sector.
SAIL currently produces around 20.6 mln tons of crude steel annually and is targeting an expansion to 35 mln tons per year by FY2031. The company operates five integrated steel plants and three special steel plants across India, producing a wide range of flat, long, special, and railway steel products.