Non-coking coal based ironmaking technologies and their relevance to India

Deteriorating qualities of raw materials with respect to ash percent of coking coal, alumina-silica ratio of iron ore and depleting resources of coking coal, coupled with higher energy consumption and large capital requirement make the situation unalatable for setting up new blast furnaces to meet up the country's increasing demands. An indepth study, however, of the type of coal required, capacity of power plant required, the quality of hot metal produced and the state developments need careful examination. An attempt has been made to display the above features and critically assess the merging technologies for their adoption in India.