Pollution Control in Ferro-Alloys Production

Of late, there is increased awareness of pollution hazards within the metallurgical industry. The Government of India through various central and state pollution
control agencies has taken steps to effectively protect ecology from pollution.The primary manufacturing processes for most of the bulk Ferro-alloys are carried out in submerged arc furnaces. The submerged arc furnaces, used in the manufacturing of ferro-alloys, are now included in "Red Category" as equipments giving rise to high
degree of pollution for which immediate action has to be taken for effective control. Much of the atmospheric pollution from ferro-alloys production is smoke, fume and
dust. The smoke mostly consists of soot, fly ash and other solid and liquid particles to be about 0.075 or 3 milli-onth of an inch. Coke smoke contains a high proportion
of carbon. Fumes are synonymous with dirt and are mostly composed of solid particles: Fumes are generally less than 1 micron in diameter and commonly consist of metals and metallic oxide and chlorides. For expansion of existing plants and for new plants, installation of pollution control equipments has been made compulsory. This papers provides and overview of the state of pollution in ferro-alloys production and focusses in the main methods of pollution control, with special reference to Indian
conditions.