Chapter 4

DRIVING FORCES & PRODUCTS OF FUTURE

Steel is a central material to modern society. It is necessary for infrastructure, buildings,
transportation vehicles, and energy production. The annual consumption of steel has exceeded
1.8 billion tons as of 2020 and is further growing due to global development. Steel production is
an energy-intensive branch of industry. Due to the central role of coal/coke in ironmaking,
carbon dioxide emissions are large, corresponding to approximately 7% of the total
anthropogenic CO2 emissions. On the other hand, steel is a necessary material and enabler in
solving the global dilemma of radically decreasing the use of fossil energy and increasing the
share of renewable energy. Thus, the challenge is dual. On one hand, the industry must
strongly cut its own CO2 emissions by improving and developing the process route towards
carbon neutrality. On the other hand, it has the role of a problem solver as a material supplier
and by developing new steel grades with improved product properties which result in material
and energy savings, longer life cycle and better recyclability.

As population grows and India seeks to improve its standards of living, it is

inevitable that the demand for steel will increase. Steel is critical simply because no other
material has the same unique combination of strength, formability and versatility. New
generations of steel continue to be developedthat make it possible for manufacturers and
builders toimplement durable, lightweight designs. Going forward, materials that are ever
stronger and meet higherenvironmental standards will be needed.

Without being aware of it, society now depends on steel.Humankind’s future success in
meeting challenges suchas climate change, poverty, population growth, waterdistribution and
energy limited by a lower carbon worlddepends on applications of steel.
Steel in automotive
According to theInternational Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, 91.8 million vehicles
were produced in 2019.

On average, 900 kg of steel is used per vehicle. The steel in a vehicle is distributed as
follows, based on total vehicle curb mass:
 40% is used in the body structure, panels, doors and trunk closures for high-strength
and energy absorption in case of a crash
 23% is in the drive train, consisting of cast iron for the engine block and machinable
carbon steel for the wear resistant gears.
 12% is in the suspension, using rolled high-strength steel strip.
 The remainder is found in the wheels, tyres, fuel tank, steering and breaking systems.

Advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) are now used for nearly every new vehicle design.
AHSS make up as much as 60% of today’s vehicles body structures making lighter, optimised
vehicle designs that enhance safety and improve fuel efficiency.
 New grades of Advanced High-Strength Steels enable carmakers to reduce vehicle
component weight by 25-39% and total vehicle weight by 8-10% compared to conventional
steel. When applied to a typical five-passenger family car, the overall weight of the vehicle is
reduced by 100-150 kg, which corresponds to a lifetime saving of 2-3 tonnes of greenhouse
gases over the vehicle’s total life cycle. This saving in emissions can be more than the total
amount of CO2 emitted during the production of all the steel in the vehicle.
 WorldAutoSteel, worldsteel’s automotive group, completed a three-year programme in 2013
that delivers fully engineered, steel intensive designs for electric vehicles. Known as the
FutureSteelVehicle (FSV), the project features steel body structure designs that reduce the
mass of the body-in-weight to 188 kg and reduce total life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by almost 70%. The FSV study commenced in 2007 and concentrates on
solutions for cars that will be produced in 2015-2020. Today we are seeing the material
portfolio developed through the FSV programme progressively being introduced into new
products.
 In 2020, WorldAutoSteel announced the beginning of the Steel E-Motive programme. Steel
E-Motive is a new vehicle engineering initiative to demonstrate advanced steel architectures
for future mobility. The programme, a partnership with global engineering and environmental
consulting firm Ricardo, aims to demonstrate the benefits of Advanced High Strength Steel
products and technologies in solving the unique architectural challenges of Mobility as a
Service (MaaS). Ultimately, we aim to provide virtual vehicle concepts as roadmaps for
affordable, safe, mass and environmentally efficient vehicles.WorldAutoSteel and Ricardo
will communicate on progress regularly, showcasing results and innovation as the program
progresses, with final concept designs for the full vehicle revealed in late 2022.  For up-to-
date information on the Steel E-Motive program, visit www.steelemotive.world and subscribe
for news alerts.

Life cycle assessment is key to assessing the environmental impact of a vehicle. The
global transportation industry is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and
accounts for about 24% of all man-made CO2 emissions (International Energy Agency, CO2
Emissions from Fuel Combustion Highlights, 2018 Edition, p 13).
Regulators are addressing this challenge by setting progressive limits on automotive emissions,
fuel economy standards or a combination of both.Many of the existing regulations began as
metrics to reduce oil consumption and focused on extending the number of kilometres/litre
(miles/gallon) a vehicle could travel.This approach has been extended into the regulations which
now limit GHG emissions from vehicles.

However, extending the fuel economy metric to meet objectives to reduce emissions is
having unintended consequences as low-density alternative materials are being used to
reduce vehicle mass.

Low-density materials may achieve lighter overall vehicle weights, with corresponding

reductions in fuel consumption and use phase emissions.The production of these low-density
materials is typically more energy and GHG intensive, and emissions during vehicle production
are likely to increase significantly.These materials are often not able to be recycled and need to
be sent to landfill. Numerous life cycle assessment (LCA) studies show how this can lead
to higher emissions over the entire life cycle of the vehicle as well as increased production
costs.

A key factor in understanding the real environmental impact of a material is its LCA. An
LCA of a product looks at resources, energy and emissions from the raw material
extraction phase to its end-of-life phase, including use, recycling and disposal.

Benefits of using steel in automotive

Steel:
1. Contains recycled steel and is endlessly recyclable.
2. Has lower CO2 life cycle emissions than any other automotive material.
3. Enables engineering of crash-resistant structures.
4. High-strength steels enable light but stronger vehicles.
5. Lightweight therefore fuel efficient.
6. Durable and remanufacture-friendly.
7. Enables creative, flexible designs.
8. Enables affordable repairs.
9. Cost efficient compared to other materials.
10. Well-established manufacturing and recycling infrastructure and workforce.

Steel in transport
Mobility is essential to our modern way of life. The efficient transport of goods has
become key to our ever more globalised economy. Freight, for example, has almost
doubled over the past 30 years. Steel provides strong, safe and sustainable transport
solutions

Steel facilitates our mobility and the transport of goods. Whether in the form of bicycles,
motorcycles, cars, buses, trains, ships or planes – or in the transport networks that support
them – steel is essential to every mode of transport.Continuously reinforced concrete roadways
are structurally supported by steel rebar and help to improve fuel efficiency for large
vehicles.Steel is well-suited to transport applications because it is durable, strong (providing
safety in the case of collision), lightweight, UV-resistant, affordable, and 100% recyclable.
Innovations in design and the development of new high-strength steels have also played a key
role in improving the efficiency of many of these transport modes whilst at the same time
considerably reducing life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Including automotives,
around 16% of steel produced worldwide is used to meet society’s transport needs. Steel is also
essential to the related infrastructure: roads, bridges, ports, stations, airports and fueling.

Some major applications include:

For ships and shipping containers

Shipbuilding traditionally uses structural steel plate to fabricate ship hulls. Modern steel plates
have much higher tensile strengths than their predecessors, making them much better suited to
the efficient construction of large container ships. A particular type of plate is available with a
designed resistance to corrosion, ideal for building oil tankers. Such steels make possible much
lighter vessels than before, or larger-capacity vessels of the same weight, offering significant
opportunities to save on fuel consumption and hence CO2.

Steel ships transport 90% of the world’s cargo. An estimated number of 17 million containers of
varying types made up the worldwide container fleet and the majority are made of steel.

For trains and rail cars

Rail transport requires steel in the trains and for the rails and infrastructure. For short or medium
haul journeys, rail reduces travel times and CO2 emissions per passenger kilometer compared
to nearly all other forms of transport.

Steel makes up 15% of the mass of high speed trains and is essential.The main steel
components of these trains are bogies (the structure underneath the trains including wheels,
axels, bearings and motors). Freight or goods wagons are made almost entirely of steel.

For aeroplanes
Steel is required for the engines and landing gear.

For infrastructure
Transport networks: steel is used in bridges, tunnels, rail track, and in constructing buildings
such as fueling stations, train stations, ports and airports. About 60% of steel use in
infrastructure is rebar. The rest is sections and rail track.

Benefits of using steel in transport applications

Steel:
1. Contains recycled steel and is endlessly recyclable.
2. Is strong.
3. Safe.
4. Durable.
5. Cost efficient.
6. Remanufacture-friendly.
7. Reusable rail tracks.
Steel in buildings and infrastructure
Construction is one of the most important steel-using industries, accounting for more
than 50% of world steel demand. Buildings – from houses to car-parks to schools and
skyscrapers – rely on steel for their strength. Steel is also used on roofs and as cladding for
exterior walls. The United Nations (https://bit.ly/2PGYALh) projects that India's population will
be 1.64 billion by 2050, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) projects 1.61
billion by 2048. This will be accompanied by rapid urbanisation. As the need for buildings
and infrastructure continues to grow worldwide, reducing consumption of natural
resources and associated emissions is crucial for future sustainability.

Whilst the operation of buildings accounts for 28% of global CO2 emissions, they also present
many opportunities for reducing emissions and mitigating climate change.Buildings are currently
responsible for 39% of global energy related carbon emissions: 28% from operational
emissions, from energy needed to heat, cool and power them, and the remaining 11% from
materials and construction.

Steelmakers around the world are increasingly providing construction solutions that enable
energy-efficient and low-carbon-neutral buildings. For example in the HAMK Sheet Metal
Centre (Finland) – a near Zero Energy Building (nZEB), steel solutions brought down the cost of
electricity and district heating to €5,200 per annum from €12,400 (reference building). Not only
is steel affordable, readily available and safer, its intrinsic properties, such as strength,
versatility, durability and 100% recyclability allow for improved environmental performance
across the entire life cycle of buildings.

The advanced high-strength steels used in steel-plate applications also find uses in a number of
related industries. Offshore oil rigs, bridges, civil engineering and construction machines, rail
carriages, tanks and pressure vessels, nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric plants – all
these applications benefit from the attributes of modern steels.

How steel is used in buildings and infrastructure

The possibilities for using steel in buildings and infrastructure are limitless. The most common
applications are listed below.

For buildings
 Structural sections: these provide a strong, stiff frame for the building and make up 25%
of the steel use in buildings.
 Reinforcing bars: these add tensile strength and stiffness to concrete and make up 44%
of steel use in buildings. Steel is used because it binds well to concrete, has a similar
thermal expansion coefficient and is strong and relatively cost-effective. Reinforced
concrete is also used to provide deep foundations and basements and is currently the
world’s primary building material.
 Sheet products: 31% is in sheet products such as roofing, purlins, internal walls, ceilings,
cladding, and insulating panels for exterior walls.
 Non-structural steel: steel is also found in many non-structural applications in buildings,
such as heating and cooling equipment and interior ducting.
 Internal fixtures and fittings such as rails, shelving and stairs are also made of steel.
For infrastructure
 Transport networks: steel is required for bridges, tunnels, rail track and in constructing
buildings such as fueling stations, train stations, ports and airports. About 60% of steel
use in this application is as rebar and the rest is sections, plates and rail track.
 Utilities (fuel, water, power): over 50% of the steel used for this application is in
underground pipelines to distribute water to and from housing, and to distribute gas. The
rest is mainly rebar for power stations and pumping houses.

Benefits of using steel in construction

Steel:
1. Is reusable and endlessly recyclable.
2. Contains at least 25% recycled steel. (1)
3. Enables energy efficiency in buildings and construction projects. 
4. Strong, requiring fewer beams and providing more usable open space.
5. Light, requiring reduced foundations.
6. Less material implies resource saving and a lesser impact on the environment.
7. Flexible in combination with other materials.
8. Earthquake resistant due to steel’s ductility.
9. Fast on-site build for prefabricated buildings.
10. Durable.

Steel and energy

Steel is and will be critical for supplying the world with energy, whether based on fossil
fuels, nuclear technology, or renewable sources like wind, solar or geothermal.

Whatever the source, steel has a crucial role to play in producing and distributing energy as well
as improving energy efficiency.

Steel is used in all areas of renewable energy:

 Biomass: steel is used extensively in agriculture.
 Solar: steel plays a key role in converting solar energy into electricity or hot water. It is
used as a base for solar thermal-panels and in pumps, tanks and heat exchangers.
 Wave and tidal: a steel pile is the main component of a tidal turbine in tidal energy
systems. Steel is also used to fabricate wave energy devices. The steel used is
formulated to withstand the challenges of the marine environment.
 Hydroelectric: steel is needed to reinforce concrete dams.
 Wind: steel is the main material used in onshore and off-shore wind turbines. Almost
every component of a wind turbine is made of steel, from the foundation, to the tower,
gears and casings. Steel provides the strength for taller, more efficient wind turbines.

Steel is used in nuclear and fossil fuel-based energy:

 mining equipment
 offshore oil platforms
 equipment for oil and gas extraction and production
  pipelines for the distribution of natural gas and oil
 storage tanks
 power plants including small nuclear reactors

Steel is used for the production and distribution of electricity:

 transformers (magnetic steel core)
 generators and electric motors
 power distribution pylons and steel-reinforced cables.

Steel is used for energy transport and distribution:

 ships, trucks and trains used to transport fuel
 transport networks: steel is required for bridges, tunnels, rail track, and in constructing
buildings such as fueling stations, train stations, ports and airports.

Fossil fuel power plants:

 High temperature-resistant steels have made efficiency in steam power plants possible
and have the potential to be developed and employed even further.
 Combined heat and power (CHP) allows waste heat in power plants to be used for
power generation as heat energy, increasing the overall efficiency of fossil fuel power
plants. The waste heat is transported exclusively in steel pipes.

Transformers: Transformers step down the voltage from power stations to household voltage.
The magnetic core of transformers is made of steel. As a result of continual development and
increased application of new electrical steel grades, the energy loss in modern transformers can
be reduced by 35% compared to conventional ones.

Benefits of using steel in energy production and distribution

Steel:
1. Contains recycled steel and is endlessly recyclable.
2. Is safe, provides structural integrity.
3. Durable.
4. Strong.
5. Cost efficient compared to other materials.
6. Precise.
7. Steel pipes have lower environmental impact than transporting water or fuels by
truck or ship.
8. Wind towers are easy to set up and maintain.

Steel packaging
Steel cans used for food conservation preserve high levels of nutrients and
vitamins.Contrary to popular belief, canned fruits and vegetables use no chemical
preservatives but are conserved via high-pressure processing techniques that kill bacteria. As
an ambient packaging medium, steel cans do not require cooling in the supply chain, simplifying
logistics and storage and saving energy and cost.
Steel packaging offers 100% barrier protection against light, water and air, and is the most
tamper-tamper-resistant food packaging option available today. By extending the product’s
shelf-life, steel cans allow longer sell-by and use-by dates, thus reducing waste. Steel’s
relatively high thermal conductivity means canned drinks chill much faster than those in glass or
plastic bottles. Steel is used to pack more than 1,500 food and drink items as well as paint,
health and beauty products and household products.

Magnetic properties and recycling

Steel is a ferrous metal and is therefore magnetic. For packaging, this is unique. This allows the
use of magnetic conveyor systems to transfer empty cans through the filling and packing
processes, increasing accuracy and reducing potential spillage and waste.In recycling facilities,
steel cans may be readily separated from other waste using magnetic equipment, including
cross-belt separators, known as overband magnets, and drum magnets.Steel is a permanent
material (steel can be recycled repeatedly without loss of quality). Recycling a single can saves
the equivalent power for one laundry load, 1 hour of TV or 24 hours of lighting (10W LED bulb).

Smaller carbon footprint

All steel packaging cans create CO2 emissions at every stage in the production process, from
raw material extraction, processing, and manufacturing to recycling. However, steel cans are a
top ecological performer, as cans can always be recycled.  The steel packaging recycling rate
has reached over 90% in some countries, and steel is Europe’s most recycled packaging
material.The steel industry needs the used cans and will use them in the production of new steel
products. By recycling the cans and closing the loop, CO2 emissions are dramatically
reduced.Steel cans are recycled by being melted down in an electric arc furnace or basic
oxygen furnace.

Lightweighting
In the past 20 years, the weight of steel cans has been reduced by 33%. Lighter cans positively
impact the environment by reducing the amounts of raw materials and energy required to
produce them.The majority of steel used in packaging is tinplate, which has been coated with a
thin layer of tin, whose functionality is required for the production process. The tin layer is
usually applied by electroplating.

Benefits of using steel in packaging

Steel is:
1. Endlessly recyclable
2. Contains recycled steel
3. Easily recovered by magnetic separation
4. Magnetic property increases filling accuracy, reducing potential spillage and waste
5. Resource-efficient – no energy required for food preservation
6. No additives required while maintaining nutritional value
7. Fast and efficient filling
8. Durable
9. Stackable
10. Unbreakable
11. Convenient
12. Thin and light packaging produces environmental benefits
Steel in tools and machinery
If a product is not made of steel, the chances are that it will be made from a machine made of
steel. Steel is all around us; your car, your phone, your fridge – even the plastic and glass
bottles you have inside your fridge – they are all made either of steel, or manufactured using
steel tools. Plastic car parts, glasses and computer chassis are all manufactured in moulds
made of steel. Steel is essential in our modern world.

Tools and machinery cover a wide range of equipment from small workshop tools to large
factory-based robotic machinery and rolling mills. In 2017, tools and machinery represented
approximately 15 % of global steel use.In construction, steel provides equipment such as
cranes, drills, bulldozers, scaffolding and reusable and portable shelters used on construction
sites.

In agriculture, from basic hoes, shovels and forks, to modern ploughs, irrigation systems and
grain storage silos, steel is there every step of the way, making agriculture easier and more
efficient. Agriculture without steel is unimaginable. From tilling the land and planting seeds to
watering, harvesting, storing and transporting crops, steel is vital. Steel also facilitates the
feeding, shelter and transportation of livestock. The machines and equipment that process what
we eat and drink are also made with steel.

Almost every form of human communication uses steel in some way. Newspapers and books
could not be created without steel presses. Computers and pens contain steel and are produced
using steel equipment. Postal systems around the world depend on steel sorting equipment and
infrastructure to deliver our letters and packages. Steel is there even when we make a
telephone call, all along the line. Radio transmitters are the basis of many of our methods of
communication; they are used in baby monitors, toys, mobile telephones, radar, and satellites.
Car and truck production make extensive make use of steel-made robots.

Steels used for manufacturing of parts are commonly called “tool steels”.1 They differ from other
steels by their special performance, which is achieved through applying specific alloy contents
and microstructures. This gives them unique properties such as high hardness and resistance to
heat, wear and corrosion. This is necessary in order to shape and form often millions of parts for
the end products each with the same quality and tolerance. One example is a press for a car
body part. The tool steel used to shape the car part must be harder than the steel it shapes and
it must last a long time without breaking or wearing down.

Tool steels are used for different manufacturing applications. They include cold work steel, hot
work steel and plastics moulding steel:

 Cold work tooling is the forming and creation of products made of cold materials.
Punching, drawing, forming, pressing and extrusion are just some of the applications
used. The door of your car is likely made by a press using a cold work steel and so is the
stainless steel in your kitchen white goods.
 Hot work tooling: these steels must be heat resistant and must not melt or be deformed
by the extreme heat. Typical applications are die casting, forging, extrusion and hot
stamping.
 Plastic moulding shapes plastic parts for every-day products such as bottles, casings for
TVs, telephones and, well, nearly every plastic object in your surroundings. These steels
are responsible for the look and feel of the parts. The surface of the tool has to be
 “defect free”, which requires special processes in the melt shop. Without plastic
extrusion, blow moulding and injection moulding, our homes would look quite different.

Steel is 100% recyclable. This means that when you scrap your car, its steel may very well be
recycled not just into your new car, but may also be found in the robots used to manufacture the
car itself. Recycling saves both natural resources and energy and the more steel is recycled the
more the environment is preserved.

Benefits of using steel in tools and machinery

Steel:
1. Contains recycled steel and is endlessly recyclable
2. Is strong
3. Safe
4. Durable
5. Cost efficient
6. Remanufacture-friendly
7. Enables the production and distribution of other materials.
 Chapter 7

FUTURE ROADMAP & STRATEGY

While steel continues to be an attractive material for a range of applications, the industry faces
multiple challenges today. Alternative materials have begun to make inroads into the once
unchallenged domain of steel. Enhanced global concerns on climate change have thrown
unprecedented challenges at steel companies as governments have been compelled to take
measures to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions. Environmental regulations mean stricter
norms for pollution control. This, in turn, means technologies ensuring compliance have to be
mandatorily incorporated in the entire steel production cycle. Environmental concerns also
necessitate recycling of wastes and adoption of energy conservation measures. Capacity
addition has to be weighed against the pressure on scarce natural resources, including land and
water. Increased levels of automation in newer technologies require not just leaner but also
better trained manpower.

While products need to be tailored to customer requirements, the critical needs of the nation,
including nuclear power, defence, railways, oil and natural gas transportation, also have to be
addressed in the interest of self-reliance. Newer applications need to be expeditiously innovated
in order to create market leadership. Along with all this, efforts need to be intensified to enhance
country’s footprint in existing markets, notably those in the automobile, agriculture and
infrastructure sectors.

Self-reliance in technology has become a pre-requisite for growth. The country has been
relentlessly seeking to improve processes with a view to enhancing efficiencies to meet global
benchmarks. Indian Steel industry has embarked on a journey with a vision to introduce the
latest in technology and product enrichment to ensure that it not only catches up with global
competition but also makes its way to market dominance. The vision attempts at encapsulating
issues both of current and contingent relevance to the steel industry and ranges from the more
traditional objectives like quality steel production in the most cost-effective manner to emerging
ones like plasma technology based iron making and three-dimensional printing.

In its quest to become a global leader in the steel industry, the Indian Steel industry has to
adopt a strategy of augmentation of capabilities over the short, medium and long terms.
Matching the best- in- class and catching up with global counterparts would constitute the
cornerstone of country’s strategy in the short and medium term. Global benchmarks in areas
such as energy, water and specific raw material consumption, productivity of major iron /
steelmaking equipment and carbon dioxide emission would be met or surpassed. Priority would
be accorded, in particular, to reduction in energy consumption from a level of 6.59 Gcal/tcs to
around 5.23 Gcal/tcs, and carbon dioxide emission from a level of 2.69 t CO2 / tcs to a level of
2.3 t CO2 / tcs.

The long term strategy envisions market leadership for Indian Steel industry based on initiatives
that would redefine the frontiers of the steel industry and look at novel and emerging ideas.
Capability enhancement, including modification in existing facilities and installation of new ones,
would take the following tenets on board:
 Optimal and sustainable utilisation of natural resources, including land
 Improving raw material quality by beneficiation and other means
 Enlargement of product portfolio
 Development of new steel products of international standard to cater to the high-end sectors
 Efficient utilisation of energy through adoption of energy-efficient technologies and the use
of the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism
 Incorporation of control and monitoring systems to follow environmental norms
 Development of path breaking technologies that can be scaled up from the laboratory to the
pilot and plant scales

Impetus to Green Technologies:

The steel industry accounts for nearly 6.7% of the global carbon dioxide emissions. The World
Steel Association (WSA) affirms that breakthrough technologies must be developed to reduce
the carbon footprint of the industry. These would include technologies that involve Carbon
Capture and Storage (CCS). Alongside, the increased utilisation of by-products from the steel
industry can help substitute natural resources in other industries while reducing the carbon
dioxide emissions of the latter. For example, the use of blast furnace slag for cement making
can help reduce the carbon footprint of the cement industry.

While it is important to seek to develop steels that improve the energy-efficiency of the
applications that they are used in, it is imperative to adopt a life-cycle approach for assessing
overall environmental impact. This would mean that in order to assess the environment-
friendliness of a product, emissions related to all stages of its life-cycle -- from manufacture to
end-of-life -- are considered.

Way Forward
Indian Steel industryneeds to evolve a two pronged approach comprising the following:
1. Acquisition of new technology (Technology Acquisition Plan)
2. Enrichment of product portfolio (Product Enrichment Plan)

The industry’s approach must entail mission specific goals spread over the short, medium and
long term in the overall technology roadmap.

Research & Development (R&D) would be increasingly called upon to play a major role in
spearheading a culture of innovation rich in initiatives exploring novel concepts for effecting a
quantum jump in technology. R&D would also be expected to introduce interventions in state-
of-the-art technologies for improvement in process efficiency and development of superior
value- added products. Innovation would have to be made first at the laboratory scale, followed
by a pilot study and, finally, field deployment.

Emerging Information Technologies(IT) need to be introduced for plant process control

withsuitable level of automation to foster an integrated approach in plant production in alignment
with business plans. IT technologies like Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Industrial
Internet of Things (IIOT), Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cloud
Computing, Data Science & Analytics, Wireless technologies, Digital Image Analysis, Robotics
and other web based applications need to be implemented seamlessly for integrated and
effective resource and inventory management, production planning / scheduling, process
optimisation, material management, material tracking and process & quality analysis.
Environmental Concerns would be the touchstone of steel technology initiatives for the future.
The following steps would be taken to address environmental concerns:
 Technologies for waste water treatment would be further improved upon
 Recycling, including the use of plastics in blast furnaces and coke ovens, would be explored
 Industrymust embrace zero solid waste targets for the long term
 Efforts would be made to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry through a range of
measures, including carbon sequestration through afforestation and bio-sequestration
 Clean and renewable sources of energy would be exploited to the fullest
 The mining footprint would be reduced by pressure filtration / paste thickening of slimes /
rejects generated from iron ore beneficiation and backfilling of the mined out areas
 Pollution control would be facilitated by making appropriate technological choices. For
instance, the dry cleaning of blast furnace gas has advantages over wet cleaning in that a)
fresh water consumption is eliminated; and b) sludge and waste water treatment can be
avoided. The system for dry cleaning of blast furnace gas typically comprises a de-dusting
unit and a bag house made of ceramic fibres through which the gas passes

Indian Steel industrymust continue, inter alia, to work towards fulfilling its responsibility to the
nation in building world class defence capability by intensifying its efforts in the area of import
substitution for applications such as warships, submarines, tanks, aircraft components and
armoured bullet proof vehicles.

The following sections list out some of the advanced rolling mill technologies and finished steel
products which can be effectively utilized by Indian Steel industry to address the fulfillment of
Vision 2047 for carbon neutrality, eco-friendliness, energy efficiency and circular economy in
steel prodyction.

Advances in Rolling Technologies: Flat Products

Thin Strip Casting and Rolling
 Up to 30% lower energy consumption
 Casting and hot rolling mill in single line eliminating requirement of reheating before
conventional hot strip mills.
 The caster produces slabs up to 10 m length with high casting speed up to 8 m/min.
 Advanced control system like electro-mechanical mould level control (MLC) and dynamic
solidification control systems.
 The Rolling Mill has about 5-7 stands with work roll shifting, roll bending, high response
AGC, differential tension control looper control and advanced models including
recrystallization models
 High response thickness and thickness and mass flow control for ultra thin gauges.
 Minimum hot rolled strip thickness of 0.9 mm has been achieved.
 Highly economical process for thin strips, say 0.9-1.5 mm

Slab Sizing Press for HSM:

 Larger width reduction
 Through-forming of slab leading to flatter dogbones leading to reduced spreading and
greater sizing efficiency.
 Can be integrated into existing facilities and can be installed during short shut-downs.

Endless Hot Strip Rolling

 This is a new hot rolling process in which the bars are joined before they enter the finishing
train.
 This process has been implemented in No.3 HSM of Kawasaki Steel Chiba Works and
POSCO implemented EHSR process during revamping of No.2 HSM in Pohang Works
 Overall reduction in specific energy and substantial decrease of hot strip rundown has been
achieved through this process
 Major components are coil box, joining crop shear, leveller, bar joining m/c, strip shear and
joint detector
 Processing cost is 30% less than conventional, Lower energy consumption, Improved steel
yield (up to 97%), compact mills.
 Disadvantage: Highly skilled manpower required for running & maintain ace of sophisticated
automation system

Mandrel-less Coil Box / Heat Shield / Coil Furnace at Delay Table

 Higher specific coil weight
 Reduction in heat loss from bar enabling energy saving
 Reduction in temperature run-down
 Improved dimensional quality

Intense ROT Cooling System

Presently the cooling rate at the entry zones of laminar cooling system in SAIL Hot strip Mills is
about 30-40 K/s. Recent advanced compact cooling systems achieves cooling rate upto 400
K/s. With steep ramp of temperature reduction, expensive alloying elements are saved
substantially.

PVR Technology of Plates

 Plan View Rolling (PVR) technology used in roughing stands of Plate Mill improves yield of
plates
 Improvement in productivity

FEM based Automatic Delay Strategy Model for Reheating Furnace:

 Finite Element Method (FEM) Models are used to predict the internal temperature of slab,
 Calculate the delay and automatically generates set points for furnace zonal temperature.
 Reduces energy consumption
 Improvement in productivity
Multi-Purpose Interrupted Cooling (MULPIC) Technology for Plates
 Multi-Purpose Interrupted Cooling system uses intensive cooling technology and cutting-
edge flow control valves
 Higher cooling rates and accurate cooling control results in plates with uniform metallurgical
properties and reduced flatness defects.
 Individual header control for both direct quenching (DQ) and accelerated cooling (ACC)
modes of operation along the complete length of the cooling machine.
 The new system will replace an existing accelerated cooling system that cannot achieve
future requirements.
 Saving of alloying elements in steel and new product developments as per market need

Intermediate Water Cooling of Plates

 Intermediate water cooling between roughing and finishing passes improves mill productivity
 Improves mechanical properties of plates

Optical surface inspection system

 It takes screenshots of the coil surface moving at high speed at ROT.
 It analyses the surface by image processing technology and predicts surface defects.
 Improvement in surface quality

Coupled Pickling-Tandem Cold Mill (PL-TCM) at CRM

 Higher mill productivity
 Higher yield of CR coils
 Improved gauge and shape of CR coils
 Lower specific roll consumption
 Lower manpower requirement

Acid less Pickling

 Eco Pickled Surface (EPS) is pickling process using slurry blasting technique that combines
a fine-particle metallic abrasive with water.
 Major advantage is reduction of pollution due to acid fumes
 Low capital and production cost.

Continuous Annealing Processing Line (CAPL)

 CAPL continuously processes different verity of products including steels for forming, high-
strength low-alloy (HSLA) grades, advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) and ultra-high-
strength steels (UHSS).
 The speed of the process is higher than batch annealing leading to reduced production time.
 Time and cost savings – through faster and more efficient processing
 Yield maximization and reduced waste – through choice of product size, tight tolerances and
exceptional steel flatness
 Reliable and repeatable end-product quality – through consistent steel quality and uniform
mechanical properties

Energy efficient production of long products - Continuous Mill Technology (CMT)

 Combines billet continuous casting directly with the rolling process.
 Energy consumption and yield losses can be reduced significantly compared to conventional
dis-continuous processes.
 Endless production of rolled product with uninterrupted sequences of approximately 23
hours.

Microstructural modeling based rolling

 Predicts and control accurately the product properties during actual processing stage itself.
 Combines ‘advanced microstructural engineering’ and the state-of-the-art ‘data mining’
techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to assess microstructure and product
properties.
 System ensures superior quality and uniformity of product.
 Process optimization and design of new product.
 Reduces product development cost, and improves resource utilization

K-T loop to produce 4 to 8 mm dia wire rod

 Long production campaign (up to 500,000 T before “bell” change)
 Unbeatable performances with the smallest size product mix
 Excellent performances with lower “bell” wear
 Perfect head and tail pattern

Special head/tail device ensures no Human Intervention

 Industry 4.0 Digitalization through data collection, communication, Internet of Things, control
techniques, and smart sensors is generating more information than ever before.
 Advancement and optimization of both control and monitoring of plant performance.
 Designed to present immediate customer value generated from improved productivity,
quality, and flexibility.

Advances in Rolling Technologies: Long Products

Universal rolling of rails and structural
 Better tolerances and microstructure in finished product
 Low Specific roll consumption

High pressure descaling

 Better surface quality
Free size rolling
 Improvement in Mill utilization

High speed finishing blocks

 Improvement in rolling rate

Online dimension measurement

 Quality improvement

Traversing water box with multi line TMT nozzles

 Improvement in Mill utilization

Aerosol cooling bed

 Improvement of productivity of finishing line

Walking Beam type Cooling Bed

 Improvement in quality and mill utilization

Camber control mechanization

 Improvement of quality and improvement in productivity of finishing line

Bar counting and automatic bundling and weighing

 Material handling & tracking

Simulation of rolling process

 Improvement in yield, productivity and quality

Advances in Rolling Technology

 Material tracking and traceability
 On-line profile measurement and control
 Hot Rolled Pickled and Oiled (HRPO) Strip

Automation & IT
 Robotics Technology
 Automated product surface inspection
 Comprehensive material tracking
 Wireless Communication for monitoring of equipment
 Automated heat tracking system (SMS to Mills)
Advances in Rolling Technologies: Advanced Products
Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS)
 Chemical compositions and multiphase microstructures resulting from precisely controlled
heating and cooling processes.
 They are uniquely lightweight and engineered to meet the challenges of today’s vehicles for
stringent safety regulations, emissions reduction, solid performance, at affordable costs.
 The AHSS family includes Dual Phase (DP), Complex- Phase (CP), Ferritic-
Bainitic (FB), Martensitic (MS or MART), Transformation-Induced Plasticity (TRIP), Hot-
Formed (HF), and Twinning-Induced Plasticity (TWIP).
 These 1st and 2nd Generation AHSS grades are uniquely qualified to meet the functional
performance demands of certain parts. 
 For example, DP and TRIP steels are excellent in the crash zones of the car for their high
energy absorption.
 For structural elements of the passenger compartment, extremely high-strength steels, such
as Martensitic and boron-based Press Hardened Steels (PHS) result in improved safety
performance.
 Recently there has been increased funding and research for the development of the “3rd
Generation” of AHSS.
 AHSS with a tensile strength of at least 1000 MPa is often called “Giga Pascal steel” (1000
MPa = 1GPa). These materials have excellent strength combined with excellent ductility,
and thus meet many vehicle functional requirements.
 Third Generation AHSS (3rd Gen) seeks to offer comparable or improved capabilities at a
significantly lower cost. 
 The primary objectives in developing 3rd Gen steels are:
− Use steels with lower alloying content to reduce costs.
− Target minimum strength and ductility levels to 1200 MPa and 30% elongation.

Line Pipe Steel

Steel type X80 (tensile strength of 800 Mpa) have been developed for use as linepipe steel,
Linepipe steels with tensile strengths in the range 1000 MPa to 1200 Mpa are under
development for ‘sweet’ gas and oil pipeline applications.

Quenched and Partitioned (Q&P) Steel

Q&P steels yield an excellent balance of high tensile strength and good elongation with similar
chemical compositions as conventional TRIP steels. They are produced via the Q&P process
which consists of a quenching and a partitioning step. The resultant microstructures of the
steels mainly consist of tempered martensite and retained austenite so that a higher strength
can be achieved as compared to conventional TRIP

Cold Rolled Non Oriented (CRGO) Steel

Grain oriented electrical steel is an important material in the production of energy efficient
transformers and large, high performance generators. In the form of laminated, wound or
punched sheets, it is the essential core material of distribution transformers, power transformers
and small transformers. Grain-oriented electrical steel usually has a silicon level of 3% of the
crystal orientation relative to the sheet. It is used for the cores of power and distribution
transformers, cold-rolled grain-oriented steel is often abbreviated to CRGO.

Other Advanced Grade Products

Auto Sector
 Galvanized &Galvannealed sheets
 Steel tyre cord wire rods

Construction, Roofing and Appliance Sector

 Color coated steel - PPGI (Pre-painted Galvanized Iron) & PPGL (Pre-painted
Galvalume) sheets
 Rebars with 880 MPa YS
 High strength sheets for PEB
 Fire resistant structural

Power Sector
 Higher grades (superior to M 36) CRNO
 Amorphous steels

DefenceSector
 High strength Q&T plates
 Food, Beverage & Packaging Sector
 Electrolytic tinplate of thickness <0.3 mm
 Nuclear Power Plants
 Boron steel

Railways
 Hypereutectoid, HTCR, 1080 HH, 1080 Cr, Nano-pearlitic, Bainitic, Corrosion resistant,
Stress free rail,
 LHB, Microalloyed, Bainitic wheel

Futuristic Products
 3D Printing
 Low density steel
 Chapter 7

TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED
Indian Steel industry has been incorporating contemporary technologies in its modernisation
and expansion programmes. For future capability addition, both in brown-field and green-field
projects, the plan would have to be staggered across the short, medium and long term.

Rolling and Finishing Technology

Indian Steel industry has adopted contemporary technologies in the new flat and long product
rolling mills, which have been commissioned in the recent past. Such technologies are also being
acquired for the new mills. All these new mills are being set up under the ongoing modernisation
and expansion programmes of Indian Steel industry. The industry must continue to keep pace with
technological advancement in the field of rolling and finishing. For this, necessary technology
intervention measures are to be taken in the rolling mills, both existing and future, of the primary
and secondary steel producers.

Short Term
Input Material Data Logging
Provision must be made of facilities to measure the critical dimensions of input material in the
mill in order to prevent the use of defective feedstock. There must also be provision of scanner
for capturing the information marked -- hot stamped/ hot marked/ tagged -- on the input material.

Advantages
 This process allows for the segregation and rejection of defective material, thus ensuring
consistent product quality
 It leads to data acquisition for material identification, tracking, connectivity with plant ERP
network and elimination of grade mix-up

Replacement of Existing Pusher Type Furnace by Walking Beam Type Reheating Furnace
The pusher type furnaces in the existing rolling mills of plants shall be replaced by walking
beam type re-heating furnaces

Advantages
 The newer furnaces are notable for lower specific energy consumption (0.28-0.30 Gcal/t
from 0.45-0.55 Gcal/t)
 There is yield improvement (primary scale loss: 0.8% from the present level of 1.5-2.0%)
 There is product quality enhancement due to uniform heating
 Furnace campaign life goes up (1.5-2.0 years as compared to 1 year)
 Evacuation of furnaces, during shut-down for maintenance work, is faster
 These furnaces make it easier to re-heat special grade material (elimination of sticking)
 Skid marks are minimal
Provision of Regenerative Burners in Reheating Furnaces with a Cleaner Fuel like LPG
A regenerative burner helps in achieving a higher degree of combustion air preheat to increase
energy efficiency. It requires a cleaner gas to avoid clogging in the gas pipe lines of the furnace
combustion system.

Advantages
 It reduces specific energy consumption
 It reduces the consumption of costly LPG, when used as fuel
 It facilitates the use of mixed gas with low calorific value which is useful in the light of
shortage/ non-availability of coke oven (CO) gas in SAIL plants

Provision of High Pressure (250 bar) De-scalerBefore Roughing Mill

The installation of a high pressure water de-scaler between the furnace discharge and the first
roughing mill in the hot rolling mills is meant for the removal of scale generated during re-
heating.

Advantages
 The high pressure water de-scaler helps eliminate rolled-in scale defects and improve
product quality

Replacement of Conventional Stands by Housing-less Stands

This involves the replacement of existing housing type conventional mill stands by housing-less
stands comprising compact roll-chock assemblies

Advantages
 Housing-less stands help maintain consistency in rolling stock dimension
 They facilitate the production of finished sections with stringent/ negative tolerance as
demanded by the market
 They help reduce rejection
 Their use leads to an increase in mill utilisation and reduction in maintenance efforts

Installation of Lower Diameter Wire Rods/ Thermo Mechanically Treated Rod Production
Facility Through No-twist Mill
Cartridge type mill stands, no-twist block, thermo mechanical treatment lines for quenching of rods,
as well as downstream facilities including laying head, conveyor for controlled cooling of coils, when
needed, and new coil transportation facilities shall be introduced.

Advantages
 This shall help the plant to produce lower diameter wire rods in close tolerance and TMT
rods of Fe-500 and higher grades
 Reduction in manpower due to decreased human intervention
High Speed Slit Rolling Facility
This involves the installation of high speed slit rolling facility with commensurate bar receiving,
speed braking and delivery facility in cooling beds.

Advantages
 This facility leads to a higher production rate, close/ negative tolerance and a better surface
finish of lower diameter thermo- mechanically treated rods/ bars

Installation of Rapid and Controlled Cooling Facility for Production of Accelerated

Cooled Plates
This involves the installation of a facility for the accelerated cooling of plates

Advantages
 This facility helps in the production of value added products for strategic applications

Installation of Quenching and Tempering Facility for Plates

Advantages
 This facility, too, helps in the production of value added products for strategic applications

Installation of Facility for Automatic Measurement of the Dimensions of Hot Wheels

This facility would help check the correctness of all critical dimensions, including eccentricity, before
hot stamping and batch forming. This is a pre-requisite for further processing, like heat treatment
and machining.

Advantages
 The automatic measurement of dimensions of hot wheels helps reduce rejection of wheels
 It helps in the setting of dies in the forging press to minimise eccentricity defect
 It contributes toward the mechanisation of process, including data acquisition and
management
 It reduces manpower requirement

Mechanisation of Wheel Handling Facility

This involves the mechanisation of the wheel handling facility along the process line of wheel
making.

Advantages
 It leads to an improvement in the utilisation and productivity of wheels
 The decreased human intervention leads to a reduction in manpower

On-line Heat Treatment Facility for Wheels

This involves the provision of a facility for online heat-treatment of forged, rolled, dished and hot
stamped wheels.
Advantages
 This facility ensures uniformity of metallurgical/ mechanical properties
 It helps cut down specific energy consumption
 It ensures minimal batch rejection of wheels
 It leads to an improvement in the productivity of the Wheel & Axle Plant
 It helps reduce manpower

On-line Profile Measuring Gauge

This involves the introduction of online measurement of rolling stock profile to check accuracy of
mill setting and take timely corrective action

Advantages
 Such measurement reduces product rejection
 It helps in mill setting, data acquisition/ management
 It helps reduce manpower

Automatic Weighing, Bundling and Packaging of Finished Products

This involves the provision for the mechanised bundling, weighing and packaging of finished
products for faster evacuation, ensuring consistency of production and prevention of damage of
finished products during handling and transportation.

Advantages
 The introduction of such facilities will help reduce damage during handling and
transportation
 Mechanisation will lead to improved productivity as well as consistency in finishing
operations

Bar Coding of Finished Products

Bar coded labels on finished products typically contain pertinent product and shipping information
that customers may require.

Advantages
 Bar coding helps in both data acquisition and product tracking

Medium Term
In the medium term, the industry must seek to introduce key cutting-edge contemporary
technologies in both existing mills and those on the anvil. These technologies include integration
between casting and rolling, re-generative burners, endless billet welding and yard
management.

Thin Slab Casting and Direct Rolling

This technology produces thin slabs that can be directly rolled in the hot strip mill attached to the
casting shop.
Advantages
 It uses around 30 % less energy
 It leads to yield improvement to the tune of 2-3 %
 It is environment friendly
 It requires less manpower

Thin Slab Casting and Endless Rolling

In this process, the thin slab coming out from the caster is heated in the induction furnace and
rolled in the mill, which is an integral part of the caster.

Advantages
 This process slashes energy consumption by around 35 %
 It leads to a yield improvement to the tune of 3-5 %
 It is environment friendly
 It cuts down manpower requirement

Thin Strip Casting

In the thin strip casting process, liquid steel is directly poured in a set of water cooled rolls and
direct strip is produced.

Advantages
 Energy consumption is slashed by around 40%
 Yield improves by about 10 %
 It is an environment friendly process
 It cuts down manpower requirement

Endless Billet Welding Facility

This facility, typically installed between the reheating furnace and the roughing mill, welds two
hot discharged billets through the application of heat and pressure. De-burring of the welded
portion is also carried out.

Advantages
 This process leads to yield improvement (1-2%) due to either elimination or reduction of
losses due to cropping and cobbles, respectively
 It leads to an increase in mill utilisation (2-3%)
 It helps eliminate short bar generation
 It allows for customisation of coil weight
 There is a reduction in manpower due to the minimisation of cobbles and decreased human
intervention

Continuous Annealing and Processing Line

This helps apply a uniform thermal cycle across the length and thickness of the strip.
Advantages
 It ensures consistency in properties throughout the coil length
 It leads to higher productivity
 It helps produce advanced high strength steel

Installation of Online Quenching and Tempering Facility

This involves the installation of facilities for quenching and tempering of plates

Advantages
 This helps in the production of value added products for strategic applications, a new
market segment for us

Yard Management System for Input Material and Finished Products

A yard management system, put in place in the input material and finished product storage bays of
mills, helps in keeping track of material movement and in stock accounting.

Advantages
 A yard management system helps eliminate grade or size mix-up
 It helps optimise the use of storage space
 It helps ensure faster delivery of finished products

1. PRODUCT ENHANCEMENT

1.1. Technology Vision

 To enhance market share of SAIL for value added products in critical segments like auto,
power, oil and gas, earthmoving, defence etc.
 To continuously strive for development of new products and for improvement in quality of
existing products as per market requirements.

1.2. Technological Acquisitions/ Interventions

 Steel for Auto Sector

The automotive industry from all over the world has been constantly pursuing development
of new design and materials for achieving reduced weight and improved crash performance
of vehicles. High strength steels owing to their higher strength with moderate forming
capacity favour application of thinner gauge sheets, reducing overall weight of car and
saving in fuel consumption. For production of Auto Grade Steel in SAIL, installation of
Ruhrstahl Heraeus - Oxygen Blown (RH-OB) vacuum degasser, modification in Hot Strip Mill
(HSM) and setting up of CAPL at BSL will facilitate production of low carbon Extra Deep
Drawing (EDD), Interstitial-Free High Strength (IF-HS), Dual Phase (DP) grades, etc. Caster
modifications at RSP to produce 200 mm thick slabs will help in production of low carbon
auto grades through RSP-BSL route. Setting up of colour coating facilities will be helpful for
expanding market share in auto sector. Also, technology and practices from experienced
manufacturers of auto grade steel is required as SAIL has never ventured into supply of
 finished material in narrow range of customized chemistry and properties involving the total
process, right from steel making stage to packaging of material. Technology tie-ups with
reputed steel companies such as POSCO Steel, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal
Corporation etc. will help SAIL in acquiring the necessary knowledge and parameters for
production of auto grades in terms of steel chemistry, rolling parameters, mechanical
properties, packaging etc.

 Steel for Power Sector

Electrical steels viz. Cold Rolled Grain Oriented (CRGO), Cold Rolled Non-Oriented (CRNO)
and semi-processed Electrical Steels are extensively used for fabrication of transformers,
generators and motors. These steels are characterised by their superior magnetic properties
like low core loss value and high permeability. Production of CRGO steel (both conventional
and high permeability grades) may be done through acquisition of a suitable technology
from a reputed producer of CRGO steel. Revival of hot band annealing in Silicon Steel Mill,
RSP will facilitate production of higher grades of CRNO and availability of temper rolling
technology to achieve 4-8% reduction will ensure production of semi-processed electrical
steel.

Creep resistant steels are required for setting up super critical power plants. BHEL is a
major customer for creep resistant steels. For production of creep resistant steels,
normalizing-tempering facilities are required. Such facilities should be developed for rounds,
hanger rods and plates at ASP. Additionally, facilities including furnace, cooling bed,
treatment facility etc., are required for rolling of rounds with more than 12 m length and up to
220 mm diameter at ASP. Setting up forging facilities (upto 20 tons capacity), preferably at
ASP, would further facilitate in meeting power sector requirements.

 Steel for Defence

Major quality requirements of steel used in various weaponry systems include very high
strength and good toughness properties. High strength can be achieved though quenching
and tempering process. To meet the growing requirements of Indian defence and other
security agencies, SAIL envisages production of quenched and tempered plates of larger
dimensions like 150 mm thickness, 2500 mm width and 12000 mm length. For production of
such plates in cost effective manner, it is essential to set up a Plate Mill with on-line
quenching and tempering facilities at either RSP or BSP.

 Steel Plates for Earthmovers, Heavy Machineries, Mining and other sectors
These sectors require high strength steel plates with superior toughness and weldability
properties. Production of high strength plates in as-rolled condition will be a cost effective
proposition for production of such high strength plates. Introduction of Dynamic Soft
Reduction/ EMS in slab casters, slab caster for producing thicker slabs ( 300 mm) to
ensure reduction ratio of 3:1 during plate rolling, roughing stands with increased mill load
capabilities to give high reduction per pass and improvement in accelerated cooling to
ensure cooling rate of ~25 oC/min at BSP and RSP, are some of the facilities required for
production of high strength plates in as-rolled condition. Introduction of ultra thick (300-
450 mm) and wide slab casting technology for heavy plates will also help in meeting the
requirements of these sectors.

 Steels for Line Pipe Sector

Requirements for API X80 grade HR coils and plates are increasing in India. Facilities for
producing low carbon (C < 0.04%) steel are required to ensure production of API X80 HR
 coils through cost-effective High Temperature Processing (HTP) route. Introduction of UFC
at ROT of HSM and Plate Mill will also help in production of API X80 grade steel. Up-
gradation of Electrical Resistance Welded (ERW) and Spirally Welded (SW) Pipe Plants at
RSP is required to produce high strength pipes as per customers’ requirements.

 Wire Rods for Construction Sector

Desulphurisation - Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) – RH Degasser – Ladle Furnace (LF) –
Continuous Casting (CC) route is envisaged for making wire rods at BSP. Introduction of
Dynamic Soft Reduction/ EMS in billet caster and introduction of forced air cooling process
such as Stelmor would facilitate production of superior grades of wire rods at BSP.

Product Enrichment Plan

1.0 Continuous efforts would be made to enrich and expand the existing product range of
SAIL. Our efforts would be directed to developing superior value added products for
customer needs and expectations while also creating a market for niche products. Tailor-
made products that are suited to specialised manufacturing processes, like laser welding
or hydro forming, to cater to the special requirements of end-customers, would also be
considered for addition to our portfolio.

1.1 Short Term Plan

The short term product enrichment strategy aims at developing the following:

 Super Extra-Deep-Drawing (EDD), Interstitial-Free(IF) and Dual Phase (DP)

steels for the auto sector
 API (American Petroleum Institute) X-80 grade HR coils / plates for the oil and
gas sector
 High strength Quenched and Tempered plates for the defence sector as well as
for other applications
 Higher grades of Cold Rolled Non Oriented (CRNO) steel (M-27/ M-22 grades)
and creep resistant steels for the power sector, the latter meant for ultra super
critical thermal power plants
 Steel for hot stamping

1.2 Medium Term Plan

The medium term product enrichment strategy would target the following products:
 Cold Rolled Grain Oriented steel
 API (American Petroleum Institute) X-90 / 100 grades
 Nano steels
 Borated steels for nuclear power plants
 Bainitic rail

1.3 Long Term Plan

The long term product enrichment strategy aims at developing the following:
 Special products through three dimensional (3D) printing technology. 3D printing
uses robotics to create a three dimensional object from a source model, typically
created using CAD software. The possibility of using this technology for
fabricating refractory bricks and for lining of ladles in blast furnaces and basic
oxygen furnaces needs to be explored in the context of cost-effectiveness,
decreased energy consumption and reduced carbon footprint.
 Amorphous steels for the power sector
 API (American Petroleum Institute) X-120 / 150 grades for oil and gas sector
 Low density steel