a. Integrated steel plants (ISPs) Raw material : Iron ore lumps, sinters and pellets1, coke (made from cooking coal) and fluxes such as limestone, dolomite are the major raw materials. The main steps in manufacturing process are as follows: Melting: Raw materials are charged in a blast furnace where hot air is pumped to melt iron and fluxes at 1600°C. The molten metal when cooled and solidified is called pig iron. Alternatively, it can be further refined to make steel. Slag (fluxes with foreign matter from ore) is separated, and blended with clinker to make cement. Refining: Molten metal from the blast furnace is taken to steel melting shop where further reduction of impurities is done in oxygen furnace (LD converter) or open health furnace which is old technology. The crude steel in liquid form is taken in a ladle for further refining/ addition of Ferro alloys etc. Casting: The liquid steel is cast into semi finished products such as billets, blooms, slabs etc. This process called continuous casting is different from old technology (still in use in older plants) where liquid steel is first solidified in large blocks called ingots and then rolled into semis, involving higher energy and waste in re-heating. Rolling: The semis such as billets, blooms, slabs are heated at 1200°C to make metal malleable and then rolled into finished products. There are different rolling mills for different products. Rolling mill for long products such as bars, angles, structural etc. can be part of steel making plant or an independent small-scale industry. Flat product rolling mills are capital intensive, as they have to meet strict quality parameters. Rolling rolls slabs in flat product HR plate/ strip/ coil by process of heating the slab followed. HR sheet’s thickness can be further reduced by cold rolling i.e. rolling in CR mill at room temperature. CR can be zinc coated in a galvanizing plant to make galvanized plates or corrugated sheets. (GP/ GC). Wire rods can be drawn to make wires. b. Mini Steel Plants (MSPs) Raw Material: Raw materials are scrap, fluxes and ferro alloys. Sponge iron can substitute scrap upped 50%. Melting: Scrap/ sponge iron, fluxes, Ferro alloys are melt in an electric arc furnace, wherein electric current passed through electric rods (normally 3 rods) creates an arc and melts the metal. Alternate method is induction furnaces, which are very small and being phased out. Refining: The molten metal from electric arc furnace is taken in a ladle, for refining. The metallurgy of steel in terms of carbon, phosphorus content, alloy elements etc, is controlled at this stage. Manufacture of stainless steel requires addition of nickel (7-8%) and chromium (15-18%). Casting: The liquid steel is cast into semi finished products such as billets, blooms, slabs etc. This process called continuous casting is different from old technology (still in use in older plants) where liquid steel is first solidified in large blocks called ingots and then rolled into semis, involving higher energy and waste in re-heating. Rolling: The semis such as billets, blooms, slabs are heated at 1200°C to make metal malleable and then rolled into finished products. There are different rolling mills for different products. Rolling mill for long products such as bars, angles, structural etc. can be part of steel making plant or an independent small-scale industry. Flat product rolling mills are capital intensive, as they have to meet strict quality parameters. Rolling rolls slabs in flat product HR plate/ strip/ coil by process of heating the slab followed. HR sheet’s thickness can be further reduced by cold rolling i.e. rolling in CR mill at room temperature. CR can be zinc coated in a galvanizing plant to make galvanized plates or coils.