IMPACTS OF SPONGE IRON INDUSTRIES

ON ENVIRONMENT AND MITIGATION

MEASURES
 CHAPTER-VII
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION
MEASURES OF THE STUDY AREA
7.1 OBJECTIVE:
The basic purpose of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is its use as a
planning tool so that the environmental considerations are incorporated in the initial
stages of the project and subsequent implementation. The EIA is to identify all
potentially significant environmental impacts of the development project on
environmental systems. It also identifies the possible positive and negative impacts on
environment of the project areas. With assessment of impacts the mitigation measure
are prescribed for each area where adverse impacts are anticipated.
Sponge Iron Industry in India is growing since its introduction in 1980 as a
substitute of ferrous scrap in secondary steel production. By now, the Indian Sponge
Iron industries have earned the distinction of being World’s largest producer of
sponge iron, which are mostly coal based and located in iron and coal rich states like
Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Out of 107 sponge
iron industries in Orissa, Sundargarh district has alone 46 sponge iron industries. A
total of 32 nos. of sponge iron industries out of 46 have been located in the study area
[Rourkela - Kalunga - Rajgangpur and Kuarmunda-Biramitrapur].
In the EIA of the study area, the following aspects have been considered for
identification of impacts.
• Investigation of technology of sponge iron industries.
• Project implementation phase.
• Investigation of impact after setting of the project.
There are various environmental attributes, which may be affected by sponge iron
industries such as:
1. Air, 2. Water, 3. Soil & Land 4. Noise 5. Ecology 6. Health & Safety
7. Asthetic and 8. Socio-Economic Factor.

7.2 IMPACTS DURING CONSTRUCTION PHASE:-

7.2.1 AMBIENT AIR QUALITY (AAQ)
During construction phase, a lot of civil works are carried out. This generates
a lot of fugitive dust. However the fugitive dust is not expected to spread too far. The
impact on AAQ due to construction activities are not permanent and ceases once the

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construction work is completed. Bulk of the civil work is completed within 4 months
from the commencement and on completion of which dust emanation are minimized.
7.2.2 NOISE LEVELS
Noise levels are also likely to increase due to movement of trucks and other
diesel powered materials handling equipments. This is unavoidable. Since the
construction phase is temporary the impact of noise levels are also temporary in
nature and ceases once the construction phase is complete. The adverse impact of
noise will be limited to working site only. However if the plant site is within 500m
from the nearest inhabited areas, there will be adverse impact to the local people.
7.2.3 WATER QUALITY
Waste water generated during construction is negligible. There are labour
camps on the site and adequate number of toilets with septic tank and soak pit are
provided to them. The use of common public toilets available in the vicinity of the
plant site should be encouraged.
7.2.4 ENVIRONMENT
High level of dust emission, noise, loss of biodiversity, depletion of ground
water level are observed and these are the common impact on environment during the
construction phase.
7.2.5 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT
The construction will generate lots of employment, flow of money and
materials and improves the economic condition of the study area.
7.3 IMPACT DURING OPERATIONAL PHASE
While the Sponge iron plants are in operation, the impacts on environment are
quite significant in respect of AAQ, Noise, Water quality, land use, soil, ecology,
health and socio-economic environment.
7.3.1 IMPACT ON AMBIENT AIR QUALITY & MITIGATION MEASURES:
The primary impact in the study area is Air pollution associated with sponge
iron production. The principal impact on ambient air quality during operation phase is
due to emission of fugitive dust from iron and coal handling areas as well as emission
from stack. The manufacturing process involves the handling of raw materials,
crushing and sizing, stirring, feeding, reduction in rotary kiln, product separation etc.
Every stage of processing has some air pollution potential. The emission from DRI
kiln is the only source of emission containing suspended particulate matters (SPM),
SO2, NOx and CO. Emission from all the sources such as raw materials, preparation

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and sizing, stirring, coal injection, cooler discharge, intermediate bean, product house
etc. take place in fugitive form, which mostly contains dust. The fugitive dust from
kachha roads inside the factories premises, controlled equipment and other processes
area, opening stacking of coal and dolo char also significantly contribute to air
pollution.
7.3.1.1 STACKS
Impact: 1
Inside the rotary kiln, the DRI gases flow counter current to the kiln feed. The
temperature at the product discharge end in a rotary kiln is about 950°C to 1050°C
compared to 750-900°C towards the feed end. The counter current flow of hot DRI
gases enables it to remove the moisture content from feed. The hot DRI gases contain
huge amount of fine dust comprising oxides and unbumt carbon and toxic carbon
monoxide.
Mitigation
It needs treatment before discharging into the atmosphere.
Impact: 2
The raw material feed side of rotary DRI Kiln has a natural structure below the
After Burner Chamber (ABC) which acts as Dust Settling Chamber (DSC). About
15% to 20% coarse dust settles in DSC by means of gravity. In ABC, the carbon
monoxide content of gases is converted to carbon dioxide. This conversion process is
exothermic for which the temperature of the gases rises to 1000-1050°C.
Mitigation:-
> Increase in the height of stack emission towers.
> Gas Conditioning Tower (GCT) followed by pollution control equipment
should be installed.
> The cleaned gas should be emitted through stacks of higher height (mostly
30m and above).
> In some bigger size plants (like Adhunik Metaliks, OCL India Limited)
(Sponge Iron Division) in the study area, the heat content of hot gases may be
utilized to generate steam through Waste Heat Recovery Boilers (WHRB).
This stream will be used to operate small size turbine to produce electricity.

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Impact: 3
Different industries used different type of pollution control equipment such as:
Electro static Precipitator (ESP)
Bag filter
Scrubber
The exhaust gases coming out of WHRB usually having temperature around
150-175°C is taken to pollution control equipment for particle separation. The clean
gas is left out through the stacks.
Mitigation:
Pollution control equipments particularly ESP as mentioned above must be
used in all Sponge iron industries.
Impact: 4
The old rotary kiln DRI plants have used Gas Cleaning Plant (GCP) based on
Venturi Scrubbers (Wet Cleaning) for treatment of DRI gases. This system generates
dust bearing sludge.
Mitigation:
All Sponge iron industries should adopt the above wet cleaning method for
handling and disposal of particulate matters as well as gaseous pollutants.
Impact: 5
Some rotary kiln DRI plants (up to 50 TPD) such as Jagannath Sponge Pvt.
Ltd., Swastik Ispat Pvt. Ltd., Khederia Ispas Pvt. Ltd., Scan Steel (Unit-I), Monika
Holding Pvt. Ltd., Ores Ispat Pvt. Ltd.,Mahakali Ispat Pvt. Ltd. etc. of the study area
did not have capacity to utilize the heat content of DRI gases.
Mitigation:
They should use gas conditioning tower (GCT) to quench and cool the hot
DRI gases to 150-175°C before passing it through ESP.
Impact: 6
Rotary Kiln DRI plants have emergency stack/safety cap above the ABC of.
feed end column. The safety cap is required to maintain the positive pressure inside
the kiln and avoid chances of CO related explosion. In most of the plants within our
study areas, it is observed that continuous black smoke was discharged from this cap.
At night the flame cum black smoke is more visible. The sponge Iron plants resort to
this practice of discharging untreated emissions from the cap.

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Mitigation:
The Sponge Iron Plants should resort to fair and ethical values and should
adopt appropriate pollution control measure to save the lives of people surrounding
the plant areas.
The sponge iron plants should have adequate space to develop green belt.
Otherwise, they must attempt to have massive plantation in and around the factories in
a radius of 3kms with suitable plant species as suggested.
Impacts: 7
It is observed that the sponge iron industries do not stick to the values of
particulate matter (PM) during stack monitoring for various capacities of sponge iron
plants.
Mitigation:
The stack monitoring of various capacities of sponge iron plants as prescribed
by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Board
(SPCB) should be carried out and the amount of Particulate matter (PM) should be
limited to the prescribed values as given in table-89.
Table-89
Values of particulate matter
Plant capacity Values of particulate matter (pg/Nm3) with pollution control
inTPD system are installed
Kiln Cooler discharge Coal crusher Product house
2x50 99-534 499 - 292
3x50 84-474 375 96 -

1x100 47-1067 548-960 1173 110-1845

2x100 125-916 352-753 -
385
3x100 279 1566 3203 118

The green belts which are not adequate now, are to be developed
around the plant premises as well as in other open spaces around the plant.
The open space inside the plant premises should be covered with lawns and
gardens.

7.3.1.2 FUGITIVE DUST GENERATION (FDG)

The sources of fugitive dust generation in rotary kiln based DRI plants are the
raw material handling yard (unloading, stacking, reclaiming operations) and produce
discharge system which includes cooler discharge conveyors, transfer points, junction
house, screens, magnetic separators, storage silos, truck loading and packing
operations.

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RAW MATERIAL PREPARATION
Impact:
During the production of sponge iron raw materials (Iron Ore & Coal) are
converted to a particular size. The sizing of raw materials involves the crushing,
screening and conveying operations. Dolomite, another raw material for sponge iron,
is available in required size and hence crushing is not required. During crushing and
screening operation of iron ore & coal, fines are generated along with which the
micron size dust flies into the air. Coal is mostly received in higher size (100-25Omm
depending upon mines) which needs to be crushed in a coal crusher to get the required
size of 0-20mm. Hence most of the plants are provided with coal crusher of required
capacity. Usually crushing of iron ore is not required at the plant site. It is received at
the plant site in desired size.
Therefore during process of raw material preparation, it is very difficult to
arrest dust in the crusher area. Most of the plants do not have any provision for
arresting the fugitive dust.

Mitigation:
The Sponge Iron Plants should be careful and should adopt methods to combat
the fugitive dust emission by application of big size polyethylene sheets and
continuous sprinkling of water in and around the crushing zone should be carried out.
In bigger size plants dust at RMH yard should be controlled by sprinkling
water. The product house should be covered to reduce the wind blown dust. Skirt
boards and covered conveyor belts also generate less fugitive dust.

COOLER DISCHARGE AND PRODUCT SEPARATION

Impact: 1
The iron ore, coal and dolomite/limestone, which are fed into the rotary kiln
are converted to sponge iron, char and burnt lime respectively. During the operation
the fines are generated due to tumbling action. Part of the fines came out from the
cooler through the double pendulum valve and dust is generated at the transfer point.
The cooler discharge (CD) material contains sponge iron and coal char, which
are screened and then fed to the magnetic separator. Here sponge iron, being
magnetic, gets separated. The magnetic sponge iron and non-magnetic char are then
taken into their respective bins. During this operation significant amount of dust are
generated.

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Mitigation:
Pollution control measure such as Bag Filter(BF) shoud be installed as de­
dusting equipment at different places such as:-
i) RMH Yard, ii) Coal Crusher, iii) Cooler discharge, iv) Product House
After cleaning the dust in bag filter, the clean gas is emitted through a small
height stacks which should be taller than nearby buildings’ height.

Impact: 2
Close and constant monitoring in the study area indicated that, in most of the
sites, air was laden with smoke. The sponge iron plants are mostly located adjacent to
the villages. Houses in these villages especially the roofs, walls, floors were covered
with black dust. The movement of uncovered trucks for transportation of material was
high in the study area. The dumps of char and iron ore scrapes lying along the road
side, when blown in air, create dangerous situation all around. The leaves of the
gardens, agricultural fields and forest in the vicinity accumulate thick coat of dust on
their surface. Again dust accumulation on the skin and eyes experience a burning
sensation if long hours are spent in the area.

Mitigation:
Appropriate pollution mitigation measures should be taken, particularly
continuous use of ESP or Bag Filter and sprinkling of water. In the study area out of
32 plants, 27 plants are reported to have installed ESP and rest 05 units have installed
only bag filter. About 1-2 tons per day (TPD) of dust are generated in a sponge iron
plant having ESP as pollution control dedusting equipment, otherwise 10 TPD of dust
are emitted to the atmosphere without installation of ESP. Hence installation and
continuous use of ESP in each and every sponge iron plant should be made
mandatory.

It has been complained by the people of the study area that many plants even
though they have installed ESP do not run regularly particularly during the night time
to save money. Such practice should be totally stopped. This could be done through
environmental awareness and sensitization programme for the people of the
surrounding area, the concerned district administration and regulatory authorities.
Special instructions should be forwarded to the industries regarding environmental
pollution by the district and regulatory authorities.

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7.3.2 WATER POLLUTION - MITIGATION MEASURES
Impacts: 1
In the coal based sponge iron plants water is used mainly in three areas namely
(a) Cooler (b) After Burning Chamber (ABC) (c) Wet Scrubber (in case, dry type
equipments are not. in operation). The water required in rotary kiln is mainly for
cooling the discharge feed from 950-1050°C to below 100°C. Water is continuously
sprinkled over the rotary cooler shell and is allowed to fall on the settling tank located
below the rotary cooler or near the cooler. Heat generation from cooling system may
lead to thermal pollution.
Mitigation:
To control the heat generation from cooling system, it is better to use closed
circuit water cooling system for condenser cooling using cooling tower where the
heated water will be cooled down. This will result in minimizing thermal pollution as
hot water will not be released anywhere. The released water from the cooling tower
will be utilized for ash quenching and slurry disposal. The cooling tower will be
induced draft type of sufficient plume height for wide disposal of heat into the
atmosphere, which represents an infinite heat sink. An adequate height of the towers
shall be lined with appropriate refractories to protect thermal pollution.
Water is also added in the tank to cool the rest of the hot water and
compensate the loss due to evaporation. The water from the settling tank is
recirculated for sprinkling over the rotary cooler.
Impact: 2
In ABC, water is sprayed through nozzles in the form of fine spray to control
the temperature of hot gases. The average quantity of water required is lOKL/hr for
100 TPD of sponge iron production.
A number of plants in the study areas are using water for fugitive dust
suppression in Raw Material Handling (RMH) yard, haulling roads and other places.
The water requirement varies from 1-1.5 KL/hr for 100 TPD, DRI.
The domestic water consumption is for cooling water and sanitary purpose.
About 50-100 KL/person/day water is used for domestic purpose. About 5-10% water
is generated as sanitary wastewater. The sanitary waste water is disposed into soak
pits or septic tanks.
Most of the sponge iron plants located away from rivers have alternative
method to draw ground water which affect the ground water resource.

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Mitigation:

Sponge iron units do not have any potential for water pollution. The plants
should have well designed garland net work supported with settling basin for surface
run off from the plant premises as well as from the solid wastes dumping area during
rainy season.

The local NAC or Municipalities should regularly monitor the discharged and
sewage water. The Sponge iron industries should obtain permission from appropriate
authorities to draw any underground water otherwise it may affect the water balance
of the area, i.e. the availability of underground water in the area.

7.3.3 SOLID WASTE GENERATION AND DISPOSAL

In a DRI plant the solid wastes include char, flue dust, GCP sludge and kiln
accretions. Char contains unbumt carbon, metal oxides and gangue materials which
are segregated from the product during magnetic separation.

Flue dust is generated from air pollution control systems like DSC (Dust
Setting Chamber), Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) and Bag Filter. Sludge is generated
from the GCP, if plant is based on wet scrubber for dust treatment. Kiln accretion is
the metallic oxides deposited on the inner surface of kiln.

CHAR:
Impact:
Char contains moderate calorific value (1500-1600K Cal/Kg) because of the
presence of fixed carbon content. Char do not have volatile matter and can not be
independently used as fuel. It is washed to free the impurities, mixed with coal fines,
pulverized and then used as fuel in fluidized bed combustion boilders (FBC). Most of
the plants (up to 10 TPD) dump the char in low-laying area.

Mitigation:
The char may be used for making coal briquettes by the local entrepeuners which will
also generate employments. It can also be mixed with coal fines, converted to
briquette and used in brick kiln.

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KILN ACCRETIONS:
Impact:
The accretions are dislodged from a shell at regular intervals because it
hampers the feed movement and heat transfer inside kiln. It also reduces the surface
area of kiln. The dislodged accretions are heavy solid lumps which are disposed in the
road side or open spaces.
Mitigation:
The heavy solid lumps may be used as land fil or as sub-base material for road
construction.

7.3.4 NOISE GENERATION AND CONTROL

The DRI plants do not generate noise. However maximum upto 90 dB(A)
noise is generated in a coal based DRI plant form (i) the moving parts of kilns, cooler
and associated equipment like gear boxes, fans etc. The vehicular movement, air
blowers, vibrating screen, separators are the other sources of noise in DRI plants.
Impact:
In order to have an idea of the present background noise level of the coal
based DRI plants, a detailed measurement of noise level was carried out at different
locations. Precision integrated sound level meter (type 2221 of Bruel and Kjaer of
Denmark) was used. The measurements were recorded by operating the instrument for
10-15 minutes in each place. The results are given in Table -90.

Table-90
RESULTS OF NOISE LEVEL

Si. No. Place Sound Pressure Level

lxSOTPD Plant Leq dB(A) Peak dB(A)
1 Infront of kiln 82-83 101
2 Near kiln 84.6-85.4 100-102
3 Near kiln cooler 89-91 109-110
4 Near Bag filter of cooler 89-90 -

5 100m. away from kiln 75 -

6 200m. away from kiln 73 -

7 Near Bag filter 79-80 100

2x50TPD Plant
1 In front of kiln 77-82 101-104
2 Near cooler 83 100.8
3x50TPD Plant
1 In front of kiln 75.1-76.0 -

2 In the middle of the kiln 82.0-84.0 102

3 Cooler side 83 103.5
4 500m. away from the cooler 80 -

5 Near main gate 65-68.0 -

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 4x50TPD Plant
1 Coal Crusher 90.5 110.6
2 ABC 93.2 115.0
3 Cooler discharge 87.5 106.0
4 Product house 92.0 111.5
5 Near Gate 72.4 98.6
2xl00TPD Plant
1 Product House 82.4 102.6
2 Cooler discharge 85.6 110.6
3 Middle of the kiln 92.4 111.2
4 Near ABC 88.2 105.6 .
5 Compressor Room 91.4 107.2
6 Stock house 85.7 106.5
7 Near gate 73.6 99.5
3xl00TPD Plant
1 Near ABC 90.6 109.6
2 In front of kiln 85.4 111.5
3 Near ESP 80.2 118.2
4 Near Ore Crusher 94.5 111.6
5 Cooler discharge 89.2 108.4
6 Near Gate 87.4 105.6
4xl00TPD Plant
i Product House 79.2 106.0
2 Cooler discharge 87.2 110.2
3 In front of kiln 85.1 107.0
4 Near ABC 97.2 118.4
5 Between ABC & cooler discharge 89.5 106.2
6 Near ABC 89.0 106.2
7 Near gate 74.5 98.5

Mitigation:
As the standard noise level in industrial zone is 75 dB, administrative control
is the only method applicable. The workers should be advised to wear earplug and
earmuffs while going to the noise areas.
7.3.5 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SOCIETY
As present, no occupational health system is followed by most of the DRI
plants. The 2nd Schedule of Factories Act prescribed the following limits for
pollutants in the work environment (time weighted average for 8-hours continuous
exposure).
i. Silica (in quartz and amorphous form of fly ash having more than 50% silica
content and counted as total dust) - permissible level of Silica is 10mg/m3.
ii. Coal dust (respirable fraction < 10 p size : containing less than 5% quartz) -
permissible level of silica (in amorphous form, counted as total dust) is
2mg/m .
iii. (iii) Iron-oxide fumes - permissible level is 5 mg/m3
iv. Carbon monoxide - permissible level is 55 mg/m3

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Impacts:
The occupational health envisaged in DRI plants are respiratory problems due
to dust and CO poisoning due to accidental exposure to untreated DRI gases.
Mitigation:

Workers working in areas like RMH yard and product house that generate fugitive
dust should wear nose masks/dust filters.

Carbon monoxide probes with electrochemical sensors should be installed

after the ABC, at stack and at kiln discharge end. In case a person inhales CO, he
should be removed to fresh air and given medicated oxygen through a mark for 30
minutes and if required cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be performed.
Thereafter, supportive treatment if required should be given in nearest hospital.

In order to meet the minor injury to body during mechanical work, first aid boxes
equipped with medicines should be kept handy.

There must be regular health check up for those employees at least who are
working in dusty environment. These workers should be diagnosed for respiratory
functions at periodic intervals and during specific complaints for lung function test
sputum test, x-ray test etc.

Our nose can filter the dust size up to 5 microns. The dust particles below this
size straight go to lung alveoli and lodge there to cause a slow but permanent damage
of lungs, which is known as pneumoconiosis. It renders the affected persons
susceptible to more dangerous form of silicotuberculosis. Hence people residing in
those areas if develop chronic cough, their sputum and lungs should be regularly get
checked clinically and radiologically because it is a slow progressing disease process
and takes almost more than 10 years for complete manifestation. This pathology is
known as Progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) of pneumoconiosis as reported by
Sadual (2007).

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