Green Tech to cut coal use in steel evolves

he Indian government is in talks with India-born Australian scientist Veena Sahajwalla of the University of New South Wales to bring in green technology to make steel, which could reduce coal use. Sahajwalla has patented a technology, which breaks down used car tyres into hydrogen and oxygen in electric arc furnaces. This when combined with coking coal can be used as fuel to make steel. On behalf of the university, she is in talks with the Steel Research & Technology Mission of India (SRTMI), a government outfit floated to merge all research activities on steel. “It is ideal for application in India as it is incorporated into conventional electric arc furnace steel making, so it does not require expensive new industrial infrastructure or any large scale new equipment,” the Mumbai-born scientist said. The Indian government’s SRTMI has already held talks with Sahajwala and feels the technology could help reduce carbon footprint by using rubber and plastic wastes without creating pollutants as well as reduce coal imports. Mukesh Kumar, director of the SRTMI, told media, “We feel that this technology could be used in a direct reduction process and in electric arc furnaces used by most of secondary steel industry. At a later stage, we can work with them to see if this can be used in larger blast furnaces, too.”