ROURKELA STEEL PLANT Brief Summary of the Proposal

ROURKELA STEEL PLANT Environmental Appraisal Report for Modernization of RSP by adding new 125 TPD Sulphuric Acid Plant

Brief Summary of the Proposal

1.0 BACKGROUND of the present projet of installation of new 125 TPD Sulphuric acid plant in place of old 60 TPD Sulphuric acid plant

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the leading steel maker in India, has been granted Environmental Clearance (EC) for Expansion cum Modernization of their Integrated Steel Plant from 1.9 MTPA to 4.2 MTPA vide letter no. J-11011/757/2007- IA II(I) dated 29/01/2008. RSP was having 60 TPD Sulphuric Acid Plant, when the plant production capacity was 1.9 MTPA of crude steel. However, in due course of time, to meet the increase in demand of Sulphuric Acid for the new facilities installed during the “1.9 MTPA to 4.2 MPTA Expansion phase” and degradation in condition of existing Sulphuric Acid plant, it was proposed to install a new 125 TPD Sulphuric Acid plant with State of the Art technologies. Subsequently after getting CtE from OSPCB (No: 8428/IND-II-NOC-5621 dated 07/05/2013) RSP has installed a new 125 TPD Sulphuric Acid Plant within the existing premises. However, OSPCB had asked RSP to get clarification about applicability of EC for the Sulphuric Acid Plant from MoEFCC. In view of the above, the issue was discussed in 10th EAC meeting, 29-30 th August, 2016 & EAC has asked RSP to submit the following; a) Produce data in support of RSP’s claim that there will not be any increase in the pollution load. b) Submit the details of the clean technology to be adopted for reducing the overall pollution load from the steel plant. c) The Proponent should also produce a letter approaching SPCB in 2012 and their advice for consideration.

2.0 RSP’s COMPLIANCE with the Minutes of the 10 th EAC meeting (refer 1.0, above):

RSP prepared an Environmental Appraisal Report through M/s MECON Ltd., a NABET accredited consultant and submitted all documents and information in the online portal of the MoEFCC on 03/01/2017.

3.0 PROJECT DETAILS

Ammonia is present to the extent of approx. 8 gm/ Nm 3 in the coke oven gas generated from the Coke Oven Batteries. Removal of ammonia from the coke oven gas is a technological necessity, as presence of ammonia in the gas leads to severe corrosion in gas pipelines and heavy sludging during benzol scrubbing process. At RSP, ammonia from coke oven gas is removed in the Spray Saturators where acid is sprayed over coke oven gas to produce ammonium sulphate and sold as fertiliser in the brand name “RAJA KHAD”. The bulk requirement of sulphuric acid is in the Ammonium Sulphate Plant for the removal of ammonia from coke oven gas. It is also used for pickling of Hot Rolled

Coils for producing Cold Rooled Coils/sheets and also used for water treatment in Power Plant.

RSP’s existing Sulphuric Acid Plant of 60 tpd capacity was installed to cater to the needs of CCD, CRM (Cold Rolling Mill), CPP (Captive Power Plant). The condition of this plant has deteriorated considerably on account of ageing and corrosion requiring urgent replacement.

The existing acid plant is also not suitable for operation due to its ageing, poor pollution control and safety conditions. RSP is not able to maintain the required production level of sulphuric acid for meeting the additional requirements of new Coke Oven Battery No.6 & new CCD complex commissioned under recent 4.2 Expansion project.

In view of the deteriorating condition of various equipment of the existing acid plant and to meet the additional requirement of acid, a new Sulphuric acid plant of higher capacity (125 tpd) is installed adjacent to existing plant.

The bulk requirement of sulphuric acid in the Ammonium Sulphate Plant for the removal of ammonia from coke oven gas necessitate setting up of higher capacity of Sulpheric acid plant in place of existing sulphuric acid plant. It is also used for pickling of hot rolled coils for production of cold rolled coils/sheets in Cold Rolling Mills and also used for water treatment in Power Plant. State of the art Double conversion Double absorption Process has been adopted for manufacturing sulphuric acid for the present project The New 125 TPD Sulphuric Acid Plant has been established with the state of the art Pollution Control Technologies with a designed SO 2 stack emission level of 0.8 kg /Ton (Norm – 2 Kg/ Ton) where as that of old unit was 2.5 kg/Ton (the then Norm - 4.0 kg/Ton). The new unit is also designed based on Zero Liquid discharge concept.

2.1 Pollution Control Equipment

2.1.1 Air

The emission regulation of Central Pollution Control Board provides the following emission limits in air for sulphuric acid plants

Sulphur dioxide - 2 Kg/ tonne of 100% acid produced. Acid mist /Sulphur trioxide -70 mg/ Nm 3

The emissions from the proposed plant shall be well below the above limits.

Scrubbing of start up gases

During start up of the plant, when sulphur dioxide emissions are high, the stack gases will be passed through the tail gas scrubber. The gas is scrubbed with caustic soda in the scrubber before letting out into the atmosphere. This process shall bring down the sulphur dioxide content in the stack gases, during start up, within the permissible limits.

The mist eliminators help in reducing the acid mist content below the prescribed norms. The scrubbing units shall have on-line pH meters with auto recording facility. The height of the stack was designed and installed as per CPCB norm.

2.1.2 Water

The accidental acid spillage or leakage from the plant and storage area shall be washed, collected in a neutralization pit and neutralized before using for floor washing, road washing and fire fighting purpoposes. pH meters with the provision of alarm system will be provided to combat any leakage of acid from acid coolers into cooling water. Limestone or soda ash may be used for neutralization. There will be no discharge from the plant.

2.2 Utilities Consumption

The indicative consumption of utilities is as follows:

a) Power - 63 kW/t of product b) Make up Cooling Water - 2.0 m 3/t of product c) Boiler feed water - 1.1 m 3/t of product d) Process water - 0.2 m 3/t of product e) Nitrogen (for instrument) - 30 m 3/ hr

4.0 CHANGE in Product Mix after incorporating new unit:

As per existing Present Proposal & EC dated change SN. Plant Unit/Product Remarks 29/01/2008 and considering this 15th Dec., 2016 proposal Coke Ovens 1 • No. of ovens 437 ovens 437 ovens No change • Gross coke 2,170,000 2,170,000 2 Sinter Plant (Sinter) 6,760,000 6,760,000 No change Blast Furnace – Hot Metal 4,500,000 4,500,000 No Change 3 Production Steel Melting Shops – Crude 4,200,000 4,200,000 No change 4 Steel Rolling Mills – 5 • Total Saleable Steel 3,880,000 3,880,000 No change Hot Strip Mill – Hot Rolled 3,000,000 3,000,000 No change 6 Steel 7 Plate Mill – Plates 2,135,000 2,135,000 No change Cold Rolling Mill – Cold No change Rolled Steel 8 • CR coils 345,000 345,000 • CR sheets 25,000 25,000

As per existing Present Proposal & EC dated change SN. Plant Unit/Product Remarks 29/01/2008 and considering this 15th Dec., 2016 proposal • Galv. Sheets 196,000 196,000 • Tin Plates 75,000 75,000 Silicon Steel Mill – CRNO 255,000 255,000 No change 9 Steel Pipe Plant – No change • Spiral welded pipes 55,000 55,000 10 • ERW Pipes 75,000 75,000 LDBP Lime : 414,900 Lime : 414,900 No change 11 Dolo : 130,000 Dolo : 130,000 12 Beneficiation Plant 3,300,000 3,300,000 No change 13 Pellet Plant 2,000,000 2,000,000 No change 14 Special Plate Plant 15,000 15,000 No change Sulphuric Acid Plant* 60TPD 125 TPD* Addition.

Old 60 15 TPD plant will be phased out.

5.0 ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

5.1 Air Environment

In order to assess the contribution of newly installed Sulphuric acid plant in the prevailing ambient air quality, actual stack monitoring data of old plant and installed stack details of new plant are used. However, the contribution of the old unit in ambient air is already being reflected in the back ground ambient air quality data monitored during Sept - Dec., 2014.

In addition to the measures taken to control pollution new plant, the design emission norms shall be limited to a maximum of 0.8 Kg/ton of sulphur against the statutory norm of 2 Kg/ton.

The maximum GLCs for each grid point were predicted using AERMOD software with 3 respect to SO 2. The maximum GLCs derived are 6.2 and 3.1 µg/m for Old and New plants respectively due to stack emissions. The maximum values are obtained within/very close to the plant. The final GLC values are given below;

Predicted GLC values at various AAQ Stations (µg/m 3)

Old 60 TPD New 125 Change in Station Description of Location Plant TPD Plant conc. ID A1 Fertilizer Township 0.055 0.036 -0.019 A2 Jalda “C” Block 0.034 0.022 -0.012 A3 Latikatha 0.013 0.009 -0.005 A4 Tarakera Pumphouse 0.705 0.374 -0.331 A5 Udit Nagar High School 0.175 0.112 -0.063 A6 Tangarpalli 0.072 0.047 -0.024 A7 Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bondamunda 0.027 0.018 -0.010 A8 Sector 4, RSP Township 0.447 0.245 -0.202 Max 6.2 3.1 -3.1

After installation of the new Sulphuric acid plant and phasing out the old one, there is an overall decrease in Ground Level Concentration of SO 2 values.

Air Pollution Mitigation Measures during operation phase

In order to mitigate various impacts of air pollution, following measures are being implemented in the new H 2SO 4 plant-

• A 30 m high stack of 0.7 m dia has been provided for proper dispersal of pollutants.

• In order to reduce SO 2, SO 3 and acid mist in tail gas, two absorption towers have been installed with efficiency of 99.9 %. • The waste heat from the process shall be utilized for Sulphur melting.

• A tail gas scrubber has been provided for cleaning gas having high SO 2 concentration during startup stage.

• The Plant has been designed for SO 2 emissions limited to 0.8 Kg/ton (Norm – 2.0) and Acid mist shall be limited to 70 mg/m3. • Closed facility for storing and handling raw sulphur.

5.2 Water Environment Make-up water requirements for the new Sulphuric acid plant shall be up to 17 m 3/hour vis-à-vis old plant’s requirement of 30 m 3/hour. Thus no impact on existing water resources is envisaged.

The generation of wastewater/effluents from the new acid plant shall be less than 2 m 3/hr. All the acid spillages and leakages to be collected in the neutralization pit. Using soda ash, the effluent shall be first neutralized for meeting norms before further utilisation. The treated effluents then shall be used for road washing/floor washing and fire fighting. There will be no discharge of waste water from new Sulphuric Acid Plant.

Therefore, there is no overall impact on water environment.

5.3 Noise Environment

In Sulphuric Acid plant, the main noise producing equipment are air blowers, steam turbines and some pumps. These equipment are placed in closed rooms to reduce the noise level. Therefore, no increase on noise pollution is anticipaed.

5.4 Solid Waste

All the wastes shall be neutralized and then to be stored in the Secured Land Fill facility of RSP.

6.0 CONCLUSION

The assessment of environmental impact of installation of new H 2SO 4 plant and phasing out the old unit shows that-

• Reduction of air emissions in respect of SO 2. • No impact on water consumption. • No impact on Land environment. • Marginal improvement in air quality in the surrounding areas. • No additional requirement of land, water for the project.

By installing new Sulphuric Acid plant and implementation of new pollution control equipment, there will not be any additional pollution load on the ambient environment.

Additional information -

Compliance status of the EC from the Regional Office of MoEFCC :

a) Project was inspected by Dr. S Kerketta, Scientist “F”, Regional Office, MoEFCC, Bhubaneswar on : 10 th & 11 th October, 2014. b) Inspection report received by RSP on : 08 th December, 2014 c) Action taken report/compliance report submitted by RSP on : 07 th January, 2015 d) Final monitoring report of Dr. S Kerketta received on : 24/02/2015 e) Compliance status : Complied.