VISAKHAPATNAM: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) has shown the way to its counterparts in the country in producing power from waste heat. For the first time, the RINL in association with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO)-Japan and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)-Japan kick started the first 20.6 MW Sinter Heat Recovery Power Plant (SHRPP) built at a cost of Rs 300 crore.
The project indeed began in 2008 and was undertaken to demonstrate a system to recover sensible heat from hot air emitted by a sintering and cooling process of a fine iron ore and route it to a heat recovery boiler to generate super-heated steam, which is converted to electricity by a turbine connected to a generator. The new system can reduce electricity consumption of the whole plant by 6 per cent. The project introduces a sinter cooler waste heat recovery system in order to demonstrate Japan’s advanced energy efficient technology and then disseminate the technology throughout India.
The system recovers sensible heat from hot air emitted by the cooling process of two sinter coolers located downstream of two sinter machines. The heat is captured by heat recovery hoods and then routed to a heat recovery boiler to generate super-heated steam, which is converted to electricity by a turbine connected to a generator.
The circulation system is for waste heat, which has been emitted only to the atmosphere. The system is expected to promote energy efficiency by utilising waste heat, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. It will enhance environmental effects because cooling air is used in a closed cycle without emitting a high concentration of dust into the atmosphere and power shortages can also be overcome.