Present Past and Future: Energy bills of Sponge Iron Industries

A survey is made on a coal based sponge iron plant of every capacity in order to identify the largest energy losses and find ways to increase the efficiency. The required data are obtained by measurements or taken from industries.The process efficiency is less than 50% in every categories. The energy balances of the process show that the gap between theoretical and actual energy consumption is more than 45% and the exhausts make up the largest loss. Most of the plants are running using obsolete technology. There is a need of modern technology which can be capable to reduce energy demand of the plant. A huge amount of waste gas is generated during operation and substantial part of it associated with the waste gas, remains un-utilized. The energy content in the exhaust gases which is found at useful temperature can be used in three different ways; by internal use, external energy supply, or power generation.The four possible potential areas are identified where energy is being lost and untapped. The largest improvements would be made by design modifications adopting a novel augmented plant by process integration and thereby decreasing coal, water and air consumption.