Atmospheric Pollution Control in Coke Ovens

Production of iron through BF route is still a dominant route and coke is a major raw material and energy source for the blast furnaces. The process of coal carbonization in slot ovens is one of the major sources of atmospheric pollution in an Integrated Steel Plant. Coke making process involves coal preparation, carbonization and coke handling operations. To meet the demand of Blast Furnaces of SAIL plants, about 12 million tones of coal are carbonized every year in 26 operating coke oven batteries in the different plants. The coke making process is a well-documented source of pollution in terms of gaseous and particulate emissions. CPCB norms for emissions from the different sources of coke oven have been notified through gazette notifications. However, it is very important that the methodology and frequency of measurement are to be standardized for all the coke oven plants in India. SAIL is well aware of the problems of pollution in coke oven batteries and a number of measures have been introduced to meet the challenges of emission control from coke ovens viz. smokeless charging, water-jet cleaning of doors, introduction of selective crushing/groupwise crushing of coals, new door design, water sealing of A.P. caps, introduction of tall ovens etc. The paper discusses some of these measures. adopted in coke ovens for the control of pollution.