Candida Moraes

For integrated steel plants, desulphurisation is a vital process. Jamipol, a Tata Steel joint venture, makes the reagents required for this
high-technology exercise

One of the major factors in the sinking of the legendary ‘unsinkable’ ship Titanic in 1912 was that the steel used to build it had excessive amounts of sulphur, which made it brittle and weak. Little wonder that desulphurisation is such an important process for steel manufacturers. For Tata Steel, this vital job depends on desulphurising chemicals supplied by Jamipol (formerly known as Jamshedpur Injection Powder Limited), a joint venture company promoted by Tata Steel, SKW Stahl Metallurgie AG, Germany and Tai Industries, Bhutan.

In the 1980s, integrated steel plants began to integrate hot metal desulphurisation technologies, which improved product quality and simultaneously reduced costs. When Tata Steel built its new LD#2 shop in the early 1990s, it needed to import calcium carbide based desulphurisation reagents from Germany at a very high cost. Since the reagents were explosive in nature and difficult to handle owing to fear of environmental pollution, Tata Steel decided to manufacture them in India. Jamipol was set up in 1995, and began commercial production
in 1998.

CADs, CAMs and MAGs
Hot metal desulphurisation generally requires three products: calcium carbide based reagents called CADs, carbide and magnesium based reagents called CAMs and magnesium based reagents called MAGs. Jamipol manufactures CADs (it is the only manufacturer in India) and supplies CAMs. These are tailor-made for specific customer requirements, with precisely controlled levels of calcium carbide, lime, volatiles, magnesium and slag conditioners, through specially developed recipe software. To complete the product basket, MAGs are also supplied to the customers.

The company has also started construction of mono injection desulphurisation stations (DS) for mini blast furnace units, and offers consultancy for selection and refurbishing of DS stations, and optimisation of operations. “Jamipol products increase productivity and reduce costs, simultaneously meeting exact quality standards,” says Amitava Baksi, MD, Jamipol. “The low sulphur hot metal ‘pigs’ cast by mini blast furnace units enable production of high quality downstream products like low-sulphur castings,” he explains.

Jamipol has two plants, one at Jamshedpur and the second in Toranagallu in Karnataka. The latter was set up in February 2006, to cater to the southern region. Both have an installed capacity of 15,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of CADs, on a single shift basis. The company caters to India’s entire domestic requirement of CADs, supplying to Tata Steel, SAIL, JSW Steel, JSPL and Tata Metaliks.

Marching ahead
Apart from desulphurising compounds, the company provides application know how and support services, with assistance from its collaborator under a technology arrangement. “ Jamipol has obtained ISO 9001-2000, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001 through Integrated Management System (IMS) certification in both the plants,” says Baksi proudly. The company has set itself the target of doubling its turnover by 2010, as well as becoming a total solutions provider in desulphurisation technology.

But there are challenges along the way. Reagents are a ‘cost’ item for integrated steel plants, and they are constantly trying to reduce their consumption, as well as looking for new and cheaper desulphurisation technologies. Jamipol’s greatest challenge is to keep improving product technology, and enable its customers to reduce consumption! Its constant focus is on participating in customer’s cost reduction programmes. Import substitution and mastery of high technology are leadership requirements for niche product suppliers like Jamipol. “To secure critical raw materials like calcium carbide, the company is planning to globalise and invest in China to put up a JV for manufacturing carbide,” says Baksi.

Uploaded in December 2007