Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) under its modernization and expansion programme, rebuilt the company’s first blast furnace ‘Parvati’ situated at SAIL’s Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). SAIL-RSP’s Blast Furnace No.1 – Parvati is rebuilt with state-of-the-art features and additional capacity. The useful volume of this rebuilt furnace, in its new avatar, has increased from 1139 cubic meter to 1710 cubic metre, as a result of which theannual production capacity of the furnace will go up from 0.438 MT per annum to 1.015 MT per annum. The rebuilt blast furnace was blown-in by Mr.Ashwini Kumar, CEO, RSP.
This technologically advanced blast furnace has advanced features which include new skip system, closed loop cooling system with soft water,twin flat cast houses at 90 degree apart with cast house defuming system, new turbo blower for high top pressure, new hot blast system for higher blast temperature, new coal dust injection system, new gas cleaning plant and a new dust catcher. Apart from boosting production these features will help reduce the dependence on coal. It would, in turn, improve the carbon footprint making the new furnace more environment friendly.
Blast Furnace ‘Parvati’ was first blown in on 24th January 1959. Soon after, then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad dedicated it to nation on 3rd February 1959. Since then, the blastfurnace was taken down five times for relining and major repair. Finally, it was put down on 5th August 2013 for total rebuilding. The furnace was completely dismantled and a brand new furnace was installed on the same foundation. Furthermore, only available space and resources were utilised. The furnace in its modernised incarnation would surely go a long way in further strengthening productivity and profitability of Plant. Also present during the blowing in were Mr. PK Pradhan, ED(P&A), Mr. Subhendra Das, ED(Works) and many other senior officers of SAIL-RSP. Meanwhile, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is the largest steel-making company in India and one of the seven Maharatna’s of the country’s Central Public Sector Enterprises.
