CASE STUDY 01:
A TURNAROUND AT ELECTROSTEEL STEELS LIMITED (ESL)
Vedanta has grown inorganically, through acquisition. A key to its success has been its ability to turnaround sick companies – not just economically, but also in how they manage sustainability. ESL is no exception to this practice. In the 21 months since Vedanta acquired ESL, there has been significant work done to improve the environmental performance of the unit.
Increase in Fly Ash and Blast Furnace Slag Reutilisation
From reutilising only 10% of the generated fly ash, ESL has been able to utilise 100% of the generated volumes. This has been achieved by establishing sales agreement for fly ash with cement companies, where the by-product is used in several blended-cement applications. In FY2020, ESL transferred ~108,000 MT of fly ash to the cement companies.
A similar success story has been achieved with Bblast furnace slag, where ESL has increased reutilisation levels from 30% to 100% of the generated waste. This too has happened by collaborating with cement manufactures.
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Fly Ash Management and Land Reclamation
Low-lying areas within plantboundaries are prone to flooding and can thus disrupt operations. One such area has been reclaimed by using nearly 300,000 MT of fly ash. The area was levelled, lined with clay at the bottom layer, before moving the fly ash. laying in the plant premises for levelling. A layer of top-soil was then added and 50,000 saplings planted, thereby aiding in the biological reclamation of the land. This solution aided in reducing the risk of flooding as well as the spread of fly ash due to wind or water-related events.
Increase in Reutilisation Rates of ETP Treated Water
Less than 1000 KL of Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) water was reutilised in the plant every day. A project to identify losses and lay additional pipeline across the plant has seen the reutilization levels of the ETP treated water increased to 4,070 KL/day. The additional water is reutilised in the coke oven, blast furnace, sinter and lime, DIP, power plant, raw material handling and storage, sprinkling and greenbelt areas of the plant.
Waste Heat Recovery
Our non-recovery type coke oven releases coke oven gas during its operation, which are in the temperature range of 110500°C–11500°C. In normal course, this waste gas will be released to the atmosphere, contributing to our overall emissions and negatively impacting the atmosphere. However, in order to recover the waste heat, we drive this waste heat through two specially designed boilers, which generate steam to run the turbines in our captive power plant. A total of 259,255 MWh of power is generated annually from the Waste Heat Recover Boilers (WHRB). This action has allowed us to reduce our coal usage by ~82,000 MT and reduce our GHG emissions by ~69,000 tCO2e/year.
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SDG Alignment
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production,
- SDG 13: Climate Action
- SDG 15: Life on Land
