Mumbai, September 10: Tata Steel has commissioned a Coke Oven Gas (COG) Injection Project at Blast Furnace 1 of its Meramandali plant in Odisha, marking what the company says is the first such initiative in the Indian steel industry.
The project is designed to reduce the blast furnace’s consumption of conventional fossil fuels and lower carbon dioxide emissions by injecting coke oven gas into the ironmaking process.
The system also allows the blast furnace to operate with a three-fuel configuration, which Tata Steel said will provide greater flexibility and efficiency in fuel use. The company has not disclosed a specific estimate for the reduction in fossil-fuel consumption or CO2 emissions from the newly commissioned system.
Coke oven gas is generated as a by-product during the production of coke from coal. Instead of limiting its use to other plant operations, the technology enables the gas to be injected into the blast furnace to partially replace coke and reduce the carbon footprint of ironmaking.
Tata Steel had placed an order with SMS group in 2024 for the implementation of Paul Wurth COG Injection Technology at Blast Furnace 1 at Meramandali. At the time, SMS group said it was the first deployment of the technology in India and was aimed at reducing coke consumption and associated carbon emissions.
The commissioning adds to Tata Steel’s use of alternative injection technologies in blast furnaces. The company has previously demonstrated the injection of coal bed methane, hydrogen and biochar as part of efforts to lower the carbon intensity of conventional blast furnace-based steelmaking.
Coke oven gas is already used across several operations at the Meramandali complex. Tata Steel’s environmental compliance filings show that cleaned COG has been used in the hot strip mill, coke oven battery heating, lime plant, blast furnace power plant and a gas-fired boiler for power generation.
The company has also converted a coal-based boiler at Meramandali to a COG-based boiler, which helped reduce gas flaring and dependence on thermal coal while improving overall energy efficiency, according to Tata Steel’s FY2025-26 disclosures.
The latest project forms part of Tata Steel’s broader decarbonisation programme as the steelmaker works towards its stated target of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2045.
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