Waste Problems in Some Metallurgical

Industries Ȃ Their Abatement And

Control.

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ï A lot of resources in the form of raw material,fuel, water etc. are

invested in an industry to achieve a target product. But inturn, it
does not get 100% of what it has invested.
ï A considerable portion of valuable resources is lost as waste in
industries.
ï Treatment and disposal of this huge quantity of industrial waste is
major problem to which the scientific world aware of.
ï Effluents from some industries are greater contributors to
environmental pollution.
ï A lot of work is being done throughout the world to tackle this
problem





ï Waste generated by mining , mineral processing and metallurgical

industries is estimated to be have 2-3 billion tons annualy.
ï The waste include gases , dusts , solution and a variety of massive
solid minerals such as tailings and slags , all of which must be
disposed of with minimum environmental degradation.
ï The resources potential of waste generated by iron and steel ,
aluminium , clay , phosphate , copper , coal mining and processing
and non-metallic and secondary metal industries should be
examined.
ï Slags from ferrous and non-ferrous smelting operation are being
utilised to some extent but still there is scope of wider use.
Waste problem in some metallurgical
industries.
i. Problem of coal carbonisation in steel plants.
ii. Waste from steel mills and blast furnace.
iii. Metal finishing industries.
iv. Disposal of red mud.
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ï The production of coke by high temp. Carbonistaion is an integral

part of steel plants.
ï Water is used in different steps from quenching to scrubbing.
ï The effluents discharged from bye-product coke plant consists of
ammonia,phenol,cyanides,H2S, pyridines and oils.
ï The effluents are both organic and inorganic type, some of them
being toxic while others are non-toxic.
ï Steel industries adopt abatement measures of waste pollution by
recovering useful bye-products and reusing water.
ï But still various natural water sources downstream these industries
are heavily polluted by coke even effluents.
ï Total volume of process effluent from a bye-product coke plant of 1
million ton capacity is about 80 m³ /hr.








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Sr. No. Unit Max quantity Min quantity Composition

operation
1. Coke - Small Tar ,ammonia,
quenching H2S
2. Cooling
&scrubbing
Flushing 4 1 Tar ,phenol
Primary cool 2 1 Tar ,ammonia
Potash plant 5 2 Cyanide,oils
Final cooler 1 - Phenols, oils
3. Ammoni steel 60 30 Fixed
ammonia
4. Benzol plant 6 2 Wash oil,
benzol
Tar distillation 30 - Tar,light oil,
cresote.


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1. Coke of suitable quality is heated ,in absence of air ,to 1000 Ǒc for 12-18
hrs and then quenched in retorts. The gases from retorts are
condensed. Tar and Ammonia liquor at 90 Ǒc is sent to bye-product by
suction pump and recirculated in coke ovens.
2. Absorption of ammonia with refrigerated water or by scrubbing with
dil H2SO4.
3. After final cooling of gas with high velocity water spray in a
cooler,crude napthelene separated out.
4. Absorption of benzol is done by scrubbing with wash oil.
5. Removal of H2S from the gas by scrubbing with a dilute solution of
NaOH.
6. Finaly the gas is compressed and stored in gas stacks.
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1. Wet scrubber effluents :- originate from flue gases of blast furnace. It
contain iron oxide ,alumina, silica, carbon and magnesia. However ,the
concentration of each varies with the type of ore used.
2. Waste picking liquor :-originating from cold rolling mills. It is highly
acidic and contain 1-2% H2SO4 and FeSO4.
3. Waste from Hot Rolling Mill :- it contains ,mostly, of suspended matter
derived from the descaling of ferric oxide from variousstages of
operation.
4. Miscellaneous effluents :-
ï Thermal power station Ȃ flyash, acidic and alkali or both chemicals for
conditioning of water.
ï Sintering process and other miscellaneous operations.
 
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ï Blast furnace effluent : removal of flue dust by plain sedimentation or
conjunction with chemical coagulation. The sludge is disposed off by
dumping.
ï Effluent from cold rolling mills : treatment with lime for neutralisation.
The only useful bye-product from liquor is FeSO4.
ï From various operations in steel making are not of a polluting type and
their treatment and disposal do not pose serious difficulty.
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With the rapid growth of industries , the need for applying attractive
finishes has become a necessity as well as a reality. The phenomenal
development of metal finishing industry has brought in its wake the
problem of waste water disposal and consequent pollution of water
resources.
Electroplating industry uses large quantity of water. The effluents are
primarily of following types :-
1. Effluent containing acids or metallic salts.
2. Effluent contain impurities which are immiscible with water such as
grease, oils, kerosene etc.
3. Cyanides from plating bahs for Cu, Zn, Brass,etc.
4. Chromates from chromebaths, etching baths,electro polishing.
?reatment of effluents

There are two types of process :-

1. Batch process :- for a smaller volume of liquid (greater than 500
lit/day). This process applicable to cyanide, chromic acid or
acidic/alkaline type effluents.
2. Continuous proces :- for larger volume (5000 lit/day). The effluents
are collected in small volume and treated continuously.
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Red Mud , the causic insoluble residue from bauxite processing is largest
volume solid waste from non-ferrous industries. Its disposal poses
increasing problems of land costs, storage and environmental pollution.
Red Mud is a complex material containing of Fe2O3, Al2O3, Na2O and CaO
as major constituents besides other mineral phases.
It is very fine sized with poor setting properties , thixotropic and cracks on
drying.Red Mud can be commercially exploited for making bricks ,
contruction of dams , pavements etc.
In some studies it has been found that bricks made only Red Mud
deteriorates rapidly with time. But when diluted with 10-15% ash, good
quality bricks can be produced. This can be disposed off commercially as
an additive to cement.
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ï Skin contact - some chemicals like corrosive acids can
damage skin by single contact while others , like organic
solvents, may cause damage by repeatedly exposure.
ï Inhalation - Inhalation is the most common source of
workplace exposure to chemicals and the most difficult to
control. Air pollutants can directly damage respiratory tract
or gets absorbed through lung and cause system/systemic
effects.
o Ingestion Õ Vround water and sub soil water contamination
from leachates from refuse dumps and poorly managed
landfill sites can result in ingestion of toxic chemicals by
population groups who live far away from the factory sites
and decades after the garbage has been dumped.
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ï ike other industries-some metallurgical industries too have their well
established roles in polluting the environment, besides waste
problems.
ï The problem of enormous waste of resources in metal and mineral
industries, treatment and disposal of effluents from pollution have
proved to be of great concern to the scientists,engineers and
technologists.
ï Supply of waste is plentiful. Only what is needed is the formulation of
economics and technical studies./feasibilities of recovering these
resources and converting them into useful products.


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