Tata Steel commissions 5-tonne-per-day carbon capture plant at Jamshedpur

Is country's first steelmaker to adopt such a technology that extracts CO2 directly from blast furnace gas; will reuse captured CO2 on-site to promote circular carbon economy

Tata Steel has commissioned a 5-tonne-per-day (TPD) carbon capture plant at its Jamshedpur Works, making it the country’s first steel company to adopt such a carbon capture technology that extracts carbon-di-oxide directly from blast furnace gas, the company said on Tuesday.

Tata Steel will reuse the captured CO2 on-site to promote the circular carbon economy. The project has been executed with technological support from Carbon Clean, a global leader in low-cost CO2 capture technology.

The carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) facility uses amine-based technology and makes the captured carbon available for onsite reuse. The depleted CO2 gas is sent back to the gas network with increased calorific value.

The CCU plant was inaugurated by T V Narendran, chief executive officer and managing director, Tata Steel, in the presence of company officials and other dignitaries.

Commenting, Narendran, said, “For the sustainability of the steel industry globally and particularly in a growing country like India, it is essential that we find economical solutions for capturing and use of CO2 at scale.”

“Leadership in mitigating emissions, accessing low-cost clean energy, and providing circular economy solutions will define our sector’s journey going forward,” he added.

Narendran also said that the operational experience gathered from the 5-tonne-per-day CO2 capture plant will give the required data and confidence to establish larger carbon capture plants in the future.

“As the next step, we aim to establish scaled-up facilities of CO2 capture integrated with utilisation avenues,” he further said.

Aniruddha Sharma, CEO, Carbon Clean, said, “We are currently capturing 5 tonnes of CO2 per day, but following our successful demonstration, we plan to rapidly accelerate the number of carbon capture projects. Capturing CO2 from blast furnace gas will not only decarbonise the steel plants but will also open avenues for the hydrogen economy.”

Tata Steel has undertaken a two-pronged approach of carbon direct avoidance (CDA) and CO2 capture and will use it as part of its efforts to achieve its larger decarbonisation goal.