IIM's flagship summit showcases cutting-edge technologies, innovation and sustainability solutions

The 14th International Conference & Exhibition on Minerals, Metals, Metallurgy and Materials (MMMM 2024), the flagship event of the Indian Institute of Metals' (IIM) Delhi Chapter held every two years, was organised in New Delhi recently.

The summit showcased some of the most path-breaking and innovative research currently underway in the metals space, with specific and in-depth focus on product and process efficiencies, sustainability and circularity, as well as the roadblocks toward development and adoption of cutting-edge technologies.

The conference was aptly titled 'Product & Process Innovations in Metal Production'.

Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries, spoke on imbibing the best practices in the metals ecosystem in India and the need to ensure resource efficiency and sustainability in production processes.

Interacting with BigMint about the core objective of IIM's flagship conference, Rajesh K. Vijayavergia, Chairman, IIM Delhi Chapter Executive Committee, said: "The challenges confronting the metals sectors in our era demand collective thinking and action. Inter-disciplinary research and collaboration is not just a choice but also a necessity in navigating the complexities in metal production. This conference strives to be an ideal platform for fostering inter-disciplinary research in technology and innovation."

Brigadier Retd. Arun Ganguli, Secretary General IIM, highlighted the technical activities of the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) and its achievements over the years.

New-age product research

A thought-provoking paper by SAIL was presented on the development of indigenous capability in the production of electrical steels in the country (CRGO, CRNO), which might turn out to be a major substitute to imports of specialty steels. Demand currently is projected at around 0.3 million tonnes (mnt) per annum.

The automotive sector has the major technological challenge of light-weighting, which can be addressed with AHSS. A perceptive presentation by Tata Steel focussed on the different metallurgical processes involved in dealing with the requisite steel microstructure and desired properties for the auto sector.

Steel & Sustainability

An insightful paper presented by Joachim von Scheele from Linde plc. focussed on hydrogen, syngas and carbon capture as the three major ways to mitigate emissions from iron-making.

CCUS technologies will be required in the Indian context to capture emissions from primary steel production, a paper from M.N. Dastur pointed out. However, challenges still persist with respect to utilization of captured CO2, as well as geological storage capacity.

Against the backdrop of the Steel Ministry's 'green steel' roadmap and recognition of biomass-based sustainable resources as a low-CO2 alternative in iron production, an insightful paper was presented on ongoing research being conducted by SAIL.

Interestingly, while hydrogen is often considered the silver bullet in decarbonisation of ironmaking, it is important to reconsider the metallurgical complexities of H2-based iron reduction compared to traditional reductants such as CO in DRI vertical shaft furnaces and coke in the BF.

Industry veteran, R.K. Singhal of SRTMI, focused on the domestic steel industry decarbonisation challenge and the role of best available technologies in low-CO2 transition of the BF-BOF route of steelmaking, which is so critical a factor in the Indian context.

Leading technology solutions providers, such as Danieli and Tenova, presented on potential ways of transitioning to low-CO2 operations. Moreover, perceptive papers on recycling of slag (BF/BOF/VOD, etc.) attracted particular attention as a key lever for leading steel mills to cut down on CO2 footprint.

Incidentally, BigMint presented a paper on decarbonisation challenges in the Indian steel industry and technology pathways that shine a light on future roadmaps for steel producers.

Key takeaway

As the experts at MMMM 2024 so presciently highlighted, the need of the hour is to drive innovation, energy savings and sustainability in the domestic metals ecosystem to drive collective growth, while technical innovation has be embraced whole-heartedly in driving the metals ecosystem forward.