Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.

-1-

By Product plant operation and process

In JSW Steel there are two types of Coke Ovens. One is recovery type and other is non-
recovery type. By-Product is a part of Recovery type coke oven. There are two by-
product plants for Coke Oven 3 & 4. Main purpose of by-product plant is to suck coke
oven gas from batteries to maintain Thermal regime in ovens and cleaning of COG
(Coke Oven Gas). This document is just an idea about by-product plant processes and
operation. Specifications of Coke Oven 3 & 4 plant are as follows

Product Coke Oven 3 Coke Oven 4

Coke 1491379 Ton/a 1958834 Ton/a
Tar 76510 Ton/a 98060 Ton/a
Sulphur 2560 Ton/a 3070 Ton/a
COG 720.12x106 Nm3/a 902.47x106 Nm3/a
Steam 5 Ton/h 7 Ton/h

Design consumptions are as follows

Name Unit Coke 3 Consumption Coke 4 consumption

Coal Ton/a 2009945 2584214
Fresh Water m3/hr 300 426.242
Electricity kWh/t 56
Steam Ton/h 62.6 66.3
Compressed air m3/hr 3650 3980
Instrument air m3/hr 1600 1600
COG Nm3/a 51.84x106 126.49x106

In Coke Oven 3 & 4 by product plant there is mainly seven sections

1. Area: 260 CWSS(Comprehensive Water Supply System)

2. Area: 175 Refrigeration Station
3. Area: 815 Condensation/ETP/Blowing Section
4. Area: 825 Desulphurization Unit
5. Area: 816a & b Ammonia Scrubbing/Distillation and Decomposition Section
6. Area: 860 Gas Holder and Gas Booster
7. Area: 290 BOD( Biological Oxidation & Dephenolization) Plant

Each of these units has there own importance in maintaining of plant performance. So
each section is explained below

1. Area: 260 CWSS

CWSS supplies circulation cooling water, soft water, refrigerated water and fire fighting
water throughout the plant for different purposes. CWSS has 5 sub-sections.
a. Water pump house
b. Cooling towers
c. Sumps
d. Soft water plant
e. Filters

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-2-

1.a. Water pump house

As the name suggests Water pump house is our pumping station. In coke oven 3 & 4
there are 17 and 19 pumps respectively. All these pumps are divided into four groups.

Groups Type Coke 3 Coke 4

Group 1 Multipurpose & P1 to P6 P1 to P6
production water
Group 2 Cooling water for Chillers P7 to P10 P7 to P11
Group 3 Circulation cooling water P11 to P14 P12 to P16
Group 4 Refrigerated water P15 to P17 P17 to P19

1.b. Cooling towers

Cooling towers are the devices which are used to dissipate system heat to atmosphere
which work on evaporation principle. In our plant cooling towers are used for two
circulation systems: Cooling water for chillers and circulation cooling water. There is 4
and 6 cooling tower in Coke Oven 3 & 4 respectively.

Group Type Coke 3 Coke 4

Group 2 Cooling water for Chillers CT 4 CT 1 & 2
Group 3 Circulation cooling water CT 1 to 3 CT 3 to 6

1.c. Sumps
Sumps are the underground storage tank for different groups of water. In coke oven 3
and 4 there are four separate sumps for all four groups. In coke oven 3 there two fresh
water pool which are connected to Group 1 by means of valve. And in coke oven 4 there
is two fire fighting sumps which are used for fire fighting pump house. These sumps are
also connected to group 1 like coke 3.

1.d. Soft water plant

In coke oven 3 there is a soft water plant supplied by M/s Ion Exchange to meet the
process need for soft water. In coke oven 3 soft water plant consists of Raw water tank,
raw water pumps, multi grade filters(MGF), Activated carbon filter, softener, soft water
tank, soft water pumps and back wash pumps. There two streams of equal capacities
which work alternatively.

In coke oven 4 soft water plant receive raw water from Group 1 and after passing
through automatic disc filter water is fed to softener. There are total 6 softeners in
which two in stream A and two in stream B. rest two are used for Group 4 sump make
up. Along this there are one soft water tank, two small & two big soft water pumps.

1.d. Filters
In Coke 3 there is a filter house in which a part of circulating water in continuously fed
for filtration. There are total 5 pressure sand filters. Group 2 circuit contains two filters
and Group 3 circuit contains three filters. After filtration filtered water recycled back to
respective cooling towers.

In coke 4 there is Automatic back wash filter supplied by M/s Hydec. Both group 3 and
group 2 contain two filters each. It has a feature that it automatic backwashes itself on

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-3-

set pressure difference or time interval. It has very less quantity of backwash generated
compared to same capacity of sand filters.

Along this in coke 4 there is a separate fire fighting pump house. There are two small
jockey pumps (for keeping fire fighting circuit pressurized) and two big pumps (for high
discharge). In case of power failure a Diesel pump is also provided to meet the
emergency requirement.

2. Area: 175 Refrigeration station

For cooling of COG and process liquor for maximum removal of impurities we need a
cooling media. This is provided by Refrigeration station or chillers in form of chilled or
refrigerated water. There are three chillers which work on vapor compression cycle. LiBr
act as an absorbent. Group 4 water which is pumped from pump house in CWSS come
to chillers in which it is refrigerated upto specific set point and then it go to byproduct
plant for cooling of COG and process below ambient temperature.

3. Area: 815 Condensation/ETP/Blowing section

It is the main and most important section in byproduct plant. It sucks the raw coke oven
gas from batteries, remove naphthalene and other condensate (tar, liquor etc.) and
after pressurization send COG for further treatment stages. Major equipments here are
Gas liquid separator (GLS), Primary Gas Cooler (PGC), Electrostatic Tar Precipitator
(ETP), Exhauster, Decanters, Gas condensate pump house (GCPH). From batteries raw
coke oven gas and liquor first comes to GLS at around 80˚C where gas and liquor
separate out on the basis of density difference. Gas is sucked from top and liquor
gravity flow to decanters. Raw coke oven gas enters into PGC from top and exits from
bottom. It is a large shell and tube counter-current heat exchanger. In which COG is in
shell side and water is in tube side. PGC has two section of cooling first is circulation
cooling water supply(CWS) and second one is refrigerated water supply(RWS). From
batteries COG enters in byproduct plant at 80˚C. After cooling in first section by CWS in
PGC COG gas temperature comes down to approx 45˚C. In second section after heat
transfer by RWS COG gas temperature comes down to 22˚C. Most of the impurities like
naphthalene and other vapors condense here. This is collected seal pots and sent back
to decanters through GLS. There are five PGC in Coke oven 3 & 4 each.

After cooling COG enter in ETP. ETP works on the principle of ionization of impurities
when they pass through strong electric field. ETP consists of honeycomb like structure.
And –vely charged electrodes hangs in between each honeycomb. When COG pass
through ETP its impurities like tar, naphthalene other vapor gets ionized (at 35 to 45kV
DC). Tar and other impurities gets –vely charged and repel by electrodes. These
impurities stick to the shell and fall down which removed from ETP by the help of seal
pots. ETP design efficiency is 99.9%. An online Oxygen analyzer is also provided for
continuously monitoring Oxygen %age in COG. COG has LEL at 6% and HEL at 36%.
We keep monitoring O2 level in COG so that it did not cross safe limit. We maintain O 2
level below 1% to be on safer side. There are three ETPs in both coke oven 3 & 4.

After ETP COG is sucked by exhausters. Exhausters are heart of coke ovens. Exhausters
are the most critical equipment in byproduct plant. Exhauster continuously run for 24x7

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-4-

and keep sucking COG from GCM (Gas Collecting Main) over batteries. Exhauster
consists of one motor, hydraulic coupling, gear box, lubrication system and exhauster.
Exhauster is a variable speed double stage centrifugal blower. Its speed can be varied
by hydraulic coupling. Before exhauster is suction side and after exhauster is pressure
side. A bypass line is provided for maintaining a constant value of suction in batteries.
This bypass is called cold bypass. It connect exhauster discharge header to PGC suction
header. COG is recycled back for maintaining suction. After exhauster gas enters in
Desulphurization area. There are three exhausters each in both coke 3 & 4. These work
in two working and one standby configuration.

From GLS liquor gravity flow to decanters. Decanter is a device which separate liquid on
the basis of decantation (density difference separation). Liquor enters in decanter from
one end. After decantation it separates out in three layers. Top most is flushing liquor,
middle is tar and bottom one is sludge. Flushing liquor is overflow from top by overflow
weirs to recycle ammonia tanks. From there flushing liquor is sent to batteries for gas
cooling in GCM by flushing liquor pumps. Middle layer of tar is removed by help of
telescopic valve to Intermediate Tar Tanks. From here it is sent for selling in Tar Storage
Tanks. Bottom layer of sludge is removed by chain scrappers to sludge bunkers. This
sludge is collected and then we send it for coal mixing in coal yard. As coal some
moisture and volatile matter amount of flushing liquor in system keep on increasing.
This increased amount is taken out from system and stored in Excess or Remaining
Ammonia Tank. From there this excess liquor is sent for distillation. There are 4 and 5
decanters in coke oven 3 and 4 respectively. There is two recycle ammonia tank, two
rem. ammonia tanks, two intermediate tar tanks, three flushing liquor pumps, two
intermediate tar pumps, two rem. ammonia pumps and a pit tank in coke 3 & 4 each.

4. Area: 825 Desulphurization area

Raw coke oven gas from batteries contains many impurities like H 2S, NH3, Benzene,
Naphthalene, Tar, -CN etc. Before using this COG for other purposes like power
production, heating etc. we need to clean the gas. To remove H 2S there is a
desulphurization unit. In this unit gas is washed by desulphurization solution in series of
two absorption columns. After absorption of H 2S this liquor is sent for regeneration in
Regeneration towers (two nos) where S is extracted from tower top as foam by aeration
in presence of PDS and Tannin catalyst. Then this regenerated desulphurization solution
is overflow to desulphurization tower for H 2S removal. Excess liquor distillation column is
situated in desulphurization area. Excess liquor is fed to distillation column.
Concentrated ammonia vapor as top product is either fed to decomposition furnace for
decomposition or condensed for addition in desulphurization solution to maintain desired
alkalinity to effective removal of H 2S. Bottom product of distillation column is waste
water is sent for biological treatment in BOD plant to remove impurities. Alkali caustic
soda is dozed in distillation column along with feed to convert fixed ammonia (in form of
ammonia salts) to free ammonia for complete distillation.

Reaction of desulphurization columns are as follows

NH3 + H2O = NH4OH

H2S + NH4OH = NH4HS + H2O
NH4OH + HCN = NH4CN + H2O

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-5-

NH4OH + CO2 = NH4HCO3

NH4HS + NH4HCO3 + (X-1)S = (NH4)2Sx+ CO2+ H2O

Reactions in regeneration tower as follows

NH4HS + ½O2 = S↓+ NH4OH

(NH4)2Sx + ½O2 = Sx↓+ 2NH4OH

Reaction in flushing liquor distillation column

Ammonia Salts(-CO3,-SO4,-S etc.) + NaOH = Sodium Salts + NH4OH

5. Area: 816a & b Ammonia Scrubbing/ distillation/ decomposition

Ammonia is also found in raw coke oven gas as impurity which is removed by COG in
ammonia scrubbing unit. In ammonia scrubbing section COG is washed in series of
absorption columns with circulating ammonia water, waste water and soft water. After
absorption this rich ammonia liquor is sent for distillation to ammonia distillation column.
From here ammonia vapor from distillation column top is sent for Ammonia
decomposition section. Part of waste water from distillation column is sent to BOD for
treatment and rest is recycled back in scrubbers. This removed quantity is replenished
by soft water. After this clean coke oven gas is sent to Gas Holder for storage and use in
batteries. All ammonia vapors from distillation columns is fed to ammonia decomposition
furnace there ammonia is decomposed at 1050˚C in presence of Ni catalyst to N 2 and
H2. This high temperature is maintained by burning of COG in furnace. Air and gas flow
are maintained in 1:4 ratio for minimal NO x and SOx formation. After decomposition all
these hot flue gases or tail gases passed through a waste heat boiler. Here waste heat
recovered from tail gases which is utilized to generate LP steam. After WHB tail gas
temperature comes down to 250˚C. Then these tail gases are passed through a Boiler
feed water preheater. Here feed water is preheated by these hot flue gases. After
preheater tail gas temperature comes down to around 120˚C. After this tail gas is
cooled down to around 70˚C in tail gas cooler. Then these tail gases are released to
atmosphere.
Reactions in decomposition area are as follows

NH3 = N2 + H2 in presence of Ni catalyst at 1050˚C

6. Area: 860 Gas Holder and Gas Booster

After removal of all impurities clean COG enters in Gas holder. Before entering in Gas
holder a part of coke oven gas is sent for battery heating. Gas holder capacity is
50000m3. It is a type of floating roof tank. There is a piston in gas holder which move
upwards and downwards according gas generation and consumption. This piston also
maintains constant gas pressure through out the system. After gas holder gas is sent to
gas boosters. Gas booster boosts gas pressure from 6kPa to 12kPa to meet the
customer requirement. Our major gas consumers are BF-3 & 4. Excess gas is sent for
flairing in gas venting section.

7. Area: 290 BOD (Biological Oxidation and Dephenolization)

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-6-

Byproduct plant waste water or effluent contains many impurities like ammonia,
sulphide, cyanide, phenol, oil etc. we can not release this effluent in water bodies. So to
treat this effluent and to meet CPCB norms we have treatment plant which is called BOD
or Biological Oxidation and Dephenolization as our major impurity is phenol. Waste
water from various areas enters in BOD plant in Oil removing pool. Here light and heavy
oil is removed by density difference. From here waste water overflow to Air floatation
unit where emulsion oil is removed by dosing chemicals. After this waste water enter in
biological treatment section. Here waste water is treated in anaerobic, anoxic and
aerobic stages by activated sludge respectively. In anaerobic stage all cyclic and
aromatic compounds are converted in to simple chain acetates and methane by
activated sludge. In Anoxic stage denitrification takes place by denitrifying bacteria. In
this all nitrates are converted in to nitrogen and oxygen from nitrate is used to oxidize
phenol and other organic compounds. In aerobic stage all left ammonia, sulphides and
organic compounds oxidized by sludge in presence of Oxygen. After all this treatment
treated waste water meet CPCB norms which is then sent for coke quenching after
sedimentation and filtration. During whole treatment process various chemical are being
dosed like Na2CO3 is dosed to maintain pH of aerobic system near 6.5 to 7.5 as due to
nitrification reaction pH drops in aerobic stage. NaH 2PO4 is dosed to maintain a nutrition
level for optimum growth of activated sludge. We dose this chemical in such a way that
C:N:P ratio maintains at 100:5:1. Poly ferric Sulphate is dosed for coagulation of
emulsions. And Poly Acryl Amide is dosed for flocculation of that coagulated emulsions.

All major equipment specifications of by-product as follows are as follows

Equipment Coke 3 Coke 4

PGC No.: 5 No.: 5
Height: 27.5 m Height: 31.497 m
Heat transfer area: 3828 m2 Heat transfer area: 5050 m2
CWS flow: 5510 m3/hr CWS flow: 7760 m3/hr
RWS flow: 830 m3/hr RWS flow: 1150 m3/hr
ETP No.: 3 No.: 3
Capacity: 38000~46000 Capacity: 43000 ~ 52000
Nm3/hr Nm3/hr
Decanter No.: 4 No.: 5
Effective volume: 300m3 Effective volume: 300m3
Scrapper speed: 3.755 m/h Scrapper speed: 3.755 m/h
Exhauster No.: 3 No.: 3
Motor: 800kVA Motor: 900kVA
Capactiy: 60000m3/hr Capacity: 75000m3/hr
Desulphurisation tower No.: 2 No.: 2
Height: 37.32 m Height: 40.1 m
Dia: 6.4 m Dia: 6.8 m
Regeneration tower No.: 2 No.: 2
Height: 49.46 m Height: 51.5 m
Dia: 4.6 m Dia: 4.8 m
Col C Capacity: 40 m3/hr Capacity:
Col A/B No.: 2 No.: 2
Capacity:100 m3/hr Capacity:110 m3/hr

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-7-

Ammonia Scrubbing column No.: 2 No.: 2

Dia: 5.4 m Dia: 5.6 m
Height: tower A 35.22 m Tower A: 32.17m
Tower B 38.19 m Tower B: 36.39 m
Gas holder Capacity: 50000 m3 Capacity: 50000 m3
BOD Capacity: 95.641 m3/hr Capacity: 160 m3/hr
Ammonia Decomposition Dia: 3.6 m Dia 3.6 m

For Coke Oven 3 COG composition on dry analysis as follows

Component H2 CH4 CmHn CO N2 CO2 O2 Calorific

value(kcal/Nm3)
% 56~60 23~27 2~4 5~8 3~7 1.5~3 0.3~0.8 4200~4300

For Coke Oven 3 Impurities in Raw COG are as follows

Component Tar Coarse ammonia Hydrogen Hydrogen Naphthalene

benzene Sulphide cyanide
gm/m3 39.22 34.62 7.80 5.01 1.4 10.02

For Coke Oven 4 impurities in COG are as follows

Component Tar Coarse ammonia Hydrogen Hydrogen Naphthalene

benzene Sulphide cyanide
gm/m3 40.20 32.93 8.31 4.87 1.43 10.02

For Coke Oven 3 impurities after by product plant in clean COG are as follows

Component Tar Coarse ammonia Hydrogen Hydrogen Naphthalene

benzene Sulphide cyanide
gm/m3 Traces 34.62 ≤0.1 ≤0.2 ≤0.28 ≤0.4

For Coke Oven 4 impurities after byproduct plant in COG are as follows

Component Tar Coarse ammonia Hydrogen Hydrogen Naphthalene

benzene Sulphide cyanide
gm/m3 Traces 32.93 ≤0.1 ≤0.2 ≤0.28 ≤0.4
BOD influent and effluent water quality parameters are as follows

Parameter Influent (mg/l) Effluent (mg/l)

COD 1500-3000 ≤250
BOD 600-1300 ≤30
NH3-N 150-250 ≤50
Phenol 500-650 ≤1
Cyanide 8-20 ≤0.2
Sulphide 20-50 ≤1
TSS 100-350 ≤100

By-product Plant Process & Operation

Coke Ovens, JSW Steel Ltd.
-8-

Oil 200-300 ≤10

pH 7.5-8.5 6.5 to 7.5

Whichever chemical is used in byproduct plant is as follows

Chemical Use
NaoH It is used for conversion of fixed ammonia (Ammonia salts) into free
ammonia in flushing liquor distillation column for maximum removal
of ammonia.
PDS PDS (cobalt phthalocyanine sulfonate) act as a catalyst in the
process regeneration of desulphurisation solution.
Tannin Extract It acts as a catalyst accelerator.
Na2CO3 It is used to maintain pH of aerobic pool in BOD plant. During
nitrification of ammonia aerobic pool pH drops. So we add sodium
carbonate to maintain its pH around 7 to 7.5.
NaH2PO4 For maximum growth of bacterial sludge in BOD we need to provide
nutrient in a optimum C:N:P ratio of 100:5:1. For this we add
NaH2PO4.
Poly Ferric It acts as a coagulant. It breaks the oil emulsions in inlet waste
Sulphate water to BOD plant.
Anionic poly It act as a flocculant. It enhances the floccs formation in air
acryl amide floatation pool of coagulated waste water.
Cationic poly Cationic poly electrolyte is used for the dehydration of waste
acryl amide bacteria sludge from BOD plant in the filter press unit for cake
formation.

By-product Plant Process & Operation