Sinter Plant is a major contributor towards Emission of Suspended Particulate Matter(SPM) in an Integrated Steel Plant^[1]. Over the past decade, Sinter Plants at Tata Steel Jamshedpur (TSJ) have pioneered innovation starting from Raw Material handling,  ESP (Electrostatic Precipitator) maintenance and health monitoring, leading to achieving benchmark level stack reductions^[2]. Our journey from 425 kg/hr in FY’12 to < 100 kg/hr in FY’23 involved operational excellence, strategic maintenance practices and digital innovations including pioneering efforts in AI-ML. This paper elucidates the expedition of TSJ Sinter Plants in lowering dust concentration from stack from >75 mg/Nm3 levels to below 30 mg/Nm^3. This was achieved by establishing process innovations, control in raw material consumption and quality, enhancing maintenance monitoring of ESPs, and the use of HFTR (High Frequency Transformer Rectifier) units in sinter making. 

The strategy employed in TSJ plant revolves around three main pillars – People, Process & Technology. In the people front, level of awareness, alertness and responsible behaviour was inculcated by special training, incentive schemes and building a sense of belongingness to the problem. In the Process part, extensive use of research, understanding the cause of higher stack emission was done at the beginning. Big data analytics was applied on long term data showed that ESP inlet temperature, Temperature at Wind Box#10, ESP inlet suction etc played a big role. Accordingly process control loops were designed and implemented through algorithms based on statistical models and thermodynamic models. This unique feature of integrating the above models gave prediction of stack emission to the tune of >95% accuracy. Finally, this predictive models led to installation of some technological advances, such as HFTR, MFTR transformers. TSJ plant also developed a novel use of ESP dust, which was eliminated from its recycling to the sinter making process. 

As a result of the above three pronged strategy, the stack emission concentration could be reduced to a level of below 15 mg/Nm3, which is perhaps comparable to the World Benchmark for plants employing ESP only as waste gas dedusting method. TSJ has embarked on some more innovative technology, which will reduce the stack dust concentration below 10 mg/Nm3 with ESP alone. The paper will elucidate the complete journey and a success story of more than a decade, which will be worth sharing with the world.