The life cycle assessment of iron making from sinter in India

The steel industry is beset by issues, including excessive resource use and severe environmental pollution. Iron making is one of the intermediate processes of the steel industry. To assess the environmental implications of this process, a detailed cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of a blast furnace and its associated units is conducted. The primary data is collected from an iron and steel plant located in the eastern part of India. For the secondary data source, the GaBi Indian extension database is applied. One ton of pig iron production has major impact categories, including abiotic depletion potential (fossil) of 2.64E + 4 MJ, acidification potential of 10.3 kg of SO₂ equiv., global warming potential of 858 kg of CO₂ equiv., and human toxicity potential of 253 kg of DCB equiv. The life cycle phases associated with coke oven and sinter operations are found to be the most influential. The detailed analysis showed that the transportation of raw materials via railways dominates the environmental footprint in both coke and sinter units. A detailed scenario analysis considering railway fuel (electricity, diesel, and a combination of diesel and electricity) was conducted to evaluate the climate impact of transporting raw materials over 1000 km. The transportation via electricity and diesel locomotives indicated similar impacts on the environment.