Coke Oven Battery No 3 at the Jamshedpur works of Tata Steel was shut down on November 1 after serving the steel behemoth for 40 years.
The Coke Oven Battery 3, that was re-built by Otto India Pvt. ltd., was lit on May 19, 1975 by the then managing director of Tata Steel (then Tisco), Russi Mody.
Coke Oven Battery 3 first came into operation on June 11, 1940. It was pulled down in 1958 and re-built, increasing its size from 55 to 57 ovens. The second phase of the battery extended till 1975, when it was re-built again for a momentous Phase 3.
Coke Oven Battery 3 has the unique distinction of being the first battery in India to last for 40 years. It is a matter of great pridefor the Tata Steel family to have a coke plant, considered to be the mother of an integrated steel plant, to have run successfully for so long.
Tata Steel has truly shown the way that, with commitment and innovation, it is possible in India to enhance the life of coke ovens.
Consisting of two sub-batteries of 27 ovens each, Battery 3 could carbonize 1,450 tonnes of coal daily, with a rated production capacity of 1,000 tonnes of blast furnace coke per day, achieved in 2003 after innovative technological interventions. It was largely responsible for reducing Tata Steel’s dependency on outside sources for coke.
The long life of Coke Oven Battery 3 can be attributed to state-of-the-art maintenance techniques deployed under excellent supervision.
Special attention was paid to compliance to all environmental regulations and working conditions of the employees.Coke Oven Battery 3 produced over 12 million tonnes of coke during its third phase that lasted from 1975 to 2014.
With the closure of Coke Oven Battery 3, Tata Steel turns into 100 per cent stamp-charged coke oven operation, thereby providing a majorboost to its commitment to sustainable environmental initiatives.