A Comparison of Blast Furnace and Corex Routes for Iron-making on the Basis of Costs

Abstract

Iron-making provides a vital engineering input in the process of steel production. This requires huge investment and hence, selection of an appropriate iron-making technology is very crucial in a capital scarce country like India. However, in this arena Blast furnace (BF) technology is considered as proven and the dominant one. Meanwhile, a new technology named Corex has emerged in this field. In this paper an attempt is made towards a comparative assessment of BF vis-a-vis Corex technology based on the principle of cost-minimization. It is found that BF-technology is stili a better option for India.