Tata Steel manganese mines in Joda, Odisha generates huge amount of low grade manganese ores every year and utilization of these fines/rejects is a challenge. A hydrometallurgical process like leaching is effective to extract metal values from low grade ores into liquid medium which on further processing leads to various manganese derivatives. Manganese oxides (MnO2, Mn2O3) are used as cathode material in battery industry and also, as a catalyst for hydrogen generation. Manganese dioxide (EMD) can be produced through electrolysis using these fines however the major challenges that needs to be addressed during the electrowinning is to produce a deposit that has only gamma form of MnO2 and no other structure /oxides and, obtaining a high purity deposit and with high current efficiency. So, we are searching for a methodology or additive which can provide a pure EMD during processing of these ores.
( Mentor: Mr. K V Krishnareddy, E-Mail: kallam.krishnareddy@tatasteel.com)

The iron bearing superfines present in Iron Ore Slime, Blast Furnace Dust and Sludge, etc. have become a worry for the steel makers and environmentalists. The status quo involves beneficiation and recycling of such wastes. Since, this waste contains other important elements like Calcium, Alumina, etc. Therefore, the idea is to utilise the iron and other resources present in the waste to produce value-added products. Proposals are being invited to produce value added products from these iron bearing superfines.
( Mentor: Mr. Rohan Ohri, E-Mail: rohan.ohri@tatasteel.com)

Steel industry largely depends on coking coal to produce desired quality coke which is used as a reductant as well as heat source in the blast furnace. The scarcity of desired quality coals and environmental issues associated with coke making process compelling the industry to identify alternative raw materials and more environmental friendly processes. The huge quantity of biomass generated by industries and humans (wood residues, waste from food crops, horticulture, corn cobs, animal farming, etc) has huge potential to utilize it as a raw material for coke making. We are searching for a suitable methodology/process to convert these materials into a useable green coke for steel making.
( Mentor: Dr. Debjani Nag, E-Mail: debjani.nag@tatasteel.com)

LD Slag is a waste generated in the LD steel making process and after the recovery of metallic value, non-metallic portion of LD Slag fines finds very little industrial importance. LD Slag is very complex material containing majorly, Fe, Ca, P, Si etc., The main challenge is the extraction of Iron and Phosphorus from LD Slag fines and using them for the preparation of “Iron oxide based Hydroxyapatite Nano powder” for finding the possible applications in the field of biosensors and biomedical field. We are searching for a methodology to selectively remove the undesired elements during hydrometallurgical processing of LD Slag to produce these products.
( Mentor: Dr. Shrenivas Ashrit, E-Mail: shrenivas@tatasteel.com)

There several technologies are available for CO2 capture from flue gases. However, capturing of CO2 will not going to reduce its GHG potential. Therefore, it is essential to convert CO2 in to value added product so that it can be sequestrated permanently. Some of research initiatives have been taken in this domain where CO2 is captured and simultaneously it is converted to different products by the catalytic activity of the capturing material. We invite the proposals to CO2 capture and in-situ conversion into value added products.( Mentor: Dr Niloy Kundu, E-Mail: niloy.kundu@tatasteel.com)

Hydrogen is green fuel till date. However, in present scenario the route of production of hydrogen is driven by fossil fuel and eventually those processes are responsible for GHG emission. Several initiatives have been taken for green hydrogen production though most of those failed to catch up commercial viability. In steel industry, green hydrogen can be used as reducing agent as well as fuel. Therefore, we invite ideas to develop a process to produce green hydrogen.
( Mentor: Dr Santanu Sarkar, E-Mail: santanu.sarkar@tatasteel.com)

Addition of carbon nanoparticles (nanotubes, nanoplatelets, Graphene etc.) during additive manufacturing can be a route for manufacturing composite material components. Addition can be ex-situ or in-situ vis-a-via process and consumables. We ae looking for a feasible proposal to make it a scalable process.
( Mentor: Dr. Kanwer Singh Arora, E-Mail: kanwer.arora@tatasteel.com)

Si is one of the important inexpensive alloying elements added in steel to increase both strength and formability. It is vital in development of special steels like carbide-free bainite steels. It is also an important deoxidizer during steel making. However, its addition in advanced high strength steels is restricted due to various problems during zinc coating/coatability. Research so far is focused on understanding the problem with Si addition on Zn coating. However, there are no solutions that allow addition of Si in the range of 0.5 to 2 wt.% without any detrimental effect to Zn coating or its quality. A solution to the problem will help to develop advanced high strength and crash resistance steels at lower cost. So, proposals are invited to effective Zn coating of steels containing high amount of Si.
( Mentor: Dr. Appa Rao Chintha, E-Mail: apparao@tatasteel.com)

Hot forming is a press forming and simultaneously hardening process of the formed components in contact with the water-cooled dies. High strength/ ultra-high strength steel sheets are heated up to the temperature about 950oC and quickly transferred to a forming press. The uncoated steel surface is oxidised and decarburised to a smaller extent (~ 3 micron) after hot forming. Also, the die life is affected by the oxide particles and the formed component has to be cleaned by additional sand blasting process. Widley acceptable solution to these issues are to coat the steel with Al-Si coating, which is a patented process. The challenge is to provide a viable solution to avoid these problems of hot forming without Al-Si coating. So proposals are invited to develop temporary coatings which can be applied easily before heating and removable (if required) after forming for subsequent painting processes.
( Mentor: Mr. Nemai Chandra Gorain, E-Mail: nemai@tatasteel.com)

The growing awareness on sustainability and environment consciousness lead to the more stricter norms of automotive emission. While EVs or Hybdrid vehicles are likely to be the long-term solution to this problem, the present situation demands chasing the target of reducing auto body weight even more aggressively. The lightweight automobiles will definitely help cut the IC engine emission but are also expected to maintain a certain level of passenger comfort and stability of the vehicle structure. This requires the steels or the materials used in manufacture of the modern cars to be resistant to Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH). Foams, laminates, sandwich panels are probably some of the best offerings in the current market for this segment but these materials are seldom used as in mass to manufacture automobiles. The present challenge is going to be all about imparting the NVH resistance as a specific differential attribute to the regular steel products available in the automotive market.
( Mentor: Dr. Sourabh Chatterjee, E-Mail: sourabhchatterjee@tatasteel.com)