Home About Technologies Industries Innovation Sustainability Contact Blog
DPIIT-Recognised Startup · Certificate No. DIPP230341

Precision Chemistry for Iron & Steel Industries

Specialty additives designed to reduce fuel consumption, optimize raw material utilization, and lower carbon intensity.

Explore Our Technologies Request a Trial
📋PCI Additive: 6-month pilot order confirmed
🏭Active trials: DRI, Blast Furnace & Agglomeration
DIPP230341
DPIIT Recognition · Government of India
Proprietary Formulations
(Developed through in house & collaborative R&D)
Patented Novel Process
for recovery of Iron from Mill Scale
Active Industrial Pilots
(PCI Coal and DRI Coal Additives)

Technology Platforms

Precision additives engineered for specific plant operations — each platform addresses a defined problem, with validated results.

⚡

DRI Coal Additives

DRI / Sponge Iron
Problem Solved

Rotary kilns in sponge iron plants consume large volumes of coal with suboptimal combustion efficiency and high volatile matter losses.

Approach

Precision chemical formulation applied at ~1% dosing on input coal — improves ignitibility, carbon burn-out, and energy release characteristics of the coal.

Validated Benefit

Reduced coal consumption per tonne of DRI; improved reduction efficiency; lower ash gangue carry-over.

🔥

PCI Coal Additives

Blast Furnace
Problem Solved

Blast furnace PCI operations seek to reduce coke rates while maintaining reduction performance — but coal injection comes with combustion penalties.

Approach

Ultra-low dosing (~0.1% on PCI coal) modifies coal pore structure and reactivity, improving flame stability, ensures more efficient combustion in the BF resulting in lower LOI in the BF Flue dust.

Validated Benefit

2 kg/thm coke rate reduction in validated plant trials. 6-month pilot order received.

🏭

Sinter Plant Fuel Additives

Sinter
Problem Solved

Coke breeze is the costliest input in sintering — inefficiencies directly inflate production cost per tonne of sinter.

Approach

Spray-applied catalyst on conveyor-fed coke breeze, compatible with air-atomising nozzle dosing systems. No process hardware modification required.

Validated Benefit

Reduced coke breeze consumption per tonne of sinter; improved combustion behaviour; better sinter quality.

🧪

Coke Oven Additives

Coke Making
Problem Solved

Coke quality variability — CSR, CRI, and bulk density — affects blast furnace performance and downstream operating costs.

Approach

Coal blend modifiers, moisture management chemistry, stamp charge optimisation, and organic polymer coating systems.

Validated Benefit

Improved CSR, reduced CRI, more consistent coke quality; better charge behaviour and pushing performance.

🔗

Agglomeration Binders

Ferro Alloys / Mining
Problem Solved

Bentonite and molasses-based binders introduce sulphur, moisture sensitivity, and inconsistent green strength in pellets and briquettes.

Approach

Next-generation organic binder systems for chrome ore pelletising, ferrochrome briquetting, LD sludge briquetting, BF flue dust cold bonding, and DRI fines recovery.

Validated Benefit

Sulphur-free operation; improved drop strength and process consistency; cleaner, higher-performance agglomerates.

♻️

SACA — Steel Additives for Circular Application

Patent-Protected
Problem Solved

India generates ~3.2–3.3 MT/yr of mill scale — an iron-rich waste stream with disposal cost and environmental liability.

Approach

Patent-protected formulation that enables high-rate mill scale iron recovery in induction furnace operations — converting a waste stream into a value-creating input.

Validated Benefit

Eliminates mill scale disposal cost; reduces primary iron input; circular economy story. Patent-protected formulation validated at major Indian steel plants.

🔬

nCarb™ Nano Carbon Platform

Emerging / R&D
Problem Solved

Carbon enhancement in metallurgical processes offers meaningful performance gains but lacks practical delivery chemistry.

Approach

Nano-carbon liquid additive systems targeting carbon interaction chemistry in coal and coke applications.

Validated Benefit

Research and early pilot validation stage. Potential applications in coke quality improvement and coal reactivity enhancement.

Industries We Serve

ACL's technologies are engineered for the sectors where process chemistry translates most directly into cost and sustainability outcomes.

🏗️

Iron & Steel — Integrated

Blast furnaces, sinter plants, coke ovens, and rolling mills — the core of integrated steelmaking.

Products: PCI additive · Sinter additive · Coke oven technologies · SACA
⚙️

Coal-Based DRI / Sponge Iron

Rotary kiln operations in the DRI cluster — coal consumption is the single largest variable cost.

Products: DRI coal additive
⚡

Ferro Alloys

Ferrochrome, ferromanganese, and silicomanganese smelters — high-energy, high-cost operations.

Products: Ferrochrome briquetting binders · Chrome ore pellet binders
⛏️

Mining & Mineral Processing

Chrome ore, iron ore, and manganese ore — agglomeration and pelletising across the mining supply chain.

Products: Agglomeration binders · Pellet feed additives
🔥

Coke Making

By-product coke ovens, non-recovery ovens, and heat recovery ovens — process chemistry for quality and yield.

Products: Coke oven additives · Moisture management · CSR/CRI improvement
🔗

Agglomeration Plants

Pelletising, briquetting, sintering, and cold bonding — where fine concentrates become processable inputs.

Products: Full agglomeration binder portfolio · DRI fines recovery

Innovation & R&D

Every product is developed through a structured pathway from laboratory to scale-up — validated under real plant conditions before commercial commitment.

Trial-to-Deployment Process

01
Laboratory Screening
Formulation development and bench-scale evaluation.
02
Pilot Trials
Controlled small-scale validation in simulated conditions.
03
Industrial Validation
Full-scale plant trials with operations teams.
04
KPI Benchmarking
Measurement against agreed plant performance parameters.
05
Scale-Up Optimisation
Dosing fine-tuning, logistics design, and commercial deployment.

R&D Focus Areas

🧬
Metallurgical Chemistry
Coal, coke, and iron oxide interaction chemistry — formulation science with industrial application.
🔗
Functional Polymers
Organic binder systems and process modifiers for agglomeration and steelmaking.
⚡
Process Catalysts
Combustion enhancement and reactivity modification for improved process efficiency.
🧪
Nano-Carbon Systems
Carbon enhancement chemistry via the nCarb™ platform — research and early pilot stage.
🌿
Sustainable Additives
Low-footprint, bio-derived, or bio-compatible chemistry with minimal environmental footprint.
♻️
Circular Economy Solutions
Waste stream valorisation — mill scale, flue dust, LD sludge, DRI fines recovery.
🔐

Intellectual Property

✓Patent filed for SACA (mill scale iron recovery) technology
✓Proprietary formulations — trade-secret protected across all product lines
✓SACA formulation validated at major Indian steel plants — patent-protected intellectual property.
✓Group company having joint patent with Tata Steel on coke making polymers

Decarbonisation Impact

ACL believes the most practical and fastest path to decarbonisation in heavy industry runs through the efficiency of existing operations — improved via scientifically engineered, low-dose additives.

💰

Cost Reduction First

ACL's products are commercially viable on their cost-savings merits — decarbonisation is a by-product, not a precondition.

⚡

Lower Carbon Intensity

Reduced coal and coke consumption directly lowers CO₂ output per tonne of steel. Aligns with India's Green Steel Taxonomy and EU CBAM priorities.

♻️

Circular Economy

SACA turns mill scale — a 3.2 MT/yr Indian waste stream — back into an iron input. Agglomeration binders enable waste fines recovery.

🏭

No Capex Burden

Retrofit dosing into existing plant configurations — no new infrastructure, no process redesign, no capital outlay for the customer.

🌱

ACL's additive technologies are designed to deliver measurable performance gains today — with sustainability benefits that scale as Indian and global carbon frameworks tighten.

The Team

ACL is led by directors with deep experience in steel, mining, industrial chemistry, and project execution.

Rajeev Maheshwari

Rajeev Maheshwari

Director
B.Tech (Hons.) Mining, IIT Kharagpur

Mining and industrial infrastructure professional with nearly 15 years at Tata Steel across mining operations, technical advisory, and raw material marketing.

→IIT Kharagpur — Mining
→15 years Tata Steel
→₹700 Cr+ project execution
Binod Sharma

Binod Sharma

Director — Technical and R&D
National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE Mumbai)

Seasoned industrial entrepreneur with 30+ years in specialty chemicals, mineral Beneficiation, and industrial materials. Joint patent holder with Tata Steel.

→30+ years industrial experience
→Joint patent with Tata Steel
→NITIE Mumbai — Materials Management
LS

Lalit Sharma

Director
Post-Graduate Degree in Information Technology

Industry veteran with 23 years of experience across the Iron and Steel sector. Proven track record in market innovation and new product launch.

→23 years Iron & Steel sector
→Strategic project planning
→Market innovation & new product launch
Vibhor Sharma

Vibhor Sharma

Director (Marketing & Business Development)
B.Tech, MAHE · PGDM XIM Bhubaneswar (Gold Medalist)

DPIIT-registered startup director driving market strategy and commercialisation for specialty chemicals. Expert in translating technical innovations into scalable commercial partnerships.

→B.Tech, MAHE
→PGDM XIM Bhubaneswar (Gold Medalist)
→Management Diploma, IESEG France

Start a Conversation

Ready to explore a trial or want to understand how ACL's additives could work in your plant? Reach out — our team will respond within one business day.

📍
Location
India — Serving steel plants nationwide
📧
🏢
DPIIT-Recognised Startup

Certificate No. DIPP230341 · Government of India