Displaying items by tag: Iron slag

Korea: Korean researchers have developed a new cement-producing technology using reduced iron and steel slag.

On 11 March 2014, the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) and the R&D Centre for Valuable Recycling announced that they have succeeded in producing rapid-hardening cement from metal slag reduced during the scrap metal recycling process, adding that the technology is suitable for commercialisation immediately.

Korean authorities bury 720,000t/yr of reduced metal slag in landfills. Using the new technology, Korea will be able to save US$3.79m in reduced slag disposal costs and produce US$254m of rapid-hardening cement. Korea has been relying on imported rapid-hardening cement for more than 80% of its domestic use.

The new technology is also expected to result in a 0.5Mt/yr reduction in CO₂ emissions, as it doesn't require the high-temperature melting of slag that is used in the current rapid-hardening cement manufacturing process. The two organisations added that the world could be supplied with US$6bn of cement if the technology was applied to the 17Mt/yr of reduced metal slag produced globally.