Displaying items by tag: slag

Finland: Betolar has launched Geoprime, an alkali-activated additive for slag and fly ash used in concrete production. The company says that the product will enable concrete production from raw materials with 80% lower CO₂ than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It aims to meet the growing demand for sustainable and cost-effective construction materials. Geoprime enjoys fast global scaling potential thanks to Betolar’s intellectual property licensing business model, which enables the use of existing production facilities, according to the company.

Chief executive offcier Matti Löppönen said “We have seen a massive shift in the concrete manufacturing and construction industries driven by investor pressure for environmental, social and governance data transparency and Net Zero commitments, and now people are keen to hear what we have to offer.”

Russia: The Ministry of Energy has launched its roadmap for the use of slag and ash by the cement industry and in road building. Soyuztsement has reported that the roadmap lists pilot projects for the products’ use. Currently, 5 – 7% of ash and slag waste (ASW) is used. Under its Comprehensive Plan to Increase the Utilisation of Solid Fuel Combustion Products bill, published in mid-2020, the ministry plans to increase the ASW utilisation rate across Russia to 50% by 2035. This amount could cut 6.2Mt/yr of the cement industry’s direct CO2 emissions, corresponding to under 1% of its emissions in 2020. Additionally, it would lead to the production of lighter and reduce the thermal conductivity of concrete.

The bill is due for submission before the Russian parliament in April 2021, followed by a second bill to provide for incentives to slag and ash producers in September 2021.

US: CRH subsidiary Ash Grove Cement says that it is undertaking an upgrade of its Port Manatee, Florida deep water cement terminal to install a high capacity FLSmidth Kovako unloader and modernise existing material transfer and electrical systems, as well as establishing self-loading capabilities. The aim of the upgrade is “to improve Ash Grove’s capacity to import cement clinker, slag and fly ash to meet the existing and future needs of customers in the Florida and South Georgia markets.

Regional president Monica Manolas said, “The underlying fundamentals in the Florida market are positive with good population and employment growth. The upgrade of the Port Manatee import terminal will expand our capabilities and strengthen our ability to meet growing demand in the region.”

The company says that construction will begin in early 2021 and the upgraded terminal will open in late 2021.

Sweden: Construction and engineering conglomerate Peab’s subsidiary Swecem has engaged German-based Gebr. Pfeiffer for the supply of one MVR 2500 C-4 grinding mill at its granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) grinding plant in Oxelösund in Södermanland. The mill has four grinding rollers and a table diameter of 2.5m, giving it a 25t/hr slag grinding capacity.

Swecem operates a concrete plant in Kungsängen. It currently uses ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) supplied by Irish-based Ecocem’s 0.7Mt/yr Dunkirk grinding plant in France.

Sri Lanka: Insee Cement is the first cement company to use the newly diversified Hambantota International Port. Bulk carrier Ithaca Patience docked at Hambantota to discharge 27,150t of slag, according to the EconomyNext. Thusith Gunawarnasuriya, Director of Procurement and Logistics, Insee Cement, the consignee of the slag cargo, said that the company is considering monthly or bi-monthly shipments via Hambantota. Insee Cement has previously used ports at Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle.

US: Residents of Muscatine County, Iowa have asked local government to take action about the use of slag in road construction. The decision follows an investigation by Askew Scientific Consulting into whether heavy metals were present in the slag, according to WQAD television. Data from the study was sent to the Iowa Department of Public Health, which concluded that high levels of manganese might cause adverse health effects from regular exposure to slag and slag dust. The county started using slag to repair and maintain roads in 2008.

Askew Scientific Consulting used samples and data from SSAB, the company that supplies the slag. However, SSAB has said that samples used in the study were taken earlier in the slag-making process, not from slag ready to be used on the road, and pose a limited health risk to people.

Russia: The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) MISiS and Vtoraluminprodukt have launched a pilot installation of a bubbling reactor, using the gas flushing principle, in Mtsensk, Oryol Region on 18 December 2018. The concept is intended to fully process industrial waste, slags and sludge, as well as carbon-containing wastes, including municipal solid waste (MSW) and efficient and environmentally-friendly production of iron and concentrate non-ferrous metals. NUST MISiS says that the furnace is the world's only metallurgical furnace capable of processing iron-containing industrial waste as well as solid waste, simultaneously smelting up to 16,000t/yr of metal and producing electricity.

"The advantage of this technology is that it is non-waste and allows for simple, reliable and environmentally-friendly purification of the exhaust gases. And it also allows combining the processing of metallurgical waste, coal preparation factories and municipal waste of enterprises or settlements that are heated with coal. It is a sort of a universal technology," said Nikolay Shenchenko, member of the Expert Mining Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation for industry and innovation and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Resmet.

Gennadiy Podgorodetskiy, team leader and director of the Innovative Metallurgical Technology Scientific and Educational Centre, said that the slag composition from the pilot furnace can be selected for further processing into slag stone products, thermal insulation slag or be used to make slag cement products.

China: Lushan Conch has completed preparation for a project to use slag and fly ash. The subsidiary of Anhui Conch said that it has completed transport bidding work and had completed an underwriting process to support production usage. The plant is also making arrangements to use synthetic gypsum.

The company surpassed its target of 200,000t for production and sales of cement in September 2018 with 215,300t and 217,700t respectively. 105,800t of the total sales were sold as bulk cement.

Italy: Cemitaly has been allowed to use slag and ash in cement production at its Taranto plant following an investigation, according to the Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper. The former Cementir unit was investigated in 2017 as part of an illegal waste probe that examined whether the Taranto plant purchased ‘illegal’ by-products from Enel and the ILVA steel plant to produce cement.

Russia: NLMK Group has signed a five-year contract for the supply of raw materials, including granulated slag, to Eurocement group. The contract, which runs until the end of 2022, covers an annual supply of up to 5Mt of raw materials for use as primary feedstock and additives for cement production at seven Eurocement plants. The raw materials to be supplied also include iron-containing additives, chalk, clay and limestone screenings.

“NLMK Group has been working with Eurocement for several years, on short-term contracts. This new long-term agreement has taken our partnership to a new level. It will make our relationship more open and structured, simplify clearing and settlement and reduce the risk of changes in the market impacting the supply of materials,” said Ilya Guschin, NLMK Group’s Vice President for Sales.

NLMK and Eurocement are also exploring new ways to use fine steelmaking slag in the construction industry, such as the possible substitution of limestone with slag in the production of clinker.