Displaying items by tag: slag

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.

France: ArcelorMittal has discussed the role of slag in the circular economy at a recent media event in Paris. Alan Knight, head of corporate responsibility, described how steel plays a key role in the circular economy, at a time when the European Union is debating its Circular Economy Package, which includes revised legislative proposals on waste. He detailed a number of projects at ArcelorMittal that are using waste created during the steelmaking process including turning steelmaking slag into agricultural fertiliser as well as making bioethanol to fuel aeroplanes from waste gases created during the steelmaking process.

“At ArcelorMittal we are active in being involved in a number of different partnerships that look to more fully utilise and exploit the potential from re-using by-products and waste gases. We are fully supportive of the concept of carbon capture and utilisation and convinced that this offers an important long-term opportunity for the reduction of CO₂,” said Knight.

Key topics discussed at the event included the effects of Chinese steelmaking overcapacity upon the European industry. David Clarke, ArcelorMittal’s head of strategy and chief technology officer, said that imports of steel are effectively ‘swallowing’ up a slow increase in European steel consumption since the market crash in 2009. However, Europe Flat Products chief executive officer Geert Van Poelvoorde added that the European steel industry could prosper under the right legislative framework.

India: Kiran Global Chems has launched Geocement, an environmentally-friendly branded cement. The company claims that the product is stronger than Ordinary Portland Cement and that it does not require water for mixing or curing, according to local media.

Geocement is made from Geopowder and Geobinder, other products also made by Kiran Global Chems. Geopowder uses industrial by-products such as fly ash, rice husk ash, slag, activated clay and alumina. At construction sites it can be mixed with the company's proprietary Geobinder liquid and aggregates to make concrete. The company claims that Geocement does not require water curing and attains maximum strength within seven hours. Kiran Global Chems has also launched Geocrete, a Geocement concrete made with its powder and binder for various industrial applications.

"We have started distributing this to the bulk customers, such as builders and now we are launching the brand for retail. We are planning to sell it through e-commerce," said M S Jain, chairman of Kiran Global Chems. The price of Geocement will be slightly higher than normal cement, but it promises lower finished building cost and less construction time and labour. The company intends to target southern Indian states in 2016.

Kiran Global is also preparing a US$29m expansion programme to set up 12 Geobinder units, 12 Geopowder plants, two precast concrete units and four grinding units across the country. The expansion, is intended to cut logistics cost, will result in 4Mt of capacity with a potential turnover of up to US$300m by the 2018 – 2019 financial year. The company has an in-house research and development centre, accredited by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, and has been conducting geopolymer research in collaboration with leading research institutes.

World: The ferrous slag market in 2014 was worth an estimated US$30bn. It is forecast to grow by 1.6% to US$36bn by 2025, according to a new report from Smithers Apex.

'The Future of Ferrous Slag to 2025' examines the factors affecting ferrous slag production to provide a basis for forecasting the quantities likely to be produced up to the year 2025. It looks at current and possible future applications of slag and describes the trends in regulations affecting the market.

The current potential market supply of blast furnace slag is estimated to be 447Mt, of which almost 295 – 300Mt is granulated blast furnace slag (GBS). The making of steel from blast furnace iron through oxygen conversion (or basic oxygen furnace, BOF) contributes a further 140 – 145Mt of slag and the alternative route to steelmaking through electric arc furnaces (EAF) supplies more than 50Mt.

According to the report, the total output of ferrous slag is expected to increase only slowly, or to stagnate and decline marginally, because EAF steelmaking capacity is expected to grow faster than BF-BOF steelmaking capacity. This effect can already be seen in the US, where the tonnage of steel produced by EAF plants overtook the tonnage produced by BF-BOF plants in the 1990s. Since then, further decline in BF-BOF output has led US-cement and aggregate companies to start importing slag and to invest in new coastal slag treatment installations dependent entirely on imported supplies.

Changes in the Chinese steel industry will contribute substantially to this rising share of EAF steel in world supply. China produces half of world crude steel and BF-BOF steelworks account for over 80% of China's steel output. The Chinese government is campaigning to replace small and inefficient steelworks with EAF installations.

In the current market, it is estimated that total production of ferrous slag of all types amounts to US$24.5bn. While it is possible that supply will increase only slowly, if at all, there is growing demand for slag products, which is likely to ensure that the value per tonne of slag products will increase. The growth in demand has been accelerated by environmental legislation and by direct intervention from governments and international bodies.

Demand for slag products has been affected by market cycles. The collapse of construction activity in Europe, as a consequence of the financial crisis, reduced sales of slag for cement and aggregate use. Over the medium term, there is every prospect that demand will outrun supply. Currently GGBS meets only an estimated 17% of global cement supply. Slag products as aggregate substitutes meet only 1 - 1.5% of total demand.

Zambia: BMR Mining has identified a new market for Waelz Kiln slag at its operations in Kabwe, Zambia. The ferro-silicate zinc slag can be used for the construction of building blocks. BMR has produced a test batch of building blocks, using an 80:20 ratio of slag to building sand, which has not resulted in the leaching of either lead or zinc.

BMR will submit an application for approval from Zambia's Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to produce the slag for building and concrete production. The company is submitting an Environmental Project Brief, which is less complex than approval for an Environmental Impact Study. The application will be submitted in November 2015 and is expected to be approved by the end of 2015.

Once the company has received approval, BMR aims to sell the slag locally to limit costs. "We therefore anticipate BMR generating revenue in 2016, following receipt of ZEMA approval, from both the processing of Wash Plant Tailings and the Waelz Kiln Slag," said BMR Chairman and CEO Alex Borrelli. BMR assets in Zambia include the Chingola Tailings, Kabwe Tailings and Ndola projects.