Processing and utilization of metallurgical slags

Metallurgy and foundry industry create a huge amount of slags that are by-products by production of pig iron, steel and cast iron. Slags are produced in a very large amount in pyrometallurgical processes, and are huge sources of waste if not properly recycled and utilized. With rapid growth of industrialization, the available land for land-filling of large quantity of metallurgical slags is reducing all over the world and disposal cost becomes increasingly higher. Metallurgical slags from different metallurgical processes are treated and utilized in different ways based on the different slag characteristics. The most economic and efficient option for reducing the metallurgical waste is through recycling, which is a significant contribution to saving natural resources and reducing CO2 emissions characteristic of slags and their treatment and utilization are given in the paper. Slags from pig iron and steel production are used most frequently in building industry. From experiments using blast furnace slag and granulated blast furnace slag as grave an water glass as binder follows that the best results – the best values of compression strength and tensile strength were reached by using of 18% of water glass as solidification activating agent. according to cubic compression strength, mixture from 50% blast furnace gravel, 50% granulated blast furnace slag and 18% water glass falls into C35/45 class of concretes. This concrete also fulfils strength requirements for road concrete, it even exceeds them considerably and therefore it could find an application in construction of road communications or in production of concrete slabs.