What is Steel Slag?

About Steel Slag:

• Steel slag is an industrial byproduct obtained from the steel manufacturing industry.
• It is produced in large quantities during steel-making operations that use electric arc furnaces.
• It can also be produced by smelting iron ore in a basic oxygen furnace.
• Primarily, slag consists of calcium, magnesium, manganese and aluminium silicates and oxides in various combinations.
• The cooling process of slag is responsible mainly for generating different types of slags required for various end-use consumers

Applications of Steel Slag

• It has found use as a barrier material remedy for waste sites where heavy metals tend to leach into the surrounding environment.
• Steel slag forces the heavy metals to drop out of solution in water run off because of its high oxide mineral content.
• It has been used successfully to treat acidic water discharges from abandoned mines.
• It can replace coarse aggregate due to a higher impact and crushing strength, better anti-skid capacity.

Q1: What is a blast furnace?

It is a large structure in which iron ore is heated under pressure so that it melts and pure iron metal separates out and can be collected

Source: International Conference on Steel Slag Road: Member (Science) Niti Aayog, Dr.V.K.Saraswat releases the Guidelines for Utilization of Steel Slag in Road Construction