Displaying items by tag: ground granulated blast furnace slag

Australia: Australian Steel Mill Services (ASMS) and the University of Wollongong have launched an investigation into the possible industrial uses of steel furnace slag (SFS) at the Steel Research Hub in Wollongong, New South Wales. ASMS says that SFS has historically had a lower recyclability than ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) because of its behaviour when hydrated, which potentially includes expanding. The research team believes that SFS might be a possible ingredient for construction materials, including paving slabs. Tests will involve mixtures of SFS with cement, lime, lignosulphonate, coal wash and plastics.

Ireland: Ecocem has launched Superfine, a ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) for use in specialist applications in the European market. The product is a GGBS that has been ground to a very fine particle size. It is intended to be added to other products to improve their strengths in applications such as high performance and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). It can also be used to improve the finish of concrete and reduce the amount of pigment required.

Superfine will be launched across Europe, with the product already being trialled in Abu Dhabi and specified in projects across Ireland. It is designed to be used as a specialist additive in binders, industrial mortars, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) and precast concrete.

Susan McGarry, the managing director of Ecocem Ireland, said “After extensive time in research and development, launching Superfine onto the Irish market is testament to our global range of innovative and sustainable concrete solutions.”

Sri Lanka: Insee Cement has broken ground on its construction of a 45,000m3-capacity storage facility at Hambantota International Port. When commissioned in early 2023, the facility will store ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for use in Insee Cement's cement production. Daily News has reported the cost of the facility's construction as US$3m. At 17,300m2, the Hambantota storage facility will be the largest warehouse at any port in Sri Lanka.

Insee Cement chair and CEO Nandana Ekanayake said "Hambantota Port is a vital link in our raw materials supply chain. Insee Cement has been using this port since 2018 and so far we have cleared around 1.7Mt of bulk cargo through the port, of which we did a little over 1Mt in 2021. Today, we laid this foundation as another step to strengthen our partnership with Hambantota International Port Group." Ekanayake concluded "We see great potential in developing channels through Hambantota International Port and we will double our investment in the future."

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has acquired ABC Broyage, which operates a slag grinding plant in North Dordogne. The producer says that ABC Broyage will import granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) via La Rochelle and supply ground GBFS to its H1 and H2 green cement plants in Bournezeau. This will give Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies self-sufficiency in its raw materials processing.

Co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said “Managing our supply chain has always been one of Hoffmann Green's strategic priorities. After securing our supplies of co-products and their storage, we are now focusing on optimising their processing through the acquisition of ABC Broyage and the development of vertical integration.” Blanchard and Hoffmann noted that, besides strengthening the company’s control over its raw materials supply, ABC Broyage’s slag grinding capacity also secures its margins in the ‘current highly inflationary context.’

UK: A team of researchers from six UK universities has filed a patent for a clinkerless cement product called Cambridge Electric Cement. Local press has reported that the project, called UK Fires, saw researchers successfully produce the cement using renewable power from recycled cement powder and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Following its successes, UK Fires has obtained a further Euro2m in funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to continue its work into the range of concrete wastes suitable for use in Cambridge Electric Cement production.

UK: Tarmac has demonstrated a new concrete product using a high proportion of slag with Align, the joint venture building part of HS2, a new high-speed railway line. It demonstrated the potential to use very high ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) content in excess of 90%, as an alkali activated cementitious material conforming to BS EN197, the standard for cementitious materials allowed to be used in ready mixed concrete, to significantly reduce carbon emissions, whilst still producing a quality finish and allowing normal construction and demoulding times.

Demonstration and testing at full scale used one of three Tarmac concrete batch plants at a Chalfont Lane construction site in Hertfordshire. A structural slab forming part of the new viaduct pre-cast factory and a vertical wall were poured. Tarmac says that the mixes, designed to Align concrete specification, exceeded expectations in both fresh and hardened properties, and showed that the new concrete can be produced in normal concrete plants and placed via mixer truck and by skip with a tremie pipe. The new low carbon concrete has a carbon footprint following industry BSI PAS2050 calculation rules that gives a 62% reduction in CO₂e per cubic metre of concrete, compared to a standard CEM I concrete, meeting the same specification in the same raw materials. The footprint covers all aspects of the concrete production and supply with no carbon off-setting applied, delivering an actual footprint of 133kg/m³ CO₂e. This represents a saving of 220t CO₂e for every 1000m³ produced.

“Together we’ve shown this new concrete is fit for purpose in slabs and walls, with good repeatability and works with standard production and construction methods. This product is a great step along the industry zero carbon routemap, and the demonstration will help accelerate adoption of this new concrete,” said Robert Gossling, head of commercial engineering solutions at Tarmac.

Tarmac is supplying concrete for the construction of the Central 1 section of HS2 Phase One that is being built by Align. This includes a 22km section of high-speed rail infrastructure incorporating a 3km viaduct across the Colne Valley, a 16km twin-bored tunnel, and five vent shafts handling both intervention and tunnel ventilation facilities.

South Korea: Continental New Materials has awarded a granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) supply contract to steel producer POSCO. Continental New Materials applies technology developed at the Ulsan National Institute of Science Technology (UNIST) to produce clinker-free cement.

POSCO's hot rolled and wire rod marketing manager Kim Dae-Up said "We will continue to provide support so that POSCO's steel by-products can become eco-friendly cement materials and contribute further to carbon reduction."

US: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the US sold 17Mt of ferrous slags in 2021, a rise of 31% year-on-year from the estimate in 2020. Blast furnace slag represented about 49% of the volume sold and accounted for 87% of the total value ofslag, most of which was granulated. Steel slag produced from oxygen and electric arc furnaces accounted forthe remainder of sales. Slag was processed by 28 companies servicing active iron and steel facilities or reprocessing old slag piles at about 124 processing plants, including some iron and steel plants with more than one slag-processing facility, in 33 States, including facilities that import and grind unground slag to sell as ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS).

A further 2.2Mt was imported, a slight decline from 2020. From 2017 to 2020 the USGS reports that 42% of imported slag came from Japan, 18% from Brazil, 11% from China and 10% from Italy.

The USGS noted that during 2021, domestic GGBFS remained in limited supply because granulation cooling was known to be available at only two active US blast furnaces while, elsewhere, only one domestic plant produced pelletised slag in limited supply. Grinding of granulated blast furnace slag was only performed domestically by cement companies. However, following Covid-19 related decrease in availability in 2020, supply of steel slag increased in 2021.

UK: Ecocem and construction company Taylor Woodrow have conducted the first pour of the Exegy ultra-low CO₂ concrete at waste management site in London. The mix used on the project is reported to reduce the carbon footprint by up to 70% when compared to traditional concrete. Cemex also collaborated on the project by producing the concrete used for the pour.

The concrete product was developed by Ecocem and Vinci Construction, using Ecocem Ultra, as part of Vinci Construction’s ultra-low carbon concrete range. Ireland-based Ecocem is a producer of cement and additives made using ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Exegy is already being used at a pilot site of the Grand Paris Express and in the construction of the Athletes’ Village in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Micheál McKittrick, managing director, Northern Europe, Ecocem, said, “Our Ecocem Ultra technology is already being used at scale in France, and we’re excited to now see it being adopted in the UK.” He added, “The cement and construction industries are developing and deploying a range of emission reduction technologies to help the UK Government reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, and reach net zero by 2050, and Ecocem will add a further dimension to these efforts.”

UK: Tarmac has started a long-term slag stevedoring contract with Associated British Ports (ABP) at Port Talbot in Wales. The new arrangement at Port Talbot will see ABP load 300,000t/yr of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). The slag will then typically be used in concrete production elsewhere in the UK. The agreement follows other partnerships between Tarmac and ABP at existing ports in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Garston (Liverpool), Southampton and Ipswich.

Andrew Harston, ABP Wales and Short Sea Ports director, said, “ABP continues to invest in its ports’ infrastructure and services, as well as sustainability measures, and we are delighted to win this new contract with Tarmac, which shares our commitments to the highest standards of health and safety, and sustainability.”