FEHS BUILDING MATERIALS INSTITUTE

Cement of the future

Ferrous slags, by-products of steel production, have been used as secondary raw materials in building materials for decades. This avoids CO2 emissions on a large scale and conserves natural resources. However, the gradual transformation of the steel industry has also resulted in radical changes to the by-products. New slags have to be developed which not only perform the necessary metallurgical work but also have the usual positive technological, economic and ecological properties. This is where the “Save CO2” research project launched in May 2021 by FEhS – Institute for Building Materials Research together with the joint partners from the steel and cement industry thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG and HeidelbergCement AG as well as the research institutes Institute for Technologies of Metals at the University of Duisburg-Essen and Fraunhofer Umsicht comes in. The aim is to develop latent hydraulic binders, comparable to today’s granulated blast furnace slag, or alternative pozzolans on the basis of the new slags, particularly for cement production. The project, which is being carried out under the “KlimPro-Industrie” funding program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is scheduled to run for four years.

Thomas Reiche, Managing Director of the FEhS Institute: “The coming conversion of German steel production to a direct reduction/electro smelting route will also lead to chemically and mineralogically completely changed by-products, the properties of which are largely unknown to date. Under the leadership of the FEhS Institute, “Save CO2” aims to produce high-quality slags by melting directly reduced iron (DRI). The most important thing here is to take an overarching view of the entire CO2 footprint of future steel and cement production and not to draw the system boundary too narrowly.”

www.fehs.de | www.rohstoff-schlacke.de

x

Related articles:

Issue 6/2022 FEHS BUILDING MATERIALS INSTITUTE

Research project “DRI-EOS”: New electric furnace slag for CO2-reduced cement

With its SALCOS program, Salzgitter AG is a pioneer in low-CO2 steel production and has thus taken a leading role in decarbonization.  Due to the new low CO2 process route via direct reduction of...

more
Issue 6/2021 FEHS BUILDING MATERIALS INSTITUTE

The knowledge of valuable secondary raw materials

“Let your actions keep pace with your knowledge,” says a Chinese proverb. This also applies to efficient and sustainable management. It is true that iron slag, a by-product from the steel industry,...

more
Issue 4/2022 FEHS BUILDING MATERIALS INSTITUTE

High-temperature-resistant concrete with iron mill slags

Concrete components for many industrial processes, for example in steel or cement production, are exposed to the highest stresses. These include permanent or recurring extreme temperatures of up to...

more
Issue 7/2021 FEHS BUILDING MATERIALS INSTITUTE

Demand for iron slag to remain high in 2020 

Demand for iron mill slag in Germany was again high last year. Due to the pandemic and the resulting decline in crude steel production to 35.7 million t, only 10.9 million t of iron slag were produced...

more
Issue 03/2024 FEHS

Steelworks slag instead of natural stone in concrete

FEhS Institute research project on industrial aggregates Blast furnace slag has been used as an aggregate in concrete for around 100 years. They replace natural rock and contribute to resource...

more