ArcelorMittal Brazil said this week it is supporting research for the use of ladle furnace slag as a binder material for civil construction at an industrial scale. The research was led by civil engineer Luiza Borges Marinho and had the support of ArcelorMittal Brazil.
The technical feasibility of the byproduct has already been proven for use as binder for mortars in the replacement of lime. The ladle furnace slag (LFS) is a byproduct of the secondary steel refining and is mainly composed of calcium and calcium magnesium silicates. ArcelorMittal said its longs operations in Brazil generate about 42,000 mt of LFS per year.
“The research opens up space to reduce the waste of the residue, bringing more environmental gains and generating financial results for the company,” said Sandro Almada, environment and byproducts specialist at ArcelorMittal Brazil.
The study was published at the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering of the American Society of Civil Engineers.