12-24-2013, 07:01 AM
In the present scenario, as a result of continuous growth in population, rapid industrialization and the accompanying technologies involving waste disposal, the rate of discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere, copper slag is one of the industrial waste which comes out from blast furnace during metal extraction process.
Copper slag is produced as a by-product of metallurgical operations in reverberatory furnaces. Originally imported from Japan, copper slag was used as an abrasive material for removing rust and marine deposits from ships through sandblasting. After repetitive recycling and reuse, the copper slag lost its original abrasive property and with no good use thereafter and was disposed in landfills. However, there were environmental concerns about the leaching of heavy metals into soil and ground-water, and hence were dumped in landfill sites in the distant island of Pulau Semakau for decades which again had very little room for further landfills.
Holcim Singapore found a novel way of encapsulating this waste into concrete thereby not only removing the environmental concern but also finding a value-added and meaningful substitute for natural sand. Copper slag is totally inert material and its physical properties are similar to natural sand. A laboratory study was carried out in the Institute to investigate the potential of using copper slag as a partial replacement of sand in cement concrete. The use of copper slag in cement and concrete provides potential environmental as well as economic benefits for all related industries, particularly in areas where a considerable amount of copper slag is produced. In many countries, there is a scarcity of natural aggregate that is suitable for construction, whereas in other countries the consumption of aggregate has increased in recent years, due to increases in the construction Industry. In order to reduce depletion of natural aggregate due to construction, artificially manufactured aggregate and some industrial waste materials can be used as alternatives.
Thus our project is to utilize the copper slag by the replacement for fine aggregate for maintaining economy and increasing the strength of concrete. By this project we can also solve the problem of disposal of this type of industrial waste. Different types of slag according to the property can be utilized in different purposes.
Copper slag is produced as a by-product of metallurgical operations in reverberatory furnaces. Originally imported from Japan, copper slag was used as an abrasive material for removing rust and marine deposits from ships through sandblasting. After repetitive recycling and reuse, the copper slag lost its original abrasive property and with no good use thereafter and was disposed in landfills. However, there were environmental concerns about the leaching of heavy metals into soil and ground-water, and hence were dumped in landfill sites in the distant island of Pulau Semakau for decades which again had very little room for further landfills.
Holcim Singapore found a novel way of encapsulating this waste into concrete thereby not only removing the environmental concern but also finding a value-added and meaningful substitute for natural sand. Copper slag is totally inert material and its physical properties are similar to natural sand. A laboratory study was carried out in the Institute to investigate the potential of using copper slag as a partial replacement of sand in cement concrete. The use of copper slag in cement and concrete provides potential environmental as well as economic benefits for all related industries, particularly in areas where a considerable amount of copper slag is produced. In many countries, there is a scarcity of natural aggregate that is suitable for construction, whereas in other countries the consumption of aggregate has increased in recent years, due to increases in the construction Industry. In order to reduce depletion of natural aggregate due to construction, artificially manufactured aggregate and some industrial waste materials can be used as alternatives.
Thus our project is to utilize the copper slag by the replacement for fine aggregate for maintaining economy and increasing the strength of concrete. By this project we can also solve the problem of disposal of this type of industrial waste. Different types of slag according to the property can be utilized in different purposes.