Ambient weathering of steelmaking ladle slags

Abstract

During cooling and permanence outside, the solidified slag involved in the refinement process taking place in the steelmaking ladles suffers attack by environmental components such as water vapor and gaseous CO2 (weathering). The reactions involved are hydration and carbonation, and as a consequence, the pulverization of the slag occurs. In the present paper, the results of a study of the degradation of a typical steelmaking ladle slag over a period of eighteen weeks (126 days) are reported. To monitor the slag evolution, several experimental techniques were used, some of them rarely employed in this context, after dividing the initial slag batch in four granulometric fractions between > 7.2 mm and < 1.4 mm: granulometry by sieving, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric (TGA) and thermal differential (DTA) analyses. As was already known, the main elements responsible for the slag degradation are free lime, followed by calcium aluminates and magnesia. It was also found that anhydrous and hydrated calcium aluminates are concentrated in the finest granulometric fractions and contribute to the generation of fines mainly during the final stage of hydration. The high percentage of particles smaller than 1.4 mm, with cementitious properties provided mainly by the presence of anhydrous calcium aluminates, are promising characteristics for alternative reusing of the studied ladle slag. Furthermore, slag weathering mechanisms are critical for understanding other steelmaking processes in which the slag is deeply involved, such as the protective role of the remaining thin slag layer against decarburation of ladle or converter working lining refractory bricks.