Reuse of the Steel Mill Scale for Sustainable Industrial Applications

Abstract

The purpose of our paper is to assess the reuse potential of the steel mill scale for sustainable industrial applications. We have presented the experimental procedures for chemical and mineralogical characterizations. According to the results of the elementary chemical analysis, the steel mill scale contains the following predominant chemical elements: iron, aluminum, silicon, and magnesium. Due to its high iron content, the steel mill scale can be reused as a source of raw material in the sustainable steelmaking industry. The mineralogical phases identified in the steel mill scale are: wüstite (FeO), hematite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), silica (quartz) (SiO2), magnesioferitte (MgFe2O4), and aluminum oxide (corundum) (Al2O3). Silica, alumina, and hematite are the main compounds of the cement and contribute to the formation of the: dicalcium silicate (2CaO·SiO2), tricalcium silicate (3CaO·SiO2), tricalcium aluminate (3CaO·Al2O3), and tetra—calcium aluminoferrite (4CaO·Al2O3·Fe2O3). The results of the paper are promising and encourage the future research for establishing the optimal percentage for the reuse of the steel mill scale in the composition of concrete.

Keywords

• reuse
• sustainable industry
• steel mill scale
• mineralogical characterization
• industrial wastes
• cement