Ferrous slag, a by-product in the production of pig iron and steel, is a high-quality, economical and versatile raw material. Processed into ground granulated blast furnace slag, aggregate, or lime-rich fertiliser, it has been used in the construction industry and in agriculture for decades.
The FEhS Building Materials Institute in Duisburg, located in the centre of Europe and at the heart of the steel industry, is the first address in Europe for research, testing and consulting in relation to ferrous slag, construction materials and fertilisers. As a state-of-the-art service provider, our experts, network and Construction Competence Forum make us a desirable partner for our members, and for customers from around the world.
The future in view
Iron and steel slags have not only been processed into high-grade and quality-tested quality products for many decades – in its production the secondary raw material also replaces natural rock to a large extent and reduces CO2 emissions.
Resource efficiency, sustainability of products and a climate-friendly recycling economy are increasingly coming into focus. These are major challenges of our time, which we at the FEhS Institute with our more than 70 years of experience are addressing intensively. For example, today we are already conducting research into the slags of tomorrow that will result from the decarbonisation of the steel industry.
In this way, we are making an important contribution to economic and ecological development and consolidating our leading role in the future.
More about slag at
www.rohstoff-schlacke.de
If one were to make a heap of all the ferrous slag used in Germany since 1949 – over a billion tonnes – it would be 600 metres in diameter and 2,900 metres high, making it the same size as the highest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze.
Through the use of granulated slag in place of Portland cement clinker in cement, the emission of 192 million tonnes of CO2 could have been avoided since 1949.
*Note: This figure is lower than that previously stated for the entire period due to the recalculation of the proportionate CO2 emissions from the blast furnace process, which are added to the granulated slag in accordance with EN 15804, and taking into account the progress made in clinker production