Author(s)

F Mazzanti, L Cunico, G Dircetti, M Dondi & G Guarini

Abstract

The feasibility of steel slag recycling in bricks was assessed through laboratory trials on three different typologies of wastes and clay bodies. The use of slag, previously ground below 3 mm, is substantially possible for additions of 2-3% without particular hindrances of technological nature. Additions of up to 5-6% seem to be practicable, even though with a porosity increase and a deterioration of the mechanical properties of both unfired and fired products. Larger amounts of slag are decidedly inadvisable for the changes in the chemical and physical characteristics of products. 1 Introduction The disposal and exploitation of steel production residues are still unresolved problems, not only because of the large quantities involved (over 2 million tons a year in Italy alone), but also because of the variety of waste materials produced, that come from different processing phases (melt scorification, dust abatement, etc.) and depending on the technology (electric arc furnaces, crown furnaces, etc) and the type of steel (common, stainless, special) have different chemical and physical properties [l-21. To date, current know-how has not yet found solutions that may effectively be applied to the steelworks sector, and that would allow for a true recovery of the waste products, that are now mainly dump to disposal sites. Previous studies concerned the potential use of steel slags have been only applied to cementitious material [3-51. The aim of this research has been basically to assess the feasibility of recycling steel slags in brick production. The

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