Recycling waste from steel making
The project evaluated the requirements and potential for processing by-products from the steel industry using the Zero waste (ZEWA) process. The metal and mineral content can be recovered and re-used in the steel and cement making industries. These activities help to conserve energy and raw materials as well as land used to bury the huge quantities of solid residues generated by the steel industry and related sectors. The process also reduces the level of CO2 emissions being released to the atmosphere. The consortium included partners from the steel, scrap metal and cement industries and from coal-based power plants in Eastern Europe. The project used the ZEWA process to deal with slag from steel making and other awkward wastes such as scrap residues and dust. The process can convert industrial waste into hot metal, hydraulic binders for cement production, desulphurisation powders and material for road construction. It is based on high temperature smelting reduction reactions undertaken in a specially designed electrically heated reactor. The ZEWA procedure was considered a good solution for the processing of slag from steel production into a marketable product and for the recovery of chromium, nickel and molybdenum. It also enables all by-products to be dealt with in a single installation. However, the recovered hot metal requires reprocessing prior to recycling in the converter due to the high phosphorous content. The team studied annual production figures and costs for landfill and processing of waste material in conjunction with relevant legislation at the local and European level. They then selected a number of steel plants as potential sites for carrying out the processing of by-products. Work undertaken by the AVOID SOLID BY-PRODUCTS AND CO2 team will aid the development of new industrial activity based on the treatment of by-products and recycling. The jobs created will no longer be noisy, dirty and low-skilled involving the handling and transport of waste material. The new positions will require skilled workers in clean, quiet, state-of-the-art plants, which will help to ensure the sustainable development of traditional heavy industry and protection of the environment.
