Specialized metallurgical processes – compositions for use therei – Processes – Consolidating metalliferous material by agglomerating,...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-13
2002-01-01
King, Roy (Department: 1742)
Specialized metallurgical processes, compositions for use therei
Processes
Consolidating metalliferous material by agglomerating,...
C075S751000, C065S019000, C106S705000, C106S714000, C106S737000, C106SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334885
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of solidifying a steel-making slag, and more particularly to a technique of mixing a powdery and granular steel-making slag that is produced in large quantities as a by-product of steel-making, with a substance containing at least about 30% by weight of SiO
2
, such as the fine powder of granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, or the like, and to the material formed thereby. The SiO
2
-containing substance is generated in large quantities during the combustion of coal in a coal thermal power plant and has hitherto been almost wasted. The solidified product of the mixture can be utilized as roadbed materials, building and civil engineering materials, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a continuous steelworks using a blast furnace, a converter, etc., in addition to molten iron and molten steel, a large amount of so-called “smelting slag” is generated. Efforts to utilize such a slag as roadbed materials, etc., have been made for many years. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 59205/1975 proposes a technique of adding sodium hydroxide, etc., to a granulated blast furnace slag (obtained as fine granules by quenching the slag in a molten state by spraying high-pressure water thereon) and subjecting the mixture to a hydrothermal treatment at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure to increase the hardening capacity thereof and solidify the mixture. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 017247/1988 proposes a technique of adding an alkali stimulant made of slaked lime or cement to a mixed powder of powdery blast furnace slag and fly ash followed by curing in an autoclave to solidify the mixture. By employing such a technique, the utilization of blast furnace slags as roadbed materials has been possible to some extent.
On the other hand, with the recent advancement of steel making techniques, steel-making slag has taken on increasingly complicated chemical composition and characteristics. Thus, present-day steel-making slags include a molten iron pre-treated slag generated in a so-called “molten iron pre-treatment” for initially removing silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur from molten iron prior to a steel making step, converter slag and electric furnace slag formed by oxygen smelting molten iron in a converter or an electric furnace, melt reducing furnace slag generated in the case of directly melt-reducing chromium ore and the like with a carbon material for producing stainless steel by a converter at a low cost, secondary refining slag generated in the case of separately treating molten steel from a converter for increasing the quality of the steel material (the treatment is called secondary refining and includes vacuum degassing, ladle refining, etc.), and stainless steel slag generated by refining stainless steel and the like. Because free-CaO exists unavoidably in these slags, which is powdered after being expanded by hydration or carbonation thereof, when such a steel-making slag is solidified as is, the slag cannot be used as roadbed materials or building and civil engineering materials.
Accordingly, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 253349/1996 proposes subjecting free-CaO to an aging treatment for physically and chemically stabilizing free-CaO (after adding a silica-based or silica-alkali-based substance such as a waste material of cement or concrete to free-CaO, exposing the mixture to steam, warm water, or air for a long period of time). Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 259946/1996 discloses a technique of using a steel-making slag or a molten iron pre-treated slag subjected to a magnetic separation treatment and a stabilization treatment as a roadbed materials, etc., together with a coarse-ground solid material obtained by mixing coal ash or excavation dirt. This technique effectively utilizes slag subjected to an aging treatment as a steel-making slag roadbed material together with a large amount of other waste material (coal ash or excavation dirt). Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 152364/1998 proposes a technique of using a steel-making slag as an aggregate, combining the slag with cement, fine powder of a granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, silica fume, etc., as a binder, and hardening the combined mixture by natural or steam curing under atmospheric pressure or by an autoclave treatment.
However, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 253349/1996, merely prevents the expansion of a steel-making slag and the resultant formation of powder, but the strength of the slag after aging is insufficient as compared with macadam, etc. Therefore, such a slag could only be utilized as a temporary roadbed material or as building and civil engineering materials. Also, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 259946/1996, requires using the slag together with a large amount of a waste material (coal ash or excavation dirt) and there is the drawback that a large amount of the steel-making slag itself cannot be treated. Furthermore, in the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 152364/1998, a steel-making slag can be used as an aggregate without applying aging but there are problems that the amount of steel-making slag that can be used is small and, on the other hand, the amount of fly ash to be mixed therewith, generated in large quantities in a coal thermal power plant, becomes too small. Also, as is seen from the examples of the technique, converter slag is used separately as a coarse aggregate and a fine aggregate and despite the fact that the slag is used as a coarse aggregate up to about 59%, the strength remains insufficient.
As mentioned above, the effective utilization of a steel-making slag has not yet been realized because of the technical difficulties, and therefore the stockpiles of slag continue increasing in steelworks. Accordingly, the effective utilization of steel-making slags is highly desirable. Also, regarding the substances containing at least about 30% by weight of SiO
2
, such as fly ash and granulated blast furnace slag generated in large quantities in other places, the effective utilization thereof is desired as well.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Objects of this invention are to provide a method of solidifying a steel-making slag capable of reliably and efficiently solidifying powdery and granular steel-making slag as an inorganic material useful as roadbed materials, building and civil engineering materials, etc., and also capable of effectively utilizing. a substance containing at least about 30% by weight of SiO
2
, such as fly ash generated in large quantities in coal thermal power plants, most of which is wasted at present.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For achieving the above-described objects, the present inventors have made various investigations, by paying special attention to kneading powdery and granular steel-making slag with a substance containing at least about 30% by weight of SiO
2
, such as fly ash and fine powder of a granulated blast furnace slag, in the presence of water, and by carrying out a heat treatment in high-pressure steam (for example, autoclave curing), of the treatment conditions, the properties of the treated material, the crystal texture, etc.
As a result, it has been found that when a steel-making slag containing at least about 50% by weight of powdery steel-making slag having a particle size of not greater than about 5 mm is mixed with at least one member selected from the group consisting of fly ash and blast furnace slag, and they are reacted by heating in the presence of water or in a high-pressure steam atmosphere, a tobermorite phase (5CaO·6SiO
2
·5H
2
O) is formed and the tobermorite phase contributes to the stabilization of said slag and increases the slag strength after solidification.
Also, it has been found that in the mixture of the steel-making slag with the fine powder of granulated blast furnace slag, there is a latent hydraulic property that the fine powder of the granulated blast furnace slag is hardened by itself in the presence of an alkali stimulant and water may be utilized. In this c
Fukushima Yasumasa
Kumagai Masato
Matsunaga Hisahiro
Nakagawa Makiko
Takagi Masato
Kawasaki Steel Corporation
King Roy
McGuthry-Banks Tima
Young & Thompson
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