Literature review

In the developed countries waste products like recycled building rubbles, waste glass, crumb
rubber, quarry waste, shingle waste, sewage sludge, non metallic automotive shredder
residues, as well as industrial by products such us steel slag, filter dust from steelworks,
cement kiln dust, asphalt dust, coal fly ash, coal bottom ash, are widely used in civil
engineering. In the last decades, these waste products are being exploited as alternative
materials that successfully substitute natural raw materials. Re-use of recycled waste
materials and industrial by-products leads to preservation of natural resources, substantial
reduction of landfills load and protection of the terrestrial environment. The use of materials
originating from industial by-products is possible when such materials posses appropriate
technical qualities and are environmentally acceptable. Waste materials and industrial by
products that can be potentially re-used may contain different pollutant like metals and
organic compounds. The toxicity of the pollutant depends not only on its total concentration,
but also on the chemical form and its mobility in the environment.

At present, one of the major waste products of the steelmaking industry is electric-arc-furnace
dust (EAFD), which is generated in significant volumes. EAFD is considered a hazardous
solid waste, because it contains small amounts of lead, arsenic, and chromium oxides that are
evaporated at high temperatures above the steel bath and condensed in the off-gas system.
Because of the extremely fine particles in the EAFD powders, one of their possible
applications is as reinforcing particles in cement.

The EAFD satisfies the international standards to be classified as a set retarder. It complies
with the British Standard BS 5075 Part 1 and ASTM C494 as a retarding admixture. The only
requirement of ASTM C494 for which the EAFD is noncompliant is that the final setting
time is delayed for more than 3.5 hours. This remains the key obstacle preventing wide
acceptance of the material. Recently, the autors experimented with other uses of this material
with promising results. Therefore, the material should move beyond the development stage to
actual utilization. Benefits from such use are many including enhancing concrete
performance in hot weather and contributing to clean environment of otherwise waste-by
product which is classified as environmental hazard
Origin and composition of EAFD

Steel is produced in more than 50 countries and in 2005 approximately 1130 million metric
tons of steel was produced worldwide [1]. Steel is made via two basic routes: a) from raw
materials (iron ore, limestone and coke) by blast and basic oxygen furnaces, and b) from
scrap via the electric arc furnace method [2]. About 45% of the steel produced today is made
with the electric arc furnace method [3]. Electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) is generated in
considerable amounts by the electric arc steelmaking process .During melting in an electric
arc furnace, certain elements volatilize, and after cooling, these elements form a fine
dust.This dust, called EAFD, is collected in a baghouse and amounts to approximately 2% of
the steel produced [3].

The chemical composition of EAFD was investigated by several researchers, and the most
abundant heavy metals in EAFD were found to be Zinc(Zn),Lead(Pb), Chromium(Cr), and
Cadmium(Cd) [4-7]. Because of the leaching potential of the heavy metals it contains, EAFD
has been designated by the European Union (EU), and the EPA (United States Environmental
Protection Agency) as a hazardous waste, which means that it cannot be disposed of at
landfills without treatment.

EAFD can vary greatly in composition depending on the composition of the scrap charge, the
furnace additives used, and the type of steel being manufactured. For example, use of
galvanized steel scrap would increase the zinc content in the EAFD [2]. Zinc content in
EAFD may vary between 7% and 40%, and lead content between 49% [7].

A few typical compositions of EAFD from the USA is given in Table 1. As it is evident from
Table 1, various components are found in various proportions in these materials, however, the
predominant components in common are iron and zinc. Because typically electric arc
furnaces are being used when processing scrap metals and to a lesser degree sponge iron and
the like, the consistency of EAFD components may vary fairly radically and the control
thereof is fairly difficult to maintain unless the entire dust load is mixed so as to disperse
uniformly the various components from fairly numerous mill runs [8].
Table 1: Typical Composition of EAFD [8]

Analysis, % by Weight
Source A Source B Source C
Iron 35.0 32.8-72.9 29.6
Chromium 1.4 0.11-0.18 --
Zinc 3.1 3.9-10.3 26.4
Lead 0.93 2.1-2.4 2.6
Cadmium 0.04 0.04-0.06 --
Calcium 4.7 6.0-6.6 3.5
Manganese 6.2 3.5-5.4 3.5
Magnesium 3.7 1.6-2.1 1.8
Sodium 2.9 0.45-0.66 1.4
Potassium 0.94 0.8-1.0 0.8
Aluminum 0.40 0.22-0.35 0.2
Copper 0.20 0.1-0.2 0.3
Silicon 0 1.1-1.3 1.7

Routes of EAFD disposal

One of the most important problems encountered in steel industry throughout the world is the
management of the dusts produced from the electric arc furnaces. EAFD is listed as a
hazardous waste by regulations in most developed countries because of the presence of
leachable lead and cadmium components. Consequently, the disposal problems which are
associated with disposing EAFD are sizeable and the costs exact a heavy burden on the steel
industry.

Several routes for disposal of EAFD have been investigated by many researchers.
Solidification and stabilization technologies are being used to treat a variety of wastes that
have been previously land filled or dumped, without any form of treatment [9-11].
Solidification is the process of encapsulating wastes, whether as solutions or solids, and
forming a monolithic structure [12]. This structure should have mechanical integrity and thus
be able to take some weight without disintegrating. Solidification does not necessarily reduce
leaching or affect the hazard capacity of the wastes. Solidification sets up a barrier between
waste and the environment, thus limiting permeability of the waste to water and reducing the
surface area available for diffusion. Stabilization is the chemical fixation of undesirable
constituents in a matrix [11,13]. Such a process will efficiently reduce leaching of the
stabilized elements .

Some studies have evaluated EAFD as an admixture in the cement clinker production [14].
Other studies have evaluated the mechanical behavior of the cementitious matrix containing
the EAFD [15-18]. In these studies, it was observed that the samples containing EAFD dust
presented a superior mechanical behavior when compared to the reference samples.
Nevertheless, the EAFD retarded the cement hydration reactions. The main element thought
to be responsible for this phenomenon is zinc [19].

Properties of the other research

Many researchers have been done about EAFD, they did some different observation to using
EAFD as Pavao et al [24] described that additions proved to influence results through time (1,
7, 28, 91 and 180 days), and 15% of EAFD demonstrated greatest mean compressive
strength. After rupture, samples were tested in a leaching procedure, revealing that
concentration of hazardous metals of EAFD where significantly reduced by the alkali-
activation. They did treatment with the use of alkali-activated low calcium fly ash as an eco-
efficient binder and evaluates the effects of EAFD addition to its matrix. Whereas Kim et al
[25] described that Success in recycling depends on how to control compositions and
maintain the allowed purity level in the wastes. They did treatment with Grouping of dust
wastes into three categories and compounding were introduced to raw material preparation
processes for the successful recycling of various dusts.

Pinakidou et al [26] also described that annealing does not induce any significant changes in
the distribution of either Fe or Zn, in both the as-cast and annealed glasses. The -XAFS
spectra recorded at the Fe-K and Zn-K edges reveal that the structural role of both Fe and Zn
remains unaffected by the annealing procedure. More specifically, Fe forms both FeO6 and
FeO4 polyhedra, i.e. acts as an intermediate oxide while Zn occupies tetrahedral sites. They
did treatment with apply synchrotron radiation assisted X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF), SR-
XRF mapping as well as micro- and conventional X-ray absorption fine structure (-XAFS
and XAFS) spectroscopies in order to study the bonding environment of Fe and Zn in
vitrified samples that contain electric arc furnace dust from metal processing industries.
Then Muhmod et al [27] described in his paper that substitution of 20% ground granulated
blast furnace slag with electric arc furnace steel slag does not decrease the strength beyond
28 days. They did treatment which after removing from the electric arc furnace, the liquid
slag was cooled by a combination of spraying water and air. This as received slag from the
steel plant was melted again in a graphite crucible by induction heating in the laboratory.

After that Laforest and duchesne [28] described that both binders can immobilize heavy
metals in the monoliths under dynamic leaching conditions, with cumulative quantity of
leached metal under 0.138 mg (Cr). Alkaline leachant increased metal release from
specimens and reducing the water/solid ratio of the monolith allowed for a decrease in the
cumulative mass of metals leached. They did treatment which EAFD is collected from arc
furnaces where coal and scrap are mixed together at an approximate temperature of 1500 C.

Laforest and duchesne [29] also described that OPC is more effective in fixing Cr at 7 days
(4.7 mg/L in solution) than GGBFS (79.4 mg/L in solution). GGBFS becomes effective with
time and offers a better performance from 56 to 365 days (under 1 mg/L in solution) than
OPC (until 11 mg/L in solution). GGBFS and OPC decreased Zn, Pb and Ni concentrations
in leaching solutions under 2.5 mg/L. They did treatment to The cementitious materials tested
(GGBFS and OPC) were immersed in different solutions made up of various combinations of
heavy metals. The immersion solutions were made up of various combinations of Cr(VI),
Pb(II), Zn(II), Ni(II) and Mo (VI) ions.

Rojas and Sanchez de Rojas [30] described that the nature of these slags has a very high
crystallinity; total absence of pozzolanic activity and the presence of expansive compounds in
slags (Cl _, SO3, free CaO and free MgO) were very low, if not null concentrations. They did
treatment with used Two electric arc furnace black slags (EAS 1 and EAS 2) from different
Spanish steel industries were sifted in order to obtain four granulometric intervals related to
granulometric fractions used normally in the elaboration of concretes.

Previous studies by research team

Extensive researchers have been done in the civil engineering department at king saud
university [20-23 ] The aim of these researches was to investigate the potential use of EAFD
in concrete construction. The investigation revealed that EAFD can be used as a partial
replacement or additive for cement to provide set retardation and enhanced properties
including corrosion inhibiting in concrete formation. Under appropriate conditions, EAFD
confers enhanced properties to the concrete end product. As a result of the observed data,
EAFD may now be simply disposed in an economically and environmentally more attractive
manner. Moreover, benefits result not only from savings in cement usage, but also from
savings in the operation of electric arc furnaces. Additional benefits are realized by
minimizing EAFD disposal problems as it can be now disposed in its raw state [8].

The analysis of the EAFD used in these studies is presented in Table 2. As it is evident from
the analyses in Table 2, there is some variety in the EAFD. However, the components which
affect the properties of the final concrete product are sufficiently present such that the EAFD
may be used for the intended purpose with some adjustments made as are well known to
those skilled in the art, e.g. relating to zinc and the so-called pozzolanic components thereof.

Table 2: Analysis of samples from EAFD used in previous studies [8]

Analysis, % by Weight
Sample Sample Sample Sample
Average
D1 D2 D3 D4
Aluminum (Al) 0.71 0.66 0.69 0.74 0.70
Calcium (Ca) 9.41 9.28 9.30 9.56 9.39
Cadmium (Cd) 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004
Copper (Cu) 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06
Iron (Fe) 33.5 33.3 33.7 33.9 33.6
Potassium (K) 1.73 1.60 1.68 1.77 1.70
Magnesium
2.28 2.27 2.29 2.35 2.30
(Mg)
Manganese
1.80 1.79 1.80 1.82 1.80
(Mn)
Sodium (Na) 2.48 2.63 2.62 2.54 2.57
Nickel (Ni) 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Lead (Pb) 1.30 1.32 1.30 1.30 1.31
Phosphorus (P) 0.13 0.14 0.10 0.14 0.13
Silicon (Si) 2.43 2.34 2.32 2.41 2.38
Tin (Sn) 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03
Sulfur(S) 0.59 0.58 0.56 0.56 0.57
 Titanium (Ti) 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.09
Zinc (Zn) 10.7 10.8 10.7 10.7 10.7

Examples of the superior performance of EAFD concrete at high temperatures ( 40o C ) are
shown in Figs.1 and 2 [22]. The capability of EAFD to retain the slump with time, even at
high temperatures, is clearly demonstrated in Fig.1. The effect of EAFD on the early
development of compressive strength at 7 days and on the compressive strength at 28 days is
illustrated in Fig.2. The addition of EAFD by 2% of cement weight increased the 28-day
compressive strength by about 4 MPa .

These are significant findings considering the extreme hot weather in the Middle East where
the day time temperature during summer months exceeds 40o C

250

200

150

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200
Elapsed Time, Minutes

Fig.1 Effect of Temperature on the Variation of Slump

with Elapsed Time for oncrete with 2% EAFD
 40
Control( 0% EAFD ) 2% EAFD

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
7-day 28-day

Fig.2 Compressive Strength for Control and EAFD Concretes

o
at 40 C Concrete Temperature

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