planetMUCH has been written and spoken, about theenvironment and the impact of human activity. Inall of this, there are extremes of view, from thosewho would believe that the world is in imminentdanger of destruction through global warming,through to those who want to debate the scienceunderpinning such claims. Whilst we may debateglobal warming, there is no doubt that humanactivity does have an impact. There is a greaterappreciation of environmental impact of humanendeavour at least in the developed countries. Thenotion of Ecologically Sustainable Development(ESD) emphasises that there must be a balancebetween human activity and the longer termimpact on the planet.

In this issue of Connections, the articlesshowcase slags success in construction applications,whilst contributing to Ecologically SustainableDevelopment (ESD). The recent Concrete Instituteof Australia (CIA) conference – Concrete '99reviewed in this edition chose as its theme “Ourconcrete environment”. Papers outlined implications ofsustainable development for the concrete andconstruction industry.

For quite a number of years now, the benefits of

using high slag cements to enhance the durabilityof structures has been recognised. One of the mostrecent examples, the Sydney Airport Link Tunnelreceived the coveted Kevin Cavanagh MedalAward from the CIA for excellence in ConcreteStructures.

By definition, slag is “the more or less completelyfused and vitrified matter separated during the reduction of ametal from its ore”. Our article "Slag’s ain’t Slag’s" setsout to explain the range of products that fit underthis generic term. Whilst most written material isabout slags from the production of Iron and Steel,the article identifies other industries which alsoproduce slags.

Innovation is no stranger to the Slag industry.Recent research on alkali activation of groundgranulated slag has yielded promising earlystrength results. Solutions proposed by this workare more practical than those usually offered theactivation of cementitious materials without the useof Portland Cement.

A new granulation facility at Port Kemblareplaces capacity lost with the closure of primaryproduction at Newcastle and provides for growthof the slag cement market. c

TRANSFIELD BOUYGUES Joint Venture thedesigner and construction company for the SydneyAirport Link, will complete 10 kilometers ofunderground railway with four undergroundstations located between Central Station and theEast Hills Line early in the year 2000. This will alsoprovide the much needed connections between theDomestic and International Air Terminals.

Valued at over $700 million the projectrepresents another fine example of the suitability ofslag cement to very stringent criteria for concreteperformance. Slag cement was used to manufacture24,600 tunnel segments for construction of the 6km of tunnel lining through the southern soft-ground section.

The tunnel segments must withstandexposure to many ground environments,including saline ground water and organicmatter. Given the aggressive sediments a blended

Ecologically Sustainable Development –the key to our planet’s future. EDITORIAL

Connections is published by ASA

The Australasian Slag Association

Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia

Ph: 02 4225 8466

Fax: 02 4229 8901

Email: info@asa-inc.org.au

Web: www.asa-inc.org.au

Publisher ASA inc.

Development Manager Craig Heidrich

Art Director Martin Costanzo

Contributors

ASMS, ICL, David E. Jones, Transfield Bouygues

Joint Venture, ACH, Bill Lawson, Craig Heidrich.

Quarterly Publication

Circulation 2,000

Views expressed in Connections newsletter do

not necessarily reflect the opinion of the

Australasian Slag Association. All contributions

are welcomed, though the publisher reserves the

right to decline, to publish or edit for style,

grammar, length and legal reasons.

VOL 1. ISSUE 3. AUGUST 1999THIS QUARTER:

1 Ecologically Sustainable Developments • Slag

Cements Airport Tunnel 2 Concrete 99 • Slag’s

ain’t Slag’s 3 New Granulator at Port Kembla •

Thinking Globally • Excellence in Concrete •

Company Members 4 SLAG Video and

Compendium • Book Review • Subscription

T H E A U S T R A L A S I A N S L A G A S S O C I A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R

a s s o c i a t i o n

Slag cements airport tunnel – another successful application

continued back pageAT THE CIA AWARDS

L to R: Dick Barker (ACH), Denis Cunneen (TBJV), Shaun Clarke (ACH), Peter Twomey (TBJV), Kathy Jones (TBJV), Alfredo Bustos-Ramirez(TBJV), Norm Nolan (ACH),Andrew Marsonet (TBJV), Peter Shea (ACH), David Mahaffey (Mahaffey Associates), Ian Wallace (TBJV).

Q U A R T E R L Y

1999

slag

Concrete ‘99our concrete environmentThe 19th biennial conference of theConcrete Institute of Australia continuedits tradition of offering topical andinformative conferences for concretepractitioners.

The environmental issues were ofspecial interest to all delegates, with anumber of speakers presenting on ESDand concrete structures. These papersoutlined implications of sustainabledevelopment for the concrete andconstruction industry, measures beingtaken by the Australian cement industryto mitigate greenhouse gas emissionsand the state of the art in producinggreen concrete in Denmark.

In-line with the ASA’s charter toeducate and inform users and specifiers ofthe benefits from the utilisation of slagproducts, we conducted an informationstand to compliment the thrust of the CIA’sconference topics. It was well attended withgeneral inquiries regarding slag and itsvarious uses.One point of key interest wasthe changing attitudes towards developingsustainable industries which combinematerials that support ESD principles.

IT has long been held by many that the term slag meansìthat stuff that comes out of a steel worksî. Slag cancome from many sources and be produced in manyshapes and sizes. The chemistry and morphology of a

particular slag depends on the metal being producedand the solidification process used.

Slags can be broadly categorised as ferrous (iron/steel)and non-ferrous (copper, lead/zinc) depending on theindustry from which they come.

Described below are the main types and uses of slagcommercially available in Australasia.

PRINCIPAL SLAG TYPES

Iron Blast Furnace Slag (BFS)This is the by-product from the reduction of iron ores toproduce molten iron and molten slag. The slag isnormally treated in two ways:

1. By placing the molten slag to ground bays and air-cooling to a crystalline rock form; this is known as Air-Cooled Blast Furnace Slag, which is a light greyvesicular rock.

2. By passing the molten slag through a sufficient water stream in a granulator to ensure the slag is broken up to become a glassy, sand-type material, known in the industry as Granulated Blast FurnaceSlag. The colour of this product is very similar to normal beach sand.

Basic Oxygen Steelmaking Slag (BOS)This is more commonly known as Steel Furnace Slag.This slag is formed when molten iron, scrap metals andvarious fluxes, such as lime, are oxidised by injectinglarge amounts of pure oxygen into the molten iron mixto create steel and slag.

The slag produced is generally placed into groundbays, similar to that in the ironmaking process, and thenair-cooled.

Electric Arc Furnace Slag (EAF)Also often referred to as Steel Furnace Slag. This slag isproduced when scrap metal and fluxes are oxidised bythe use of an electric current. As with BOS steel furnaceslag, the slag is generally placed into ground bays forcooling. Both BOS and EAF slags are somewhat heavierthan Blast Furnace Slag and naturally-occurring rock.

Copper Slag (CS)This is a non-ferrous slag, produced by the reduction ofores and fluxes into copper and slag. This slag isgenerally granulated as described earlier. This slag isvery glassy in appearance and is a dark colour andgenerally single-sized at about 2mm when granulated.

Lead/Zinc Slag (LZS)Also non-ferrous, this slag is the by-product of Zincsmelting. The slag is generally treated in the samemanner as Granulated Iron Blast Furnace Slag, bypassing it through a water stream to produce a sand sizeproduct with a top size of about 5mm, with only a smallquantity of material below 1mm. This slag is very darkin colour and has attracted the name of Black Sand.

COMMON USES FOR SLAG

Below is a short description of the common uses of slagproducts in Australia.

Air Cooled Iron Blast Furnace SlagIn uncrushed form uses include; fill and embankments(particularly areas subject to severe loading such asmainline rail systems), construction of working platformson difficult sites. In some areas uncrushed slag is alsoused for pavements, where binding fines are produced byrolling to break the slag down to fill the voids.

As a graded roadbase. It can be used on its own, blendedwith other slags and/or with other natural rocks and sands.

Crushed and graded, uses include; concreteaggregates, concrete sand, glass insulation wool, filtermedium, and use under concrete slabs as a platform.

Granulated Iron Blast Furnace SlagThe principal use is as Cement enhancement (whenground). Normally it replaces 30-40% of PortlandCement, but can replace up to 70% in specialistapplications such as marine concrete.

Other uses include; glassmaking as a furnace flux,trace elements in agriculture, concrete blockmanufacture, sporting field sub-base (for drainage),filtration medium, reinforced earth embankments, andmine backfilling. Granulated slag is also an efficientgrit-blasting medium for fine etching.

Basic Oxygen and Electric Arc Steelmaking SlagBOS Slag can be blended with many other materials, asdescribed for BFS, to obtain a suitable pavement materialdepending on location. A BOS typical slag roadbase blendcan include granulated slag, fly ash and lime.

Other uses for BOS slag include, rail ballast,asphaltic concrete aggregate, soil conditioner (due to itsfree lime and trace elements) and construction fill,provided it is not a rigidly confined.

Copper SlagThe main use for copper slag in Australia is in gritblasting, due to its sizing and strength characteristics.

Lead/Zinc SlagAs concrete sand (Black Sand), this material is mostlyspherical in nature and its replacement of natural sandin concrete reduces the water demand for a given mix.

Remember “Slag’s ain’t Slag’s”. So next time youcome across a reference to slag, make sure the articleclearly indicates just what type of slag is involved. Youwill be surprised at just how often an Author assumesthat you know. For further information on any of theabove slag products, please contact the AustralasianSlag Association. c

Slag’s ain’t Slag’s

2 CONNECTIONS 1999

Company MembersOur Association’s role is to bring togetherSlag Producers, Processors, Customers andSuppliers to the Slag industry. Our activitiescover Technical Developments, PlantOperations and Processes, Education andPromotion. If you would like more detail onthe Association, and how you can be comeinvolved, just complete the informationsection at the end of this newsletter. Currentmembership is as listed below.

• Australian Cement Ltd• Australian Steel Mill Services Pty• Australian National Industries (ANI

Comsteel)• BHP Integrated Steel Div

(Port Kembla)• BHP Rod Bar & Wire Products Div

(Newcastle)• Blue Circle Southern Cement Ltd• Boral Concrete & Quarries• Brambles Equipment• Brambles Industrial Services

(Whyalla)• Cleary Bros (Bombo) P/L• CSIRO• CSR Readymix Group• University of Wollongong – Dr Denis

Montgomery • Finlay Screens• Gough & Gilmour• Heckett Multiserv (UK)• Heggies Bulkhaul• Kress Corporation• Mahaffey Associates• Metserv Australasia Pty Ltd• Milburn New Zealand Ltd• Mountain Industries P/L• University of Newcastle – Mr Brian

Heaton • Nichimen Australia Limited• NS Komatsu• Pioneer Construction Materials• Premium Tyre Service P/L• Queensland Cement Ltd• Roads & Traffic Authority of NSW• Slag Cement Sdn Bhd, Malaysia• Smorgon Steel• South Coast Equipment• SsangYong Cement (S) Ltd, Singapore• Steel Cement Ltd• Steelstone Services (Aust)• Sulphide Corporation P/L• The Slag Reduction Company (NZ) Ltd• UBE Industries Ltd• Wormald Fire Systems

Personal Members• Anderson L• Butler W B• Dobson G• Haber E W• Jones D E• Maric M• Marosszeky M• Prosser S D• Reeves C M

Related Associations• National Slag Association• Nippon Slag Association

CONNECTIONS 1999 3

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New Granulatorat Port Kemblasupports the Slag forCement IndustryTHE CLOSURE of Ironmaking at NewcastleSteelworks later this year has necessitated a review ofGranulated Slag Production Facilities at Port Kembla.Australian Steel Mill Services has committed therequired capital to install a Paul Wurth Inbargranulator, adjacent to the No.6 Blast Furnace. Initially,this will take up the approximately 200 000 tonnes ofgranulated slag produced each year by BHP Newcastle

and will allow capacity to grow with the market,particularly for slag cement production.

This initiative allows a balanced production ofgranulated and rock slag from No.s 5 and 6 BlastFurnaces at Port Kembla. Granulation of more ironblast furnace slag directly impacts the quantity of rockslag produced. The long term proportions of granulatedand rock slag produced, will be determined by marketdemand.

Ensuring that all of the iron blast furnace slag isused beneficially in either rock or granulated form,makes a strong contribution to the environment,consistent with ESD principles.

For further information please contact GeoffRoberts at ASMS. c

WHEN the 1992 United Nation's Conference onEnvironment and Development (UNCED)preparatory process began, the operative principle wasthat national governments, multinational corporationsand international non-governmental organizations werethe key decision-makers and problem solvers thatwould be able to set us on the road to sustainabledevelopment. But when UNCED’s culminatingdocument, Agenda 21, was finally approved,recognition was given to the critical importance of localaction and locally based solutions. An excellentexample of “think globally, act locally”.

An example of local action and locally basedsolutions can be found in a recent tender documentforwarded to the Associations office by IndependentCement & Lime, based in Melbourne. The StonningtonCity Council has committed to including specific

reference to energy resources and the efficient utilisationof materials under project requirements.

Council specifies that the contractor must determinethe optimum use of natural/existing resources “Thecementitious component of the concrete shall contain a proportion ofby-product material such as Flyash, Blast Furnace Slag (BFS)and/or Silica Fume (SF), as part of the mix design.” (extract fromTender Document).

Local communities, which Councils serve, arerapidly becoming environmentally aware, and this trendwill only continue to accelerate. Our industry Associationhas a duty to continue to inform and educate both usersand specifiers of the benefits of using appropriate slagproducts in-support of these objectives.

We look forward to the next tender, which specifies slagproducts as an essential component of its contractrequirements and supports the initiatives of Agenda 21. c

Stonnington City Council

Thinking Globally and Acting Locally

TRADITIONALLY, slag blended cement's have littleapplication in high early strength construction due to aslower rate of strength development than other types ofbinders. Nevertheless, slag blended cements offer a lowheat of high duration and good durability.

A recent project carried out by MonashUniversity, has investigated the

feasibility of making high-qualitystructural concrete with alkali-activated slag concrete (AASC),

based on 100 percent slag binder.It has demonstrated that high early

strength of (25MP in just 24 hours) high-performanceAASC can be successfully produced. The high earlystrength was achieved without using any special curingtechniques, such as stream curing. Unlike previousoverseas investigations, the activator was based onpowder so it can be dry pre-blended with slag, avoidingoccupational health and safety issues associated withhandling and dispensing of liquid alkali’s at the mixing

plant. Other aspects that were investigated includedworkability, effects of curing on strength and shrinkage,comparison of laboratory AASC with AASC made at aconcrete mix plant, insitu strength, shrinkage underrestrained conditions, use of air cooled slag as coarseaggregate in AASC (thus producing 100 percentenvironmentally green concrete), and occupationalhealth and safety issues. c

Excellence in Concrete – 25 MPa in 24 hours.

ranulation of more iron blast furnace slag directly impacts the quantity

f rock slag produced. The long term proportions of granulated and rock

ag produced, will be determined by market demand.

slag cement “Ocean Cement” was provided byAustralian Cement for the project.

Low drying shrinkage combined with goodcompressive strength and resistance to sulphate acidattack were the key considerations in selecting “OceanCement”. More than 30,000 tonnes of it has been used tomake 78,000 cubic metres of concrete.

The segment manufacturing process utilized abatching, casting and transfer system with thesegments passing through an autoclave held at anoperating temperature of 55 degrees in a humidity

controlled environment at 70% constant. After passingthrough the cycle process of approximately 6.5 hoursthe segments would exit with a compressive strength ofapproximately 12 MPa.

In recognition of the technical achievements in theconstruction of the Sydney Airport Link Project,Transfield Bouygues were awarded the coveted KevinCavanagh Medal Award by the Concrete Institute ofAustralia (CIA) for excellence in Concrete Structures.

For further information contact Peter Shea on (02)9395 1500 at Australian Cement. c

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Building materials energy and theenvironment – Towards Ecologically SustainableDevelopment (ESD).

Recognising that Architects and Builders canmake a real contribution towards EcologicallySustainable Development, the University of NewSouth Wales – Solarch Research unit has developed abook to guide in the choice of materials and design.In making the case for ESD the book states: “It is nolonger enough to design and build the future, we must alsodesign and build for the future. For our long-term viabilitythere is really no alternative.”

“Building Materials, Energy and the Environment:towards ecologically sustainable development” describes theenvironmental impacts of building materials andquantify the energy consumed in the production ofcommon floor, wall and roof assemblies.

It is of great value to architects and building

technologists attempting toreduce the environmentalimpacts of their work; andis similarly of interest toprospective clients–fromlarge developers tosuburban homeowners. Itis also suitable as a text forarchitecture, building andrelated courses.

The book has beenauthored by Bill Lawson from Solarch at theUniversity of New South Wales, with contributionsfrom David Rudder. It is written in an easy to readstyle, is well referenced and contains an illustrativeseries of case studies.

For further information contact The Royal AustraliaInstitute of Architects (RAIA) on the 02 6273 1953. c

airport tunnelcontinued from cover story

Slag – “the ultimaterenewable mineralresource” video hasproved to be a favouritewith many members. Aconsiderable amount ofnew additional footagehas been incorporated

demonstrating the beneficial properties ofslag in various large-scale projectscompleted in recent years. The video(15mins duration) outlines slag’s historicalbeginnings through to the various types ofslag produced in a modern productionprocess today.

Since our last issue we have had toproduced another 100 copies to meetfurther demand. Copies are available tomembers at a cost of $15.00 each, non-members $20.00 plus postage and handling.Just complete and fax back thesubscription/order form indicating yourrequirements.

Given the numberof high quality guidesthe ASA hasproduced, andcontinues to produce(i.e. new -”Guide tothe Use of SteelFurnace Slag inAsphalt and ThinB i t u m i n o u s

Surfacings”) together with bulletins,newsletters and general correspondence,the Education and Promotion Committeehave developed a Technical Compendiumfor the purposes of storing these importantdocuments and more.

The Compendiums are an invaluablereference tool for engineers, specifiers,consultants, government authorities, andvarious slag users. Copies are available tomembers at a cost of $15.00 each, nonmembers $20.00 plus postage and handling.Please note that as amendments are made tothe contents of the compendiums, registeredholders will receive updates. Just completeand fax back the subscription/order formindicating your requirements.

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