GROUND GRANULATED BLAST-FURNACE SLAG

What is Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag? Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag is a waste industrial by-product obtained during the manufacture of iron. The blast furnace slag is a non-metallic product consisting essentially of silicates and alluminates of calcium and also other bases like sodium and potassium in very small quantity. It can be abbreviated as GGBS or GGBFS. What it contains? Actually, Blast Furnace Slag (BFS) is a mixture of lime, silica and alumina; that is the same oxides which make Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), but not in same proportions. The chemical composition of BFS is similar to that of a Cement Clinker. The table shows the approximate chemical composition of the cement clinker and BFS. Approximate Oxide Composition of Cement Clinker and BFS Sl.no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Percentage Contents Cement Clinker BFS CaO 60-67 30-45 SiO2 17-25 30-38 Al2O3 3.0-8.0 15-25 Fe2O3 0.5-6.0 0.5-2.0 MgO 0.1-4.0 4.0-17.0 MnO2 1.0-5.0 Glass 85-98 Specific Gravity 3.15 2.9 Constituents

From the table we can observe that BFS contains lesser CaO almost half of Cement Clinker. What happens if CaO is less in cement? The hydration process of cement cannot be initiated as it requires alkaline medium. If Cao is less, then the required alkaline medium will not be created. So, in order to create the alkaline medium, which is essentially required to initiate the hydration; Lime (CaO), Sodium hydroxide or Gypsum is artificially added. However, the slags with high sodium or potassium oxide content are self activating as these oxides readily provide the required alkaline medium. The quality of slag is governed by IS:12089-1987. The following table shows some of the important specification limits.

Specification of BFS as per IS 12089 of 1987 Constituents

(1) Manganese Oxide (2) Magnesium Oxide (3) Sulphide Sulphur (4) Glass Content

Percent
5.5(max) 17.0(max) 2.0(max) 85.0(min)

Indicies
(5) CaO+MgO+1/3 Al2O3 SiO2+ 2/3 Al2O3 (6) Cao+Mgo+Al2O3 SiO2 (7) CaO+C2S+1/2 MgO+Al2O3 SiO2+MnO Where MnO in the slag is more than 2.5 percent >/ 1.5 >/ 1.0 >/ 1.0

How it is Manufactured? GGBS is manufactured by cooling of molten slag. But mere air cooling crystallizes the slag and this has no cementing properties. However, when cooled rapidly it solidifies in granulated form or glassy slag granules of 0.4mm size, which is reactive with water having alkaline medium. Rapid Cooling can be done in 2 ways, i) The molten slag is chilled rapidly by quenching it in water, i.e., pouring it into a large body of water OR Subjecting the slag stream to jets of water or air and water OR Pelletizing, which requires less water can also be done. to form a sand like glassy material, this is called Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag(GBS or GBFS) which is then used for the production of Portland Blast-Furnace cement (PBFC) and High-Slag Blast-Furnace Cement (HSBFC).

ii) iii) -

How it is used? This Granulated Slag can be used as a cementitious material in 3 ways,

1) As a Raw Material: The slag is used as a raw material with limestone, during the manufacturing of Portland cement by dry process. 2) a) Intergrinding and b) Grinding and then blending. In the first method, the Portland cement clinker and dry granulated blast furnace slag together with gypsum is ground. The main disadvantage of this is, the grinding process results in different particle sizes of 2 constituents due to difference in their hardness. The blast furnace slag being harder among the two causes difficulty in grinding when compared to clinker. So, is ground relatively coarser during the process of intergrinding. In the second method, the dry granulated blast furnace slag is ground to an appropriate fineness and which is then dry blended with Portland cement powder. If the blending is not proper, then the cement obtained will not behave like cement. So, they are blended after weigh batching, using paddle wheel blenders or pneumatic blenders. Pneumatic blenders give better homogeneity when compared to mechanical blenders. 3) As an Admixture: The blast furnace slag ground alone to cement fineness can be used as an additive and mixed with the Portland cement at the point of use.

Properties of Concrete in Hardened State by the addition of GGBS Exclusive research works have shown that the use of GGBS in cement concrete leads to the enhancement of intrinsic properties of concrete in both fresh as well as in hardened conditions. If the Portland cement clinker and granulated blast furnace slag are separately ground, then it results in a smooth surface texture which is beneficial for workability. Like Portland cement the growth and interlocking of calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH) gives mechanical strength. The exact hydration products depend upon the type of activator used. The performance of slag largely depends on chemical composition, glass content and fineness of grinding. Finer the cement more it is hydraulically active. So, clinker is hydraulically more active than blast furnace slag, this leads to waste of hydraulic potential of slag. Hence, the Portland cement component always hydrates first generating an alkaline medium for the slag to hydrate.

The effect of fineness and replacement (percent) of BSF on various properties of concrete using GGBS is given by the Architectural Institute of Japan(1992) Fineness(cm2/g) Replacement (%) Workability Bleeding Hydration-heat Control Early age strength 28 days strength Long term strength Drying shrinkage Freeze-thaw resistance Chemical resistance Heat resistance Availability of accelerate curing Control of AAR expansion 2750-5500 30 50 70 B B B B B C B A A B C C B C C B A A B B B B B B B B A B B B B B B B A A 5500-7500 30 50 70 A A A A A A B B A B C C A B C B A A B B B B B B B B A B B B B B B B A A >7500 30 50 A A A A B B B B A A A A B B B B B B B B B B B A 70 A A A C A B B B A B B A

Notes: A = superior to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) B = slightly better than or as well as OPC C = inferior to OPC. From the above table we can conclude that the finer GGBS will give us better results. And we also see that some of the properties of concrete are unaffected as those properties depend on cement and exposure conditions rather than GGBS. Advantages of GGBS in concrete Major advantages are: It gives better workability - making placing and compaction of cement concrete easier. Lower rate of heat evolution reduces heat of hydration which in turn reduces thermal cracking in large pours. Refinement of pore structures. Reduces permeability to the external agencies. Significantly reduces the risk of damages caused by Alkali-Silica reaction (ASR). Increased resistance to chemical attack especially to sulphate attack and also to chloride ingress, reducing the risk of reinforcement corrosion in RCC.

The beneficial effect of slag will contribute to the many facets of desirable properties of concrete. Instead of dealing separately, we can achieve improvement in various properties of concrete by using a single admixture like GGBS. BFS although is an industrial by-product,

exhibits good cementitious properties with little further processing. It permits very high replacement of cement and extends many advantages over conventional cement concrete. The Use of GGBS Present Trend Now-a-days the clinker and slag are separately ground to different levels, so that the hydraulic potential of both the constituents can be fully exploited. And also the level of fineness can be controlled with respect to activity which will result in energy saving. Normally, the clinkers and gypsum are ground to the level of 3000 cm2/kg (Blaine) and slag is ground to the level of 3000-4000 cm2/kg (Blaine) and stored separately. And then they are blended and used. Researches are going on about non-ferrous slags also. The possibility of using them in concrete may also come true in the future. Researches are also going on about using GGBS alone as a cementitious material.

Statistics and Economics At present in India, it is used for blended cement rather than as cement admixture. In large projects with central batching plant and in Ready Mix Concrete (RMC), this cement substitute material could be used as useful mineral admixture and save cement to the extent of 60 to 80%. About 300kg of slag being produced in the manufacture of 1tonne of pig iron. In India, the annual consumption of cement is in the order of 22 million tons and also we produce about 7.8 billion tons of BFS. So, if we use all these BFS and convert it into GGBS then we can reduce up to 35% in the manufacturing of OPC per year.