Identify and quantify the metals present of the sludge of the steelworks and propose a destination

Abstract

Currently the generation of industrial waste has been a great concern for society and the environment in which we live, because it directly affects our lives, whether by pollution, adaptation to environmental changes, among others. One of the industries that generate the most waste today is the steel industry that performs several processes for the improvement and refining of the raw metal found in nature. The steelworks is the unit of a steel industry where a large amount of solid or even liquid wastes are generated which are of great importance for their reuse in various sectors such as the production of cements, roads and others. Two important waste of steelworks are slag and sludge. The identification and quantification of the metals present in steelworks waste is the first step in understanding how these wastes can be handled and transformed into new industrial inputs or marketable products, helping to reduce discarded waste and increasing the efficiency of the industry. This work aims to identify and quantify the metals present in the slurry of steelworks, and to propose its destination. Chemical and physical analyzes were carried out in the laboratory to identify and quantify the sludge of steelworks, and the metal present with the greatest mass was the iron, but well below the expected, limiting its application, therefore, it was proposed to use the sludge as aggregate in the manufacture of tiles and other ceramic materials.