Environmental Technology Reviews

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Production and applications of electric-arc-furnace

slag as solid waste in environmental technologies:
a review

Soraya Hosseini, Salman Masoudi Soltani, Paul S. Fennell, Thomas S.Y.

Choong & Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua

To cite this article: Soraya Hosseini, Salman Masoudi Soltani, Paul S. Fennell, Thomas S.Y.
Choong & Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua (2016) Production and applications of electric-arc-furnace
slag as solid waste in environmental technologies: a review, Environmental Technology Reviews,
5:1, 1-11, DOI: 10.1080/21622515.2016.1147615

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Published online: 21 Mar 2016.

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Environmental Technology Reviews, 2016
Vol. 5, No. 1, 1–11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21622515.2016.1147615

Production and applications of electric-arc-furnace slag as solid waste in environmental

technologies: a review
Soraya Hosseinia∗ , Salman Masoudi Soltanib , Paul S. Fennellb , Thomas S.Y. Choongc and Mohamed Kheireddine Arouaa
a Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; b Department of Chemical Engineering,
Imperial College London, London, UK; c Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
Selangor, Malaysia
(Received 30 May 2015; accepted 24 January 2016 )

Slag, a by-product of steelmaking industries, has invaluable potentials for various environmental applications. Slag is gen-
erally produced in different types of furnaces working under various operating conditions and contains alumina, calcium
oxide, silica and so on. Physical and chemical properties of a typical slag dictate the distinct methods of slag solidification
including air cooling, steam introduction and injection of additives. Owing to this uniquely-widespread range of proper-
ties, slags are being increasingly considered attractive materials in a broad range of applications. They are widely used in
transportation industry, construction, and cement manufacturing as well as wastewater and water treatment. This makes slag
an important substitute for natural resources, leading to significant minimization in natural resource utilization. This paper
walks through a comprehensive essay of steelmaking slag retained in a wide range of furnaces, their modifications and their
applications alike.
Keywords: electric-arc furnace; slag; solid waste; environmental application

Introduction
Availability of industrial wastes and minerals is much
larger in quantity in comparison to the high-grade ores
that are widely depleted. This brings about potentials to
discover ways and means to utilize these wastes gener-
ated in metallurgical and chemical industries. The indus-
trial wastes like tailings, slags, flue dust and leached
residues from raw materials contain appreciable amount
of metals which, if extracted, can be reused in vari-
ous applications.[1] Steelmaking industries are one of the
important sources for recovering metals from their wastes.
Oxidation of these metals by dissolved oxygen in hot
metal is the key reaction in steelmaking industries.[2] This
process can be explained as:
Fe + O → FeO,
Mn + O → MnO,
C + O → CO,
Ca + O → CaO,
Mg + O → MgO,
Si + O → SiO2 ,
2P + 5O → P2 O5 .
As it is seen, elemental carbon is removed as the gas (CO)
while all other impurities are converted to metal oxides,
which are then made afloat on the surface of the molten
metal during the refining process of hot metal to steel. The
floated residues are lighter than molten steel and form an
immiscible phase on the top of the molten steel.[3] Steel
slag is a non-metallic solid residue which is produced dur-
ing steel and iron production in different types of furnaces
and contributes to approximately 10–15 wt% of produced
steel.[4] Slags generally fall into three categories: blast
furnace (BF) iron slag, basic oxygen furnace (BOF) and
electric-arc-furnace (EAF) slag.
EAF slag is the by-product of the steel production
process in an EAF. This class of slags contains a range
of chemicals including recycled steel scrap, coke, lime
and some metal oxides.[5] Depending on the desired steel
grade (stainless/high alloy steel or carbon steel), two dis-
tinct types of slag are produced. These slags are called
EAF slag from carbon steel production (EAFC) and EAF
slag from stainless steel production (EAFSS). Carbon steel
EAF slag is different from stainless steel slag owing to the
fact that an additional step of the alloying, that is, addi-
tion of ferrochrome and nickel, is required in the process
of making stainless steel.[6]
In steel production, slag has a lower density than
steel. Therefore, it floats to and resides on the top of the
molten bath of steel. The liquid slag is tapped at tem-
peratures around 1600°C and is solidified by air-cooling

*Corresponding author. Email: soraya@eng.ukm.my

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

2 S. Hosseini et al.

or other techniques.[7] Approximately one ton of stain-

less steel slag is generated for three tons of stainless steel.
This solid waste is classified as non-hazardous waste due
to its chemical and physical properties. The Australian
Slag Association has tested samples of EAF slag obtained
from Australia and New Zealand sites and have rated
them as environmentally inert substances. Low-level emis-
sions of chromium, lead, nickel and molybdenum were
detected, but these were below the maximum permitted
limits. Major components of slag used and studied to
date include Ca-silicates, Ca-Al-ferrites, molten oxides of
calcium, iron, magnesium and manganese.[8,9]
The type of furnace and electrical charge, the furnace
operational conditions and the grade of steel purity are
effective parameters on the final composition of slag. EAF
Figure 1. Slag as a by-product from steelmaking furnace [17].
steel slag is dense, strong, none porous aggregate and has a
good resistance to polishing with cubical shape. Steel slag
has been used as daily and final landfill cover material,[4]
Portland cement additive,[10] an agricultural fertilizer,[11]
and in mineral CO2 sequestration.[12,13] It has also been
used in wastewater treatment [14] and as an economical
material for environmental remediation.[15]

Slag as steel-mill waste

Steel from iron ore (hematite or magnetite) is mainly pro-
duced in integrated steel mills (BOF, BF) while steel from
scrap-based materials are produced in EAF-operated mills.
Steel slags have a variety of compositions and take var-
ious forms after the cooling process is completed. Most
steel slags form hard rock-like materials upon cooling.
However, some slags from the production of stainless steel
transform into dusty powders. Slags play different roles in
steelmaking processes. They act as a sink for collecting
impurities during steel refining, as preventive substance to
the diffusion of N2 and H2 gases from atmosphere to the
molten steel. They also protect steel against re-oxidation
and barricade heat transfer from molten steel to the sur-
rounding. Moreover, they are good emulsifiers for hot
metal to promote carbon oxidation. Slags are porous mat-
ters and have large surface areas with suitable hydraulic
conductivity (Figure 1).[16] In the following section, we
briefly walk through different types of furnaces used in
steelmaking industries. The main by-products produced
during iron and crude steel production are slags (90%),
dusts and sledges. More dusts and sledges are produced in
BOF compared to other types while the less amount of slag
is produced in BOF. Their quantities have been reported for
three types of furnaces in Figure 2.
BF iron slag
At the time of writing this review, the most important
facility for iron making and pig iron production is a BF.
Steelmaking slag of BF is produced via the refining process
of hot metal generated in steel production. They are mostly
Figure 2. Main by-products via steelmaking route [18].
used as road construction materials and cement. This class
of slags is generated during chemical reduction of iron ore
using coke in a BF. Its sources are the gangue content of
iron ore. In other words, constituents of iron ore other than
iron and lime content are added to adjust the composition
of the molten slag.[19,20]
BFs are intrinsically working at high-temperatures
using moving bed reactors (Figure 3). During the heat-
ing process and reduction of iron oxides, large amounts
of coal and coke are consumed. The iron ore is charged
into a BF from the top of the reactor. The reduction of iron
ore is split into direct and indirect reactions which depends
on the reaction temperature.[21,22] Two types of reactions
distinctly take place at high- and low-temperature sections
of the BF. Direct reaction occurs at the lower part of a BF
(solid–solid reaction) in which solid carbon reacts with iron
oxides and ores, whereas indirect reactions are initiated at
the elevated sections of a BF (gas–solid reaction) in steel-
making process. Carbon monoxide is used for reducing
iron ore or Fe2 O3 into iron, FeO and Fe3 O4. [23–25]
BOF slag
BOF slag is a by-product from the conversion of mineral
ore into iron. In a BOF, slag is formed during the reaction
 Environmental Technology Reviews
Figure 3. A schematic of a BF.
Figure 4. A schematic of BOF.
of hot metal with oxygen.[26] The hot metal reacts with
oxygen by blowing gas to remove carbon and other ele-
ments (Figure 4). Slag as a by-product is generated by
adding fluxes as lime or dolomite. These fluxes are com-
bined with oxides and silicates to shape a liquid slag. In this
process, in order to control the temperature of the exother-
mal reactions, some amounts of scrap are added to the
3
Figure 5. A schematic of EAF.
materials. The molten steel collects at the bottom of BOF
and the produced slag floats on the top of the furnace. The
crude steel and slag are separately tapped into the specific
pots at temperatures above 1600°C. In order to improve the
volume stability, the pot containing liquid slag is treated
by the injection of SiO2 and oxygen. Crystalline slag is
formed when the molten slag is poured into pits accom-
panied by air cooling. The largest volume of slag by this
type of furnace is produced from metallurgical mills and
has been used in a broad range of applications. However,
in major developed countries, almost 100% of slags are
recycled. BOF slag has a rough texture, superior mechan-
ical properties and high angularity. BOF steel slag shows
high content of calcium, iron, manganese and silicon.[4,27]
Therefore, the crushed slag is suitable to be used in asphalt
and in concrete mixtures as an economical source.
EAF steelmaking
EAF slag is produced during crude steelmaking via an EAF
(Figure 5). Steel scrap together with the fluxes of lime-
stone or dolomite is heated to form a liquid phase by means
of an electric current. In the refining process of EAF, the
removal of phosphorus, sulphur, aluminium, silicon, man-
ganese and carbon from the steel is considered.[28] Lime
or dolomite is widely used to remove silicates and phos-
phorus chemicals from the molten steel. Energy is supplied
by an electric arc to melt minerals and fluxes. During the
melting process, the fluxes are mixed with the non-metallic
scrap components. After the reaction is completed, the non-
steel elements form a liquid slag. Hydrogen and nitrogen as
dissolved gases are the prime concern in steelmaking. Iron
oxides react with the carbon present in the bath and car-
bon monoxide gases are resulted during the refining stage.
An increase in the quantity of CO gases leads to the scrap
melt starting to boil and the impurities such as phospho-
rus, hydrogen, nitrogen and non-metallic compounds being
removed from the melt. The gaseous impurities escape
4 S. Hosseini et al.
and the liquid state remains as the slag.[29] However, sul-
phur as impurity is not completely eliminated through the
process. In the tapping stage, steel is drained from the
furnace via a submerged top-hole and the slag is poured
out from the slag door during the superheating stage. The
molten slag is then solidified into a rock-like product. This
solidified slag is then used in various applications.
Solidification methods of slag
Four treatment methods have been commercially used to
solidify slags [30]:
(1) Weathering in slag pits: this process is performed
in order to convert free lime into lime hydrates.
Weathering slag allows some hydration of the
free lime to take place and the slag expan-
sion effect is moderated before the slag is uti-
lized as an aggregate. The weathering can be
done under atmospheric conditions. However, the
weathering process has been found to be slow
and inefficient.[31]
(2) Steam hydration of the slag: in commercial opera-
tions, the hydration process can be accelerated by
using steam or hot water (plant cooling circuits).
(3) Additions of SiO2 and O2 to the slag pot: in order
to keep the slag molten, SiO2 and O2 are added
to the slag pot which dissolve the free lime and
chemically bond to it as silicate.
(4) Control of the slag cooling path to stabilize the C3 S
(tri-calcium silicate) phase: this method is utilized
for dusty slags. Steel slags with a basicity weight
ratio (CaO/SiO2 ) of 1.5 or higher have a spe-
cific property. The dicalcium silicate (2CaO.SiO2 )
results in disintegration upon cooling by a vol-
ume increase when changing from one crystalline
form to another. The sulphur in a slow-cooled
slag usually appears as sulphides of calcium, iron
and manganese. This type of slag (dust) can be
prevented by the addition of boric oxide, which
creates a C3 S polymorph form, resulting in a stable
rock-like material.
Stabilization of electric-arc-furnace dust
Electric-arc-furnace dust (EAFD) is a toxic waste by-
product in the steelmaking industry. This by-product is
neither reused nor recycled. Stabilization techniques have
been widely used to immobilize contaminated wastes
before their disposal into the environment.[32] This
method is a standard process and useful in liquid and
hazardous waste treatment and disposal. This technique
embeds two principles, that is, solidification which is the
improvement of the matrix engineering properties and sta-
bilization translated as the chemical fixation of undesirable
constituents in matrix. EAFD contains high levels of Cr
(VI) and Pb, Zn and Ni metals. This method is used to treat
high levels of various heavy metals found in EAFD.
Converter slag
Converter slag is a by-product from the 4th phase of the
metallurgical process. This type of slag consists of Fe-
oxides (about 60%). This slag has found applications in
the production of special type of concrete and in covering
oil tubes.[33]
Leaching test methods
Leaching leaves behind one of the most critical environ-
mental impacts. Slags can come in direct contact with soil;
they can be exposed to rainwater or remain in continual
contact with surface and/or seawaters. These would ulti-
mately lead to the release of soluble components from
the slag’s matrix into the receiving bodies. Leaching pro-
cesses are those in which liquids and solids are brought
into contact leading to partial dissolution of certain com-
ponents in the liquid phase. In general, several approaches
have been employed in order to probe into leaching pro-
cesses. These methods have been summarized in Table 1.
All leaching processes are made up of heterogeneous reac-
tions which can be reversible or irreversible and quick or
slow. The aqueous phase reactions such as those of acid-
alkaline as well as the complexing reactions are often quick
while adsorption processes taking place on the surface of
oxides are known to be slower. Also, precipitation reac-
tions, dissolution and redox processes involving solids are
known to be very slow.[34,35] Several physical, chemi-
cal and biological factors can potentially affect leaching
processes. Physical and chemical factors such as parti-
cle size, homogeneity of mineral phases, flow of leaching
agent, temperature, porosity and permeability of the solid
matrix, chemical equilibrium, kinetics, pH, redox poten-
tial, ionic exchange and electrostatic attraction have been
learnt to play important roles. Leaching methods are often
classed as whether the leaching fluid is a single addition –
known as static extraction tests – or is renewed (dynamic
tests).[35]
Foamed slag is produced from air-cooled furnace slag
as a result of its relatively high porosity and low bulk den-
sity. Hosseini et al. (2015) measured the BET surface area
and analysed the surface morphology of slag by using liq-
uid nitrogen adsorption/desorption experiments and scan-
ning electron microscopy, respectively. The surface area
and pore volume were determined using N2 adsorp-
tion/desorption isotherms. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption
isotherm of slag at 77 K gives a type IV isotherm which,
according to the International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry classification, indicates a mesoporous structure
(Figure 6(a)). The total BET surface area is calculated to
be approximately 20 m2 /g. The corresponding pore size
distribution and surface morphology are shown in Figures
 Environmental Technology Reviews 5

Table 1. Various leaching tests applied in slag.

Name of the tests Objectives Samples

Single extraction test Equilibrium water soluble Pb extraction test Pb smelter-impacted soil
Kinetic leaching test Solubility-controlling mechanisms/effect of Air-pollution control (APC) residues of secondary
L/S ratios Pb metallurgy plants
Batch equilibrium leaching tests Acid neutralization capacity and the Road materials containing ISF and LBF
mobilization as a function of pH
Saturated leaching tests on Contaminants release rate and mass transfer Road materials containing ISF and LBF
monolithic material rate under saturated conditions
Lab-scale: intermittent wetting To simulate cyclic wetting and drying under Road materials containing ISF and LBF
conditions varied environmental conditions (e.g.
humidity, temperature, atmospheric CO2)
Pilot-scale: Intermittent wetting To simulate cyclic wetting and drying under Road materials containing ISF and LBF
conditions varied environmental conditions (e.g.
humidity, temperature, atmospheric CO2)
Column leaching test for slag Local structure and composition at the slag LBF
grains and polished section surface on metal mobility
slags

(a) (b)
4 1.E-05
Adsorption
1.E-05
Desorption
Volume STP (cc/g)

3 1.E-05
dV(r), [cc/Å/g)

8.E-06
2
6.E-06

4.E-06
1
2.E-06

0 0.E+00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 4 8 12 16
P/P0 Diameter (nm)

Figure 6. (a) N2 adsorption/desorption; (b) Pore size distribution curve of slag [36].

Table 2. Chemical constituents in slag.

Composition Weight % Composition Weight %

Fe2 O3 53.810 SO3 1.380

K2 O 0.315 Cr2 O3 0.279
CaO 31.134 SrO 0.051
CuO 0.204 NiO 0.041
SiO2 5.157 Ac 0.191
ZnO 6.077 PbO 0.093
MnO 1.268

show that the four major oxides (lime, magnesia, silica

and iron) make up about 90% of the total. In addition,
minor elements include sulphur, manganese, alkalis and
trace amounts of several others.[36] The composition of
Figure 7. SEM image of slag surface [36]. the slag is tabulated in Table 2.

6(b) and 7, respectively. The surface image taken of slag Application of slag
reveals dominant coarse areas and irregularities at a mag- Slag is classified as non-hazardous waste and it can be
nification of 20.0 kX. Chemical analyses of slags usually disposed of into appropriate landfills.
6 S. Hosseini et al.
Figure 8. Statistical data of various applications of slag [37].
Disposal of such material requires large surface areas
and it is rather unfavourable in economic terms. This has
been motivating researchers to develop and explore poten-
tial uses of slag in other realms. Furthermore, there is
always the risk that different components of slag might
elute. Therefore, it is necessary to examine this metal-
lurgical waste material in appropriate ways. The possible
re-utilization of steel slag has attracted considerable inter-
est during the last 100 years. Typical uses for slags are
sealing aggregate (skid resistant), asphalt aggregate, base,
sub-base, construction fills, subsoil drains, grit blasting and
wastewater treatment. Use of steel slag in various applica-
tions in 2010 (22.3 million tonnes) is illustrated in Figure 8.
These applications are briefly described in the following
sections.
Cement and concrete
With regard to slags, road and building construction is
one of the most affected industrial sectors due to its direct
link with cement and concrete production industries. Slag
can be used either as an aggregate or as a binder in sta-
bilized base courses. To conserve natural resources and
reduce environmental impact, slags can be used as an
aggregate. To diminish the need for cement (costly), slag
is replaced and used as a binder. Because of these advan-
tages, many researchers have examined adding slag content
to cement and concrete.[38] Addition of slag to cement
presents some important technical advantages over ordi-
nary Portland cements. These benefits can be enumerated
as development of mechanical strengths, low solubility
of the hydrates and porosity, lower heat of hydration,
excellent durability and stronger aggregate–matrix inter-
face. However, high shrinkage, formation of micro-cracks
and rapid setting are some of the disadvantages. Addition
of blends of various types of slags (activated, chemi-
cally and physically modified) to cement is investigated
in boosting concrete properties. These include hydration
of slag cement concretes to improve the mechanical per-
formance of cement, changing properties of concrete by
adding fly ash, slaked lime, anhydrous gypsum and lime-
stone powder, enhancement in the strengths of cement by
autogenous deformation on the cracking and influencing
the microstructure and durability by tuning the chemical
compositions and resistance of the modified concrete.
Tsakiridis et al. [10] investigated the utilization of slag
in Portland cement clinker production. With 10.5% addi-
tion of steel slag to cement, an improvement was observed
in the quality of the cement produced.[10] Monshi and
Asgarani (1997) suggested a mixing ratio to produce a spe-
cific kind of cement by using steel slag (8%), iron slag
and limestone. The synthesized cement showed a strength
equivalent to that of type I Portland cement.[39] It is
mentionable that, the mechanical activation of slag sig-
nificantly increased the reactivity of slag which caused
some problems to grind as reported by Kriskova et al. [40]
The activity of steel slag was further improved after being
treated through a carbonation process as reported by Liang
et al. [41] Wang et al. [8] stated that increasing the alka-
linity of the hydration environment of steel slag failed to
significantly promote its reaction.[42] Strength properties
of steel slag with gravel for making concrete was stud-
ied by Barisic et al. [43] They reported that increasing the
amount of steel slag in the mixture caused increases in the
maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of the
concrete.[43]
Road construction
Industrial by-products such as steel slag can be utilized
instead of natural aggregates in order to prevent deple-
tion of resources. Million tons of sand, till and crushed
rocks were extracted from mines to satisfy road construc-
tion needs. It is well known that technical, economic
 Environmental Technology Reviews
and many environmental benefits are obtained when steel
slag has been considered as an alternative construction
material.[44] Due to prominent properties of steel slag, it is
an ideal aggregate for asphalt surface course materials and
road surface treatments. It has been observed that the use
of steel slag in road construction mixtures has more advan-
tage compared to conventional asphalt. Investigations of
the asphalt mix and road surface have shown very good
results in terms of stability, stiffness and durability. The
slag asphalt, as expected, provided good friction values,
noise reduction levels, enhanced resistance to cracking at
low temperatures with excellent performance in roughness
and good resistance against water permeability.[45]
Slag in agriculture
Agricultural use of slags has both economic and ecological
advantages. It is evident that soil fertilizers must provide
the required nutrients; however, they should, on the other
hand, leave negative effects neither on the environment
nor on human, animal and plant health. For centuries of
cultivations, phosphorous has supplied to soils as mineral
fertilizer, animal manure, and urban compost to support
crop growth. Leakages of phosphorous from agricultural
soils into aqueous environments similarly fertilize water
bodies, resulting in aquatic eutrophication. The use of
steelmaking slag as a raw material for fertilizer began
to spread mainly in Europe. This phosphate fertilizer has
proved to be an invaluable source of phosphoric acid for
plant life. Special iron-rich fertilizers are labelled as those
which contain limonite (includes bog iron ore), slag (only
slag intended to supply mainly iron and containing 10% or
more iron), or iron powder and weathered rock containing
10% or more iron.[11,46]
The use of fertilizers and liming materials produced
from BF and steel slags has a long tradition. Silicate
lime fertilizers (BF lime and converter lime) have been
approved for use as fertilizers in Germany for more than
60 years. These types of fertilizers contain elements with
beneficial properties for plant nutrition and soil quality.
Calcium and magnesium in slags are more water solu-
ble than magnesium carbonate in natural limestone and
dolomite. Both elements function as plant nutrients and
stabilizers for soil aggregates. In addition, their basicity
increases and/or sustains soil pH. The solubility of sili-
cate obtained from slag is usually higher than many other
silicate-containing soil improvers or rock powders. Silicate
has positive effects on plants’ health, phosphate availabil-
ity as well as soil structure. The compositional percentage
of trace elements such as manganese, copper, zinc, boron
or cobalt in slag meets both plant and animal demands. BF
lime has a minor effect on soil pH. Therefore, its use is
particularly advised on humus, sandy and peat soils. More-
over, the high silicate and magnesium contents which are
available to plants enhance yields and plant qualities. Con-
verter lime from BOF slag and ladle slag generated during
7
the production of non-alloyed steel is suitable for all kinds
of soils. It has a high neutralizing value with prompt and
sustainable effects on soil pH. The soluble silicate content
and its reactivity facilitate the phosphate’s free mobility
in the soil and promotes the effectiveness and thus, the
efficiency of phosphate fertilization.[46]
Phosphorous removal (phosphate fertilizer)
Phosphorus (P) from agricultural wastewater is one of
the major pollutants in natural water that are responsible
for algal growth and eutrophication of lakes. Municipal
wastewaters may contain from 5 to 20 mg/l of total phos-
phorous, of which 1–5 mg/l is organic and the rest is
inorganic. Phosphorus is one of the major nutrients that is
needed to be removed from domestic wastewater before
being discharged into water bodies. Therefore, the appli-
cation of an appropriate technology to remove the maxi-
mum capacity of nutrient is imperative. For the removal
of phosphorus from wastewater, various methods have
been attempted including biological, chemical (precipita-
tion, metal salt addition) and physical (electro-dialysis,
reverse osmosis) processes. The chemical precipitation is
expensive and leads to an increase in sludge volume by
up to 40%. The biological phosphorus removal needs a
lot more volume or space (anaerobic unit) than the other
processes. Research on the potential use of industrial by-
products for treatment systems to remove phosphorus from
wastewater was carried out in the late 1980s. The phos-
phorus removal is done along with the development of
constructed wetlands (CW). This method is a low-cost
technology for the treatment of pollutants, during which
slag performs an important role by absorbing impurities
especially phosphorus in the waste. Steel slag is a low-cost
and abundant material, which, in combination with small
secondary treatment systems (such as CW), is an attractive
approach in comparison with other methods.[47,48] The
slag contains various metal oxides such as iron oxides and
alumina that may be effective in phosphorus reduction from
domestic, agricultural and municipal effluents.[49] Slag
has shown a high affinity for phosphorus adsorption. This
is linked to its light-weight porous medium with numer-
ous sites for sorption. Steel slags can be produced from
various sources. Therefore, slags have different physical
and chemical properties originating from various feedstock
ores, fluxes and manufacturing processes involved. These
differences have provided a board range of phosphorus
sorption yield ranging from 76.4 to 8390 mg/kg. Many lab-
oratory experiments have been carried out to evaluate the
sorption capacity of slag. These studies have shown slag to
be a promising substrate for phosphorus removal.[50]
Few research studies have been done in New Zealand
and Canada covering slag composition and structure and
assessing the environmental market issues. In France,
upgrading existing domestic small wastewater treatment
plants for phosphorus removal can represent a potential use
8 S. Hosseini et al.
of 0.5–1.3 million tons slag/year. To date, there have been
few attempts to use slag in wastewater treatment in Europe.
The use of slag is competitive with traditional techniques
used for phosphorus removal. The usage of by-products
may be attractive in light of economic benefits for steel
makers and to improve technical advancements in design
and supply of wastewater treatment plant. Some studies
have shown that the phosphorous-adsorbed slag can be
used to grow plants. This suggests that phosphorus sources
in steelmaking (slag) has the potential to be re-utilized as
a fertilizer However, this area needs to be further probed
into by the researchers.
The removal of phosphorous from wastewater begins
with the incorporation of phosphate into total soluble solids
(TSS) and then continues with the subsequent removal
from these solids. Phosphorous can be integrated into
either biological solids such as microorganisms or can
be used as chemical precipitates. However, phosphate
removal is currently achieved to a great extent, through
chemical precipitation. This is a costly process and causes
an increase in sludge volume by up to 40%. Therefore,
compared to chemical precipitation, the key advantages of
biological phosphorous removal are a reduction in chemi-
cal costs and the minimization of sludge production.[46]
Removal of heavy metals
As low-cost slag has good sportive characteristics, it is
widely used in wastewater and water treatment and can
replace granular activated carbon. There have been several
reports covering the adsorptions of dye, heavy metals and
organics by using slag. However, the uptake capacity of
slag is dependent on the pH of the solution. The hydration
of slag composition in the aqueous solutions results in a
high pH value. The possible hydration reactions can take
place with different compositions of slag:
caO + H2 O → Ca(OH)2 ,
MgO + H2 O → Mg(OH)2 ,
2Ca2 SiO4 + 4H2 O → 3CaO · 2SiO2 · 3H2 O + Ca(OH)2 ,
2Ca3 SiO5 + 6H2 O → 3CaO · 2SiO2 · 3H2 O + 3Ca(OH)2 ,
CaO · 7Al2 O3 + 12H2 O → CaO · 7Al2 O3 · 6H2 O
+ 6Al2 O3 · H2 O.
Due to the high solution pH values, the slag surface is
negatively charged and adsorption metal ions and cations
are preferred. However, either high temperature or low pH
with considering some other operational conditions can
be applied to remove heavy metals with slags. Yamashita
et al. [51] investigated the possible mechanisms of remov-
ing dissolved heavy metals from aqueous waste liquids
via the converter furnace slag.[51] They suggested that
the removal can be attributed to one or more of following
effects: adsorption, co-precipitation, hydroxide precipita-
tion as hydroxide, sulphide and ion exchange.
Wastewater from the steel mill contains a high concen-
tration of heavy metals due to the accumulation of filtered
particles from the filtration process of wastewater. A direct
release of the backwash water into the environment may
cause adverse effects to both land and aquatic lives. Met-
als are toxic and non-biodegradable and may continue to
exist in these water bodies. The heavy metals also have
the tendency to accumulate in the food chain. Hence, a
strict environmental regulation has been established in an
effort to mitigate the heavy metals contamination of the dis-
charge of industrial effluent. Absorption of lead ions by two
different types steel slag was carried out in a column-type
contact process.[52] BF slag (BFS) and EAF slag (EAFS)
were selected for lead adsorption. Based on the results,
both types of slags can be well utilized as a filter media
for the removal of lead ions from industrial wastewater.
Hallberg and Renman [53] studied the feasibility of BFS
as a media for the removal of heavy metals generated in
road runoff.[53] Heavy metals in road runoff such as Cd,
Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn were removed in a column set up using
BFS. In these methods, removal efficiencies of Cd and
Zn > 90%, Cu > 77%, Ni > 44% and Cr (6%) have been
reported. Liu et al. [54] studied the adsorption behaviour
of heavy metal ions (Cr3+ , Cu2+ , Pb2+ and Zn2+ ) by slag
in batch mode.[54] The adsorption capacities revealed high
removal of ions by using slag. Chen et al. [55] studied the
adsorption kinetics and equilibrium adsorption capacity of
four heavy metal ions (Cu2+ , Cd2+ , Zn2+ and Pb2+ ) using
two kinds of EAF slags while probing into the effects of
solution pH and grain size alike. They concluded that a
decrease in grain size could increase the uptake capacity in
batch mode, whereas fine-grain slag caused column clog-
ging, and a decrease in the removal efficiency of metal
ions. Beh et al. [56] investigated the reduction in chem-
ical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand
(BOD), total suspended solids (TSS) and the concentra-
tion of heavy metals of wastewater by using slag from a
steelmaking plant. The results confirmed that EAFS can be
used as an efficient adsorbent for producing treated water
that complies with the standard B limitations for an indus-
trial effluent. Therefore, EAF slag has the potential to be
used for heavy metal removal from contaminated water or
wastewater.[56] The atomized slag as a recycled material
is produced in Korea and has been widely used as filter
media for removing heavy metals and organics. Jung et al.
[57] tested the removal of heavy metals and organics in
batch and column set-ups. The test results revealed the
removal efficiencies of more than 94.9% and 99.9% for
organics and heavy metals passing through the atomized
slag media.[57] Mercado-Borrayo et al. developed a math-
ematical regression model as multi-analytical approach to
calculate the residual concentration of borate ions in water
present at high initial content. They used five types of
slag that were tested in this work. They concluded that the
methodology based on a multi-analytical approach is a very
strong and useful tool to estimate the performance of iron
 Environmental Technology Reviews
Figure 9. Mechanism of metal removal by using slag.
and steel slag as adsorbent of metalloids.[58] Yusuf et al.
[59] used the EAF slag as the adsorbent for adsorption of
nickel in both batch and column operations. The maximum
uptake was found to be 160.92 mg/g for an equilibrium
time of around 21 h in batch mode.[59] Hosseini et al.
[36] reported removal of iodide ions from aqueous solu-
tion by EAF slag. The results indicated that the maximum
adsorption capacity was found to be 43 mg/g at acidic
media.[36]
Mechanisms of metal removal by slag
The removal of heavy metals from solution by slag sur-
faces comprises three processes: adsorption, precipitation
and co-precipitation and ion exchange.[60] The mecha-
nism encompasses surface adsorption, absorption by pene-
tration into the solid network and condensation within the
pores of a solid. These processes are similarly also referred
to as adsorption, co-precipitation and precipitation. The
mechanism of heavy metal removal is closely dependent
on the slag and heavy metal properties such as acid-base
chemistry, redox reactions, ionic character, pH, concentra-
tion of aqueous species, nature of adsorbent and surface
coverage. Zhou and Haynes [60] suggested that precipita-
tion and co-precipitation are the principal mechanisms for
heavy metal removal at high concentrations while specific
adsorption takes place at lower metal concentrations. Sorp-
tion is observed at low adsorbate concentrations and large
adsorbent’s surface area. Sorption of anion species is great-
est at pH values closer to the pKa values of the species
while cationic sorption is well affected by complexation,
which is governed by the pH value and ligand concentra-
tion. Figure 9 summarizes the removal of metals controlled
by the adsorption mechanism.
Conclusions
In this review, various types of steelmaking furnaces were
extensively reviewed. The widespread usage of slags as
a by-product of steelmaking industries in various appli-
cations has also been discussed. Slag as a solid waste
9
is being generated at an increasingly high rate world-
wide. It is becoming emergently important and attractive
to use slag effectively in many developing applications.
Slags have proved to be decent replacements for several
synthetic materials. It has been concluded that slags can
be promising replacements for conventional adsorbents in
wastewater treatments. The use of EAF slag as a safe,
effective and inexpensive adsorbent is recommended for
improving the treatment of urban wastewater and indus-
trial wastewater. Urban wastewater comprises a complex
mixture of constituents and can be very harmful to dif-
fuse in surface waters even in low concentrations. They
have also been well used in road construction industries. In
addition, the applications of slag in road construction con-
tribute to the treatment of urban wastewater. The ease of
use, availability as well as economic plus sides can be some
critically determining advantages of these newly emerging
materials.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge High Impact
Research [grant no HIR/MOE/ENG59], University of Malaya for
the financial support and technical support of this work.
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