The electric arc furnace (EAF) slag could be exploited in several fields of application, such as land filling, road constructions and concrete production. However, their use is limited by the presence of polluting chemical elements (chromium (Cr), barium (Ba), Vanadium(V), etc.) that can be dangerous to humans and the environment. Thus, chemical and structural stability is a fundamental requirement, especially when the slag may come in contact with water. Therefore, the interaction between slag and water is key, in order to classify the slag as a safe raw material. In this work, the effect of slag chemical composition on the chemical leaching of about seventy EAF carbon steel slags of different production steel grades was investigated. Standard leaching tests (24 h at 10 l/kg) in deionized water on slag bulks were performed and the results were correlated with the slag chemical composition. The survey has made possible defining the safe chemical composition areas on the main ternary diagrams, able to transfer stability to the slag. The results obtained indicate the water/slag ratio as the most important factor in the release of polluting substances, also identifying a critical scenario for slag recycling. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Electric arc furnace (EAF) slag could be exploited in several fields of application, such as land filling, road constructions and concrete production, since their physical properties are similar, or even better, than natural materials like gravel. Environmental concerns related to pollutants leaching (Ba, V, Cr, chlorides, fluorides, cyanides, etc.), are the primary hindrance limiting the effective reuse of such material. Thus, chemical and structural stability are fundamental requirements to be fulfilled, especially when the slag comes in contact with water. The slag microstructure has a non-negligible influence on metals concentration in leachate, even if the phases that react with water have not yet been clearly identified. In this study, different classes of carbon steel EAF slag were investigated in order to correlate their leaching behaviour with microstructural and crystallographic features. Fine particles were chosen to enhance the dissolution rate of the phases involved in the leaching process and to quantify the effects of the fine fraction on leachate concentration with respect to the bulk material. Qualitative tests at different liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratios were also performed to detect dissolution of the phases, which would otherwise be non-appreciable in standard conditions. The analyses also allowed for the identification of the phases responsible for toxic metal leaching (Ba, Cr, V), as well as those that were not involved in dissolution phenomena, thereby consolidating the results proposed elsewhere on slag stabilization

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Super Duplex Stainless Steels (SDSSs) are composed of α-ferrite and γ-austenite grains, the simultaneous presence of which forms an optimal microstructure to achieve the best combination of mechanical and corrosion resistance properties. Moreover, international quality standards are strict about the phase fraction ratio. The purpose of this work is the achievement of a better description of the phase ratio evolution taking place during annealing at 1080 • C in the super duplex stainless steels F53-S32750 and F55-S32760. The experimental results show a damped sinusoidal trend in the α/γ phase ratio evolution with the increase of the soaking time of thermal treatment. This can be described by coupling both the competitive coarsening growth regime and the concept of the local equilibrium phase transformations, pointing out a good correspondence with the experimental data. Further, recrystallization phenomena also play a major role. Finally, the additivity character of the observed processes has been proven.

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