Abstract

The present study aims to give a detailed characterization of blast furnace sludge (BFS) by using different techniques, in order to determine the most effective recycling method to recover valuable metals from this waste. BFS is composed mainly of hematite, as its iron-bearing phase, and carbon, in addition to fractions of silicate and carbonate materials. The studied BFS shows relatively high contents of iron (Fe) (390 g.kg⁻¹), and carbon (C) (290 g.kg⁻¹), due to abundance of hematite and coke, while the concentration of zinc (Zn) (2.5 g.kg⁻¹) is low. The XRD analyses indicated that, hematite is more concentrated in the fine fraction (<20 μm), while the coarser fraction (90–250 μm) is dominated by calcite, quartz and X-ray amorphous coke. SEM-EDX analyses confirmed that particles rich in iron and zinc were detected in the fine fraction (<20 μm) of the sludge. Due to high Fe and C content in BFS, it can be utilized as self-reducing material and briquetting represent a potential method for recycling of blast furnace sludge.