A Comparative Study of Physicochemical and Mineralogical Properties of LD Slag from Some Selected Steel Plants in India

The scope of this study is to compile several analytical techniques in order to carry out physico-chemical and mineralogical properties of Linz-Donawitz (LD) slag. The physical properties such as bulk density, specific gravity, particle size distribution, porosity, permeability and water holding capacity etc., have been determined. The pH and electrical conductivity of the samples were very high, indicating high percentage of lime and ionic form of various salts. The specific gravity and bulk density were found high due to fine particles. Particle size distribution results showed that the LD slag samples were well graded. The EDS X-ray showed that major elemental compositions of LD slag samples were O and Ca by weight. The XRD analysis showed that the pattern of LD slag samples were very complex, with several overlapping peaks and the presence of free MgO and CaO. From the FE-SEM analysis it was observed that LD slag particles had sub angular to angular shapes and very rough surface texture with distinct crystal structures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed that portlandite (Ca(OH)2) and periclase (MgO) are the dominant phases in LD slag. The XRF analysis showed that the major components of the LD slags are CaO, FeO and SiO 2 .