CO2 Mineralization and Utilization using Steel Slag for Establishing a Waste-to-Resource Supply Chain

Abstract

Both steelmaking via an electric arc furnace and manufacturing of portland cement are energy-intensive and resource-exploiting processes, with great amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and alkaline solid waste generation. In fact, most CO2 capture and storage technologies are currently too expensive to be widely applied in industries. Moreover, proper stabilization prior to utilization of electric arc furnace slag are still challenging due to its high alkalinity, heavy metal leaching potentials and volume instability. Here we deploy an integrated approach to mineralizing flue gas CO2 using electric arc furnace slag while utilizing the reacted product as supplementary cementitious materials to establish a waste-to-resource supply chain toward a circular economy. We found that the flue gas CO2 was rapidly mineralized into calcite precipitates using electric arc furnace slag. The carbonated slag can be successfully utilized as green construction materials in blended cement mortar. By this modulus, the global CO2 reduction potential using iron and steel slags was estimated to be ~138 million tons per year.