Sustainable cement production
A channel carries the pig iron slag, which is at least 1,430 °C in temperature, directly from the blast furnace to Holcim's granulation plant. The water which is added there cools the slag abruptly and granulates it. The result is a grainy mixture of water and slag sand, which is used as a resource-saving raw material in cement production. The high temperatures inevitably produce a lot of water vapour. Holcim collects the condensation water using a sophisticated collection system and then pumps it into cooling towers via a hot water basin. However, the slag sand is still too moist to be used as a raw material for cement. It is therefore transported via conveyor belts to a drainage plant with a total of six silos. Here too, the water is filtered out and fed back into the plant's operating cycle. Only 0.5 m³ of water needs to be added to produce one tonne of slag sand. The flaps and gate valves for conveying the water and slag sand are operated hydraulically throughout. "With pipelines measuring 600 mm in diameter, this would not be possible otherwise," comments Pit Podauke.