STUDY ON FERROCHROME SLAG REPLACED BY

NATURAL STONE AGGREGATE

Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirementsfor the Award of Degree of

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY

in
Department of Civil Engineering
(Specialization: Structural Engineering)

by

Safalya Mohanty
Registration No.
2061031002

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION & RESEARCH
SIKSHA ‘O’ ANUSANDHAN (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY)
BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA, INDIA
July 2021
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled Study on ferrochrome slag replaced by
natural stone aggregate, submitted by Safalya Mohanty bearing registration
number 2061031002 to Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University Bhubaneswar, is a record
of bonafide research work under my (our) supervision and we consider it worthy of
consideration for the award of the degree of Master of Technology of the University.

Supervisor Head of the Department

 D ECLARATION

I certify that

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 P ROGRAM O UTCOMES (PO S )

PO-1: An ability to independently carry out research /investigation and development work to
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PO-6: To expose the graduate students to advanced courses in analysis and design of
structures at par with the modern-day construction as well as to acquire integrity and
ethics as an essential part in the professional practice.

1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Name of the Candidate

2
 ABSTRACT

Ferrochrome slag is one of the alternative materials which can be used as coarse aggregate in
concrete. Ferrochrome slag is a major solid discarded bi-product got during the manufacturing
of ferrochrome alloy. The Ferrochrome slag generated is a stable, dense, crystalline product
having tremendous mechanical and engineering properties suitable for utilization as aggregate
material in concrete In the current study, Replacement of ferrochrome slag with conventional
coarse aggregate in concrete for (M35 Grade) concrete for every incremental of 25%
replacement upto 100% is done. The fresh properties of concrete are determined by means of
Slump cone test. The hardened property of concrete is determined by casting cubes for
compressive strength, cylinders for split tensile strength for 7days, 14days and 28days curing.
The results obtained are compared with conventional coarse aggregate (0% replacement)
concrete.

Keywords: Ferrochrome Slag, Coarse Aggregate, Compressive Strength, Split Tensile

Strength.

3
 C ONTENTS

Acknowledgement iii
Abstract v
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
List of Abbreviation xiii
List of Acronyms xv

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Guidelines 1

1.1.1 Section 2 2

1.1.1.1 Section 3 2

Chapter 2 Literature Review 3

2.1 Guidelines 3

References 4

4
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Caption Page No.

Figure 1.1: Ferrochrome slag

Figure 1,2, Natural stone aggregate

Figure 1.3. Sulphuric acid

Figure1.4 Magnesium sulphate

Figure 1.5 Chromium3 powder

5
 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Caption Page No.

Table 1.1: Material property of cement 1

Table 1.2; materia property of sand

Table 1.3: Material property of Fecr slag

6
 LIST OF ABBREVIATION

Symbol Description
E : Modulus of elasticity
F : Applied force

7
 LIST OF ACRONYMS

COV : Coefficient of Variation

GM : Ground Motion
PGA : Peak Ground Acceleration
RMS : Root Mean Square
UTM : Universal Testing Machine

8
 Chapter 1 I
NTRODUCTION

In a developing country like India, with fast decrease in the available natural resources which
are used for the construction purpose we should search for alternative materials which satisfy
the requirements of the materials in use. Construction of infrastructure also increases the
demand for production of concrete, which in turn increases the demand and supply of
aggregates. Lack of availability of good quality aggregates within reasonable distance brings
out the need to identify the sources of new aggregate. The material used for testing need to
have the potential to meet the aggregate demands for construction activities. The twin
objectives of conservation of natural resources and pollution free environment may be
achieved. Recycling the waste concrete was the first initiative step taken to produce a new
aggregate concrete. Replacing part of the natural aggregates with alternatives has the benefits
of reducing the extraction of aggregates, the amounts of disposed waste materials, and the
associated environmental and social impacts. The principal objective of this project is to
evaluate the potential use of Ferrochrome Slag aggregate as alternative aggregates in concrete,
a major construction product. Construction aggregate, or simply "aggregate", is a broad
category of coarse particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed
stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined
material in the world. Aggregates are a component of composite materials such as concrete
and asphalt concrete

The greatest user of natural resources is the rapid developing sector of the construction
industry. This raises very important concerns on the depleting of these resources at an
alarming rate which causes serious threats to the environmental balance. Due to the increase
in the world populations, the rapid growing of the industrial, domestic, commercial and
technological activities, the associated generation of the solid wastes are increasing
substantially creating an additional burden on the environment. The solid waste materials
generating from industries are not only occupying valuable land mass but also polluting the
environment and creating real challenges to the safe disposal. The best strategy for solid waste

9
management is to work towards achieving the 5Rs of reduction, recovery, recycling, reuse,
and research [1]. Industrial By-products generated from different industries are creating
environmental problems associated with disposal and pollution. However, such materials can
be used in manufacturing fireproof materials, used in concrete as partial substitutes for cement
and/or sand or they can be added to clay and heat-treated to produce building materials such
as ceramic tiles, refractory and insulation bricks and as a material in road construction. The
generated industrial by-products in Oman have increased substantially in the last decade due
to the rapid development in the industrial projects, and mining industries. Accumulation and
lack of proper disposal strategies of such materials are posing environmental, pollution and
health problems. Copper slag (CS), Cement By-pass Dust, CBPD (also called Cement Kiln
Dust), Spent Catalyst (SC), and Ferrochrome (FeCr) slag are industrial by-products produced
from the process of manufacturing copper and Portland cement, in oil refinery’s processes,
and chrome, respectively. In Oman, large quantities of copper slag (60,000 tons/year), cement
by-pass dust (25,000 tons/year), spent catalyst (7300 tons/year) and ferrochrome slag
(355,000 tons/year) are produced, most of which is not effectively utilized and disposed on-
site without any reuse. The generation of such materials are expected to increase in the future.
The use of the industrial slag products such as FeCr slag in beneficial applications such as
materials in building and road construction reduces the depletion of the natural resources and
it results in positive environmental effects. The FeCr slag possesses physical properties
similar to natural aggregates which makes it a suitable material for civil engineering
applications.

1.1.1 Fecr Slag

Ferrochrome (FeCr) slag is by product from the production of Ferrochrome, an essential

component in stainless steel industry [2]. An amount of 1.1 to 1.6 ton of slag is produced for
each ton of FeCr [3]. In Oman, there are two FeCr plants that produce about 355,000 tons of
FeCr slag annually [4]. FeCr metal is produced in electric-arc furnaces by a physical –
chemical process from the oxide of chromium ore with coke as a reducing agent at
temperatures between 1,500ºC to 1,700ºC. Both the molten FeCr and the slag flow out into
ladles. After gravity separation from the metal, the molten slag, slowly cools in the air,
forming a stable and dense crystalline product having an excellent mechanical properties
similar to basalt [5,6]. The granulated slag (size less than 4.75mm) samples result from water
cooling of the slag whereas lumped slag (size between 8 to 20 mm) samples produced when
slag is air-cooled [7]. The FeCr slag is classified as ferrous slag under iron-alloy slags [6].

10
Fairly small amount of this material is used in useful applications whereas the vast majority of
the material produced annually is disposed of site without further reuse.

11
 Chapter 2 L
ITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Extensive investigations have been carried out concerning crack widths and crack spacing in

reinforced and prestressed concrete members (Armstrong et al. 1997, Base et al. 1966,
Batchelor & El Shahawi 1985, Broms 1965, CEB 1978, Chi & Kirstein 1958, Clark
1956, Frosch 1999,Gergely & Lutz 1968, Hognestad 1962, Huang 1975, Kaar &
Hognestad 1965, Kaar & Mattock1963, Meier & Gergely 1981, Nawy 1968, Nawy
1986, Suri & Dilger 1986, Suzuki & Ohno1986, Watstein & Parsons 1943,
Welch & Janjua 1971). A large number of theoretical andempirical formulas have been
developed. Most of the available formulas to evaluate crack widthsand those adopted in
different structural concrete codes are separately applicable to eitherreinforced or prestressed
concrete beams. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are onlytwo formulas which are
applicable to both reinforced and prestressed concrete beams: onerecommended in the CEB-
FIP Model Code (CEB 1978) and the other, by Suzuki & Ohno(1986). However, the
formula of Suzuki & Ohno (1986) was based on the CEB (1978)’s.Further, the Gergely
& Lutz (1968) formula was developed for reinforced concrete structures,but may be
applicable to prestressed concrete structures after some modifications (Armstrong et

al. 1997).As part of the research, a series of tests on full-size reinforced and partially
prestressed concrete beams was carried out. Based on the test results, two simple, yet
accurate, empirical formulas have been developed for predicting the crack widths in both
reinforced and partially prestressed concrete flexural members. One is for average crack width
while the other, for maximum crack width. This paper presents a comparative study on the
performance of the proposed crack width formulas. In addition to authors’ own test results
from 18 reinforced and 12 partially prestressed concrete beams, published data from 26
reinforced concrete beams tested by Clark (1956), 16

12
reinforced concrete beams tested by Chi & Kirstein (1958), 8 reinforced concrete beams
tested by Hognestad (1962), 9 reinforced concrete beams tested by Kaar & Mattock
(1963), and 34 prestressed concrete beams tested by Nawy (1986) are used in the comparison.
The comparison indicates that the predictions are reasonably accurate.

To underscore the improvement in accuracy, the proposed formulas are compared with those

recommended for reinforced concrete beams in three major international codes namely, the
ACI Building Code (ACI 1995), the British Standard (BS 1985, BS 1987) and the Eurocode
(EC2 1991). It should be noted here that the Australian Standard (SAI 2001) does not
recommend any formula for the calculation of crack widths. Also, the latest version of the
ACI Code (ACI 1999) no longer recommends the z factor requirements i.e. crack width
formula of the 1995 and previous code editions.

In addition, based on the maximum crack width data of the authors’ seven partially
prestressed beams, a comparison is also made between the relevant proposed formula and
three published formulas developed by Armstrong et al. (1997), Batchelor & El Shahawi
(1985) and Suri & Dilger (1986).

13
 Chapter 3
MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 MATERIAS

The ferrochrome slag samples were collected from the operating plants of ferrochrome
industry with submerged arc electric furnaces, situated in Kalinganagar industrial complex,
Odisha, India. Air cooled slag after size reduction and alloy recovery in jigging process is
available in the size range of 10–20 mm which has been used as coarse aggregate in this
study. Alternatively when the molten slag is subjected to high pressure water jet, the slag is
available as granulated having the suitable grain size which has been used as fine aggregate in
this study. The pictures of collected slag samples are shown

3.1 NATURAL STONE AGGREGATE

it is the coarse aggregate which is used in concrete to sterenthen the structure.It also give the
volune to the concrete.

3.2 FINE AGGREGATE

Sand was used as fine aggregate which is a volumetric strength material Hera zone 2 fine
grainedsand used. These are the aggregates which has size less than 4.75mm .in laboratory
they are classified as the aggregates which passes through the BIS sieve no.480.in general,
natural river sand is used as a fine aggregate. The properties of Fine aggregates determined
from experimental investigations and presented in given table .fine aggregate confirming to IS
383-1970

3.3 CEMENT

It is the binding material of calcium hydroxide.here we used Portland slag cement of

bharatlimited named as dalmia dsp.

14
It is a fine powdered form what called clinker ,and adding small amounts of other material.
Mahasakthi cement of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) of 53 grade was used which satisfies
the requirements of IS: 8112-1989. Various properties of cement such as normal consistency,
specific gravity, initial final setting time of cement fineness. The cement properties are
determined from experimental investigations and presented in given Table. The cement is
confirming to the IS: 8112-1989

3.4 FERROCHROME SLAGE

it is the material which is replaced by coare se aggregate which is madeup natural stone.fecr
slag is waste material from steel producing industry.As the specific gravity of Fecr slag is
more than Natural stone so the strength of concrete should be mora.

Ferro chrome slag Ferrochrome slag a waste bi-product generated during the manufacturing
of Ferrochrome alloy. Ferrochrome alloy is manufactured in a submerged electric arc furnace
by physiochemical process at the temperature of 1700oC. Individually the molten liquids of
the ferrochromium and slag flow out into dippers. Due to the different specific gravities of
metal and slag, separation of the two liquids takes place. The liquefied ferrochrome slag
gradually cools down in air forming a stable, dense, crystalline product having tremendous
mechanical properties. The main constituents of ferrochrome slag are Sio2, Al2O3 and Mgo
with minor traces of ferrous/ferric oxides and Clothe properties of Ferro chrome slag
aggregates the determined by using IS: 383-1970

3.5 CHROMIUM-3 POWDER

It is the chemical used tocheck the corrosive action on concrete due to acid and salt attack

3.6 SULPHURIC ACID

sulphuric acid is used for curing purpose.The ph of the curing solution is 1 by dusing
sulphuric acid:water= 1:1 solution

3.7 MAGNESIUM SULPHATE SALT

It is the salt used for curing also.so that the corrosive action should be studied on salt curing

15
3.8 WATER

Water fit for drinking is generally considered fit for making concrete. Water should be free
from acids, oils, alkalis vegetables or other organic Impurities. The properties of water can be
taken from according to the BIS standards of drinking water.

16
 Chapter 4 R
ESULTS AND DISCUSSION

MATERIALS

 1.Binding material - Cement (Portland slag cement)

 2.Fine Agregate- Sand

 3.Coarse Agregate- Natural stone

 4.Coarse Agregate –Ferrochrome slag

 5.Chemical- Chromium-3 powder

 6.Water

 7.Acid -Sulphuric acid

 8.Salt- Magnesium sulphate

Fig-1 Fecr slag Fig-2 Natural stone

17
Test Results:-Fine Aggregate

Test Name on sand IS 383-1970 value Result Values

1.Specific Gravity 2.65-2.67 2.664

2.Water Absorption 19.3%

3.Grading And Zone Fine sand of Zone 2

Test Results:-Coarse Agg.

Test name IS 383-1970 value Result value

1.Sp.Gravity 2.5-3 2.79

2.Water absorption 0.1-2% 0.50%

3.Size <20mm 8 to 20 mm

18
 4.Abrasion resistance <50% 25.52%

5.Crushing strength <45% 26%

6.Impact value <45% 26.15%

Test Results:-PSC Cement

Test Name IS 455 2015 values Dalmia PSC value

1.Type of cement Portland slag cement Portland Slag

cement

2.Manufacture by Bharat Limited

3.Name of cement Dalmia DSP

4. Fineness 225 m2/kg(min) 390m2/kg

5.3day Comp. strength 16Mpa(minimum) 2

7
.
5
M
p
a

19
 6.7 day Comp.strength 22Mpa(minimum) 38.1Mpa

7.28 day Comp strength 33Mpa(minimum) 56 Mpa

Test Results:-PSC Cement

Test name IS 455 2015 Result values

values

8.Initial setting time in minute 30(minimum 180

)

9.Final setting time in minute 600(minimu 2

m) 3
0

10.MgO 10% 4.9%

(maximum)
11.So3 3.5% 1.4%
(maximum)
12.Sulphate 1.5% 0.32%
(maximum)
13.Loss of ignition 5% 1.4%
(maximum)

14.Insoluble Residue 4% 1-2%

(maximum)

Test results:- FeCr slag

Test name IS code values Result values

1.Sp.gravity 2.5-3 2.84

20
 2.Water Absorption 0.1-2% 0.42%

3.Size <20mm 8-20 mm

4.Abrasion Resistance <50% 19.2%

5.Crushing strength <45% 25.1%

6.Impact strength <45% 23.2%

Mix design calculation:-

 By using IS 10262-2019

 The design should be done for M30 grade concrete.

 The water cement ratio is 0.42

 The assumed slump value is 100mm.

 The design propertion for FeCr slag concrete is

Cement:Sand:FeCr agg. =1:1.40:2.65

 The design propertion for Natural stone concrete is

Cement:Sand:Agg=1:1.40:2.30

 Fresh concrete tests:-

 Slump value for-

 1.FeCr slag Concrete=70 mm

 2.Natural stone Concrete=70mm

 3.Chromium-3 concrete=80 mm

Harden concrete Test results:-

Natural stone concrete

Acid Curing Result

FeCr slag Concrete:-

21
22
 Chapter 5 S
UMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

All the above materials satisfied the IS code values. The FeCr also used as fine aggregate in
concrete.Though FeCr is a waste material but the sp.gravity is more than natural stone so that
the strength is more than natural stone.Thus it is used in pavement design of roads in future
1. Ferrochrome slag a waste bi-product generated during the manufacturing of Ferro Chrome
alloy.

2. Various materials to be selected and done by experimental investigation programs

according to Indian Standards.

3. Verify the material properties and do the mix design as per IS standards .

4. Preparation of sample and tests performed on fresh concrete, and measuring the
workability of concrete.

5. Casting can be done by, moulds, cylinders and kept in Normal curing tank and accelerated
curing tank.

6. After curing period various tests performed on hardened Concrete like compressive
strength of cubes, split tensile Strength for cylinders. We know the test results and can be
Analyzed

.Based on the experimental investigation conducted on conventional coarse aggregate

concrete and 1.The basic properties like Specific gravity, impact strength and crushing
strength of ferrochrome slag aggregates are higher than conventional coarse aggregate.
2.Workability of M35ferrochrome slag aggregate replaced concrete for M35 Grade, the
following conclusions are drawn. grade concrete increased with increase of ferrochrome slag.
3.The replacement of conventional coarse aggregate with ferrochrome slag aggregate in
concrete up to 100% has resulted in increased strength in compression, split tensile and
flexure by conventional curing. 4.Ferrochrome slag can be considered as alternative to
conventional coarse aggregate in M35 grade concrete mix due to its higher strengths
achieved. 5.The usage of ferrochrome slag as coarse aggregate in concrete reduces the usage
of conventional coarse aggregate resulting in reduction of Environmental pollution.

23
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