Chemical composition [% by weight] of slags by type of fuel used and type of combustion (examples from Poland)
| Fuel and type of combustion | Hard coal | Lignite | Steel plant | Copper smelter | Steel mill (iron) | Zinc smelter | Steel plant | Municipal waste | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Source | Combined heat and power plant – furnace slag | EC Żerań – slag from combustion in fluidized bed boilers | EC Żerań – slag from combustion in fluidized bed boilers | Dabrowa Gornicza heap – converter slags | Dabrowa Gornicza heap – blast furnace slags | Copper slag – shaft and granulated | Blast furnace slag (Katowice and Sandzimir Steelworks) | „Silesian Town” | Steel- making slag (converter slag) | Waste incineration plant with sliding grate (capacity: 210,000-220,000 t/year) | Waste incineration plant with reciprocating grate (capacity: 94,000 t/year) |
| SiO2 | 50.10 | 31.00–46.00 | 47.50–52.00 | 10.80–14.41 | 39.57–45.03 | 35.24–42.76 | 36.84–39,66 | 24.82 | 9.40 | 54.20 | 54.20 | |
| Fe2O3 | 4.94 | 3.37–3.73 | 6.20–8.50 | 26.52–32.45 | 14.64–17.77 | 17.38–18.57 | 0.49–2.50 | · | 33.84 | 4.99 | 4.19 | |
| Al2O3 | 23.70 | 7.92–16.19 | 22.10–23.60 | 2.99–4.17 | 7.56–10.30 | 12.31–15.56 | 6.30–7.80 | 8.29 | 1.99 | 11.05 | 6.53 | |
| MnO | 0.04 | · | · | 2.40–3.34 | 0.42–0.48 | · | · | · | 4.11 | · | · | |
| Mn2O3 | · | · | · | · | · | · | 0,17–0,24 | · | · | 0.12 | 0.13 | |
| TiO2 | 1.22 | · | · | 0.45–0.55 | 0.42–0.59 | - | 0.42–0.80 | · | · | 0.73 | 0.66 | |
| CaO | 2.13 | 4.20–48.20 | 6.30–33.80 | 35.81–37.53 | 19.24–20.58 | 11.88–21.27 | 42.27–45.75 | 17.43 | 37.64 | 14.50 | 16.30 | |
| MgO | 1.46 | 1.00–3.10 | 0.70–2.30 | 7.01–7.82 | 5.33–5.63 | 7.29–7.77 | 4.57–8.03 | 2.68 | 9.06 | 1.75 | 1.80 | |
| SO3 | 0.85 | 0.30–27.70 | 1.10–9.10 | · | · | 0.12–0.16 | 0.08–1.12 | 2.84 | 0.44 | 1.07 | 1.67 | |
| P2O5 | 0.64 | · | · | 0.99–1.37 | 0.06–0.09 | · | · | · | · | 0.93 | 0.99 | |
| Na2O | 0.45 | · | · | < 0.02 | 0.25–0.28 | · | 0.42–0.55 | · | · | 5.39 | 5.62 | |
| K2O | 2.27 | · | · | < 0.02 | 0.23–0.26 | · | 0.35–0.84 | · | · | 0.90 | 1.05 | |
| Cl | 0.13 | · | · | · | · | 0.002–0.015 | 0.03–0.07 | · | · | · | · | |
| Source | [Smarzewski et al. 2015] | Sybilski et al. 2004] | [Sybilski et al. 2004] | [Jonczy et al. 2013] | [Jonczy et al. 2013] | [Kuterasińska et al. 2014] | [Baran et al. 2017], [Ostrowski 2018], [Giergiczny et al. 2004], [Różycka et al. 2008] | [Adamczyk 2013] | [Sołtys, 2016] | [Czop et al. 2022] | [Czop et al. 2022] | |
Elemental composition of heap slags compared to blast furnace slag
| Elemental composition [mg/kg] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Element | Slag heap Ruda Śląska (after Zn-Pb, pre- metallurgy) | Slag heap Chorzow (steelmaking slags) | Granulated blast furnace slag |
| Mn | 430–2223 | 873–86600 | 1978 |
| Zn | 6270–83700 | 1–10800 | 36–1580 |
| Pb | 5340–29385 | 6–3200 | <83 |
| Cd | 32–262 | <0.3–136 | 19-3 |
| Cr | 16–69 | 15–2920 | 12–372 |
| Cu | 66–1859 | 3–837 | 22 |
| Ni | 25–146 | <1–102 | <2,5 |
| V | 41–74 | 6–919 | 10–94 |
| Mo | 6–25 | <1–8 | 2–4 |
| Ag | 55–140 | <0.3–3.5 | 0.9 |
Elemental composition of slags from municipal waste incineration by type and location of incineration plants
| Slags from Municipal waste | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source/Element | Results on a dry weight basis [mg/kg] | Leachability [mg/l] | |||
| Waste incineration plant with sliding grate | Waste incineration plant with sliding grate | Waste incineration plant with reciprocating grate | Incinerator Bydgoszcz (0–8mm grain size) | Warsaw incineration plant (0–31.5mm grain size) | |
| Zn | 2787,00 | 1621,00 | 2337,00 | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| Cu | 21608,00 | 1918,00 | 867,00 | 0.03 | 0,04 |
| Pb | 766.00 | 687.00 | 437.00 | 0.03 | 0.02 |
| Ni | 73.60 | 81.00 | 211.00 | < 0.01 | < 0.01 |
| Cr | 277.00 | 342.00 | 605.00 | 0.01 | 0.05 |
| Cd | 5.80 | 3.35 | 0.96 | < 0.01 | < 0.01 |
| As | 5.30 | 16.50 | 6.07 | - | - |
| V | 31.80 | 30.00 | 30.70 | - | - |
| Tl | < 1.00 | < 1.00 | - | - | - |
| Hg | 0.04 | 0.24 | < 0.01 | - | - |
Results of γ-spectrometric analysis (Bq/kg) and radionuclide concentrations in different types of slag and other materials
| Electric plant | 40K | 232Th | 226Ra | f1 | f2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHP plant Siekierki | 254.00–731.00 | 57.30–124.00 | 52.90–113.00 | 0.47–1.12 | 57.30–124.00 |
| CHP plant Żerań | 364.00–691.00 | 44.20–113.00 | 39.10–89.70 | 0.46–1.01 | 44.20–113.00 |
| Municipal waste incineration plant (Bydgoszcz and Warsaw) | · | · | · | < 0.61 | < 75.3 |
| Copper slags | 749.00–961.02 | 40.10–50.47 | 320.19–400.00 | 1.62–1.65 | 320.19–344.08 |
| Steel production (Croatia) | 45.30–62.90 | 12.90–15.40 | 15.20–21.40 | · | · |
| Ground granulated blast furnace slag | 235.60 | 66.50 | 167.40 | · | · |
| Non-ferrous Metal Slag | 171.59 | 15.74 | 42.74 | · | · |
| Slag (coal) | 97.86 | 95.99 | 145.43 | · | · |
| Phosphorus slag | 221.60 | 23.48 | 153.08 | · | · |
| Blast Furnace Slag (Mixed Material) | 121.54 | 102.13 | 157.33 | · | · |
| Slag (bituminous coal) | 177.65 | 7.36 | 23.44 | · | · |
| Solid Waste Contaminated Soil | 663.95 | 47.84 | 33.77 | · | · |
| Soil | 269.00–561.00 | 26.20–73.30 | 33.20–120.00 | · | · |
| River sand | 404.30 | 28.10 | 26.70 | · | · |