6. Perspectives. Dry granulation

As we have seen, blast furnace slag has remarkable properties that make it suitable for a wide range of uses; there is no doubt that, as a result, it will retain many potential uses in the future. However, these possibilities will be all the greater as we continue our research and development efforts in the fields of presentation and processing methods. The steel industry must be all the more successful in this area, as legislation no longer permits the creation of slag heaps, such as those where excess slag was once dumped.

In Japan in particular, efforts have been made to recover the enthalpy of liquid slag. Various granulation processes have been tried for this purpose, involving either mechanical dry or pneumatic dispersion by air, or agitation during cooling. Radiant thermal energy is recovered by water tubes, and the enthalpy of the granules is recovered directly...