Sustainable masonry mortars based on ladle furnace slags from the steel-making industry

Masonry mortars are applied to concrete and brickwork to form structural bonds. Partial substitution of their natural raw materials by waste products from the steel industry represents a sustainable approach towards the ecological management of those materials in Spain, where iron and steelmaking is a highly developed heavy industrial sector. Additionally, a somewhat more traditional industrial sector, the building industry, also consumes large amounts of natural resources and energy, likewise resulting in high CO2 emission levels. The present research is focused on solid waste from the steelmaking industry and its addition in significant amounts to masonry mortars. Labelled as “white” slag, the waste (saturated in alumina) is commonly known as ladle furnace slag. To do so, several lab tests are presented, which investigate the partial substitution of fillers and hydraulic binders in regular masonry mortars. Firstly, the study of ladle furnace slag and its overall properties and, secondly, studying the feasibility of producing Ladle Furnace Slag mortars, yielded interesting and positive results.