PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Refractory or heat resistant materials are used to protect equipment in industries working at high temperature (e.g. steel, glass and cement production). Refractories are produced from a wide range of mineral compounds, such as aluminosilicates, magnesite, dolomite, chromite, zirconia, carbides, nitrides and oxides. Recycling refractories is complex because of the variability in their composition. In addition, it is common to use more than one refractory type in linings of furnaces or other equipment, making recycling even more complex. Some refractories – for example, those containing zirconium and specialised refractories that might contain other materials – are not currently recyclable and are disposed of in landfill sites.
The availability of refractories is essential for steel production in the EU. The EU produces 177 million tonnes of steel every year (11% of global production), making it the world’s second producer after China. The EU refractories sector has annual sales of around 4 billion but is dependent on the availability of raw materials, which might be affected by tight conditions imposed by exporting nations, such as China.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE 5REFRACT project planned to design and implement a strategy based on the 5R approach (Reduce-Reuse-Remanufacture-Recycle-Re-educate) for the management of refractory waste generated by the steel industry. The strategy would cover a range of options, in line with the waste hierarchy for refractory waste, including direct re-use, reprocessing and the production of new refractory masses, thus reducing the amount of refractory waste sent to landfill.
The project moreover aimed to test new technologies (such as LIBS) to facilitate the separation of refractories for optimum valorisation. Spent refractories would be tested in a number of different applications that do not need significant modification of formats or compositions. An analysis of the remanufacturing of spent refractories was planned. When re-use or remanufacture is not possible, new refractory materials incorporating recycled refractory would be produced.
Through these actions, the project would demonstrate circular economy and resource-efficient approaches. The project results would be presented to the Technical Working Group working on the Best Available Techniques reference document (BREF) on steel and iron production, with the objective of including the solutions developed by the project as reference guidelines for the European steel sector.
RESULTS
The LIFE 5REFRACT project represents a great example of applying the 5R approach (Reduce-Reuse-Remanufacture-Recycle-Reeducate) to the steel sector and the refractory market in primarily the Basque Country. It contributed to the validation of a range of re-use and remanufacturing practices and their integration into the operating procedures of the beneficiary’s plant in Basauri. This resulted in a 74% recovery rate, reducing refractory waste in 1,981 t/y.
Another significant outcome was the creation of a classification algorithm for the use of the LIBS technology in the detection and segregation of refractory wastes. The algorithm achieved a success rate of 75% in a test with blind samples. The outcomes were shared with several valorisation companies, and future actions are currently being explored.
The project also designed and tested several batches of a range of products with incorporation rates between 30% and 70% of refractory waste. Several magnesia-based and alumina-based products were technically validated, but they have different market perspectives; they are quite restrictive for the Magnesia-based products, but more optimistic for the Alumina-based ones (as a result of the higher value added product). In both cases, the transition of the regulatory framework is key to the successful implementation of these products: more clear and robust incentives are required for the valorisation of wastes that currently are mostly landfilled. The project moreover demonstrated the clear need for harmonisation of the interpretation of legal measures at European level.
Finally, the project began making contacts with parties interested in replicating certain aspects of the project, such as including some of the project solutions as emerging technique in the BREF on iron and steel production, the introduction of stricter regional regulations and the application of the new products in other sectors. These contact will continue after the end of the project.
A lifecycle analysis confirmed the project’s expected reduction of landfilled waste, along with associated reductions in CO2 emissions and energy consumption. It can therefore be considered to have contributed to the circular economy approach and European thematic priorities for resource efficiency. Specifically, the project outcomes are directly relevant to the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, the Flagship initiative for a resource efficient Europe, the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive, as well as having implications for the implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative and the Mining Waste Directive.
