01. What is Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag?

GGBS (also known as GGBS or GGBFS) is manufactured from blast furnace slag, a by-product from the manufacture of iron.

02. How is GGBS produced? What are its applications? GGBS is obtained by quenching molten iron blast furnace slag immediately in water or stream, to produce a glassy granular product that is then dried and ground into a fine powder. It is an excellent binder to produce high performance cement and concrete.

03. What are the production technologies of GGBS? The production technologies are mainly the following three: The traditional ball mill; High Pressure Roller Press; Vertical Roller Mill.

04. What are the differences of the GGBS produced by different technologies? As compared to the traditional ball mill, the GGBS produced from the modern vertical mill has the following characteristics: -- High fineness, good particle size distribution, the GGBS activeness could be fully developed -- High activity index, small variation in the quality -- The product has low energy consumption, high production efficiency

05. What are the differences between Pulverized Fly Ash (PFA) and GGBS? The difference in source materials: PFA is the finely divided mineral residue resulting from the combustion of powdered coal in electric generating plants, whereas GGBS is obtained by quenching molten iron blast furnace slag in water or stream, to produce a glassy granular product that is then dried and ground into a fine powder. The difference in chemical compositions: PFA usually contains very high SiO2 and Al2O3, but very low in CaO (accounted for 1-5% only), whereas GGBS has very similar chemical compositions to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) such as 30-42% of CaO, 35-38% of SiO2, 10-18% of Al2O3, 5-14% of MgO etc. The difference in hydration activity: PFA is not a hydraulic material, hydration will not take place on its own, and it will only harden with the use of activators (e.g. OPC). GGBS, in contrast, is a hydraulic material, which means that it will set and harden due to a chemical reaction with water. After hardening, it will retain some strength development and remain stable even under water. Concrete containing GGBS cement has a higher ultimate strength than concrete that uses 100% Portland cement. The difference in the permitted replacement ratio: The permitted replacement ratio of PFA in OPC is 20-40%, but its usually no more than 35% in concrete. On the other hand, the permitted replacement ratio of GGBS in OPC or concrete is 20-70%. It could even be replaced up to 85% in some of the European countries. The difference in usage to ensure the strength of concrete meets the requirements, the amount of PFA used is usually more than the amount of OPC being replaced. GGBS, in contrast, is used in the equivalent amount to OPC being replaced, and yet the requirement on strength could still be met.

06. Why the quality of GGBS is more stable than PFA? The stability of raw material: The raw material for GGBS, raw slag, is usually obtained from the predetermined steel plant, which ensures the stability of the raw material.

The stability of the chemical compositions: Due to the stringent quality control in producing iron and steel, the steel plant imposes strict control in the usage ratio of all materials in the iron production process. Therefore, the stability of the chemical compositions of its by-product raw slag is under control. With the use of the state-of-art vertical mill to process raw slag, the fineness of GGBS can be controlled, and therefore consistency in quality is attainable. PFA that is collected using average techniques usually does not have the above-mentioned characteristics, and therefore presents a higher fluctuation in quality.

07. What are the relevant specifications for GGBS production or applications in China? The current relevant specifications for GGBS production or applications in China are as follows: GB/T 18046-2000: The Use of GGBS in Cement and Concrete; GB 1344-1999: Portland Blastfurnace-Slag Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement, and Portland Fly-Ash Cement; DG/T J08-501-1999 (Shanghai Engineering Construction Standards): The Usage Specifications for GGBS in Cement Concrete; DBJ/T01-64-2002 (Beijing Local Standards): The Usage Specifications for Additives in Concrete; JTJ 275-2000 (PRC Industry Standards): Corrosion Prevention Technical Specifications for Concrete Structures of Marine Harbour Engineering.

08. What are the relevant specifications for GGBS production or applications in other countries besides China? The current relevant specifications for GGBS production or applications in other countries are as follows: Britain: BS 6699BS 146 BS 4246 BS 5328; USA: ASTM C989ASTM C595; Japan: JIS A6206JIS R5211; Germany: DIN 1164; European Standards: ENV 197-1; Australia: AS 3582.2AS 3792; Canada: CAN/CSA-A363-M88CAN/CSA-A362-M88; South Africa: SABS 1491; India: IS 455; Singapore: SS 476SS 477

09. What are the characteristics and performance of the GGBS produced in China currently? Since 1997, mega GGBS production projects using modern equipments imported from Japan or Germany emerged in China. At the end of year 2004, there were 15 GGBS manufacturing plants placed in operation, in which the designed annual capacity were at least 600,000 tons per production line. Hereinafter, it contributed to the additional GGBS production capacity of 8 million tons; At the end of year 2005, GGBS producers using vertical mills were estimated to have increased to 20 over plants, the annual capacity increased to 12 million tons; It is forecasted that, in the coming 2 3 years, more than 85% of the large steel enterprises in China will build their own GGBS producing plants, either in the form of wholly-owned or joint-venture. By then, it is expected that around 25 million tons of high quality GGBS would be available in the market;

Due to the use of the state-of-art grinding technology, equipments and control system, GGBS produced by the above companies would be stabilized at the range of 420450m2/kg, with well-graded particles size distribution and excellent stability; Currently, most of the GGBS produced meet the product requirement of GB/T 10846 and obtain grade S95.

10. How to determine the replacement ratio of GGBS (Grade 95) in concrete? When GGBS is single-blended, the principle of equivalent amount replacement could be followed and the following methods can be used to determined the appropriate replacement ratio of GGBS: For on-the-ground concrete structures with higher early-age strength requirement, the replacement ratio would usually be 20 30%; For underground concrete structures with average strength requirement, the replacement ratio would usually be 30 50%; For mass concrete or concrete structures with strict temperature rise requirement, the replacement ratio would usually be 50 65%; For the specialty concrete structures with higher requirement on durability (e.g. corrosion resistance marine structures, sewerage treatment plants etc), the replacement ratio would usually be 50 70%; When GGBS is double-blended with PFA, due to the huge impact from the quality fluctuation in PFA, the user can follow the basic principles as stated above and determine the exact replacement ratio of each component through actual experiment.

11. What are the mixture design characteristics of the High Slag Cement Concrete (with GGBS content more than 50%)? Due to the fact that the fineness of GGBS is far higher than OPC (e.g. GGBS: 420-450m2/kg, OPC: 330350m2/kg), as compared to the plain concrete, the High Slag Cement Concrete requires a water content increase of 5%; When the user design the mixture of the concrete, he has to fulfill the workability and strength requirement of the concrete by adjusting the amount of additives used, and should not increase the amount of water used as he wishes; Similar to the normal concrete, the mixture design of the High Slag Cement Concrete should go through the following steps by the relevant technical staffs: The preliminary concrete mix design Trial mixing in the laboratory Trial mixing on the site

12. What are the performance characteristics of the High Slag Cement Concrete? As compared to the plain concrete, High Slag Cement Concrete has the following basic characteristics: It prolongs the solidifying time, prolongs slump retention, which is particularly beneficial for construction work during summer; The binder has higher cohesiveness which does not segregate easily, its pumpability is good; It reduces the concrete bleeding, and beneficial in reducing the sedimentation craze.

13. What are the concrete curing requirements for High Slag Cement Concrete? High Slag Cement Concrete with higher than average replacement ratio (e.g. 30 40% and above) is particularly sensitive with the early curing conditions, and therefore strict requirements should be imposed, such as: Early curing should be carried out before the concretes final solidification (e.g. spray the curing compounds, use wet burlap or cotton mats etc);

Moisture-retaining curing for at least 7 days; When the replacement ratio is above 50%, moisture-retaining curing period should be extended to at least 14 days.

14. What are the implications of steam curing to High Slag Cement Concrete? Hydrothermal curing is particularly good for High Slag Cement Concrete. Steam curing with slightly higher temperature as compared to OPC cement can be adopted, in order to increase the steam curing strength of the High Slag Cement Concrete precast structures. However, since High Slag Cement Concrete has slower early-age strength development than OPC concrete and it is sensitive to the influence of temperature, the user has to appropriately adjust or delay the time for concrete pre-curing (especially for the production during winter season). This is to ensure that the concrete structures possess sufficient preliminary strength before putting into the autoclave, such that the best steam curing effect is attainable.

15. Why blue colour appears on the High Slag Cement Concrete when the mould is removed? This is the unique characteristic of High Slag Cement Concrete, and it is a normal phenomena. That means the concrete gets very good curing in its early days, and this is good for its strength development. Usually, the blue colour will automatically fade off and become normal colour after being exposed to the air for 3 5 days.The reason blue colour appears is, minimal amount of FeS and MnS are formed during the GGBS hydration process, the hydrate appears in blue colour. With the exposure to the air for a period of time, the above chemical composition will then change to FeSO4 and MnSO4, and the blue colour will then disappear.

16. What are the strength development characteristics for the High Slag Cement Concrete? The replacement ratio of GGBS has significant impact on the strength development of concrete; hence, the user should determine the best range of replacement ratio through experiment, in accordance to the design and construction requirements. Under the curing conditions, High Slag Cement Concrete with 30-50% replacement ratio would achieve 50 60% compressive strength of plain concrete in 3 days, 70 80% achieved in 7 days, and its compressive strength is equivalent to plain concretes in 28 days and continues to grow since then.

17. What is the implication of curing temperature to the strength development of High Slag Cement Concrete? The strength development of High Slag Cement Concrete is more sensitive to the curing temperature, the lower the temperature the more unfavourable it is to its strength development; Summer construction is more favourable to the strength development of High Slag Cement Concrete, but the user should remember to keep the concrete surface moist, in order to ensure it has a good hydration environment. For winter construction, due to the lower temperature, the strength development of concrete is slow. The user should appropriately reduce the replacement ratio of GGBS while complying the national specifications for winter construction. Necessary heat preservation measures should also be adopted to fulfil its strength requirements.

18. How to interpret the strength differences between the concrete slab and the concrete sample under standard curing? The curing environment (temperature) of these two types of concrete are different, the strength development is therefore completely different as well;

The concrete slab is actually in the curing environment where the temperature is continuously rising, its strength development is therefore usually higher than the concrete sample under standard curing conditions (e.g. RH90, T201oC); It is experimentally proven that, High Slag Cement Concrete under the adiabatic temperature rise curing conditions is of higher strength than concrete under standard curing conditions. 19. Under what situation that the user should consider a higher GGBS replacement ratio in concrete? The mass concrete with strict temperature control requirement (e.g. mega basement or sub-structural works, tunnels etc); Corrosion-resisting concrete structures which are exposed to rigorous conditions (e.g. marine structures, sewerage treatment plant, concrete structures in acidic or alkaline area etc); Concrete structures in the areas with potential Alkali-aggregate reaction; Self-compacting concrete (SCC)

20. How to estimate the adiabatic temperature rise in the mass concrete? Concrete could reach the highest temperature under the adiabatic condition, please refer to the following simple formula for estimation:Tc-maxTc-mix + Rc C 100where:Tc-max: The highest temperature (C) in concrete core under adiabatic condition;Tc-mix: The temperature (C) of mixture during the casting process; Rc: Concrete rate of adiabatic temperature rise (C/100kg binder);C: Usage of concrete binder (kg/m3)Example:There is a C50 mass concrete with GGBS replacement ratio of 60%, Rc 12.9oC/100kg binder, C486kg/m3, Tc-mix19oC, the highest temperature of the concrete core can be estimated as follows: Tc-maxTc-mix + Rc C 10019+12.9486100=81.5oC

21. What is the dimension of the concrete core that could be placed in the adiabatic environment? According to the test results obtained from the central laboratory of Ssang Yong Pte Ltd (Singapore), when the concrete dimension exceeds 2m2m2m, its concrete core is approaching adiabatic temperature rise environment, user should estimate its highest attainable temperature according to the adiabatic conditions. The result of this estimation could be higher than actual, hence it is a conservative estimation.

22. How to reduce the adiabatic temperature rise of High Slag Cement Concrete effectively? It is experimentally proven that, only when the GGBS replacement ratio in concrete is more than 50%, the concrete adiabatic temperature rise could be reduced effectively. A more typical replacement ratio would be 60 70% (when GGBS is Single-blended) One of the recommended sites to know more about GGBS would be as follows: VCEM GGBS website http://www.vcem-global.com/