Review on Recent Development of Rock/Slag Wools and Their Carbon Reduction Approaches During Manufacturing in China

The coexistence of rock wool and slag wool products, the symbiosis of cupola melting and electric melting process, the application of both the cold slags and hot slags as raw materials, the competition among the rock/slag wools (R/S wools) produced from exotic and domestic production lines and capability of producing all kinds of R/S wools are the five main characters of the manufacturing methods and commercial market of R/S wools in China. The comparable comprehensive consumption per unit product and comparable molten coke consumption for the preparation of R/S wools by cupola have basically reached the advanced value according to GB30183-2013. It is developing towards a larger scale and higher energy saving of 5 tons per furnace. Given the low carbon development concerns, the traditional coke furnace melting process will be gradually replaced by a more environmentally friendly electric melting process in the industry of R/S wools. Moreover, the utilization of hot slags as the raw materials not only realizes the recycle of solid wastes, but also reduces the carbon emission during the melting process, resulting in good comprehensive environmental protection, which will benefit on energy conservation.