Better Roads and Building Constructions with Copper Slag
Although sandblasting media such as coal slag is commonly used in the building construction industry, actually copper slag is more commonly used than Black Diamond sand and slag coal not just to build, repair and cleaning of structures, but also in the construction of roads and no-fines concrete surfaces, in which copper slag is commonly used as a filler due to the little environmental threat that it poses.
Copper slag can also substitute sand and black slag with advantages, it is a better replacement to remove paint, rust, and a variety of materials and mill scale adhered to stone and metal surfaces. As opposite to black beauty sand, copper slag can be used in the mix to build up the land for building construction and road support. It has binding qualities and it is used as blasting media in almost all projects made up of concrete.
Coal slag abrasives lack fine properties, this is why copper slag is a superior replacement wherever lose gravel particles have to be held together, as happens with concrete, serving as a recycling agent while improving the properties of this construction material. Copper slag is also a suitable abrasive for SA-2, SA-2½, and SA-3 besides a blast cleaning product for concrete, steel and stone surfaces, from which this slag quickly removes all dust.
Many contractors however, tend to select Black Beauty products as their preferred abrasives due to their affordable price and low toxicity, but copper slag is also a low free silica byproduct that meets all the environmental and health standards. Even though, it is necessary to be aware that some variations of this slag might contain traces of heavy metals that could be the source of water and air pollution. Thus, it is necessary to verify the quality of copper slag products, although there are environmental commissions that enlist hazardous waste products that contractors usually review before using this and other materials resulting from smelting processes.
Black Beauty abrasive products may sometimes fall into hazardous waste due to the dust that they produce, which is also a source of waste pollution and therefore choosing between black beauty slag or copper slag as a replacement, often depends on the building or industrial application, and the quality control that the engineer in charge of the project has outlined.
The manufacturing of copper slag usually produces two units of this material for every single copper unit that is produced in the smelting process of copper refineries. The resulting waste is a granulated byproduct that complies with the ISO 11126 international standard code and may receive different names such as copper slag grit, copper grinding grains, copper abrasive powder, mineral grit, or simply copper slag or copper grit, serving in all instances for the same purpose.
