Robust material handling in a pioneering circular economy project in Raahe Finland

Saint-Gobain Finland Oy has built the world's first ladle slag processing plant in Raahe, Finland, which uses steel slag from ladle treatment. Kopar was involved in the project from an early stage, designing and delivering a complete solution for handling hot and abrasive material.

About Saint-Gobain Finland Oy

Saint-Gobain Finland Oy is a pioneer in building materials and circular economy solutions in Finland. The company develops and manufactures mortars, screeds, sealants, plasterboards, construction chemicals and other products, and offers services to industry that improve the recycling of materials and reduce environmental impact.

Saint-Gobain's new slag processing plant in Raahe is an important part of the company's commitment to resource wisdom: the slag produced in steel production is processed into a new, usable raw material for building materials.

Construction of a new circular economy facility next to the Raahe steel industry 

The new Saint-Gobain plant, built near SSAB's Raahe steel plant, represents a new way of utilising the steel industry's side streams. It is a pioneering project that required a completely new approach to material handling.

Kopar was involved in the design from an early stage. The co-development enabled the solution to be sized to meet the specific characteristics of the hot and abrasive material and to ensure safe operation of the plant.

Challenges: hot slag and dust handling 

Handling of the ladle slag presented several technical challenges for the project. The material is very hot and contains varying constituents, which increases wearing and requires exceptional durability from the structures. In addition, the fine material involved required solutions to prevent the spread of dust in the plant.

As this was a completely new application, there was no previous experience of the material's behaviour. Therefore, the performance of the solution was evaluated in advance at Kopar's pilot plant, where different options could be tested before implementation.

Delivery: a robust package for reliable handling of hot slag

Kopar's delivery covered the design of the entire material handling system and the delivery of the equipment, as well as the installation and commissioning. The solution was built to withstand the conditions caused by hot and abrasive materials, and dust control was designed to ensure a safe and clean operating environment.

Unexpected challenges were solved together

Despite careful planning, unexpected challenges were encountered during commissioning, related to the actual behaviour of the material and the load on the process. These challenges were worked through in close cooperation with the customer, and the process was adjusted step by step until the system was running stably and at the planned capacity.

Results: a sustainable, fail-safe solution at the heart of circular economy

The finished plant will make efficient and safe use of the ladle slag. With the solution provided by Kopar:

The project shows that valuable raw materials can be produced from side streams when the technology and cooperation are right.

Kopar's chief design engineer Heikki Myllymäki, describes cooperation as follows:

“The collaboration with the Saint-Gobain team was excellent, and it was especially great to be involved in such a circular economy project, which uses the ladle slag in a new and feasible way.”

Conclusions

Saint-Gobain's Raahe slag processing plant is a significant pioneering project in the field of circular economy. Kopar's role was to deliver a reliable and wear-resistant material handling solution that meets the demanding conditions and supports the customer's long-term goals.

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