In the iron making process in addition to iron there is a very important co-product that is produced. It has been utilized by industry for ages mainly as an aggregate for roads, concrete, and asphalt. One of the most valuable uses has been as a raw material replacing cement in concrete mixes. The co-product can have its physical nature altered by the method of cooling the material. As the slag is separated in the blast furnace, it is conveyed as a liquid and at that point a determination is made as to the end product method of manufacturing. It can be put into a pit for air curing, it can be pelletized, or it can be water granulated.
vitrafine™ is the result of the water granulation. This method of curing the co-product results in a material that is cooled instantly by having 10 times the volume of water introduced to the liquid material resulting in a physical property change to a crystallized looking material. This cooling method determines the vitreous texture which becomes an aid in the batch melt temperatures. It is this very material that is utilized as a cement alternative, and now a glass additive available to the American Glass Industry called vitrafine™.
A co-product from the iron making process has been available to the glass industry in America in the past; however it has not had the technological advancements of the water granulation process for its raw material. In order for the iron making process to have water granulation available it requires the installation of supplemental blast furnace equipment costing millions of dollars. There are only four steel mills in the Americas that have such a method of changing the co-product to a granulated product. vitrafine™ has such a source available and has invested substantially in a new plant in which the product will be further refined to produce a material having many benefits to the glass industry. The granulation technology has been available elsewhere in the world for years and products of the quality of vitrafine™ have been successfully provided to the glass industry in other parts of the world.
