Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review
The metallurgical industry is integral to industrial development. As technology advances and industrial demand grows, the annual output of metallurgical waste slag continues to rise. Combined with the substantial historical stockpile, this has made the utilization of metallurgical slag a new researc...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Meichao Yin Yaxuan Xiong Aitonglu Zhang Xiang Li Yuting Wu Cancan Zhang Yanqi Zhao Yulong Ding |
| author_facet | Meichao Yin Yaxuan Xiong Aitonglu Zhang Xiang Li Yuting Wu Cancan Zhang Yanqi Zhao Yulong Ding |
| author_sort | Meichao Yin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The metallurgical industry is integral to industrial development. As technology advances and industrial demand grows, the annual output of metallurgical waste slag continues to rise. Combined with the substantial historical stockpile, this has made the utilization of metallurgical slag a new research focus. This study comprehensively sums up the composition and fundamental characteristics of metallurgical waste slag. It delves into the application potential of non-ferrous metal smelting waste slag, such as copper slag, nickel slag, and lead slag, in both sensible and latent heat storage. In sensible heat storage, copper slag, with its low cost and high thermal stability, is suitable as a storage material. After appropriate treatment, it can be combined with other materials to produce composite phase change energy storage materials, thus expanding its role into latent heat storage. Nickel slag, currently mainly used in infrastructure materials, still needs in-depth research to confirm its suitability for sensible heat storage. Nevertheless, in latent heat storage, it has been utilized in making the support framework of composite phase change materials. While there are no current examples of lead slag being used in sensible heat storage, the low leaching concentration of lead and zinc in lead slag concrete under alkaline conditions offers new utilization ideas. Given the strong nucleation effect of iron and impurities in lead slag, it is expected to be used in the skeleton preparation of composite phase change materials. Besides the aforementioned waste slags, other industrial waste slags also show potential as sensible heat storage materials. This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of non-ferrous metal waste slag as energy storage materials. It analyses the pros and cons of their practical applications, elaborates on relevant research progress, technical hurdles, and future directions, all with the goal of enhancing their effective use in heat storage. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0279ee383901468896cdc40bd71b006f |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj-art-0279ee383901468896cdc40bd71b006f2025-08-20T03:50:21ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-07-011513237610.3390/buildings15132376Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini ReviewMeichao Yin0Yaxuan Xiong1Aitonglu Zhang2Xiang Li3Yuting Wu4Cancan Zhang5Yanqi Zhao6Yulong Ding7Beijing Key Lab of Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, ChinaBeijing Key Lab of Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, ChinaBeijing Key Lab of Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, ChinaBeijing Key Lab of Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Energy Conversion, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Energy Conversion, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, ChinaSchool of Energy Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, ChinaBirmingham Center for Energy Storage, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKThe metallurgical industry is integral to industrial development. As technology advances and industrial demand grows, the annual output of metallurgical waste slag continues to rise. Combined with the substantial historical stockpile, this has made the utilization of metallurgical slag a new research focus. This study comprehensively sums up the composition and fundamental characteristics of metallurgical waste slag. It delves into the application potential of non-ferrous metal smelting waste slag, such as copper slag, nickel slag, and lead slag, in both sensible and latent heat storage. In sensible heat storage, copper slag, with its low cost and high thermal stability, is suitable as a storage material. After appropriate treatment, it can be combined with other materials to produce composite phase change energy storage materials, thus expanding its role into latent heat storage. Nickel slag, currently mainly used in infrastructure materials, still needs in-depth research to confirm its suitability for sensible heat storage. Nevertheless, in latent heat storage, it has been utilized in making the support framework of composite phase change materials. While there are no current examples of lead slag being used in sensible heat storage, the low leaching concentration of lead and zinc in lead slag concrete under alkaline conditions offers new utilization ideas. Given the strong nucleation effect of iron and impurities in lead slag, it is expected to be used in the skeleton preparation of composite phase change materials. Besides the aforementioned waste slags, other industrial waste slags also show potential as sensible heat storage materials. This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of non-ferrous metal waste slag as energy storage materials. It analyses the pros and cons of their practical applications, elaborates on relevant research progress, technical hurdles, and future directions, all with the goal of enhancing their effective use in heat storage.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/13/2376non-ferrous metal smelting slagscopper slagnickel slaglead slagenergy storagesensible heat storage |
| spellingShingle | Meichao Yin Yaxuan Xiong Aitonglu Zhang Xiang Li Yuting Wu Cancan Zhang Yanqi Zhao Yulong Ding Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review Buildings non-ferrous metal smelting slags copper slag nickel slag lead slag energy storage sensible heat storage |
| title | Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review |
| title_full | Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review |
| title_fullStr | Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review |
| title_short | Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Slags for Thermal Energy Storage: A Mini Review |
| title_sort | non ferrous metal smelting slags for thermal energy storage a mini review |
| topic | non-ferrous metal smelting slags copper slag nickel slag lead slag energy storage sensible heat storage |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/13/2376 |
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