Mineral wool is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics.
Mineral wool close-up
Mineral wool pipe covering applied to a steel pipe for a fire test
Common insulation applications in an apartment building
Industrial furnace equipped with high-temperature mineral wool modules
Slag is a by-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous, ferroalloy or non-ferrous/base metals. Within these general categories, slags can be further categorized by their precursor and processing conditions. "Slag generated from the EAF process can contain toxic metals, which can be hazardous to human and environmental health".
Molten slag is carried outside and poured into a dump
Global production of iron and steel, 1942–2018, according to USGS.
The Manufacture of Iron – Carting Away the Scoriæ (slag), an 1873 wood engraving
Slag run-off from one of the open hearth furnaces of a steel mill, Republic Steel, Youngstown, Ohio, November 1941. Slag is drawn off the furnace just before the molten steel is poured into ladles for ingotting.
