Hardened pastes with different mass percentages of steel slag (SS)/titanium-extracted tailing slag (TETS) were prepared under fixed CaO content to determine the influencing mechanism of TETS on the strength of CaO SS hardened paste. Furthermore, the effects and laws of curing time and SS/TETS ratios on the strength of hardened pastes were also investigated in this study. Importantly, hydration products, microstructures and the micro-area compositions of hardened pastes were analysed using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectrometer, respectively, to reveal the influencing mechanism of TETS on the CaO SS hardened pastes. The results demonstrated that the early strength of hardened pastes increases considerably following the inclusion of TETS. Specifically, the strength of the sample with an SS/TETS ratio of 22.5:67.5 at 1 d can be increased by more than 14 times. Notably, its strength at 90 days reached 19.36 MPa. Moreover, the diffraction peaks of calcite and C-S-H in the samples were also strengthened. Meanwhile, a diffraction peak of hydrocalumite appeared, and the calcites in the samples were curled up. When the SS/TETS ratio was equal to or more than 45:45, a diffraction peak of Ca(OH)2 appeared in the sample. Only a diffraction peak of Ca(OH)2 and weak diffraction peaks of calcite and C-S-H were observed in the samples without TETS, but there was no diffraction peak of hydrocalumite. The strength at 90 days was only 4.92 MPa. The increased strength of the hardened paste is closely related to the production of new phases after adding TETS. Solid particles in the hardened paste are cemented into a whole because of the hydration of C-S-H. Calcite forms the skeleton of the hardened pastes, whereas hydrocalumite fills in the pores among particles in hardened pastes, thus making them more compacted. As a result, there is increased.

Titanium-extracted tailing slag (TETS) has high activity, but the content of chloride ions is high. To effectively bind the chloride ions, CaO was used to activate the TETS, and the solidified cementitious material of CaO-activated TETS was prepared. The effects of CaO content and curing age on the strength of solidified samples, chloride binding capacity, and chloride binding mechanism were studied. By means of XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDS, the hydration reaction products, microstructure, morphology, and micro-components of the solidified sample were characterized. The results show that the chloride ions can be effectively bound by using CaO to activate TETS with higher mechanical strength. When the CaO content is 10 wt%, the strength of the 28-day-cured body can reach more than 20 MPa, the chloride ion binding amount is 38.93 mg/g, and the chloride binding rate is as high as 68%. The new product phases of the solidified sample are mainly Friedel’s salt (FS) and calcite, in which the amount of FS production and the degree of crystal development are affected by the CaO content and curing age. The chloride binding ions in the solidified sample are mainly the chemical binding by FS. The FS diffraction peak strength increases with the increase of CaO content and curing age, but the calcite diffraction peak strength is less affected by them. FS mainly accumulates and grows in the pores of the solidified sample. It can optimize the pore structure of the solidified sample and improve the strength of the solidified sample while binding chloride ions. The results can provide useful information for the resource utilization of chlorine-containing TETS, the improvement of durability of Marine concrete, and the application of sea sand in concrete.

Ti-extraction blast furnace slag (EBFS) is a secondary slag produced by titanium extraction of titanium-bearing blast furnace slag (TBBFS), which is challenging to be used directly because of its residual carbon and chlorine. This study was performed to recover the residual carbon and remove chlorine from EBFS by froth flotation. The finely ground EBFS (FEBFS) contained graphitized carbon and khamrabaevite and had a 10.19% loss on ignition (LOI) and 5.52% Cl. The graphitized carbon was mainly recovered by flotation rather than khamrabaevite. Graphitized carbon appeared as flakes embedded in or stacked on the surface of the concentrate grains. The irregular-shaped particles were amorphous aluminosilicate glasses, whose presence adversely affected the quality and performance of the flotation concentrate. The Cl contents of the flotation concentrate and tailings obtained under the optimized flotation conditions were significantly reduced to 1.17% and 0.4%, respectively. The dechlorination efficiency reached 71.56%. Meanwhile, the LOI of flotation tailing was reduced to 1.32% and the carbon recovery was 84.79%. Froth flotation could recover residual carbon and remove chlorine from EBFS simultaneously, a novel way to deal with EBFS as a resource and harmless process.