S.A. de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (SADIM)
SADIM, S.A. de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, is a company from Asturias (north of Spain) founded in 1986 dedicated to the treatment and agglomeration of flue dust and sludges generated from the steel production, in order to recycle them into the steel process. Currently SADIM has a pelletizing plant at the Arcelor factory (ArcelorMittal Group) in Gijón-Asturias (Spain), where twenty people work, and which manages steel mill wastes by balling them.
SADIM, began its activity following the directives on waste treatment of Empresa Nacional Siderúrgica (ENSIDESA) (actually ArcelorMittal) using the waste as raw material.
From this relationship, SADIM ran a plant for the agglomeration of BOF sludges (in Aviles-Asturias) in order to use them as a coolant in the oxygen steelmaking process. These sludges were compacted in almond shape briquettes and used as scrap substitute after decarburation of steel.
Afterwards SADIM began the construction of a plant with the aim of managing most of the solid wastes generated in the off-gases treatment (BF sludges, desulfurization flue dusts, etc.) and other wastes (scale sludges, etc.) generated during the manufacture of steel products. The agglomeration in this case is made by balling into pellets and recycling them through the SINTER plant as mineral charge.
Due to operational changes in the steel industry, SADIM closed the briquetting plant, located in Aviles, in the old building of Hornos de Fosa, and built a new modern plant for briquetting and pelletizing. These briquettes are used as a coolant and as a metal load in the oxygen steelmaking process.
SADIM was created as an R & D company applied to the reuse of the solid products or materials that historically and because of different reasons, were not used in the steel industry and therefore ended up in dumps.
SADIM’s objective was the total recovery of all these residues by agglomeration methods and to recycle both the sludge and the dust in the different facilities.
SADIM is currently recognized as a “Hazardous Waste Manager” and is certified in ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004, audited by Lloyd's Register and has the Integrated Environmental License issued by the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Asturias.