Recovery Of Zinc From Metallurgical Dusts And Fumes

INTRODUCTION In 1975 278x10 3 tonnes of zinc was consumed in the United Kingdom, of which 69.3x10 3 tonnes was obtained from secondary sources. Of this secondary zinc 37.7x10 3 tonnes was used in brass making, the remainder was used in non metallic applications - eg oxides and salts. Many forms of zinc-bearing wastes arise, for example as galvaniser's drosses and residues, fumes from ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical processes, and filter cakes from rayon manufacture and metal finishing. In the case of zinc-bearing dusts and fumes, the quantities available for recycle are at present restricted by the failure to collect them efficiently, hut environmental factors are leading to improvements in gas cleaning, with the result that quantities collected will increase and then exceed those required for the production of chemicals, so that some dusts may either have to be dumped or processed to metal. The recovery of zinc from steelmaking dusts is practised in W. Germany (1) and Japan (2) employing processes based on reduction in rotary kilns in order to produce sponge iron and a zinc- rich oxide suitable for feeding to the zinc-lead blast furnace. Although the zinc-lead blast furnace is the only zinc-making process used in the UK, no similar treatment of steelmaking dusts is carried out, a pilot scheme was tested by the British Steel Corporation, but development was abandoned for economic reasons. It appears to be cheaper to pelletise suitable dusts and export them for treatment elsewhere.