The advantages of recycling metallic zinc from the processing wastes of industrial molten zinc applications

摘要

With the rising cost of zinc reaching historic levels, more emphasis is being placed on technologies to increase the efficient utilization of zinc. One area targeted for increased efficiency is in-house recycling of metallic zinc industrial wastes. Metallic zinc is utilized in a variety of applications including die casting and brass manufacturing, but the largest consumer of zinc is the hot-dip galvanizing of steel. Through the processing of zinc-coated steel, considerable quantities of usable zinc are discarded with the skimmings from the zinc bath. It has been demonstrated that metallic zinc can be extracted from these drosses by utilizing a relatively simple pyro-mechanical process. By obtaining a better understanding of the metallurgical constituents which compose the zinc waste products and acknowledging the relative ease by which metallic zinc separation may be achieved, the practical justification of in-house zinc dross recycling may be utilized to further support obvious economic and environmental advantages.