Reduction of Zinc-Rich Ferrites and Its Implication for a Caron-Type Process forCarbon Steelmaking Dust

摘要

Environmental concern over the disposal of dust recovered during steelmaking andthe need to recover contained resources have in recent times led to research and development work on the treatment of the material. The thesis on the reduction of zinc-rich ferrites by carbon monoxide containing gas has been carried out from the point of view of the possible treatment of carbon steelmaking dust according to a concept process, the Caron Zinc process, which was proposed in 1985 in the Department of Raw Materials Technology at Delft University. Classification of carbon steelmaking dust as a toxic waste is generally due to its content of lead and cadmium leachable under conditions which may prevail in landfill disposal sites, while zinc is the principal constituent of potential economic value in the dust. The Caron Zinc process was proposed as a means of processing carbon steelmaking dust along similar lines as the Caron Process used in the nickel industry, a technology which originated from the Faculty of Mining at Delft about half a century ago.