Zinc Reduction/Vaporisation Behaviour
from Metallurgical Wastes
Timothy Kerry, Alexander Peters, Evangelos Georgakopoulos,
Ashkan Hosseini, Erik Offerman and Yongxiang Yang
Abstract The steelmaking industry produces large quantities of zinc-bearing wastes
of varying forms that cannot be treated through integrated steelmaking processes.
Simultaneously, by-products of the zinc industry containing great amounts of iron
and zinc are stored or landfilled. The amount of zinc in these materials is generally
below that which is of value to be recycled directly to the zinc smelter, consequently
a method of concentration is required. Tata Steel owns and operates the pilot HIsarna
ironmaking plant which, due to its high raw materials flexibility, is attractive for
the purpose of processing secondary iron sources. Furthermore, it can facilitate the
simultaneous recovery of a zinc-enriched flue dust. The high temperature behaviour
of various waste materials will be presented with regards to their recyclability in the
HIsarna furnace. Blast furnace (BF) sludge and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) sludge
from Tata Steel IJmuiden have been studied along with ‘goethite’ waste produced by
Nyrstar. The various input materials have been comprehensively characterised and
their reduction/vaporisation behaviour recorded. Mixed samples have been produced
and tested in order to define the most appropriate form of delivery of these materials
to the HIsarna furnace.
Keywords Recycling · Zinc · Dusts · Self-reduction · HIsarna
Introduction
Zinc is present within iron ore and coal; furthermore, it is widely applied as a protective coating in the production of galvanised steel. Consequently, within steelmaking
processes, there is the potential looping and accumulation of zinc. This material can
generally be found in the dusts and sludges produced from the high temperature operations taking place on these sites, whether from a sinter plant, blast furnace, electric
arc furnace, etc. Moreover, along with concentrated zinc in the flue dusts of these
T. Kerry (B) · A. Peters · E. Georgakopoulos · A. Hosseini · E. Offerman · Y. Yang
Materials Science and Engineering, TU Delft, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
e-mail: t.j.kerry@tudelft.nl
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2020
A. Siegmund et al. (eds.), PbZn 2020: 9th International Symposium
on Lead and Zinc Processing, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37070-1_70
811
from Metallurgical Wastes
Timothy Kerry, Alexander Peters, Evangelos Georgakopoulos,
Ashkan Hosseini, Erik Offerman and Yongxiang Yang
Abstract The steelmaking industry produces large quantities of zinc-bearing wastes
of varying forms that cannot be treated through integrated steelmaking processes.
Simultaneously, by-products of the zinc industry containing great amounts of iron
and zinc are stored or landfilled. The amount of zinc in these materials is generally
below that which is of value to be recycled directly to the zinc smelter, consequently
a method of concentration is required. Tata Steel owns and operates the pilot HIsarna
ironmaking plant which, due to its high raw materials flexibility, is attractive for
the purpose of processing secondary iron sources. Furthermore, it can facilitate the
simultaneous recovery of a zinc-enriched flue dust. The high temperature behaviour
of various waste materials will be presented with regards to their recyclability in the
HIsarna furnace. Blast furnace (BF) sludge and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) sludge
from Tata Steel IJmuiden have been studied along with ‘goethite’ waste produced by
Nyrstar. The various input materials have been comprehensively characterised and
their reduction/vaporisation behaviour recorded. Mixed samples have been produced
and tested in order to define the most appropriate form of delivery of these materials
to the HIsarna furnace.
Keywords Recycling · Zinc · Dusts · Self-reduction · HIsarna
Introduction
Zinc is present within iron ore and coal; furthermore, it is widely applied as a protective coating in the production of galvanised steel. Consequently, within steelmaking
processes, there is the potential looping and accumulation of zinc. This material can
generally be found in the dusts and sludges produced from the high temperature operations taking place on these sites, whether from a sinter plant, blast furnace, electric
arc furnace, etc. Moreover, along with concentrated zinc in the flue dusts of these
T. Kerry (B) · A. Peters · E. Georgakopoulos · A. Hosseini · E. Offerman · Y. Yang
Materials Science and Engineering, TU Delft, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
e-mail: t.j.kerry@tudelft.nl
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2020
A. Siegmund et al. (eds.), PbZn 2020: 9th International Symposium
on Lead and Zinc Processing, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37070-1_70
811