A KINETIC STUDY ON THE CARBOTHERMIC REDUCTION OF ZINC OXIDE FROM ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE DUST

In the present study, reduction of zinc oxide from the pellets made of steelmaking electric arc furnace dusthas been investigated. effects of such parameters as the type of carbon material (graphite, coke and charcoal) as wellas time and temperature on the reduction reaction have been examined. the reduced (dimensionless) time method wasapplied to perform a kinetic analysis of the system. experimental results showed that increasing the temperature in therange of 925-1150°c results in a remarkable increase in the reduction rate. it was also shown that the reductionprocess is controlled by chemical reaction. meaningful difference in the activation energy values calculated forreduction with graphite (24.75 kcal/mol), coke (18.13 kcal/mol) and charcoal (11.52 kcal/mol) indicate thepredominant role of chemical reaction (carbon gasification) in the overall reaction rate and its rate-controllingmechanism. carbothermal reduction of pelletized eaf dust proved to be an efficient reduction method, so that above90% reduction was achieved in about one hour at temperatures around 1100°c.