EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

Zinc enters the steel production through the feeding of galvanized steel scrap into the electric arc furnace (EAF). Based on the process conditions, the zinc oxide gets reduced, evaporates as metallic zinc, reoxidizes to zinc oxide in the offgas and gets collected in the filter house. Beside zinc, which represents the main component, elements like lead, iron, cadmium, sodium, potassium, fluorine and chlorine form part of the dust. In the EU, this dust is declared as hazardous waste, while 1.5-2.5 million tons of EAF dust were produced in 2015. This corresponds to a zinc amount of approximately 900,000 - 1.5 million tons. Due to the zinc content the EAF dust displays an usable by-product for the production of different products. This paper deals with the different opportunities to produce products for the zinc market, using EAF dust as raw material. A focus is set on the production of waelz oxide followed by strategies to form different zinc products such as oxides, sulphates, carbonates and also a metallic shape. Furthermore, the paper deals with the different product qualities which are generated depending on the process steps.