Hydrometallurgical Treatment of Steelmaking Electric Arc Furnace Dusts (EAFD)

The aim of the current research study was the development of a hydrometallurgical process for the recovery of metals from electric arc furnace dust. The behaviors of zinc, cadmium, iron, and lead in sulfuric acid were investigated. The recovery of the zinc (from zinc oxide) and cadmium is possible with a relatively high yield, as iron and lead remain in the solid residue after two stages of leaching at room temperature. In a third stage, zinc recovery from the zinc ferrite (in the leached residue) was carried out by pressure leaching. Under the optimum conditions of treatment and after three stages of processing, the total extractions of zinc and cadmium were 99 and 94 pct, respectively. Lead and the main part of iron remain in the residue. The proposed process also resulted in the reduction of the initial residue mass by 30 pct.