2007 Volume 47 Issue 2 Pages 234-239
Manganese furnace dust is formed from volatiles and fines collected during wet scrubbing of the off-gas from manganese alloy smelting furnaces. This dust, in the form of slurry, contains tar, alkalies, zinc, manganese oxide and other elements. Impediments to the recycling of the manganese furnace dust back to the ferroalloy furnaces are the potential accumulation of zinc and alkalies, which can cause irregularities in furnace operation, and handling. This paper examines the behaviour of zinc during sintering pot tests of manganese ore with addition of manganese furnace dust. Laboratory reduction experiments showed that at temperatures above 800°C zinc oxide was reduced by carbon in tar to zinc vapour. However, zinc removal in sintering pot tests was below 30%, which was attributed to reoxidation of the zinc vapour. Zinc removal was the highest from the bottom section of the sintering pot bed.
