Method for processing oxidic materials in metallurgical waste
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorMaurice G. Fey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for processing metallurgical waste characterized by collecting metallurgical waste containing oxides of such metals as lead and zinc which when reduced form volatile and non-volatile metals; compacting a mixture of metallurgical waste, carbonaceous material and silica into pellets; heating the pellet at a temperature sufficient to reduce the oxides to vapors of elemental metals; and condensing the vapors to liquid or solid status of the elemental metal.
Claims13
A method for processing metallurgical waste from a ferrous metallurgical furnace comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting metallurgical dust containing oxides of metals which when reduced, form volatile and non-volatile metals;
- (b) providing a reducing furnace containing a first metal bath and a reacting slag on the metal bath;
- (c) heating in the reducing slag a mixture of the metallurgical dust and a carbonaceous material which react to form a vapor of volatile metal and non-volatile elemental metal;
- (d) venting the volatile metal from the furnace;
- and
- (e) directing the volatile metal through an inlet into a condenser for condensing the volatile metal into a second liquid metal bath.
A method of recovering lead and zinc from metallurgical waste from ferrous metallurgical furnace, comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting metallurgical dust containing oxides of metals which when reduced, form volatile elemental metal;
- (b) compacting without heating a mixture of the dust, carbonaceous material, and silica into pellets;
- (c) providing a reducing furnace containing a metal bath and a reacting slag;
- (d) introducing the pellets into the reacting slag to reduce the dust into vapors of volatile metals and nonvolatile elemental metals with the nonvolatile elemental metal sinking from the slag into the metal bath;
- (e) venting the vapors of the volatile metals from the furnace;
- (f) directing the vapors through an inlet into a condenser for condensing the volatile metals into a liquid metal melt;
- and
- (g) circulating the liquid metal melt to a location near said inlet and above the melt and spraying droplets of said melt into the vapor of volatile metal to cause the volatile metal vapor to condense on the surfaces of the droplets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.