Processing of Electric Arc Furnace Dust using Deep Eutectic Solvents

Andrew P. Abbott; John Collins; Ian Dalrymple; Robert C. Harris; Reena Mistry; Fulian Qiu; James Scheirer; William R. Wise

doi:10.1071/CH08476

RESEARCH FRONT

Processing of Electric Arc Furnace Dust using Deep Eutectic Solvents

Andrew P. Abbott ^A ^C , John Collins ^B , Ian Dalrymple ^B , Robert C. Harris ^A , Reena Mistry ^A , Fulian Qiu ^A , James Scheirer ^A and William R. Wise ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Chemistry Department, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.

^B C-Tech Innovation Ltd, Capenhurst Technology Park, Chester, CE1 6EH, UK.

^C Corresponding author. Email: andrew.abbott@le.ac.uk

Australian Journal of Chemistry 62(4) 341-347 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH08476
Submitted: 2 November 2008 Accepted: 7 February 2009 Published: 24 April 2009

Abstract

The present paper describes the design and operation of the first large-scale extraction and separation of metals from a complex matrix using an ionic liquid. The liquid was a deep eutectic solvent based on choline chloride. The hydrogen-bond donors were mixed to optimize solubility and fluid viscosity. It was found that the incorporation of a fine particulate dust actually decreased the viscosity of the fluid. The present paper shows that selective extraction of zinc and lead can be achieved through judicious choice of the hydrogen-bond donor and it is also shown that metals in solution can be separated using cementation with zinc powder. Electrowinning of pure zinc is demonstrated but scale-up tests suggest that the process is relatively slow and has poor current efficiency. An alternative methodology was developed to rapidly recover the zinc from solution using dilute ammonia solution. It is also shown for the first time that cementation can be efficiently carried out in ionic liquids because the recovered metal is porous and allows thick layers to be deposited.

References

Processing of Electric Arc Furnace Dust using Deep Eutectic Solvents

Abstract

Subscriber Login