Reduction kinetics of carbon containing pellets made from metallurgical dust

Reduction experiments of carbon containing pellets made from metallurgical dust were conducted under a weak oxidising atmosphere in the temperature range of 1348-1573 K. Analysis of kinetics and the reduction mechanism revealed that the rate determining step of the reduction of the pellets is the interfacial or local reaction with the activation energy 111.66 kJ mol(-1). The reduction rate can be expressed by the McKewan equation 1-(1-R)(1/3)=kt. In addition, temperature is an important factor influencing the reaction rate as dezincification and metallisation increase with the increased temperature. The amount of dezincification and metallisation could be up to 97.8 and 79.9% respectively at 1573 K compared to a minimum of 75.3 and 60.2% at 1348 K.