Treatment of Electric Arc Furnace Dust With a Sustained Shockwave Plasma Reactor

Abstract

In the reprocessing of steel from automotive scrap, lead, cadmium and zinc, which are volatile constituents, vaporize under the extremely high localized temperatures in an electric arc furnace at the points of contact between the graphite electrodes and the charge. These vapors condense to produce a hazardous dust termed electric arc furnace dust (EFD). This study was undertaken to satisfy the need for a mobile system which could be moved from site to site of generators of EFD to avoid transportation of hazardous waste, and to recycle slags and metallic iron products within the plant. A new type of plasma device, the Sustained Shockwave Plasma (SSP) has been developed and tested for treatment of EFD on a laboratory scale (500 g h-1). Batch tests show that EFD can be treated to produce a non-hazardous slag and metallic zinc and lead to recycle.