KINETIC ANALYSIS AND MECHANISM OF ZINC LEACHING AND RECOVERY OF OTHER COMPONENTS FROM THE EAF DUST BY APPLYING A TWO-STEP LEACHING PROCESS

Vanja Trifunović; Snežana Milić; Ljiljana Avramović; Silvana Dimitrijević; Dragana Medić; Nikola Vuković; Ivana Jelić

doi:10.17222/mit.2026.1684

Vanja Trifunović Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor, Albert Ajnštajn 1, 19210 Bor, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4839-8751
Snežana Milić Technical Faculty in Bor, University in Belgrade, Vojske Jugoslavije 12, 19210 Bor, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5000-9156
Ljiljana Avramović Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor, Albert Ajnštajn 1, 19210 Bor, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3747-1530
Silvana Dimitrijević Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor, Albert Ajnštajn 1, 19210 Bor, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1670-4275
Dragana Medić Technical Faculty in Bor, University in Belgrade, Vojske Jugoslavije 12, 19210 Bor, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9980-5949
Nikola Vuković Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Bulevar Franše d'Eperea 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3607-5907
Ivana Jelić Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Bulevar Franše d'Eperea 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9901-9323

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17222/mit.2026.1684

Keywords: EAF dust; zinc recovery; kinetic analysis; two-step leaching

Abstract

Due to the high content of zinc in electric arc furnace (EAF) dust, despite its classification as a hazardous solid industrial waste, it can be used as a secondary raw material for its separation. After the detailed characterization of a representative sample of EAF dust, the two-step leaching process of EAF dust was investigated for the recovery of zinc and other components. The leaching process was carried out in two steps: in the pretreatment step (water leaching) and the sulfuric acid leaching step. With defined optimal process parameters the zinc leaching rate is 90.5 %. After the applied two-step leaching process of the EAF dust, the resulting leaching products were characterized, a kinetic analysis was performed, and the zinc leaching mechanism was determined.

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