Flue dusts

Selenium and tellurium occur naturally in sulphide ores, usually as an impurity in the sulphide of a heavy metal. They are recovered from the flue dust produced when the heavy metal sulphide is roasted. 

Gallium is often found as a trace element in diaspore, sphalerite, germanite, bauxite, and coal. Some flue dusts from burning coal have been shown to contain as much 1.5 percent gallium. 

Selenium is found in a few rare minerals such as crooksite and clausthalite. In years past it has been obtained from flue dusts remaining from processing copper sulfide ores, but the anode metal from electrolytic copper refineries now provide the source of most of the world s selenium. Selenium is recovered by roasting the muds with soda or sulfuric acid, or by smelting them with soda and niter. 

Rhenium does not occur free in nature or as a compound in a distinct mineral species. It is, however, widely spread throughout the earth s crust to the extent of about 0.001 ppm. Commercial rhenium in the U.S. today is obtained from molybdenum roaster-flue dusts obtained from copper-sulfide ores mined in the vicinity of Miami, Arizona, and elsewhere in Arizona and Utah. 

The abundance of indium in the earth s cmst is probably about 0.1 ppm, similat to that of silver. It is found in trace amounts in many minerals, particulady in the sulfide ores of zinc and to a lesser extent in association with sulfides of copper, tin, and lead. Indium follows zinc through flotation concentration, and commercial recovery of the metal is achieved by treating residues, flue dusts, slags, and metallic intermediates in zinc smelting and associated lead (qv) and copper (qv) smelting (see Metallurgy, EXTRACTIVE Zinc and zinc alloys). 

Production. Indium is recovered from fumes, dusts, slags, residues, and alloys from zinc or lead—zinc smelting. The source material itself, a reduction bullion, flue dust, or electrolytic slime intermediate, is leached with sulfuric or hydrochloric acid, the solutions are concentrated, if necessary, and cmde indium is recovered as 99+% metal. This impure indium is then refined to 99.99%, 99.999%, 99.9999%, or higher grades by a variety of classical chemical and electrochemical processes. 

Sintering. The charge for sintering is prepared by blending selected concentrates, smelter by-products, returned sinter, flue dust, and when required, additional fuel such as coke bree2e. The blend is then peUeti2ed in preparation for sintering. 

The entire QSL process takes place in a single reactor as shown in Figure 6 (15). The reactor consists of an almost horizontal, refractory-lined cylinder, which can be tilted by 90° when operation is intermpted. Concentrates, fluxes, recirculated flue dust, and normally a small amount of coal, depending on the type of concentrate, are pelletized. The pelletizer ensures that the raw materials are mixed to the required degree of uniformity. 

Fig. 6. QSL furnace. The green pellets consist of concentrate, fluxes, flue dust, and coal.

The combined flue dust from waste heat boiler and electrostatic precipitator, including dust from the ventilation system, is collected in a bin and recirculated to the mixing and pelletizing step, where it is used as a binding reagent. 

Before scmbbing procedures were estabUshed for copper ore, most of the rhenium was lost as the volatile (Re202). A small portion, perhaps 10%, was retained in flue dust, which was processed to give the metal. A commercial flotation (qv) process for the recovery of the molybdenite by-product is available that permits a high recovery of molybdenum and rhenium. This process is used at the Caridad copper mine in Mexico. 

Miscellaneous. Where a copper refinery is adjacent to a lead (qv) plant it is feasible to recover the selenium in slimes by smelting them in conjunction with lead-bearing materials. Utilizing the lower temperatures needed to melt lead, the selenium is volatilized from a lead bath or cupel blown with air. The selenium is recovered from flue dust and fume by scmbbing. This is the process used by Union Miniere at its Hoboken plant in Belgium. 

Production and Economic Aspects. Thallium is obtained commercially as a by-product in the roasting of zinc, copper, and lead ores. The thallium is collected in the flue dust in the form of oxide or sulfate with other by-product metals, eg, cadmium, indium, germanium, selenium, and tellurium. The thallium content of the flue dust is low and further enrichment steps are required. If the thallium compounds present are soluble, ie, as oxides or sulfates, direct leaching with water or dilute acid separates them from the other insoluble metals. Otherwise, the thallium compound is solubilized with oxidizing roasts, by sulfatization, or by treatment with alkaU. The thallium precipitates from these solutions as thaUium(I) chloride [7791 -12-0]. Electrolysis of the thaUium(I) sulfate [7446-18-6] solution affords thallium metal in high purity (5,6). The sulfate solution must be acidified with sulfuric acid to avoid cathodic separation of zinc and anodic deposition of thaUium(III) oxide [1314-32-5]. The metal deposited on the cathode is removed, kneaded into lumps, and dried. It is then compressed into blocks, melted under hydrogen, and cast into sticks. 

High 50,000 0,000 8-16 Aluminum, copper, zinc, vanadium, calcined dolomite, hme, magnesia, magnesium carhonates, sodium chloride, sodium and potassium compounds Flue dust, natural and reduced iron ores Flue dust, iron oxide, natural and reduced iron ores, scrap metals... 

Fusain fibers -Flint sarrd, jagged flakes Flue dust, fused, aggregates... 

Flue dust, fused, spherical -Sand, nearly spherical... 

Indium is now commercially recovered from the flue dusts emitted during the roasting of Zn/Pb sulfide ores and can also be recovered during the roasting of Fe and Cu sulfide ores. Before 1925 only 1 g of the element was available in the world but production now exceeds 80 000 000 g... 

Thallium is likewise recovered from flue dusts emitted during sulfide roasting for H2SO4 manufacture, and from the smelting of Zn/Pb ores. Extraction procedures are complicated because of the need to recover Cd at the same time. There are no major commercial uses for T1 metal world production in 1983 was estimated to be 5-15 tonnes p.a. and the price ranged from 60 to 80 per kg depending on purity and amount purchased. 

Germanium minerals are extremely rare but the element is widely distributed in trace amounts (like its neighbour Ga). Recovery has been achieved from coal ash but is now normally from the flue dusts of smelters processing Zn ores. 

Dunst, m. vapor steam, fume, damp smoke haze fine shot flue dust, -abzug, m. hood (for fumes), ab2ug rohr, n. vent pipe, dnostartig, a. vaporous. 

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