Carbothermic reduction of zinc sulfide in the presence of calcium carbonate

Abstract

Carbothermic reduction of zinc sulfide in the presence of calcium carbonate was investigated by employing an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), a carbon and sulfur determinator, a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and a surface area analyzer. Experimental results revealed that calcium carbonate was completely decomposed to CaO in the initial stage and CaO was then involved in the carbothermic reduction of zinc sulfide to scavenge sulfur content as CaS remained in the solid. Only carbothermic reduction of zinc sulfide occurred after the initial stage. Most β-ZnS transformed to α-ZnS in the initial stage. Sintering became severe after long reaction time or at high reaction temperature. The surface area of a sample decreased drastically in the initial stage and then increased with the reaction time; the pore volume of the solid sample was also reduced more quickly initially and then kept constant; the average pore diameter, however, reduced slightly in the initial stage and then leveled off. The effect of temperature on the changes of pore surface area, pore volume, and average pore diameter was found to be similar to that of time, except in the initial stage. A reaction mechanism and a reaction model were proposed to interpret the overall reaction.