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Preparation of Ferrosilicochromium by Silicothermic Reduction of Cr-Bearing Electroplating Sludge

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Abstract

In this study, a novel process for recovering Cr from Cr-bearing electroplating sludge (ES) was proposed, which involved the desulfurization stage and reduction-smelting stage. In the desulfurization stage, the decomposition of CaSO4 in the ES was promoted by adding a certain amount of carbon. It was found that the desulfurization ratio increased first and then decreased as increasing the C/S (molar ratio) from 0.5 to 2, while it monotonously increased as the temperature was raised. The product with the highest desulfurization ratio (89.71%) and the lowest residual sulfur of ES (0.47 wt%) was obtained when the reaction temperature was 1100 ℃ and C/S was 1.5. The desulfurized ES was then deeply reduced by Si. In this stage, Si reduced Cr2O3 in the ES to metallic Cr and formed a liquid Fe–Cr–Si alloy (ferrosilicochromium). The ferrosilicochromium was separated from the molten slag by gravity, and the recovery ratios of Fe and Cr reached 98.9% and 98.7%, respectively. The carbon and sulfur contents of the prepared ferrosilicochromium were 0.01 and 0.009 wt%, respectively, which reached the requirement of commercial ferrosilicochromium (C ≤ 0.02 wt%, S ≤ 0.01 wt%). In addition, SiO2 produced from the silicothermic reduction facilitated the vitrification of slag, and the harmless glassy slag was finally obtained.

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Data availability

All data included in this study are available upon request by contacting with the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Hong-Yang Wang, Shu-Qiang Jiao & Guo-Hua Zhang

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Recovery and Extraction of Rare and Precious Metals, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Hong-Yang Wang & Guo-Hua Zhang

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  1. Hong-Yang Wang
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Correspondence to Guo-Hua Zhang.

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Wang, HY., Jiao, SQ. & Zhang, GH. Preparation of Ferrosilicochromium by Silicothermic Reduction of Cr-Bearing Electroplating Sludge. J. Sustain. Metall. 9, 303–313 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-023-00651-y

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