PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR RECOVERY OF NON-FERROUS METALS FROM ZINC RESIDUES

摘要

The invention relates to a process for the separation and recovery of non-ferrous metals from zinc-bearing residues, in particular from residues produced by the zinc manufacturing industry. The process comprises the steps of: vaporizing the residue in a blanket or in an agitated bath producing an Fe-bearing slag and Zn- and Pb-bearing fumes; and extracting the Zn- and Pb-bearing fumes and vaporizing Zn and Pb; the process is characterized in that CaO, SiOand MgO are added as a flux before or during the fuming step so as to obtain a final slag composition corresponding to the formula (1) wherein all concentrations are expressed in mass percent. The invention also relates to a single-chamber reactor for fuming Zn equipped with one or more submerged plasma torches as heat and gas sources.