Electrogalvanizing using zinc recovered from nonferrous smelter dusts

Abstract An objective of the U.S. Bureau of Mines recycling research is to devise technology that enables the recovery of metals, minerals, and other values from waste products and thus promote the wise and efficient use of the resources of the U.S.A. In line with this objective, Bureau researchers are investigating the use of waste products containing zinc as a source of zinc for electrogalvanizing. Industrials wastes used in this work were lead smelter flue dust, wastewater treatment sludge, copper smelter flue dust, and brass smelter flue dust. After zinc extraction with sulfuric acid, the resultant solutions were partially purified and used to electrogalvanize 0.234-cm (0.092-in.) diameter 1070 alloy steel wire, a common electrogalvanized product. The corrosion resistance of the electrogalvanized wire from waste electrolyte was compared with electrogalvanized wire from relatively pure electrolyte prepared in the laboratory, and with electrogalvanized wire from an industrial electrogalvanizing plant. Corrosion rate measurements indicated that electrogalvanized wire obtained from waste electrolyte prepared from brass smelter flue dusts compared favorably with industrial electrogalvanized wire and electrogalvanized wire from the relatively pure electrolyte. The brass smelter flue dusts were chosen for more detailed studies. Impurities in the waste electrolyte caused some problems. Copper was undesirable because it passivated the soluble zinc anode. Other impurities such as cobalt and nickel were more tolerable but also slowly coated the anode. Owing to the ease of removal of copper by cementation, it posed no processing problem for electrogalvanizing. Successful completion of bench-scale work with brass smelter flue dusts led to large-scale trials at an industrial electrogalvanizing plant.