Effective utilization of dolomitic lead-zinc waste rock by replacing dolomite as flux in iron ore sintering process

With increasingly stringent environmental protection policies,cost-effective and value-added treatment of massive lead-zinc waste rock(LZWR)generated from the preconcentration process has attracted substantial attention.A type of dolomitic LZWR with 18 wt.%MgO,27 wt.%CaO,0.29 wt.%Zn and 1.43 wt.%S was used as a replacement flux in the iron ore sintering process.Traditional sinter pot tests were carried out based on an industrial ore blend.The results show that replacing 0%-60%of dolomite with LZWR does not adversely affect the sintering productivity,fuel consumption rate,and the quality of the sinter products,while the Zn and S elements contained in LZWR can be effectively removed with the residual Zn and S contents of the resultant sinter products being less than 0.02 and 0.055 wt.%,respectively.However,substituting LZWR for dolomite as a flux inevitably increases the SO_(2) concentration in the sintering flue gas due to its high sulfur content.Considering the processing capacity of the sintering flue gas desulfurization system,the replacement ratio of dolomite can reach 40%,equal to LZWR consumption of 24.3 kg per ton of sinter.The SO_(2) in sintering flue gas can be recovered to produce(NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4) or HSO_(4),while the volatilized Zn collected into the zinc-containing dust can be subsequently recycled by the rotary hearth furnace process.Therefore,it is technologically and economically feasible to use the LZWR as a replacement flux in the iron ore sintering process,providing a new way for the safe,large-scale and low-cost treatment of LZWR.