Slag Reduction Kinetics of a Lead Slag from a Secondary Lead Smelter

Abstract

In the classical pyrometallurgy route for lead smelting, the smelter produces a slag containing measurable quantities of lead. The lead in the slag is most often discharged from the smelter, leading to the disposal of significant quantities of lead. The slag needs to be safely stored to prevent the release of lead into the environment. In this work, the recovery of lead, and other deleterious elements, from a lead smelter slag has been investigated experimentally. Thermodynamic simulation was performed to determine the viability of a methane reduction process. Based on the thermodynamic simulation and knowledge of the phases and distribution of elements between the phases in the smelter slag, methane reduction was tested on a bench scale. A comparison between the thermodynamic predictions and observations provides an insight into the processes occurring during reduction and the kinetic limitations of this process.