How to minimize iron loss while decontaminating converter dust from lead

The purpose of this work was to decontaminate a converter flue dust from lead while minimizing the iron loss from the dust matrix. A physicochemical method based on a leaching cascade was applied to remove lead impurities with HCl. Finally, the lead-rich wastes generated at the end of the operations were further treated in order to meet the standards of waste disposal sites. The results show that lead could be removed from the dust with efficiencies of better than 90%. However, some iron was lost in these operations. It was noticed that under optimum conditions 8.5 g of iron would be lost as leachate per each gram of removed lead. It was also noticed that the lead-treated dust was more concentrated in iron and had less calcium. A number of parameters that could affect the amount of iron loss, such as acid dose, exposure time and temperature, were identified and the extent of the effects are presented. It was concluded that the lead content in the flue dust could practically be lowered to any level. It was also concluded that the difference between the solubility of lead chloride in cold and hot water, as well as the affinity of certain ligands such as Cl- and OH- to form stable complexes with lead ions, played a key role in this study. The lead-containing complexes in the leachate were identified to be predominantly PbCl3- and PbCl+.