A Research Plan on Zinc Removal Effectiveness through Iron Sintering

This research plan investigates the effectiveness of iron sintering as a method for zinc removal. It begins by highlighting the importance of the metal industry and the role of blast furnaces, emphasizing the need to agglomerate zinc ore fines. The research aims to explore techniques for zinc removal through sintering, considering factors like temperature, sintering time, and oxygen partial pressure. The plan involves a literature review to build a background on sintering processes and experiments with sintered samples. Expected results include enhanced aggregation of zinc oxide particles due to flux materials and the reduction of zinc oxide to zinc vapor by metallic iron, ultimately presenting iron sintering as an economical method for zinc removal. The research is planned over 12 weeks, allocating more time for practical experiments and analysis, with a conclusion based on experimental findings and recommendations for further work. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers to aid students in their studies.

CHEMISTRY
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Background of the Proposed Research Plan
The metal industry tends to be one the most important production sectors around the globe. Blast
furnace technologies have been for a long time the most dominant in the production of various
metals of high grade as early as the industrial age or industrial revolution. In a bid to ensure
sustenance of the operation of a blast furnace, there is need to agglomerate the fines of zinc ore
generated during the process of mining and the process of dressing the ore. Sintering process
forms one of the most reliable, convenient and economical techniques that is widely used in the
agglomeration methods of iron ore fines (Yuan & Liu 2013). As at the moment, the tune of more
not less than 70% of liquid zinc around the world is generated through sintering process
Purpose of the Proposed Research
The research aims at exploring the various modalities and techniques through which zinc can be
removed through the method that has been established to be economical, reliable and convenient-
sintering process. The study would also aim at establish the factors that influence the relative
fraction of the mineral phases during the sintering process among them the sintering conditions
which are inclusive of the temperature, sintering time, composition as well as oxygen partial
pressure. All these conditions are under the control of the operating parameters that are among
them wind box pressure, humidity and sinter strand speed among other parameters (Hleis et al.
2013). The study finally purposes to establish the effectiveness of the removal of zinc through
iron sintering process, a technique that has been, in most of the literature, only seem to be
applied to iron metal.
Proposed Plan

The research would involve conducting literature analysis as well as performing experiments that
would aid in gaining an in-depth understanding of the process of iron sintering and its
applicability or how applicable it is in the removal of zinc. The literature analysis or studies
would be helpful in providing a background on the sintering process and its applications as
recorded by the preceding scholars in the same field (Samal, Ray & Bandopadhyay 2013). The
knowledge gained in this comprehensive literature will then be used in assisting in solving the
research question at hand which would come along with making various adjustments. The
experiments would include sintered samples which would be taken through various tests and
analyses aimed at meeting the research objectives and purpose.
Expect Results and Impacts
The presence of flux materials, calcium oxide and silicon IV oxide as some of the impurities in
zinc would enhance aggregation of the fine particles of the compound through bonding of the
various phases during the process of sintering (Habashi 2017). Zinc oxide, a compound of zinc
that would be used in the experiment would be reduced to zinc vapour by metallic iron during
the sintering process. The end results would thus be elimination or removal of zinc which would
in turn present iron sintering process as an economical method of removing zinc.
Research Plan
The research would run for a period of 12 weeks with more time allocated to the practical bit of
the task which would involve performing the experiments on zinc removal through sintering
process. The experiments will be preceded by background study and exploration of the existing
literature. A conclusion would then be arrived at based on the findings of the experiment and
further work and recommendations provided.

References
Yuan, L., & Liu, Y. (2013). Removal of Pb (II) and Zn (II) from aqueous solution by ceramist
prepared by sintering betonies, iron powder and activated carbon. Chemical engineering
journal, 215, 432-439
Habashi, F. (2017). Principles of extractive metallurgy. Routledge
Samal, S., Ray, A. K., & Bandopadhyay, A. (2013). Proposal for resources, utilization and
processes of red mud in India—a review. International Journal of Mineral Processing, 118, 43-
55
Hleis, D., Fernández-Olmo, I., Ledoux, F., Kfoury, A., Courcot, L., Desmonts, T., & Courcot, D.
(2013). Chemical profile identification of fugitive and confined particle emissions from an
integrated iron and steelmaking plant. Journal of hazardous materials, 250, 246-255