Electric arc furnace (EAF) dust is a hazardous waste product of the steelmaking industry with a high concentration of heavy metals, especially Zn and Pb. Existing treatment processes are industrially viable only when the zinc content is sufficiently high. In this project we present an industrial-scale process to enhance EAF dust by recycling it to the same furnace in which it was generated.
The manufacturing of self-reducing briquettes composed of dust from the steelmaking improve the chemical, mechanical and thermal properties of the briquettes. These include determinations of compressive, breaking and abrasion strength, softening and melting points, and thermal behavior. The theoretical energy balance calculated from the process of loading briquettes into the EAF has yielded a positive value of briquettes, showing that extra energy is clearly supplied to the furnace.