Recycling EAF dust by heat treatment with PVC

This study investigated whether polyvinyl chloride (PVC) can be used as an additive for the treatment of electric arc furnace (EAF) dust. The PVC powder was mixed with the dust in order to test the synchronous treatment of two resources: waste PVC and EAF dust. The mixture was made into pellets and subjected to heat at various temperatures. The effects of the heat treatment and heating rate were investigated. The PVC emitted hydrogen chloride gas by pyrolysis and generated chlorides of zinc, lead, and cadmium in the pellets. These chlorides can be recovered by volatilization or leaching after the heat treatment. The residual pellet of this process contained over 45% iron, and it is expected that the residual pellet can be injected into the electric arc furnace.