Production of Fine ZnO Powders by Carbothermal Reduction

Carbothermal reduction has been one of the important processes for the production of ceramic raw materials such as silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide, etc. The process has also been one of several trials for the recovery of ZnO from ZnO-containing waste. It usually involves two consecutive steps: the evolution of Zn vapor and its oxidation with air. In this study a ZnO-containing raw material is reduced by carbon at $1250^{\circ}C$ and the evolved Zn vapor is oxidized with air, resulting in fine powders of ZnO. computer programs, THERMO and PYROSIM developed by MINTEK, are used to simulate the process thermodynamically and the results are compared with the experimental results. It is shown that the ZnO-containing raw material can be reduced and can form fine ZnO with the yield as high as 98.7% under a proper condition. Based on these results, a process is engineered for the production of ZnO in a rotary kiln at a rate of 3 tons/day. The produced ZnO powders show properties suitable to the usual applications in ceramic industries with a purity of > 95wt% and an average particle size of ∼3${\mu}m$.