A Study on the Potential for the Application of Peanut Shells as a Reducer in the Process of Metal Recovery from Metallurgical Slags

Lukasz Kortyka, Jerzy Labaj, Szymon Ptak, Albert Smalcerz, Leszek Blacha, Lukasz Mycka, Tomasz Matula () and Robert Findorak
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Lukasz Kortyka: Lukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, Sowinskiego 5, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Jerzy Labaj: Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Materials Science, Silesian University of Technology, Krasinskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Szymon Ptak: Safety Engineering and Civil Protection Faculty, Fire University, 52/54 Slowackiego St., 01-629 Warsaw, Poland
Albert Smalcerz: Department of Industrial Informatics, Faculty of Materials Science, Silesian University of Technology, Krasinskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Leszek Blacha: Department of Metallurgy and Recycling, Faculty of Materials Science, Silesian University of Technology, Krasinskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Lukasz Mycka: Lukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, Sowinskiego 5, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Tomasz Matula: Department of Metallurgy and Recycling, Faculty of Materials Science, Silesian University of Technology, Krasinskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Robert Findorak: Institute of Metallurgy, Faculty of Materials, Metallurgy and Recycling, Technical University of Kosice, Letna 1/9, 042 00 Kosice-Sever, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: Copper production technology is a complex process consisting of many stages. The combination of pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical stages, on the one hand, complicates production while, on the other hand, allowing for a relatively selective separation of intermediate or waste materials that can be subjected to the process of recovery of useful components. Materials of this type are characterised by a much higher copper content relative to the ore material. On the other hand, due to the oxide form, reduction processes are used in which coke is mainly applied. Reduction of the unfavourable phenomenon of CO 2 emissions, in this case, can be performed through the use of bioreducers, which are characterised by an inert carbon footprint since the generation of carbon dioxides is the same as its absorption at the stage of vegetation and growth. In this paper, the topic of determining the feasibility of using selected bioreducers, such as peanut shells, to verify their suitability in the process of reducing copper oxides as well as the impact on the working components of the laboratory reactor in which the process is carried out are discussed. In this case, raw materials with a composition similar to the that of slags produced at the copper production stage in a flash furnace were tested for reduction. The results referring to reducing lead and copper contents above 88% Pb and 98% Cu indicate the great potential of this type of bioreducer. An additional advantage is the relatively wide availability of peanut resources. The effects of the copper reduction time on the degree of decopperisation performed with a constant reducer addition at 1300 °C were studied in this paper. Following 1 h of the process, the copper content in the slag was 0.78 wt%, while the longer process duration resulted in a copper fraction of 0.19 wt%. Considering lead, its content was 0.33 wt% after the reduction process.

Keywords: biomass; peanut shells; copper metallurgy; technogenic waste; metallurgical slag; reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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