Study on the Possibility of Using ZnO for Hot Metal Desulfurization

The possibility of using ZnO for desulfurization in hot metal was evaluated. A lab scale experimental setup was designed so that different desulfurizing agents could be added to hot metal for evaluation of their desulfurizing power. The setup had good control of both temperature and the gaseous atmosphere. It also provided stirring of the metal bath with an impeller as well as quenching facility to maintain the metal composition at high temperature. Desulfurization of hot metal using CaO powder showed evidently the applicability of the new setup. On the other hand, additions of ZnO into the hot metal under various experimental conditions showed no effect on desulfurization. The results were in contradiction to the suggestion found in literature. A thorough examination of the thermodynamic data employed by the previous work was carried out. The data used in the literature were found to be subjected to fundamental mistakes. The present experimental results convincingly rule out the possibility of using ZnO as a desulfurization agent.