Recycling of zinc and lead from electric arc furnace dust by selective leaching with EDTA

Electric Arc Furnace Dust (EAFD) is a potential source of contamination, primarily by the non- ferrous metals as it may contain (Zn, Pb). It is known that steel processing companies make efforts to reuse EAFD, however, today, the implementation of the most common hydrometallurgical methods is considered to be harmful and corrosive. In that sense, a more ecological and efficient technique for the management of this industrial waste is proposed here. The technique consists in the use of an organic solution of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) at moderate conditions (room temperature, 0.5 M maximum concentration and 2 h of operation) for zinc and lead extraction. To leach metals using EDTA at pH 3 and 6 is possible and favourable. The presence of ZnFe2O4 did not allow leaching of the total zinc present in EAFD, while the rapid dissolution of PbO allowed more than 95% lead extraction.