An Experimental Study of Zinc Evaporation from Bottom Zinc Dross at Atmospheric Pressure and in Inert Atmosphere with Integrated CFD Modelling

Abstract

In the present study, the recycling process of bottom zinc dross was performed by evaporation and subsequent condensation at 800 °C for 30 min with an observed argon flow rate of 100–400 mL/min to ensure an inert atmosphere, to observe the evaporation rate and final form of the product. Under the set conditions of over 98% zinc purity, products in the form of nanofibres (thickness 500 nm), powder (size of spherical particles 2–5 μm), dendrites, and metallic forms were obtained. The employed mathematical modelling (via Ansys 2023R1 software) predicted the behaviour of the argon flow current in the quartz tube, as well as the temperature gradient in the quartz tube and in the close vicinity of the zinc sample. Via Inventor 2014 software, the rate of zinc sample heating was calculated. All the simulations were compared with the physical measurements and correlation was proven.