The design of a new method for zinc oxide production from enriched zinc ore

ABSTRACT The Zn production in Turkey is carried out by the Hydrozincite ( ZnC03.Zn(OH)2) ore which contains 22% Zn. This ore which is digged out near Kayseri is being mixed with lime stone and coke in a rotary furnace and as a result of the reactions, an enriched mixture called "Calcine" is obtained which contains 60-65% Zn. This process is carried out by the firm "ÇÎNKUR" in Kayseri, where then Calcine is being dissolved in H2SO4 in a controlled manner, and then the solution of ZnSC>4 is electrolyzed where Zn is deposited on cathode. Then collected Zn is melted to obtain ingot Zn. The purity of these ingots are 99.995% Zn. In this study, it is aimed to design a new method to obtain ingot Zn in a cheaper way starting from Calcine. Calcine will be bought from ÇİNKUR, and then this will be mixed with certain proportion with coke in a tilted furnace where the following reaction will take place: C(k) + i02(g) £ CO(g) (1) ZnO(k) + CO(g) Keyword: Çinko = Zinc ; Çinko oksit = Zinc oxide ; Üretim = Production ; Üretim yöntemleri = Production methods