Thermodynamic Study of the Sustainable Hydrometallurgical Treatment of Copper Converter Flue Dust Based on Pb, Zn, and Sn Oxides

The presented article deals with the thermodynamic study of copper converter flue dust (CCFD) treatment by hydrometallurgical process. The investigated sample of CCFD contains 38.31 wt.% Zn, 11.35 wt.% Pb, and 2.92 wt.% Sn in the form of oxides (PbO, ZnO, and SnO2). The leaching of CCFD in sulphuric acid, acetic acid, nitric acid, and sodium hydroxide was thermodynamically studied. Using Pourbaix diagrams for individual metal–S/C/N/Na/–H2O systems, the possibility of leaching oxides in selected leaching agents was confirmed. A sustainable and environmentally friendly method of processing the sample of CCFD using a hydrometallurgical method is proposed. A suitable selective leaching agent is the acetic acid solution. When leaching in an acetic acid solution, zinc and lead are chemically dissolved to form acetates Zn(CH3COO)2(aq) in the form of Zn2+(aq) at a temperature of 20 °C with a pH range of 0–3.5 and at a temperature of 80 °C with a pH range of 0–2.95, as well as Pb(CH3COO)2(aq) as Pb2+(aq) at a temperature of 20 °C with a pH range of 0–1.95 and at a temperature of 80 °C with a pH range of 0–2, respectively, while tin remains as a solid residue in the form of SnO2(s) at the temperatures of 20 °C and 80 °C throughout the whole acidic pH range. Various analytical techniques, such as SEM, EDX, XRD, and AAS, were used to analyse samples before a thermodynamic study of the leaching of CCFD was conducted by applying Pourbaix Eh–pH diagrams.