Waste to wealth: Efficient wet desulfurization of electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) and recycling of desulfurization solid residue

In this study, we used calcined hazardous waste electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) as a desulfurizer for an effective wet desulfurization process. Testing for desulfurization efficacy revealed that the calcined EAFD, particularly when treated at 800 °C in an oxygen (O2) environment (termed EAFD-O2), achieved an unprecedented breakthrough sulfur capacity (BSC) of 3.71 gSO2·g−1 at 55 °C-the highest to date for EAFD applications in desulfurization efforts. Further investigation indicated that the calcination method expels certain volatile contaminants, thereby enhancing the crystallinity and lattice oxygen content of zinc oxide, the strong active phase of desulfurization in EAFD, which is principally responsible for the superior desulfurization results of EAFD-O2. Moreover, the observed reduction in the desulfurization slurry's activity primarily stems from the depletion of the strong active phase of desulfurization (ZnO) and the resultant rise in the liquid phase's sulfate concentration. Notably, the deactivated slurry's solid residue predominantly consists of high-purity ZnFe2O4, a form of zinc ferrite utilized extensively for its proficiency in photocatalytic. Following straightforward processing, this substance displayed exceptional performance in photocatalytic-Fenton degradation tests on tetracycline (TC). In sum, the study not only turns hazardous EAFD into a powerful agent for removing SO2, a gaseous pollutant but also converts it into a value-added material, ZnFe2O4, thus proposing an integrated and efficient approach to solid waste management.