Decomposition of Zinc Ferrite in Zinc Leaching Residue by Reduction Roasting

A new method to decompose zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) in zinc leaching residue was developed in this paper. Zinc ferrite was decomposed to zinc oxide and magnetite after reduction roasting using the mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and argon(Ar)as reduction agent. The phase transformation in reduction roasting of samples was determined by XRD, the effects of roasting temperature on the distribution of zinc and iron at different particle size were investigated by chemical analysis. And the acid leaching process was applied to evaluate the decomposition of zinc ferrite in different roasting conditions. The results suggest that the zinc ferrite in zinc leaching residue could be well decomposed in roasting process and the optimal roasting condition is 850 °C, 2 h.