The kinetics of carbon reduction of ZnFe2O4 in the temperature range of 550-950 °C was investigated in a microwave tank-type reactor. The mechanism of formation of ZnO and Fe3O4/FeO by the decomposition of ZnFe2O4 was detailed using the equilibrium calculations and thermodynamics analysis by HSC chemistry software 6.0. In addition, the effects of decomposition temperature, the C/ZnFe2O4 ratio, the particle size and the microwave power were assessed on the kinetics of decomposition. Zn recovery as high as 97.93%could be achieved at a decomposition temperature of 750 °C with C/ZnFe2O4 ratio of 1：3, particle size of 61-74 μm and microwave power of 1200 W. The kinetics of decomposition was tested with different kinetic models and carbon gasification control mechanism was identified to be the appropriate mechanism. The activation energy for the carbon gasification reaction was estimated to be 38.21 kJ/mol.
A new technology for microwave pretreatment of spent catalyst on Zn extraction by HCl leaching was proposed and the temperature-change curve of spent catalyst under microwave irradiation was measured.The influence of microwave pretreatment temperature and microwave irradiation time on zinc extraction was investigated and the mechanism of microwave pretreatment for spent catalyst was analyzed.The results show that microwave pretreatment can greatly enhance the leaching rate of Zn.The Zn extraction reaches 96.58%under the conditions of microwave pretreatment temperature of 950℃and the microwave irradiation time of 12 min.The blocked pores of spent catalyst can be opened through microwave pretreatment,increasing the contact area of leaching reagent and zinc.
