Abstract
This contribution reports a thermodynamic assessment for the bromination of electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) by-products sourced from thermal degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBA); i.e., the most widely deployed brominated flame retardant. Upon TBBA’s pyrolysis, HBr is released in conjunction with several volatile organic compounds leaving a solid carbonaceous residue. EAFD contains appreciable quantities of zinc, iron, and lead oxides. These oxides can react with HBr to form volatile metal bromides when the EAFD is added to the TBBA as a bromination agent. The selective bromination of zinc and lead contained in EAFD was thermodynamically evaluated under both oxidative and inert pyrolytic conditions while considering the effects of several variables. These factors span temperature, loads of TBBA, the presence of oxidizing agent, and the effect of the presence of other common EAFD’s constituents such as sodium, potassium, calcium, silicon, and sulfur. It was found that a 100% extraction (based on thermodynamic feasibility) of both zinc and lead can be achieved for a mixture containing 60% EAFD and 40% TBBA (contaminated with minor amounts of iron) when pyrolyzed under inert conditions. However, when a thermal treatment is performed in the presence of oxygen, complete thermodynamic-based recovery of zinc and lead recoveries can be achieved at a lower temperature with no iron content. Removal of sodium and potassium chloride from EAFD prior to pyrolysis by washing, under oxidizing condition, can also result in a profound selectivity in zinc and lead bromination. The behavior of other elements during bromination process was also discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. J. Law, C. R. Allchin, J. de Boer, et al., Levels and trends of brominated flame retardants in the European environment. Chemosphere 64, (2), 2006 (187–208).
G. Grause, M. Furusawa, A. Okuwaki and T. Yoshioka, Pyrolysis of tetrabromobisphenol—a containing paper laminated printed circuit boards. Chemosphere 71, (5), 2008 (872–878).
C. Ma, J. Yu, B. Wang, et al., Chemical recycling of brominated flame retarded plastics from e-waste for clean fuels production: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 61, 2016 (433–450).
C. Vasile, M. A. Brebu, T. Karayildirim, J. Yanik and H. Darie, Feedstock recycling from plastics and thermosets fractions of used computers. II. Pyrolysis oil upgrading. Fuel 86, (4), 2007 (477–485).
C. M. F. Vieira, R. Sanchez, S. N. Monteiro, N. Lalla and N. Quaranta, Recycling of electric arc furnace dust into red ceramic. Journal of Materials Research and Technology 2, (2), 2013 (88–92).
M. Altarawneh and B. Z. Dlugogorski, A mechanistic and kinetic study on the formation of PBDD/Fs from PBDEs. Environmental Science and Technology 47, (10), 2013 (5118–5127).
M. Altarawneh and B. Z. Dlugogorski, Mechanism of thermal decomposition of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBA). The Journal of Physical Chemistry 118, (40), 2014 (9338–9346).
M. Altarawneh and B. Z. Dlugogorski, Thermal decomposition of 1,2-Bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), a novel brominated flame retardant. Environmental Science and Technology 48, (24), 2014 (14335–14343).
M. Al-Harahsheh, M. Aljarrah, F. Rummanah, K. Abdel-Latif and S. Kingman, Leaching of valuable metals from electric arc furnace dust—tetrabromobisphenol A pyrolysis residues. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis. 125, 2017 (50–60).
M. Al-harahsheh, S. Kingman and I. Hamilton, Microwave treatment of electric arc furnace dust with Tetrabromobisphenol A: Dielectric characterization and pyrolysis-leaching. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 128, 2017 (168–175).
M. Altarawneh, O. H. Ahmed, Z.-T. Jiang and B. Z. Dlugogorski, Thermal recycling of brominated flame retardants with Fe2O3. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 120, (30), 2016 (6039–6047).
GTT-Technologies. FactSage 7.1. Available at: http://www.factsage.com/ (2016). Accessed 15/10, 2016.
C. W. Bale, P. Chartrand, S. A. Degterov, et al., FactSage thermochemical software and databases. Calphad 26, (2), 2002 (189–228).
M. Al-Harahsheh, A. Al-Otoom, M. Al-Jarrah, M. Altarawneh and S. Kingman, Thermal analysis on the pyrolysis of tetrabromobisphynol A (TBBPA) and—electric arc furnace dust mixtures. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B 49B, 2017 (45–60).
M. Al-Harahsheh, Thermodynamic analysis on the thermal treatment of electric arc furnace dust-PVC blends. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 43, (11), 2018 (5757–5769).
Funding
Funding was provided by Jordan University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 137/2016).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Al-Harahsheh, M., Altarawneh, M. Thermodynamic Analysis on the Oxidative Pyrolytic Treatment of Electric Arc Furnace Dust–TBBA Blends. Oxid Met 91, 561–588 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-018-9883-0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-018-9883-0