Identification the Content of the Windbox Dust Related to the Formation of PCDD/Fs during the Iron Ore Sintering Process

Received: March 9, 2011
Revised: April 26, 2011
Accepted: April 26, 2011
Download Citation: RIS|BibTeX|https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2011.03.0024  

Cite this article:
Kuo, Y.C., Chen, Y.C., Yang, C.W., Mou, J.L., Shih, T.S. and Tsai, P.J. (2011). Identification the Content of the Windbox Dust Related to the Formation of PCDD/Fs during the Iron Ore Sintering Process. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 11: 351-359. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2011.03.0024

ABSTRACT

This study measured the contents of the ionic and elemental constituents, and the chemical compounds containing in windbox (WB) dusts collected from a commercial iron ore sintering plant, then the results were used to identify possible PCDD/Fs formation pathways in the WB. We found that the abundance in both KCl and NaCl may provide a suitable condition for de novo synthesis of PCDD/Fs in the WB. Al, Fe, K, Ca, and Pb were the top five contents in WB16 dusts, but the co-existence of the above five metal contents warrants the need for further investigation on their roles in PCDD/F formation processes in the future. Although a low concentration of Cu was detected, it might be of importance to PCDD/Fs formation inside the WB. A total of 29 chemical compounds were identified. Among them, several oxygenated organic compound might be associated with PCDD/F formations at the beginning stage, but the roles of aromatic oxygenates on the formation of PCDD/Fs required further investigation. Finally, possible de novo synthesis pathways of PCDD/Fs were proposed based on the above findings. However, the above pathways are required further laboratory studies for validation before possible formation suppression approaches can be determined.

Keywords: PCDD/Fs; Iron ore sintering; Windbox dusts; Chemical contents; de novo synthesis