Industrial Solid Waste Resource Utilization: Application of Rotary Tube Furnace in Mineral Material

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Industrial Solid Waste Resource Utilization: Application of Rotary Tube Furnace in Mineral Material

1. Current Situation of Industrial Solid Waste and Urgency of Resource Utilization

With the rapid development of the industrial sector, the output of industrial solid waste (hereinafter referred to as "industrial solid waste") is growing at an alarming rate. According to relevant industry statistics, the total annual global output of industrial solid waste has exceeded one billion tons, including various types such as metallurgical slag, gangue, fly ash, and chemical waste residue. If these solid wastes are stored for a long time, they will not only occupy a large amount of land resources but also release harmful substances through rainwater infiltration, air diffusion, and other means, causing serious pollution to soil, water bodies, and the atmosphere, and threatening the ecological environment and human health.

Against this backdrop, industrial solid waste resource utilization has become the core path to solve the problem of "solid waste siege". Extracting and transforming valuable components from industrial solid waste through technical means can not only reduce environmental pollution but also replace natural mineral resources, alleviate the pressure of resource shortage, and achieve the circular economy goal of "turning waste into treasure". Among many solid waste treatment technologies, the rotary tube furnace, with its high efficiency, stability, and strong adaptability, has shown significant advantages in the field of mineral material processing and has become one of the key equipment to promote the resource utilization of industrial solid waste.

2. Working Principle and Technical Characteristics of Rotary Tube Furnace

2.1 Core Working Principle
The rotary tube furnace is a thermal equipment with a rotating cylindrical furnace tube as the core. Its working process mainly revolves around three links: "material conveying - heating reaction - product separation". Firstly, the industrial solid waste mineral materials to be treated (such as iron and manganese oxides in metallurgical slag, silicon and aluminum components in fly ash, etc.) enter the inclined furnace tube through the feeding device; then, the furnace tube rotates slowly under the drive of the driving device, making the materials turn over evenly and convey forward in the furnace tube. At the same time, the heating device outside the furnace tube (such as electric heating, gas heating) transfers heat to the inside of the furnace tube through radiation, conduction, and other methods, so that the materials undergo physical or chemical reactions under the set temperature (usually 500-1200℃) and atmosphere (such as oxidizing, reducing, inert atmosphere) to remove harmful substances (such as removing moisture and volatile impurities) or convert useful components (such as oxidizing low-valent metal oxides into high-valent oxides for subsequent extraction); finally, the treated products (such as purified minerals, recovered metal powder) are discharged through the discharge device at the end of the furnace tube, completing the entire treatment process.

2.2 Outstanding Technical Characteristics
Strong Material Adaptability: The furnace tube of the rotary tube furnace can adjust the rotation speed, inclination angle, and heating temperature according to the properties of the materials (such as particle size, humidity, corrosion). It can handle a variety of industrial solid waste mineral materials from fine powder to small lumps. Whether it is high-humidity sludge-like solid waste or high-hardness ore-like solid waste, stable treatment can be achieved.

High Reaction Efficiency: The rotation of the furnace tube forms a uniform "material curtain" of materials in the furnace, which increases the contact area between materials and hot gas flow. At the same time, it avoids local overheating or coking of materials, ensuring that materials fully react under the set process conditions, and greatly improving the recovery rate of useful components and treatment efficiency.

Stable and Reliable Operation: The equipment adopts a modular design. Key components such as the heating system, transmission system, and temperature control system are equipped with complete monitoring and protection functions, which can realize stable operation for 24 consecutive hours, reduce downtime maintenance time, and lower production and operation costs.
Excellent Environmental Performance: The rotary tube furnace can reduce the leakage of harmful gases through a sealed design during the treatment process. At the same time, it is equipped with exhaust gas treatment devices (such as dust collectors, desulfurization and denitrification equipment) to purify the waste gas and dust generated during the treatment process, meeting national environmental protection emission standards and realizing clean production.

3. Typical Application Scenarios of Rotary Tube Furnace in Industrial Solid Waste Mineral Material Processing

3.1 Recovery of Metal Resources from Metallurgical Solid Waste
Metallurgical solid waste such as blast furnace slag, converter slag, and steel slag generated in the metallurgical industry contains a variety of valuable metals such as iron, manganese, chromium, and nickel. The traditional treatment methods are mostly storage or simple landfilling, which not only wastes resources but also poses environmental risks. When using a rotary tube furnace to treat such solid waste, metal oxides in the solid waste can be reduced to metal elements or alloys by controlling the heating temperature and atmosphere (such as reducing atmosphere), and then metals can be separated and recovered through subsequent processes such as magnetic separation and gravity separation. For example, when treating steel slag, the steel slag is crushed and sent to a rotary tube furnace. Under a reducing atmosphere at 800-1000℃, iron oxide in the steel slag is reduced to metallic iron. The reduced material can obtain iron concentrate through magnetic separation, with an iron recovery rate of more than 85%. The remaining tailings can also be used to produce building materials, realizing "full slag utilization".

3.2 Conversion and Utilization of Silicon and Aluminum Resources in Fly Ash
Fly ash is the main solid waste generated by coal combustion in thermal power plants. Its main components are silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and aluminum trioxide (Al₂O₃), which are important raw materials for the production of building materials and chemical products. However, the silicon and aluminum components in fly ash mostly exist in the form of glass, which has low direct utilization value. By roasting and activating fly ash with a rotary tube furnace, the glass structure in fly ash is destroyed at high temperatures (1000-1200℃), and the silicon and aluminum components are converted into oxides with high activity. Then, acid and alkali solutions are added for leaching to extract high-purity products such as sodium silicate and aluminum sulfate, which are used to produce silica white, molecular sieves, ceramic materials, etc. In addition, the activated fly ash can also be directly used as a cement admixture or concrete admixture, improving the strength and durability of building materials and reducing the use of natural aggregates.

3.3 Harmless Treatment and Resource Recovery of Harmful Components in Chemical Solid Waste
Waste residues generated in the chemical industry (such as phosphogypsum, chromium slag, waste catalysts) often contain toxic and harmful substances (such as heavy metals, fluorides, organic matter), which will cause serious harm to the environment if not properly treated. The rotary tube furnace can realize the harmless treatment and resource recovery of chemical solid waste through high-temperature pyrolysis, oxidation, or solidification. Taking phosphogypsum as an example, phosphogypsum is a by-product generated in the production of phosphate fertilizer, whose main component is calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO₄·2H₂O), and it also contains impurities such as phosphorus and fluorine. Phosphogypsum is sent to a rotary tube furnace and calcined at a high temperature of 1200-1400℃. Calcium sulfate dihydrate is dehydrated to form calcium sulfate hemihydrate or anhydrous calcium sulfate (gypsum powder). At the same time, impurities such as phosphorus and fluorine are discharged in the form of volatile gases and recycled through exhaust gas treatment devices (such as preparing fluoride products). The calcined gypsum powder can be used to produce gypsum boards, cement retarders, etc., realizing the harmless and resource-based utilization of phosphogypsum.

4. Conclusion

Compared with traditional industrial solid waste treatment equipment (such as fixed bed furnaces, fluidized bed furnaces), the rotary tube furnace has irreplaceable advantages in mineral material processing: first, it can realize continuous and large-scale treatment of materials, meeting the treatment needs of a large amount of industrial solid waste; second, by accurately controlling process parameters, it can customize treatment plans for different types of solid waste, improving the pertinence and efficiency of resource recovery; third, the equipment has low energy consumption during operation and outstanding environmental performance, which is in line with the requirements of green development under the "dual carbon" goal.

With the continuous improvement of industrial solid waste resource utilization policies and the continuous progress of technology, the application of rotary tube furnaces in the field of mineral material processing will usher in a broader space. In the future, its development direction will mainly focus on three aspects: first, intelligent upgrading. By introducing technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence, real-time monitoring, automatic adjustment, and fault early warning of equipment operation parameters can be realized, improving the intelligence level and operation efficiency of the equipment; second, process optimization and innovation. Combining with the research and development of new catalysts and auxiliaries, the treatment temperature can be reduced, the reaction time can be shortened, and the resource recovery rate can be further improved and energy consumption can be reduced; third, multi-field collaborative application. Combining the rotary tube furnace with other treatment technologies (such as biomass energy utilization, carbon capture technology) to realize the comprehensive utilization of "resource utilization + energy utilization" of industrial solid waste and promote the construction of a circular economy system.

In conclusion, as an efficient and reliable thermal equipment, the rotary tube furnace plays a key role in the processing of industrial solid waste mineral materials and provides a practical technical path for the resource utilization of industrial solid waste. With the continuous innovation of technology and the continuous expansion of applications, the rotary tube furnace will make greater contributions to solving the problem of industrial solid waste pollution and promoting green and low-carbon development.

Zhengzhou Protech Technology Co.,LTD is a professional manufacturer specializing in tube furnaces, muffle furnaces, atmosphere furnaces, and vacuum furnaces. We are committed to providing targeted solutions to meet your diverse heating equipment needs.
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Industrial Solid Waste Resource Utilization: Application of Rotary Tube Furnace in Mineral Material

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