Low-temperature formation and degradation of chlorinated benzenes, PCDD and PCDF in dust from steel production.

Dust from thermal processes may catalytically enhance the formation of chlorinated aromatic compounds under oxygen-rich conditions. The activities of two dust samples from electric arc furnaces and one from iron ore-based steelmaking (oxygen converter) were investigated in a laboratory experiment. The dust samples were heated at 300 degrees C for 2 h in an air atmosphere. The concentrations of chlorinated benzenes did not change greatly upon heating, while the concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans decreased. The addition of copper in parallel runs resulted in a substantial increase in the concentration of chlorinated benzenes, thus indicating that the experimental setup was suitable for the evaluation of low-temperature catalysis. The outcome of the experiment seems to suggest that results cannot easily be extrapolated between different thermal and metallurgical processes. Some measures to reduce emissions, such as inhibition of catalytic activity and rapid cooling, could possibly be counterproductive when applied to off-gases from the steelmaking processes investigated here.