Formation of hexachlorobenzene from dusts of an electric Arc furnace used in steelmaking: Effect of temperature and dust composition

A certain amount of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), designated a persistent organic pollutant (POP) by the Stockholm Convention, is emitted from an electric arc furnace (EAF) used in the steelmaking process. To understand the formation and decomposition behaviors of HCB during the treatment of waste gases from an EAF, characterization of dust samples from EAFs in different plants was conducted. Dusts 1 and 2 were bag filter dusts collected from a common steel plant and a special steel plant, respectively. The initial concentrations of HCB in dusts 1 and 2 were 62 and <0.1 ng/g of dust, respectively. Then a series of heating experiments was carried out with these dust samples under various conditions. The formation of HCB from both dusts was not significant under an Ar atmosphere, although the amount of formation from dust 1 slightly increased with an increase in the holding temperature. Under an Ar - 20% O₂ atmosphere, however, a remarkable amount of HCB formed from dust 1 above 573 K. A certain amount of HCB was also formed from dust 2, even though the initial concentration of HCB was very low. Moreover, the coexistence of metallic compounds such as CuCl₂ had a significant accelerating effect on the formation of HCB.