Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
5ca79eee-3d83-4dd5-b6ba-8ae0635d8ddd
Materials
Associated ID
8b3da634-17a3-4c27-8b59-20677c54c9af
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Zinc sulfate is widely used in fields such as agriculture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electroplating, paper, printing and dyeing, and water treatment; Zinc sulfate is modelled as a pure substance; when modelling this substance the user needs to add a solvent of their choice in the model; the dataset contains the main raw and auxiliary materials, energy, waste and atmospheric emissions of the production process, and infrastructure such as the manufacture of production equipment and the construction of plant buildings is not included within the dataset boundary; the data inventory is formed by merging data from multiple sources; the production activities of this product include rotary kiln roasting, cooling, acid leaching, impurity removal and drying.
Activity Description
The production activities of this product include rotary kiln roasting, cooling, acid leaching, impurity removal, drying and other processes.
Process Description
Zinc sulfate has the chemical formula ZnSO4 and CAS number 7733-02-0. It typically occurs as colorless hygroscopic crystals and has a density of approximately 3.8 g/cm³. It is readily soluble in water, with a solubility of approximately 22 g/100 mL at 20°C, and its aqueous solution is weakly acidic. It decomposes at approximately 680°C. Zinc sulfate is mainly used as an agricultural micronutrient fertilizer and feed additive and is also used in the production of other zinc compounds and rayon, as well as in pharmaceutical and electroplating applications.
Time period
2017
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
Pyrometallurgical acid leaching of zinc slag is the mainstream resource recovery technology for zinc sulfate production. It is produced by pyrometallurgical enrichment and acid leaching purification of zinc smelting slag, offering both environmental and economic benefits, and accounts for more than 85% of the domestic zinc sulfate market. This dataset represents this mainstream technology: zinc-containing waste residue is mixed with a certain proportion of anthracite coal, subjected to high-temperature gasification and air oxidation in a rotary kiln to obtain zinc oxide fume, which is then leached with sulfuric acid to produce zinc sulfate; hydrogen peroxide is used for oxidative iron removal, and zinc powder is used for cementation to remove copper, cadmium, and other metals; finally, the zinc sulfate finished product is obtained by drying in a drying kiln.