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This study examines the efficacy of hydrogen in diminishing iron compounds found in dust emissions during the electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking processes at "Uzbeksteel" JSC. EAF dust is a fine secondary material that is made up of 30 to 60 percent iron oxides (Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, FeO). The fact that approximately 60,000 tons of this dust has built up shows how important it is to find ways to recycle it that will last. The current investigation involved hydrogen reduction experiments performed at 1100 °C for 30 minutes, utilizing a continuous low-pressure hydrogen flow. Thermodynamic research using Ellingham diagrams showed that iron oxides are selectively reduced between 650 and 750°C, where the standard free energy (ΔG) values are negative. But, the decrease of ZnO is only good at temperatures above 900°C. The reduction process is marked by the interactions between gas and solid, the passage of hydrogen through porous particles, and the gradual transition of Fe₂O₃ to Fe₃O₄ to FeO to Fe. The experimental results show that iron can be turned into metal, and that some zinc can shift into gas, which makes the process easier. Hydrogen, on the other hand, encourages processing without CO₂ and improves environmental performance. It has been shown that hydrogen can help with processing without making carbon dioxide, which makes it better for the environment than carbon-based reductants.
Keywords: Hydrogen reduction; Electric arc furnace dust; Iron oxides; Selective reduction; Zinc oxide volatilization; Sustainable metallurgy; CO₂-free technology.© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.