Efficient Sn Recovery from SnO(2) by Alkane (C(x)H(y=2x+2), 0 ≤ x ≤ 4) Reduction

We study the mechanism of alkane reduction of SnO(2) for efficient low-temperature recovery of Sn from SnO(2). Based on thermodynamic simulation results, we comparatively analyze the reduction behavior and the efficiency of SnO(2) reduction by H(2) and alkanes (C(x)H(y=2x+2), 0 ≤ x ≤ 4). We found that alkanes (n·C(x)H(y)) with the higher nx generally complete the reduction of SnO(2) (T(100)) at the lower temperature. Moreover, the T(100) of the SnO(2) reduction by alkanes (n·C(x)H(y)) was decreased from the T(100) of pure hydrogen with the same amount of hydrogen atoms (n·H(y)). We found that the concentration of a gas phase product mixture, the amount of the produced solid carbon, and the T(100) complementary vary as a function of the nx and ny, the total amount of carbon and hydrogen atoms in the reducing gas phase molecules. Our results demonstrate a viability of the low temperature reduction method of SnO(2) by alkanes for efficient recovery of Sn from SnO(2), which can be applied for Sn recovery from Sn containing industrial wastes or Sn ores with economic value added that is held by the co-produced H(2).