Investigation of Direct Reduction of Copper Slag Using Castor Oil as a Green Reductant: Metal Recovery, Reduction Characterization and Kinetic Analysis

The recovery of valuable metals from copper slag (CS) is an effective way to realize its resource utilization. However, the use of fossil reductants in the reduction process can result in large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, a low-carbon method for recovering valuable metals from CS using castor oil as a green reductant is proposed in this study. The reduction behavior of CS is investigated through thermodynamic calculations, reduction experiments and thermogravimetric analysis. Under optimal experimental conditions, the recovery ratios of Fe and Cu reach 98.75