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Why does zinc leave a blast furnace as a vapor instead of a liquid?
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zinc processing
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In the context of zinc processing, zinc leaves a blast furnace as a vapor because the reduction of zinc oxide by carbon proceeds spontaneously only at temperatures above the boiling point of zinc, which is 907 °C (1,665 °F).1
Because the reaction occurs at such high temperatures, the zinc is produced in a gaseous state rather than as a liquid. To recover the metal, the resulting zinc-bearing gas must be directed to a lead-splash condenser, where it undergoes shock-cooling to be absorbed into molten lead before it can be separated and collected as liquid zinc.21