How zinc oxide powder is made
Zinc oxide forms when zinc vapor meets air and flashes into a bright glow.
- stations
- 5
- things upstream
- 6
- raw sources
- 4
- steps from the ground
- 3
The short version
In the French process, metallic zinc is melted in a graphite crucible and vaporized at about 1000 °C. The vapor meets the oxygen in air and burns into a white powder that glows as it forms. The fine particles are carried through a cooling duct and caught in a bag house.
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Melt the zinc metal
Metallic zinc is melted in a graphite crucible. The charge is raised well past the boiling point of zinc.
Goes in -
Heat it past boiling
The molten zinc is heated further until it vaporizes. Above 907 °C zinc boils, and plants typically run around 1000 °C.
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Burn the vapor in air
Zinc vapor reacts with oxygen in the air to give zinc oxide. Temperature drops sharply and the reaction gives off a bright luminescence.
about 1000 °C
Goes in -
Cool and catch the powder
Oxide particles travel into a cooling duct and are collected in a bag house, which works like a huge vacuum-cleaner bag.
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Bag the white powder
The powder is graded by particle size and packed for rubber makers, paint makers and cosmetics plants.
Worth repeating
- Today most zinc oxide goes to the rubber industry.
- In the 1970s zinc-oxide-coated paper was the second-largest use of the powder, in photocopying.
- Zinc white was accepted as an oil-painting pigment by 1834.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and zinc oxide starts as these 4 raw sources.
Where it goes next
Zinc oxide feeds 2 lines directly and reaches 5 things in total.
Further down the line
Keep walking
Sources
Cite this page: "How zinc oxide powder is made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/zinc-oxide