Finding an environmentally friendly metallurgical method

A group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) have found a new method that allows separating iron from ore while still limiting CO2 emissions.

This new metallurgical method was published in a recent issue of the journal Nature.

Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)

According to the authors of the study, the new method is essentially molten oxide electrolysis (MOE), which both significantly simplifies the process of separating iron from ore and significantly reduces energy consumption, so it is considered an environmentally friendly metallurgical method when limiting CO2 emissions that cause the greenhouse effect.

Iron is the main component of steel. According to the current conventional metallurgical method, iron is separated from ore by smelting the ore, which requires a lot of heat and produces a lot of CO2.

With the MOE electrolysis method, scientists develop positive electrodes, specifically from chromium, to handle the high temperatures and corrosion of the current passing through them.

There have been previous attempts to extract iron by electrolysis using a low-cost iridium anode.

Expert Derek Fray from the Department of Metallurgy at Cambridge University (UK) said that from this new metallurgical method, it is necessary to design a large-scale experimental reactor and the authors need to continue developing this technique before putting it into widespread application.

In 2011, the world produced nearly one billion tons of iron, generating 5% of the world's total CO2 emissions./.

According to (TTXVN) - VT