Electrolytic Steelmaking: Environmentally Sound Metal Production

据估计，钢铁行业产生的5%， 人类活动产生的所有温室气体。 这是一 大量使用碳作为还原剂， 从矿石中提取金属铁。 的目的 建议的工作是研究电解的可行性， 炼钢，一种直接电解铁水的工艺 氧化物以产生纯的液态铁和氧气。 而 在熔融氧化物中的电化学处理具有巨大的 无碳萃取和精炼的潜力 金属，迄今为止，还没有持续的努力， 基于这种技术的商业过程，部分原因是 数据库的不足。 正在研究的问题 建议的调查如下：是否可能 去构思一种化学方法来支持直接电解 过程描述？为了回答这个问题，高- 熔融氧化物溶液温度物理化学将 被研究。 将研究它们的电学性质 电化学阻抗谱（EIS） 新小区 用于高活性材料的电导率测量 氧化物熔体已被设计用于这一目的， 通过了KCl水溶液和 NaCl和KCl。 熔融氧化物溶液的热力学 将通过EMF测量来研究。 参考 电极已被设计用于此目的，并将 在调查过程中进行了检查。 最后， 在实验室规模的电解槽中进行电解试验 设计为在 早些时候的数据。 根据经验，这些测试 用由氧化物混合物组成的进料进行 含有氧化铁和氧化铬和析氧 在由铂制成的惰性阳极上观察到。 这 证实了法拉第过程可以在 这些融化。 随着对基本原理的深入理解 将有可能优化该系统。 这项工作的顺利完成将使发展 一种新的无碳炼钢工艺， 能够根据不同的 原料化学品。 例如，可以使 铁合金例如铬铁（作为用于制造铁合金的前体）， 不锈钢）的混合氧化物电解 和铬。 类似地，可以通过以下方式生产锰铁： 铁氧化物-锰氧化物电解。 因此，金属 通过在熔融氧化物中直接电解生产不会 只能解决一系列的环境问题， 钢铁行业，而且还将作为跨越的基础 技术，以加强美国工业的国际 竞争地位。

It is estimated that the steel industry generates 5 percent of all greenhouse gases produced by human activity. This is a consequence of the intensive use of carbon as a reductant to extract metallic iron from its ore. The purpose of the proposed work is to examine the feasibility of electrolytic steelmaking, a process of direct electrolysis of molten iron oxide to produce pure liquid iron and oxygen gas. While electrochemical processing in molten oxides has enormous potential for the carbon-free extraction and refining of metals, to date there has been no sustained effort to develop a commercial process based on this technique, in part due to the inadequacy of the database. The question under study in the proposed investigation is the following: is it possible to conceive of a chemistry to support the direct electrolysis process described? To answer this question the high- temperature physical chemistry of molten oxide solution will be studied. Their electrical properties will be investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). A new cell for electrical conductivity measurements of highly reactive oxide melts has been designed for this purpose and is being certified in tests with aqueous KC1 solutions and melts of NaC1 and KC1. The thermodynamics of molten oxide solutions will be investigated by emf measurements. Reference electrodes have been designed for this purpose and will be examined during the course of investigation. Finally, electrolysis trails will be conduced in laboratory-scale cells designed to operate in the parameter ranges indicated by the data taken earlier. On an empirical basis, such tests have been conducted with feed consisting of oxide mixtures containing iron oxide and chromium oxide and oxygen evolution has been observed on an inert anode made of platinum. This confirms that faradaic processes can be made to operate in these melts. With a deeper understanding of the fundamentals it will be possible to optimize the system. Successful completion of the work will enable the development of a new carbon-free steelmaking process which in principle has the capability to be modified in accordance with different feedstock chemistries. For example, one could make ferroalloys such as ferrochromium (as a precursor for stainless steel) by electrolysis of the mixed oxides of iron and chromium. Similarly, one could produce ferromanganese by electrolysis of iron oxide-manganese oxide. Thus, metal production by direct electrolysis in molten oxides would not only solve a wide array of environmental problems facing the steel industry but also would serve as the basis for leapfrog technology to strengthen the U.S. industry's international competitive position.