Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing: Environmentally Conscious Plasma Arc Processes for Enhanced Metal Production

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9528635 Szekely During smelting of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, ionic melts such as slags, fluxes or mattes react with gases and metals. These reactions are electrochemical in nature involving charge transfer between ionic an electronic species and are often diffusion limited in the slag phase. Since slags, fluxes and mattes are primarily ionic melts, the diffusion process is controlled by the slower moving electronic species. The objective of this research is to enhance the slag-metal reaction by using a plasma to provide an electronic pathway in the slag and assess the magnitude of its impact on processing ferrous melts in terms of lowering iron oxide (FeO) content and volume of the slag, and increasing yield, refractory life and recovery of alloying elements. Preliminary results indicate a potential reduction of ten fold in the percent of FeO needed for decarburization of iron-carbon melt. Annual world production and consumption of metals is close to 750 million tons, of which iron is ninety-five percent. Extraction, smelting, refining and reclaiming processes associated with metals produce large quantities of both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes and thus have a significant impact on the environment. This project could revolutionize steelmaking by dramatically reducing both the volume and the iron content of the slag that must be disposed of. It could also open other opportunities in the removal of copper and zinc from ferrous scraps and in the matte smelting of copper, which would also have a major economic and environmental impact.