EAGER/SusChEM/Collaborative Research: Feasibility of Molten Oxide Inductolysis for Metal Alloy Processing

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This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) Sustainable Chemistry, Engineering, andMaterials (SusChEM) Collaborative Research project will allow for experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of Molten Oxide Inductolysis, a new concept that holds the promise to reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and the capital investment required to process metal alloys. This concept relies on the use of electricity (derived from renewable sources) to convert various oxide ore feedstock to metal, allowing for greater flexibility on the raw materials to be used for alloy production. With this concept, it may be possible to use lower grade (i.e. cheaper) feedstock with comparable product quality. This enhanced flexibility, coupled with the potential to operate with less harmful emissions, could impact the return of metal manufacturing in the United States.This project combines electrolysis with inductive heating to eliminate the dependence on resistive heating during processing of high temperature master alloys. The underlying premise is that it will be possible to decouple the heat-generation processes from the electrolysis process through the use of induction heating. The goal is to balance the energy such that the energy required for the oxide decomposition would be derived from the electrochemical potential difference while induction would provide the other energy needs such as melting and superheating. The proposed work will seek to demonstrate an experimental proof-of-concept for this innovation using a model laboratory reactor system. Future work will address the fundamentals of the process-structure relationships, the development of a comprehensive electrochemical and thermal process model as well as a path to scale-up for Molten Oxide Inductolysis.