The steel industry is always looking for new and innovative ideas to move forward and improve with. One such idea in the testing process is molten oxide electrolysis. Created at MIT, this new technology aims to separate oxygen from iron ore with electricity and create oxygen as its by-product, not carbon dioxide.
Where In the Process Are We?
Boston Metal is the company hoping to take this new technology onto a commercial level. They hope that in the next three years, this product will be marketable after it has had much success at lab levels.
The regions of focus are currently Europe, Canada, and Australia as they have easy access to renewable energy on a bigger scale than the rest of the world. The electrolysis process uses a large amount of clean power in its attempt to keep the entire process carbon-free.
Greener Process
The idea behind hydrogen in stell production is to put the focus on a greener process – basically using electricity to do electrolysis of water, producing hydrogen. The thoughts on molten oxide electrolysis are that it will be more effective and efficient than the hydrogen option as it can remove the iron ore in fewer steps than previously needed.
Carbon Heavy
The steel industry is very carbon-heavy, with billions of tons of steel produced annually across its various infrastructures. Within each speciality, there are various solutions needed to create a greener future for the steel industry, and molten oxide electrolysis is simply one of many. So, the more ideas that are put forward the better for the carbon footprint of the steel industry.
Steelmor is a leader in the metal fabrication industry. If you would like more information on molten oxide electrolysis or any questions on steel in general, contact them today and speak to one of their friendly and professional staff.
