Re:Green steel without green hydrogen – can it work?
by kragen on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @12:05PM
(#30349232)
Aluminum and calcium have substantially stronger affinities for oxygen than iron does, so they'll tend to stay in oxide form even when you're successfully reducing the oxygen.
This is mentioned in the article:
> All of these oxides are more stable than iron oxide, so the iron oxide is the first to separate when exposed to electric charge, breaking down into pure oxygen and iron. The iron, still liquified, sinks to the bottom where it can be tapped out and turned to steel.
There are other elements in ore that will tend to reduce before the iron, like nickel, cobalt, lead, and copper, but they're a lot less abundant than iron and may not be harmful to the iron produced.
Re:Green steel without green hydrogen – can it work?
by kragen on Thursday February 17, 2022 @05:54PM
(#30379821)
I meant when you're successfully reducing the iron. (And the answer for why it goes to the bottom is that it's two or three times as dense as the oxides.)
This is mentioned in the article:
> All of these oxides are more stable than iron oxide, so the iron oxide is the first to separate when exposed to electric charge, breaking down into pure oxygen and iron. The iron, still liquified, sinks to the bottom where it can be tapped out and turned to steel.
There are other elements in ore that will tend to reduce before the iron, like nickel, cobalt, lead, and copper, but they're a lot less abundant than iron and may not be harmful to the iron produced.