Electrorefining of iron could enable efficient, high-performance, secondary steel production

February 08, 2022 | Case Study

Researchers at the University of Toronto developed a process to remove carbon from molten iron electrolytically, potentially reducing carbon content to 0.001%, which could be used for ultra-low-carbon steel applications, such as automotive and structural steel. The process uses a molybdenum cathode and an iron slag anode, with silica in the slag reacting with oxide carbon in the steel to produce carbon monoxide, which bubbles out through the slag while depositing metallurgical-grade silicon at the cathode using no additional reagents. The researchers claim low energy consumption, as well as high scalability and straightforward integration into secondary steel mills using electric arc furnaces (EAFs).