"The method involves injecting finely ground iron ore powder into an extremely hot furnace, triggering an “explosive chemical reaction”.
The result is a stream of high-purity iron that can be directly used for casting or “one-step #steelmaking”.
Known as #FlashIronmaking, the method “can complete the ironmaking process in just three to six seconds, compared to the five to six hours required by traditional blast furnaces”."
There goes 80% of #Australia's coal business model.
"[#China's] #steel production capacity is already more than the combined output of every nation on the planet — meaning it is untouchable in key industries such as high-speed rail, shipbuilding and car manufacturing.
To fuel this dominance it has been importing billions of tonnes of Australian iron ore — mostly out of WA’s resource-rich Pilbara region — and paying a handsome price for it. "
"China currently relies on high-yield ores and spends a substantial amount importing them from Australia, Brazil, and Africa. According to Zhang and his colleagues, the new technology could improve energy use efficiency in China’s steel industry by over one-third. Additionally, by eliminating the need for coal entirely, it would help the steel industry achieve the goal of near-zero carbon dioxide emissions."
The technique “has already entered commercial production.”
Steelmaking has been around for millennia, but the way most steel is made today was first put to mass production in the mid-1800s. In nearly two hundred years the abundance and low price of the raw materials made innovation not an urgent matter, so people kept using the wasteful process because it was cheap enough.
https://evsmetal.com/2018/12/history-of-steel.html
This flash ironmaking is even cheaper, can use domestic ore, and stays one step ahead of when a price is put on carbon.
Whoever owns the patent on this thing will make out for however long patents live.
@CelloMomOnCars
Can anyone find a reference to the original article? I found the Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China but the November issue isn't listed yet.
And why oh why is this published in a journal on NONferrous metals?
I'd not jump to conclusions about how realistic this is until I have more information, science by press release is a notoriously dodgy business.
You make a good point!
I did wonder about that NonFerrous Metals thing.
There is a Russian (!) journal by that name, I did not find Zhang's article in the posted listings.
https://www.rudmet.ru/catalog/journals/29/2024/
I wish I could read / write Chinese.
Alternatively, ask SCMP?
CelloMom On Cars
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Tony “Abolish ICE” Arcieri🌹🦀
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