CO2 emissions from steel production account for about 8% of the global anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the majority (over 70%) of these emissions occur during the reduction of iron ore to iron.
To drastically reduce the CO2 emissions of the iron ore reduction process, the Kortshagen Group explores the use of atmospheric pressure hydrogen plasma with a focus on improving the reduction kinetics. With a hydrogen plasma, the process of forming pure iron can be electrified, mitigating the reliance on fossil fuels.
This work is funded by the University of Minnesota - Ronald L. and Janet A. Christenson Chair in Renewable Energy and the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.
Related Publication
- "Rapid carbon-free iron ore reduction using an atmospheric pressure hydrogen microwave plasma," Sachin Kumar, Zichang Xiong, Julian Held, Peter Bruggeman, and Uwe Kortshagen, Chemical Engineering Journal (2023). doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.145025