About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T25: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Advances and Challenges in Decarbonization of the Steel Industry
|
| Presentation Title |
A Percolation Model to Scale Sustainable Ironmaking for Low Emissions Steel |
| Author(s) |
Subhechchha Paul, Leora Dresselhaus-Marais, Brinthan Kanesalingam, Yan Ma, Dierk Raabe, Ilenia Battiato, Julie Villanova, Guillermo Requena, Stanley Chidubem Akpu |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Subhechchha Paul |
| Abstract Scope |
About 1.9 gigatons of steel is produced every year emitting 8% of global CO2 in the process. More than 50% of these emissions come from a single step of steel production, ironmaking. Direct reduction (DR) of iron is the prevalent low temperature route of ironmaking with a lot of potential for emissions savings. However, multiple physical and chemical phenomena ranging from nanometers to meters inside DR reactors alter the microstructure and pore networks in iron oxide pellets, in ways that resists gaseous transport of CO/CO2/H2/H2O, and disrupts continuous reactor operation. Using synchrotron nano X-ray computed-tomography and percolation theory, we quantify evolution of pores in iron oxide pellets, and demonstrate how nano-scale pore connectivity influences micro and macro-scale flow properties such as permeability, diffusivity and tortuosity. Our new modeling framework connects disparate scales and offers opportunities to accelerate DR for meeting the low emissions target set forth by the steel industry. |