About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Next Generation Electrometallurgical Technologies for Metal Extraction, Refining, and Recycling
|
| Presentation Title |
A Rotating Porous Cathode Electrolytic Cell for Quasi-Continuous, Sustainable Iron Powder Production from Copper Smelting Dust |
| Author(s) |
Atharva Pandhare, Hao Zhou, Omid Mahdavi, Yan Wang, Adam Powell |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Omid Mahdavi |
| Abstract Scope |
Low-temperature alkaline electrolysis offers a low-energy, cost-effective pathway for sustainable iron powder production, yet limited by batch-style operation requiring frequent disassembly for mass production. Here, we developed an electrolytic cell featuring a rotating porous cathode, guided by numerical simulations, that enables quasi-continuous iron powder production using copper smelting dust as raw material and without cell disassembly. Over four consecutive feeding cycles, the system consistently delivered iron purity exceeding 95wt% and current efficiency above 91%, matching single-batch benchmarks and slightly outperforming static cells, while substantially improving operational throughput and stability. Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment further confirm the industrial viability of this approach, yielding a levelized cost of $520/ton hot-rolled coil (HRC) steel and greenhouse gas emissions of 1,653 kg CO2e/MT HRC—both favorable relative to conventional blast furnace technology. These results establish the rotating-cathode architecture as a scalable, economically competitive, and environmentally beneficial strategy for decarbonized industrial iron production. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Electrometallurgy, Iron and Steel, Extraction and Processing |