Scientists from India have developed a new energy-efficient technology by IIT Bombay's NCoE-CCU to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into CO, with potential for applications in the metallurgical sector.
Carbon monoxide is an important ingredient for converting iron ores into metallic iron in blast furnaces, reports Carbon Capture World.
It is noted that CO is widely used in a number of industrial processes, especially in the form of synthesis gas. The technology involves the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide under electrocatalytic conditions at ambient temperature in the presence of water.
The material said that the technology has already received a patent. The innovation was also accepted for publication in the international journal Nature Communications. It could potentially help India achieve climate neutrality by 2070.
Carbon Capture World explained that in the steel industry, CO is used in blast furnaces. Currently, gas is produced by partial oxidation of coking coal, which leads to significant production of CO2 as an end product of this process.
"If this CO2 can be captured and converted to CO, it can lead to a circular economy in the process, while reducing carbon emissions and associated costs," the paper says.
It is explained that traditionally the conversion of CO2 to CO occurs at temperatures of 400-750°C with the presence of an equivalent amount of hydrogen. However, the new technology requires only minimal energy, because the process takes place at a temperature of 25-40°C in the presence of water.
The article emphasized that the process can be carbon neutral if green energy is used for electrocatalysis. Currently, the startup UrjanovaC Private Limited is working on the technology for its application in the metallurgical sector.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the Boston Metal company received $20 million from the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank (IFC) for the development of the final technology for the production of green steel using electrolysis, that is, without hydrogen.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the head of the environmentally friendly steel department of Primetals Technologies Oleksandr Fleishanderl stated that there is no universal solution for the production of green steel and the company should combine the best possible solutions.
