Abstract:
High temperature processing means energy and consequently impact for environment. Most of the metallurgical processing is pyrometallurgical with intensive energy consumption and some of them are in big scale, such as iron & steel, aluminum, nickel, copper and zinc. Only these metallurgical industries represent around 8% of the total world energy demand. Most of the energy source is based on mineral coal with large impact for environment. In addition, the energy cost in these industries could be very high (higher than 70% of variable costs, for Ni and around 35-45% for iron). Sustainability of these industries relies on improving energy efficient usage, alternative processes with lower energy consumption, and alternatives energy sources with lower environmental and economic impact. Many alternatives are ongoing subjects for R&D and industrial implementation, but more effort should be added.
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