Sustainable Metals Production

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this course will not be offered in the academic year 2025-2026

Main subjects:

Primary and secondary metal resources, extractive metallurgy, metals recycling, pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, electrowinning and electro-refining of metals, ironmaking and steelmaking, decarbonization and green transition of steel industry, extraction of major non-ferrous metals (brief), strategic and critical metals, circularity of metals, sustainable development for metals production and recycling, efficient use of energy and materials resource, minimization of environmental footprint (solid and liquid wastes, and CO2 and other global-warming gas emissions).

Lecture topics:

The following topics, which are essential for the sustainable metals production, will be covered:

Part I: Process fundamentals - theory

• natural and secondary resources of metals; metals cycle and circularity of metals

• thermodynamics and kinetics for extractive metallurgy

• major chemical reactions relevant for the extraction of metals from ore, scrap and waste

• principles of pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy (electro-winning, electro-refining, molten salt electrolysis)

• fundamentals of oxide reduction smelting, sulphide oxidation smelting, and pyro-refining technologies, with examples of different metals extraction and refining

Part II: Production of metals - applications and sustainable developments

• blast furnace ironmaking, alternative and emerging ironmaking technologies with low CO2 emissions - direct reduction and smelting reduction, hydrogen-based reduction technologies, electrification and electrolysis

• basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking; the electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking (scrap-based steel production process)

• secondary steel refining, continuous casting, steel forming

• brief introduction of major non-ferrous metals production: (1) alumina and aluminium metal production; (2) the process routes to produce high purity copper from sulphide and low grade ores as well as scrap copper (pyrometallurgical route, and hydrometallurgical route) (3) hydrometallurgical production of zinc: Roasting - Leaching - Electrowinning (RLE) route

• overview on production and recycling of rare and critical metals

• materials and energy balances, energy and environment, sustainability in metals production