Smelting-Aluminothermic Reduction of Hydrogen Pre-Reduced Manganese Ores in a 200 kW DC Arc Furnace

The escalating demand for sustainable metallurgical practices necessitates innovative approaches to manganese production. The smelting-aluminothermic reduction of hydrogen pre-reduced manganese ores in a direct current (DC) arc furnace offers a resilient and sustainable trajectory for optimizing manganese recovery efficiencies while minimizing waste generation under low-carbon operating conditions. This study presents a comparative of smelting-aluminothermic reduction of two Mn ores pre-reduced with hydrogen using two distinct approaches, namely, a packed-bed vertical retort and a plasma rotary furnace. A 200 kW DC arc furnace was used for smelting. The scope of this assessment integrates technical, environmental and operational metrics of smelting-aluminothermic reduction. For energy, the considered metrics are power stability metrics, specific energy requirement, furnace thermal efficiency and load factor/power-on time. The metrics considered for material are reductant efficiency, elemental accountability, elemental recovery, elemental deportment and slag-to-metal ratio. For process sustainability, refractory and electrode consumption were considered. The environmental indicators considered includes CO2-equivalent emissions per ton of product, dust and particulate emissions, NOx/SOx emissions. This research provides critical insights into the viability and environmental advantages of hydrogen pre-reduction coupled with smelting-aluminothermic reduction for cleaner manganese production.