Reducing CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and decarbonization costs in manganese production by integrating fuel-assisted solid oxide electrolysis cells in two-stage oxide reduction

Anders S. Nielsen, Gonzalo del Alamo Serrano, Trygve L. Schanche and Odne S. Burheim

Applied Energy, 2025, vol. 377, issue PB, No S030626192401955X

Abstract: Manganese is one of the most consumed metals due to its use in iron and steel making, which generates between 7%–9% of all CO2 emissions produced globally per annum. For the first time, this work explores the potential of a novel process concept to reduce CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and decarbonization costs in manganese production, which involves integrating fuel-assisted solid oxide electrolysis cells (FASOECs) in a two-stage scheme for the reduction of raw manganese ores. In this scheme, higher oxides that are present in raw manganese ores (MnO2, Mn2O3, Mn3O4) are pre-reduced using CO, yielding manganese monoxide (MnO) that is further reduced to Mn in a submerged arc furnace (SAF) using coke and electricity. In the proposed FASOEC integration concept, off-gas from the manganese ores after pre-reduction (a mixture of H2, CO, and CO2) is supplied to the FASOECs’ anode as fuel, in order to produce high-purity H2 in the cathode that is directed to the first stage of manganese reduction. H2 has enhanced reaction kinetics for reducing higher manganese oxides in comparison to CO; therefore, integrating FASOECs can improve manganese oxide conversion rates during pre-reduction, resulting in lower consumption rates of coke and energy in the SAF. The off-gas supplied to the FASOECs’ anode also lowers the amount of energy required for H2 production in the cathode (can also generate electricity, simultaneously) and produces anode exhaust gas containing only CO2 and steam. Since steam can be easily condensed from this stream, the integration of FASOECs also enables efficient decarbonization of the manganese production process, thus eliminating the need for a designated CO2 capture system. The techno-economic analysis performed herein demonstrates that directing the full supply of off-gas produced by the SAF to the FASOECs’ anode at 800 °C reduces the overall energy consumption of manganese production by up to 18% in comparison to conventional processes. This results in decarbonization cost reductions by as much as 3%–15% and a corresponding decarbonization price range of $4-32 per ton of manganese product for plant capacities of 50 and 200 kt, respectively.

Keywords: Manganese production; Techno-economic analysis; Fuel-assisted solid oxide electrolysis; Decarbonization; Off-gas utilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626192401955X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:377:y:2025:i:pb:s030626192401955x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.124572

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().