FIC
Changing Metals Everywhere
Iron: Everywhere and mixed with everything
Iron is the most abundant metal in the solar system. This abundance is due to how the heavier elements are formed in supernovas (star explosions). Supernovas produce vast amounts of iron mixed with most of the other elements.
The eons of elemental history have practical consequences today. Iron is everywhere & mixed with everything.
Between 90% and 95% of all the metal produced by 21st-century mining and metallurgy is iron. And, for the other metals, most of their raw ores contain enough iron that it is considered a nuisance. The processing presently done to produce copper, aluminum, nickel, chromium, gold, etc. is, to a large extent, concerned with removing iron. For many mining operations, effectively extracting the iron is a vital step. Currently, iron extraction is frequently expensive, slow, and often leaves companies with acidic tailings. Our process offers a better solution.
FIC: A new process, iron extraction, powder making, & critical metal residues
A new process called FIC (fast iron carbonylation) is under development at Two Planet Steel with funding from the US’ National Science Foundation. FIC extracts iron and nickel as carbonyl intermediates from mixed material feeds. FIC also delivers an unaltered residue. FIC has zero emissions; it is clean.
Because of this, FIC is ideal for use in mining operations. Instead of relying on acid-based iron separation processes, FIC can be used to cleanly and efficiently extract iron from the desired metals and minerals.
The carbonyl intermediates will be turned into iron and nickel powders. Two Planet Steel will produce powders with different shapes, sizes, and physical properties, customized for its major markets. These markets will include large-scale powder metallurgy for 3D metal printing, feeds for NCM lithium-ion batteries, and sheet steel production on Mars.
Two Planet Steel aims to cut the price of iron and nickel powders by a large factor: This price-cutting would enable the expanded use of metal powders and transform what is economically possible in metal manufacturing.
Main steps of FIC & its related downstream activities
FIC residue can also be valuable. Depending on the input feed, the residue can contain all 50 of the metals and minerals designated by the US Geological Survey as “vital to the Nation’s economic and national security interests,” as well as other valuable metals and minerals like copper, silver, gold, and phosphate.
Two Planet Steel will test FIC on a large variety of high-iron-content feeds. Some of these feeds will yield residues that customers of Two Planet Steel can further process into, for example, mixed concentrates of rare earth elements, high purity copper, concentrates of platinum group metals, refreshed bauxite (aluminum) ore (from “red mud” bauxite waste), concentrates of chromium and vanadium oxides, etc. FIC will open up many possible value-adding processing pathways that thus far have remained closed to state-of-the-art iron carbonylation.
Preferred input feeds to FIC that contain rare earth elements:
• US iron-ores containing carbonatite, apatite, etc.
• Bauxite residue waste and other industrial toxic waste with high iron content
• Recycled materials
• Laterized iron-containing carbonatite (Mount Weld & Araxa)
• Laterized iron ores with some carbonatite (from Brazil & Namibia)
Preferred input feeds to FIC that contain critical metals:
• Bauxite residue waste and other industrial toxic waste with high iron content
• Recycled materials
• Limonitic-laterite iron ores
• Nickel-cobalt-iron laterite ores
• Chromium-iron laterite ores
Preferred input feeds to FIC for powder metallurgy:
• All of the above
• Minnesota iron ore
Technology Development Update
Two Planet Steel has made significant progress towards testing its FIC technology. The company is excited to share that the first partial assembly of its innovative FIC reactor is underway. This milestone is the result of months of dedicated work and an important step towards producing zero-emission iron and steel powders. Two Planet Steel Founder Rif Miles Olsen said, “It feels good to reach the milestone of this partial assembly. Most of the custom parts missing from this initial assembly are completed or nearly completed, while all of the off-the-shelf parts are already here at the prototype workshop or on order. It won’t be long now before we have an assembled prototype/pilot plant that we can begin testing on. Reaching this milestone has taken longer than I first hoped for. However, unwanted delays should really be expected when taking on a project with so many new features. The work done in the past year involved a steep learning curve.
Last updated 08.22.2024