Comparative evaluation of energy and resource consumption for vacuum carbothermal reduction and Pidgeon process used in magnesium production

With the fast development of the application of magnesium based alloys,the demand for primary magnesium is increasing dramatically all over the world.The Pidgeon process is the most widely used process for producing magnesium in China,but suffers from problems such as high energy,resource consumption and environmental pollution.While the process of vacuum carbothermal reduction to produce magnesium(VCTRM)has attracted more and more attention as its advantages,but it has not been well-practiced in industrial applications and there also is no comprehensive and quantitative analysis of this process.This study quantified the flows of resource and energy for the Pidgeon process and the VCTRM process,then compared and analyzed these two processes with each other from three aspects.The VCTRM process results in 63.14%and 69.16%lower of non-renewable mineral resources and energy consumptions when compared to the Pidgeon process,respectively.Moreover,the low energy consumption(2.675 tce vs.8.681 tce)and material to magnesium ratio(2.953:1 vs.6.429:1)of the VCTRM process,which lead to lower greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions(8.777 t vs.26.337 t)and solid waste generation(0.522 t vs.5.465 t)with a decrease of 66.67%and 90.45%,respectively.Results indicate that the VCTRM process is a more environmentally friendly process for magnesium production with high efficiency but low cost and low pollution,and it shows a good potential to be industrialized in the future after solving the bottleneck problem of the reverse reaction.

Kinetics of magnesium preparation by vacuum-assisted carbothermic reduction method

Metallic magnesium was prepared by vacuumassisted carbothermic reduction method, and its morphologies were observed and analyzed. The reduction ratios of reactions were carried out under various vacuums, reaction temperatures, and time. Reaction kinetics of carbothermic reduction process was investigated. The results reveal that the morphologies of metallic magnesium sample that crystallized in the bottom and top sections of the condensation cap appear as the shape of feather with close-packing needle structure and the shape of schistose with metal luster,compactly clumpy structure, respectively. The reduction ratio of reaction process can be facilitated through reducing vacuum, increasing temperature, lengthening time, or their combinations and can reach up to 83.7 % under the condition of 10 Pa and 1573 K with 60 min reaction time. At1423-1573 K, the reaction rate constant k of carbothermic reduction of magnesia in vacuum gets greater with the increase of temperature. The reaction activity energy is190.28, 219.71 and 451.12-528.54 k J mol-1when the procedure of carbon gasification reaction, interfacial reaction, or gaseous diffusion is the reaction rate-determining step at 1423-1573 K, respectively. The gaseous diffusion procedure has the largest activity energy value and is,therefore, the main reaction rate-determining step.