Generic melt circulation technology for metals recovery

To overcome limitations in current technology and to open the door to breakthroughs in the extraction and recycling of metals, melt circulation within closed loops is proposed. The general features of generic melt circulation technology, particularly for massive reductions in energy consumption, are highlighted. Reference is made to the recently published paper on lower-energy primary aluminum. More detailed attention is then focused on coproduction of steel and titanium metal directly from ilmenite concentrates. The energy consumption is projected to be less than one third of the best available technology (Kroll process). Next, new copper smelting concepts based on melt circulation are introduced because current advanced processes are judged to be, without exception, energy inefficient.