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Production of Magnesium by Vacuum Aluminothermic Reduction with Magnesium Aluminate Spinel as a By-Product

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Abstract

The Pidgeon process currently accounts for 85% of the world’s magnesium production. Although the Pidgeon process has been greatly improved over the past 10 years, such production still consumes much energy and material and creates much pollution. The present study investigates the process of producing magnesium by employing vacuum aluminothermic reduction and by using magnesite as material and obtaining magnesium aluminate spinel as a by-product. The results show that compared with the Pidgeon process, producing magnesium by vacuum aluminothermic reduction can save materials by as much as 50%, increase productivity up to 100%, and save energy by more than 50%. It can also reduce CO2 emission by up to 60% and realize zero discharge of waste residue. Vacuum aluminothermic reduction is a highly efficient, low-energy-consumption, and environmentally friendly method of producing magnesium.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China for the financial support of the project (51404054 and 51304044).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, P.R. China

    Yaowu Wang, Jianping Peng & Yuezhong Di

  2. Liaoning Institute of Science and Technology, Benxi, 117004, P.R. China

    Jing You

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  1. Yaowu Wang
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  2. Jing You
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  3. Jianping Peng
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  4. Yuezhong Di
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Correspondence to Yaowu Wang.

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Wang, Y., You, J., Peng, J. et al. Production of Magnesium by Vacuum Aluminothermic Reduction with Magnesium Aluminate Spinel as a By-Product. JOM 68, 1728–1736 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1865-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1865-6

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