The star of Magrathea’s course of is an electrolyzer, a tool that makes use of electrical energy to separate a cloth into its constituent parts. Utilizing an electrolyzer in magnesium manufacturing isn’t new, however Magrathea’s strategy represents an replace. “We actually modernized it and introduced it into the twenty first century,” says Alex Grant, Magrathea’s cofounder and CEO.
The entire course of begins with salty water. There are small quantities of magnesium in seawater, in addition to in salt lakes and groundwater. (In seawater, the focus is about 1,300 components per million, so magnesium makes up about 0.1% of seawater by weight.) For those who take that seawater or brine and clear it up, focus it, and dry it out, you get a strong magnesium chloride salt.
Magrathea takes that salt (which it at the moment buys from Cargill) and places it into the electrolyzer. The machine reaches temperatures of about 700 °C (virtually 1,300 °F) and runs electrical energy by way of the molten salt to separate the magnesium from the chlorine, forming magnesium steel.
Usually, operating an electrolyzer on this course of would require a gradual supply of electrical energy. The temperature is mostly saved simply excessive sufficient to keep up the salt in a molten state. Permitting it to chill down an excessive amount of would permit it to solidify, messing up the method and doubtlessly damaging the gear. Heating it up greater than obligatory would simply waste vitality.
Magrathea’s strategy builds in flexibility. Principally, the corporate runs its electrolyzer about 100 °C greater than is critical to maintain the molten salt a liquid. It then makes use of the additional warmth in ingenious methods, together with to dry out the magnesium salt that ultimately goes into the reactor. This preparation may be executed intermittently, so the corporate can soak up electrical energy when it’s cheaper or when extra renewables can be found, slicing prices and emissions. As well as, the method will make a co-product, known as magnesium oxide, that can be utilized to entice carbon dioxide from the ambiance, serving to to cancel out the remaining carbon air pollution.
The outcome may very well be a manufacturing course of with net-zero emissions, based on an unbiased life cycle evaluation accomplished in January. Whereas it seemingly received’t attain this bar at first, the potential is there for a way more climate-friendly course of than what’s used within the trade as we speak, Grant says.
Breaking into magnesium manufacturing received’t be easy, says Simon Jowitt, director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and of the Middle for Analysis in Financial Geology on the College of Nevada, Reno.
