Plasma is all around us, comprising 99% of the visible universe, including the stars at night and the branch of lightning we see cracking open the sky. Researchers are using the power of this superheated matter for everything from making computer chips to healing wounds. And in Belgium, three companies are collaborating on a world-first technology: a plasma reactor that turns captured CO₂ into carbon monoxide (CO) for steel and chemical production. The process holds promise for decarbonizing steelmaking. The role of CO₂ recycling The steel sector creates more CO₂ than any other heavy industry and is considered challenging to electrify. This is because traditional steelmaking in blast furnaces uses coal as both a source of heat and, in the chemical process, as a reductant for converting iron ore to elemental (‘pig’) iron. While the sector looks to future-proof with technologies such as electric arc furnaces and direct reduction of iron ore with hydrogen, it is looking to CO₂ capture, ut...
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