A Comparison of the Greenhouse Impacts of Magnesium Produced by Electrolytic and Pidgeon Processes

An electrolysis–displacement–distillation approach for the production of Li, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba metals

“…23,33 Although the Pidgeon process is dominating the industrial production of Mg, this thermal reduction process produces huge amounts of solid waste and CO 2 (∼45.2 kg CO 2 per kg Mg) resulting from roasting minerals (dolomite, CaCO 3 ·MgCO 3 ), heating, and the consumption of ferrosilicon (Fe–Si), whose production generates CO 2 by carbothermic reduction. 34,35 Thus, we need to develop novel ways to avoid the generation of Cl 2 and reduce the generation of CO 2 and energy consumption for the production of s-block metals. 36,37…”

Variation Trend and Driving Factors of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Chinese Magnesium Production

“…The high CO 2 emissions in the production stage is one of the most important drawback of magnesium, despite it has many benefits as a lightweight material in the use stage of vehicles. During the past years, a number of LCA researches on the environmental impacts of the primary magnesium production including the Pidgeon process in China, the carbothermal process and the electrolytic process in Australia, the Rima process in Brazil and the Gossan-Zuliani process in Canada have been carried out internationally. − Unfortunately, a wide range of assumptions such as system boundary of technology processes, local energy structure, and emission factors of greenhouse gas (GHG) have been adopted, therefore, it is difficult to compare the results of GHG emissions among the different studies. Since 2002, there have been significant changes in the magnesium production and technical structure across the globe.…”

“…Researchers have conducted various studies on the environmental impacts of the primary magnesium production process and magnesium products, most of which focused on GHG emissions of the Chinese Pidgeon process. It was shown that GHG emissions in the Chinese Pidgeon process (37–47 kg CO 2 eq/kg Mg) was nearly twice that in the electrolytic process (20.4–26.4 kg CO 2 eq/kg Mg). This result was widely used as an evaluation basis in a number of studies to assess the feasibility of using lightweight materials (e.g., aluminum or magnesium) to replace iron and steel autoparts. − …”