Towards Carbon Neutral Industry - A Critial Raw Materials Perspective

Energy-intensive industries have a great impact on carbon neutral development by reducing fossil-based carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This working paper provides insights into pathways towards carbon neutral industry from critical and strategic raw materials perspective. Here, carbon neutral industry refers to technologies that have a major contribution for decarbonising energy-intensive industrial sectors and their critical raw materials demand. First, we outline the current situation, understanding the industry pathways to carbon neutrality, and focusing more on critical raw materials in new technology transitions such as process changes and renewable energy, instead of incremental CO2 reduction

Towards Carbon Neutral Industry - A Critial Raw Materials Perspective

Energy-intensive industries have a great impact on carbon neutral development by reducing fossil-based carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This working paper provides insights into pathways towards carbon neutral industry from critical and strategic raw materials perspective. Here, carbon neutral industry refers to technologies that have a major contribution for decarbonising energy-intensive industrial sectors and their critical raw materials demand. First, we outline the current situation, understanding the industry pathways to carbon neutrality, and focusing more on critical raw materials in new technology transitions such as process changes and renewable energy, instead of incremental CO2 reduction

Correlation of material characteristics and wear of powder metallurgical metal matrix composites

The wear of materials is a major and widely recognised industrial problem. The direct costs of wear failures, i.e., wear part failures and replacements, increased work and time, loss of productivity, as well as indirect losses of energy and the increased environmental burden, are real problems in everyday work and business. In this study, the materials of interest are wear-resistant powder metallurgical metal matrix composites, MMCs. Powder metallurgical, P/M, production of material, involving, for example, hot isostatic pressing (HIPing), offers considerable potential for enhanced wear resistance because it has a larger capacity to modify microstructures than conventional production technologies. Martensitic- and tool-steel-based composites were studied with reference to the needs of the mineral industry, while the wear of austenitic- or duplex-steel-based composites was evaluated with reference to those of the energy industry. The wear was studied both in functional wear tests involving a small-scale cone crusher, as well as in laboratory tests, such as the dry sand rubber wheel and erofuge tests. The correlation between the wear behaviour and the material-related parameters of the steel-based metal matrix composites was investigated. The material-related parameters were microstructural parameters, such as the volume fraction of the reinforcements and hard particles, the size of the reinforcements, the true carbide size of the hard particles and spacing between the reinforcement particles. These parameters are evaluated by varying the matrix material of the composite and by varying the reinforcements in the fixed matrix material. The significantly important parameters that have an effect on the material wear rate were identified. The most important reinforcement-related parameters in these wear environments were the total volume fraction of the hard phase, the spacing between hard particles and the type of the hard phase.reviewe

Towards Carbon Neutral Industry - A Critial Raw Materials Perspective

Energy-intensive industries have a great impact on carbon neutral development by reducing fossil-based carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This working paper provides insights into pathways towards carbon neutral industry from critical and strategic raw materials perspective. Here, carbon neutral industry refers to technologies that have a major contribution for decarbonising energy-intensive industrial sectors and their critical raw materials demand. First, we outline the current situation, understanding the industry pathways to carbon neutrality, and focusing more on critical raw materials in new technology transitions such as process changes and renewable energy, instead of incremental CO2 reduction

High speed slurry-pot erosion wear testing with large abrasive particles

One of the testing methods used to simulate slurry erosion in laboratory conditions is the slurry-pot method. In this work, a novel high speed slurry-pot type erosion wear tester was constructed for testing of materials used in mining and other mineral handling applications. In the tester, the samples are attached to a vertical rotating shaft on four levels in a pin mill configuration. High speeds up to 20 m/s at the sample tip can be achieved also with large abrasive size up to 10 mm. In the tests, the equipment proved to be functional and durable even with the high loads created by the high speeds and large abrasive sizes. There are, however, variations in the slurry concentrations inside the pot during testing, leading to different wear rates at the different sample levels. Therefore, a sample rotation test method was developed. By rotating the samples evenly through all sample levels, the overall deviations between samples will be minimized. Furthermore, with the sample rotation method up to eight materials can be tested simultaneously. The slurry-pot is suitable for testing various materials, such as steels and rubbers

Interconnection of Critical Raw Materials and Circular Economy - Myths or Reality

Critical and strategic raw materials play a key role in renewable energy technologies, e-mobility, defence, and space. However, how much focus is there on the circular economy in these solutions, infrastructure and assets containing critical raw materials? And does greater circularity lead to lower criticality? The criticality of raw materials and circular economy may not typically be mentioned in the same sentence, but they should. Circular economy presents a concept to keep materials in use whenever possible, recycle the materials, use recycled materials and residues to prevent waste generation and the lossof valuable elements. This working paper of critical raw materials (CRMs) and circular economy (CE) summarizes the current understanding aboutthe interconnections of CRMs and CE. Currently, demand for using recycled materials is increasing, and the demand to extend the lifecycle of the materials based on durability and repairability will play a role in the CE transition. Use for recycled critical and strategic raw materials will likely be forced in the future. Also, traceability would support circularity of critical raw materials, and it is closely linked to digital applications such as material and product passports. This working paper aims to increase knowledge about critical and strategic raw materials in the circular economy

Interconnection of Critical Raw Materials and Circular Economy - Myths or Reality

Critical and strategic raw materials play a key role in renewable energy technologies, e-mobility, defence, and space. However, how much focus is there on the circular economy in these solutions, infrastructure and assets containing critical raw materials? And does greater circularity lead to lower criticality? The criticality of raw materials and circular economy may not typically be mentioned in the same sentence, but they should. Circular economy presents a concept to keep materials in use whenever possible, recycle the materials, use recycled materials and residues to prevent waste generation and the lossof valuable elements. This working paper of critical raw materials (CRMs) and circular economy (CE) summarizes the current understanding aboutthe interconnections of CRMs and CE. Currently, demand for using recycled materials is increasing, and the demand to extend the lifecycle of the materials based on durability and repairability will play a role in the CE transition. Use for recycled critical and strategic raw materials will likely be forced in the future. Also, traceability would support circularity of critical raw materials, and it is closely linked to digital applications such as material and product passports. This working paper aims to increase knowledge about critical and strategic raw materials in the circular economy

Interconnection of Critical Raw Materials and Circular Economy - Myths or Reality

Critical and strategic raw materials play a key role in renewable energy technologies, e-mobility, defence, and space. However, how much focus is there on the circular economy in these solutions, infrastructure and assets containing critical raw materials? And does greater circularity lead to lower criticality? The criticality of raw materials and circular economy may not typically be mentioned in the same sentence, but they should. Circular economy presents a concept to keep materials in use whenever possible, recycle the materials, use recycled materials and residues to prevent waste generation and the lossof valuable elements. This working paper of critical raw materials (CRMs) and circular economy (CE) summarizes the current understanding aboutthe interconnections of CRMs and CE. Currently, demand for using recycled materials is increasing, and the demand to extend the lifecycle of the materials based on durability and repairability will play a role in the CE transition. Use for recycled critical and strategic raw materials will likely be forced in the future. Also, traceability would support circularity of critical raw materials, and it is closely linked to digital applications such as material and product passports. This working paper aims to increase knowledge about critical and strategic raw materials in the circular economy

Data in sustainable production chain management

The aim of this paper is to innovate the role of data in sustainable production chain management by identifying drivers, challenges and future solutions related to sustainability and data utilisation. The research data was collected from a literature review, a sustainability seminar entitled “Strong Stronger Responsible” and interviews with company representatives. The interviewees represented operators in the renewable forest and chemical industries and the companies serving them. This study examines sustainability data on the wood fibre-based production chain, from the forest to the consumer. The results show that for sustainability data, production chains have challenges and development needs in terms of indicators, data collection, quality and sharing. Sustainability data should guide decision making in processes at all levels of the organisation, as well as in the production chain

Data in sustainable production chain management

The aim of this paper is to innovate the role of data in sustainable production chain management by identifying drivers, challenges and future solutions related to sustainability and data utilisation. The research data was collected from a literature review, a sustainability seminar entitled “Strong Stronger Responsible” and interviews with company representatives. The interviewees represented operators in the renewable forest and chemical industries and the companies serving them. This study examines sustainability data on the wood fibre-based production chain, from the forest to the consumer. The results show that for sustainability data, production chains have challenges and development needs in terms of indicators, data collection, quality and sharing. Sustainability data should guide decision making in processes at all levels of the organisation, as well as in the production chain