Substitution of fossil-based carbon with lignin in furnace electrodes for the metallurgical industry

At present, the metallurgical industry is using large quantities of fossil-based carbons. For example, manufacturing of anodes and cathodes for the primary aluminum industry is the largest consumer of calcined petroleum coke and the second largest consumer is the steel industry.

There is heavy pressure on the metallurgical industry to replace fossil-based carbons with bio-based carbons. One possible source of bio-based carbon is lignin from the kraft pulp mill using the LignoBoost process.

The present project offers two of Sweden’s largest industries the possibility to cooperate and, as a result, new strategies will be formed to reduce the use of fossil carbons with lignin in carbon electrodes. The present project will use kraft lignin as a starting point and the lignin can be modified in post-processing to better suit the new application.

This cooperation will allow a better understanding of the required properties of lignin and how they can be achieved with different modifications.