Solid oxide electrolyzer cell (soec) system integration with direct iron reduction

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for efficiently integrating solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) systems with direct reduction (DR) processes. In various embodiments, a DR furnace produces steam in an exhaust stream. The exhaust stream is input to an inlet of a SOEC system. The SOEC system uses the steam to generate hydrogen and provide the hydrogen as a reducing agent to the DR furnace. The overall system efficiency may be improved by expelling the hydrogen from the SOEC system at higher temperatures than normal by not internally recycling the output stream of the SOEC system. System cost is reduced by removing components normally used for internal recycling. Additional efficiencies may be gained by capturing thermal energy released at various stages of the process and routing the captured thermal energy to other heating stages of the process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.