Abstract:
The novel process of hydrogen-based shaft furnaces (HSFs) has attracted considerable attention because of their significant reduction of CO
2 emissions. In this study, the interaction of H
2 and CO with Fe
tet1- and Fe
oct2-terminated Fe
3O
4(111) surfaces under HSF conditions, including their adsorption and reduction behaviors, was investigated using the density functional theory method. The results indicated that the H
2 molecule adsorbed onto the Fe
tet1-terminated surface with an adsorption energy (AE) of −1.36 eV, whereas the CO molecule preferentially adsorbed on the Fe
oct2-terminated surface with an AE of −1.56 eV. Both H
2 and CO can readily undergo reduction on the Fe
tet1-terminated surface (corresponding to energy barriers of 0.83 eV and 2.23 eV, respectively), but kinetically the reaction of H
2 is more favorable than that of CO. With regard to the thermodynamics at 400–1400 K, the H
2 was easy to be adsorbed, while the CO would like to react on the Fe
tet1-terminated surface. These thermodynamically tendencies were reversed on the Fe
oct2-terminated surface. The thermodynamic disadvantage of the reaction of H
2 on the Fe
tet1-terminated surface was offset by an increase in the temperature. Furthermore, the adsorption of H
2 and CO on the Fe
tet1-terminated surface was competitive, whereas the adsorption of them on the Fe
oct2-terminated surface was synergistic. Therefore, iron ores with a higher proportion of Fe
tet1-terminated surface can be applied for the HSF process. In conjunction with the increase in reduction temperature, the increase in the ratio of H
2 in the reducing gas would promote efficient HSF smelting. These observations provide effective guidance for optimizing the practical operation parameters and advancing the development of the HSF process.