Boston Metal announces that it has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the first industrial-scale deployments of its molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) technology for the production of ferroalloys. The new funding also supports the continued scale-up of MOE for the production of emissions-free steel.
Molten oxide electrolysis is a process in which electricity transforms metal from its raw oxide form into molten metal products. The MOE process was invented on the lab-scale at MIT, and Boston Metal has since scaled up the technology by a factor of over 1000.
At the heart of the MOE cell is a soup of molten oxides tailored for each specific feedstock and product. Electrons act to melt this soup and selectively reduce the targeted oxide. The resulting metal gathers in pools at the bottom of the cell and is tapped by drilling into the cell in a process adapted from the blast furnace. The tap hole is then plugged and the process continues. The inherent modularity of these MOE cells provides the metal industry with a capital-efficient means of adding production capacity.
“Molten oxide electrolysis is a platform technology that can produce a wide array of metals and alloys,” says Tadeu Carneiro, CEO of Boston Metal, “but our first industrial deployments will target the ferroalloys on the path to our ultimate goal of steel. Boston Metal’s MOE technology will offer the steel industry a modular, low-cost, and zero-emissions solution for the production of high-tonnage steel.”
Boston Metal operates a fleet of semi-industrial MOE systems at its headquarters outside of Boston, and will be commissioning its first industrial systems at this same facility. Boston Metal works closely with customers and partners to tailor the MOE platform for pecific feedstocks and products.
