An electrolytic smelting system includes: an electrolytic smelting furnace including a furnace body to which a molten ore is introduced, a cathode substrate which is installed on a bottom portion in the furnace body, and an anode substrate which is positioned above the cathode substrate in the furnace body; an inert gas circulation unit including a circulation line to recover an inert gas supplied into the electrolytic smelting furnace together with oxygen and supply the inert gas to the molten ore; and an oxygen-removing unit which is installed in the circulation line and which removes oxygen from the circulation line.

In one embodiment, the disclosed subject matter relates to an electrolytic cell that has: a cell reservoir; a cathode support retained on a bottom of the cell reservoir, wherein the cathode support contacts at least one of: a metal pad and a molten electrolyte bath within the cell reservoir, wherein the cathode support includes: a body having a support bottom, which is configured to be in communication with the bottom of the electrolysis cell; and a support top, opposite the support bottom, having a cathode attachment area configured to retain a at least one cathode plate therein.

Devices and methods for purifying lithium from lithium salts, including those with low concentration of lithium salts, are provided. A molten composition comprising a lithium salt is electrolyzed with an anode in contact with the molten composition and a cathode separated from the molten composition by a solid electrolyte capable of conducting lithium ions.

A device and a method for preparing pure titanium by electrolysis-chlorination-electrolysis, wherein the device includes a first electrolytic cell, a second electrolytic cell, a chlorination reactor and guide tubes. The Cl.sub.2 generated at the anode of the first electrolytic cell is introduced into a chlorination reactor containing the TiC.sub.xO.sub.y or TiC.sub.xO.sub.yN.sub.z raw materials via a guide tube, and a chlorination is carried out to generate TiCl.sub.4 gas at a temperature of 200° C.-600° C. The TiCl.sub.4 gas passes through a guide tube into a cathode of the second electrolytic cell, and then an electrolysis is performed to obtain the high-purity titanium in the second electrolytic cell. At the same time, the Cl.sub.2 generated at the anode of the second electrolytic cell is recycled into the chlorination reactor in the first electrolytic cell to continue to participate in the chlorination of TiC.sub.xO.sub.y or TiC.sub.xO.sub.yN.sub.z.

A method of removing of recovering an elemental rare earth metal comprises placing a rare earth-containing material comprising a rare earth metal in a reaction solution comprising a reducing agent and a non-aqueous solvent comprising an ionic liquid or a eutectic mixture, reducing the rare earth metal with the reducing agent to form a metallic rare earth metal and cations of the reducing agent, transferring the cations of the reducing agent from the reaction solution to an electrochemical cell through an ion exchange membrane, and reducing the cations of the reducing agent in the electrochemical cell. Related methods of forming an elemental rare earth metal, and related systems are disclosed.

New dual temperature electrochemical methods and systems for the production of sodium metal from sodium polysulfides have been discovered. The technology provides high conductivity for sodium ions and extended service life for the electrochemical cell.

The application is directed towards methods for purifying an aluminum feedstock material. A method provides: (a) feeding an aluminum feedstock into a cell (b) directing an electric current into an anode through an electrolyte and into a cathode, wherein the anode comprises an elongate vertical anode, and wherein the cathode comprises an elongate vertical cathode, wherein the anode and cathode are configured to extend into the electrolyte zone, such that within the electrolyte zone the anode and cathode are configured with an anode-cathode overlap and an anode-cathode distance; and producing some purified aluminum product from the aluminum feedstock.

An electrolysis apparatus for the electrolytic production of oxygen from oxide-containing starting material includes at least one cathode which at least partly delimits a receiving region which in at least one operation state is configured for receiving the oxide-containing starting material and at least one anode,

wherein the electrolysis apparatus has at least one selective oxygen pump which is at least partly realized integrally with the anode.

The following describes a reconfigurable set of industrial processing techniques which, when appropriately combined, enable zero-emissions reforming, utilizing a wide range of conventional and unconventional feedstocks. Hydrocarbons, harvested or refuse biomass, as well as assorted byproducts and wastes are reformed through tightly integrated processing. The system is designed to incorporate alternative energy sources such as renewables or nuclear for high-density energy utilization and storage. Central to the processing methodology is a novel molten salt electrochemical reactor designed as a modular system for high-throughput carbochlorination and resource recovery. Such a configuration drastically reduces or eliminates waste while improving efficiency and realizing vast new economic incentives.

A method for preparing a grid alloy of a lead battery, comprising the following steps: (1) preparing an aluminum-lanthanum-cerium rare earth mother alloy by using a molten salt electrolysis method; (2) melting the aluminum-lanthanum-cerium rare earth mother alloy with sodium and partial lead and uniformly stirring same to prepare an intermediate alloy; and (3) melting the intermediate alloy with calcium, tin and remaining lead and uniformly stirring same to form a grid alloy of a lead battery.