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1. How much additional energy does it take to pulverize the rock? 2. What about the effect the rock will have on soil pH? 3. What about leached salts and heavy
by gomijacogeo 4y ago
1. How much additional energy does it take to pulverize the rock?
2. What about the effect the rock will have on soil pH?
3. What about leached salts and heavy metals?
- pfdietz 4y agoPulverizing rock requires little energy, if I recall correctly. This shouldn't be too surprising as one is breaking only a small fraction of the chemical bonds in the material.
- datavirtue 4y agoPulverizing rock is one of the most energy intensive activities on the planet.
- kmbfjr 4y agoThe limestone crusher a few miles from my home can’t use more than 400-500 kW/hr judging by the power lines. That is limestone, the article talks of basalt which seems would require more.
- ncmncm 4y agokW-hrs/hr, I presume you meant. Which is to say kW. Fortunately, rocks can be crushed with power from solar panels. There remains the issue of whether those panels are better used, just now, to displace natural gas burners emitting new CO2 than to crush rocks to absorb CO2. Or, equivalently, if NG-generated power used to crush rocks makes more CO2 than would then be absorbed by the rocks. In a near enough future, it won't matter, because the NG will all have been displaced already.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ncmncm 4y agoPeople used to do it with hammers.
- datavirtue 4y agoThey still do. I saw little kids on the African continent doing it recently.
- datavirtue 4y agoI was wondering the same thing. Mine dust? Seriously? Sounds like heavy metal poisoning to me.
- warble 4y agoCrushing ore is part of the typical milling process, so depending on the source of your material, it's already milled to a pretty fine dust. I'm way more concerned with the side effects of the process as others have mentioned. Maybe not heavy metals, but soil PH, and other poisons.