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Decarbonization Innovation for the Nickel Industry

The team, consisting of Aisyah Fathiyah Salsabila, Fierdy Akasya, Daniel Jonathan Aritonang, and Lutfi Andrean, presented research titled, "Hydrogen Reduction of Lateritic Nickel Ore Using A Fluidized Bed Reactor Toward Environmentally Sustainable Ferronickel Production." This idea was motivated by the effort to decarbonize Indonesia's nickel industry, which is experiencing massive growth.

Daniel highlighted the problem that the conventional pyrometallurgical route for processing nickel (the raw material for stainless steel) is highly CO2-intensive. Meanwhile, Indonesia is the country with the largest nickel reserves in the world (about 42.3%) and ferronickel (FeNi) exports continue to rise along with the increasing number of smelter facilities.

"This innovation seeks to reduce CO2 emissions by using hydrogen. Reduction with hydrogen will produce water vapor (H2O), thus avoiding the use of carbon," Daniel explained.

Their research used saprolite-type lateritic nickel ore from Southeast Sulawesi. The experimental results (reduction and smelting) showed that the hydrogen reduction process in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) is highly selective for Nickel compared to Iron.

Challenges of a New Reactor and English Presentation

Their journey to victory was not easy. The competition process consisted of three stages: abstract selection, full paper (semifinal), and presentation (final). In the final round, they competed against 4 other teams from ITB, Diponegoro University, and Pertamina University. The research preparation was conducted over one month, followed by two months of paper completion.

Aisyah admitted the biggest challenge was during the experiment. "The reactor used was new, so adjustments had to be made during the experiment. Additionally, another challenge was the requirement to present in English to the jury," said Aisyah.

According to the team, the key factor to their victory was an innovative idea aligned with the competition's theme and the ability to answer the jury's questions clearly. They also emphasized the importance of support from their supervising lecturer, who is also the Vice Dean for Resources at Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering ITB, Ir. Taufiq Hidayat, ST., M.Phil., Ph.D., IPM., and the facilities from the ITB Pyrometallurgy Laboratory.

"We are very happy and proud to get first place. We are also grateful because this is the first time the three of us have won 1st place in a Student Paper Competition," said them.

In closing, Lutfi advised other students to keep innovating. "Continue to have the spirit to innovate, especially in the effort to decarbonize industry in the world. No innovative idea is useless. Let's realize a sustainable process for a better future for the world," Lutfi concluded.

Reporter: Muhammad Hanif Darmawan (Mining Engineering, 2021)