Dear Flyby,

Can the plasma torch be used to convert chromite orr to ferrochrome pellets?

 Yes, it can

What does the plasma torch use?

Is it natural gas or electricity?  Electricity

Would the process produce harmful byproducts?

It will depend on what contamination is present in the chromite.  At first glance, a plasma process would not produce hazardous byproducts.  Thinking about this some more. When you deal with chrome in a thermal process, there is always the risk of ending up with chrome IV (hexavalent chrome) which is hazardous. We would have to do run some calculations and then some lab tests to confirm what would happen here.  We usually approach a project like this by starting with a feasibility study where we will characterize the feed material and evaluate the different technical options for treatment.

Hope that does the trick…and all in one place.

Sincerely

Peter