[/floatl]KIPPO: Melting iron with tea
Kinki University is said to be in the final stage of a project to develop technology for dissolution of iron by tea aiming for its early commercialization...Iron...is taken out of a blast furnace after iron ore is dissolved by high-temperature coal-derived coke. However, there have been problems with mass-consumed coke such as increases in imported prices of coking coal and greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, makers of tea, coffee and other soft drinks that have come to be consumed extensively have spent huge sums of money for the disposal of great quantities of residue...A team of researchers led by Tamio Ida, associate professor of the university's School of Science and Engineering, has been developing 'bio-coke' capable of producing high temperatures for use in iron manufacture from the remnants of tea and other waste...more...
English cartoon PDFs demonstrating the process - and introducing "Bio-coke Man" - here and here.
