Current status and smelting technologies of rhenium

Abstract

Rhenium (Re) is used as additives in several alloys such as nickel-based superalloys for jet engine turbine blades, platinum catalysts for oil refining, and thermocouples used at ultra-high temperature, in order to improve strength and stability at high temperature. The demand of Re has been increasing with the increase in demand of the superalloys. In this article, current status such as demand and distribution of Re are reviewed, and smelting technologies for recovering Re from various ores are introduced.