ELYSIS successfully produced carbon free aluminium in Canada

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ELYSIS, a joint venture company led by Rio Tinto and Alcoa, successfully produced aluminium without any direct greenhouse emissions at its Industrial Research and Development Center in Saguenay (QC), Canada.

Rio Tinto said the achievement at the ELYSIS Industrial Research and Development Center marks a significant milestone for the future use of carbon free aluminium smelting for products ranging from smart phones to cars and drink cans.

According to the company, work is now focused on accelerating the scale-up of the ELYSIS technology towards the demonstration of even larger commercial-size cells in 2023.

“Construction of these prototype cells is now well underway at the end of an existing potline at Rio Tinto’s Alma smelter,” Rio said in a statement.

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“The smelting cells will operate on an electrical current of 450 kA, which is the commercial scale for many large, modern aluminium smelters. The industrial cells are designed to be used as a ‘drop-in’ replacement to retrofit existing smelters or build new ones and can be scalable to sizes as needed.

“With the current development pathway, ELYSIS aims to have its technology available for installation from 2024 and the production of larger volumes of carbon-free aluminum approximately two years later.

ELYSIS, which was launched in 2018, is beginning detailed planning to scale-up the supply chain for the technology’s upcoming commercialization.

In 2022, the company will commence the design and engineering for a facility that can produce the breakthrough, proprietary materials fundamental to its inert anode, zero-carbon smelting process.

“Our team has accomplished tremendous work over the past months and years, showing once again the ground-breaking nature of the change we are making to the industry,” said Vincent Christ, CEO of ELYSIS.

“Results achieved at our Industrial R&D Center demonstrate that we are making serious and sustained progress towards the large-scale commercialisation of our technology.”

Image credit: https://elysis.com/en/carbon-free-aluminium-smelting-a-step-closer-elysis-advances-commercial-demonstration-and-operates