Alcoa Receives Funding to Pilot Carbon-Reduction Technology for Alumina Refining, Supporting Refinery of the Future Initiative
April 11 2022 - 7:45AM
Business Wire
Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA) today announced that Australian
governments have provided $7.7 million of funding to conduct pilot
trials on a new carbon reduction technology that supports Alcoa’s
Refinery of the Future initiative.
Alcoa of Australia has received support to test electric
calcination with $6.4 million (A$8.6 million) from The Australian
Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $1.3 million (A$1.7 million)
from Western Australia’s Clean Energy Future Fund (CEFF).
Calcination is the final stage in the alumina refining process
and uses fossil fuels, primarily natural gas, to heat alumina
hydrate crystals. Electric calcination, when powered with renewable
energy, has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions.
Additionally, electrification of calciners would allow significant
amounts of residual energy, currently lost in the atmosphere as
steam, to be captured and reused, saving water and negating the
need for stacks to vent that steam.
“We are the lowest carbon intensity alumina producer in the
world, and we have a technology roadmap of future-oriented research
and development projects with the goal to reduce our footprint even
further,” said Eugenio Azevedo, Alcoa’s Vice President for
Continuous Improvement. “With this support from Australian
governments, we are working on our vision to reinvent the aluminum
industry for a sustainable future, which includes advancing
projects of global significance for the aluminum industry and its
customers.”
While the application of electric calcination is still in the
research and development phase, the technologies that support the
process are proven. It is one of two research and development
projects included in Alcoa’s Refinery of the Future, which intends
to unlock decarbonization at scale by delivering a cost-competitive
refinery that will eliminate fossil fuels, as well as reduce
freshwater use, and minimize and ultimately eliminate new bauxite
residue deposits.
The grants announced today complement the funding support
announced in 2021 by ARENA to support Mechanical Vapor
Recompression (MVR), another technology that would use renewable
energy to recycle low-pressure steam in alumina refining to
generate process heat.
When combined with a decarbonized grid, MVR and electric
calcination could reduce a refinery’s carbon emissions by about 98
percent and reduce fresh water use by up to 70 percent.
The pilot project for electric calcination will include two
stages. The first stage will run until the end of 2023 and will
involve the study, selection, engineering and testing of
technologies. Subject to satisfactory completion of the first
stage, the second portion of the project will begin in the first
quarter of 2024 and continue into mid-2026 with detailed design,
construction and pilot testing of this emerging technology at
Alcoa’s Pinjarra refinery in Western Australia.
About Alcoa
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is a global industry leader in bauxite, alumina
and aluminum products with a vision to reinvent the aluminum
industry for a sustainable future. With a values-based approach
that encompasses integrity, operating excellence, care for people
and courageous leadership, our purpose is to Turn Raw Potential
into Real Progress. Since developing the process that made aluminum
an affordable and vital part of modern life, our talented Alcoans
have developed breakthrough innovations and best practices that
have led to greater efficiency, safety, sustainability and stronger
communities wherever we operate.
About Alcoa of Australia
Alcoa of Australia is owned by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals
(AWAC), an unincorporated global joint venture between Alcoa
Corporation and Alumina Limited that consists of a number of
affiliated entities that own, operate or have an interest in
bauxite mines and alumina refineries, as well as an aluminum
smelter, in seven countries. Alcoa Corporation owns 60 percent of
AWAC with Alumina Limited owning 40 percent.
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Investor Contact James Dwyer 412-992-5450
James.Dwyer@alcoa.com
Media Contact Jim Beck 412-315-2909 Jim.Beck@alcoa.com
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