Technoeconomic assessment of the carbothermic reduction process for aluminum production

Abstract

In pursuit of the aluminum industry Vision and Roadmap goals, the Department of Energy has partially supported a consortium of Alcoa and Elkem in the development of the Aluminum Carbothermic Technology - Advanced Reduction Process (ACT-ARP), which promises significant energy and emission reductions. This report explores the progress of the ACT-ARP as a potential replacement for the Hall-Hèroult process in the context of several evolving Hall-Hèroult development scenarios. Considerable progress has been made and demonstrated, including new furnace wall designs integral to successful operation of Stage 1 reactor, operational characteristics of vapor recovery reactor and aluminum decarbonization reactor, as well as significant modeling and simulation. Despite these considerable accomplishments, there are still formidable technical and economic challenges to overcome before the ACT-ARP can replace the conventional Hall-Hèroult process, such as slag and scale formation, metal and carbon quality issues, mini-mill operation, etc. All these and other issues will be discussed.