British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto is about to upgrade its Canadian smelting facility to process alumina ore into usable aluminum without generating polluting carbon dioxide gas, Interesting Engineering reports.
Rio Tinto has entered an agreement with the government of Quebec to invest a shared $285 million into installing the new technology in its Arvida smelting facility. This tech, called Elysis, fundamentally changes the refining process for aluminum.
Until now, smelting alumina ore into aluminum has required an electrode and a carbon anode, Interesting Engineering explains. Running an electric current through the alumina, which is made up of oxygen and aluminum, separated the two elements. The oxygen would then bind with the carbon anode to form carbon dioxide.
A little bit of carbon dioxide is an inevitable byproduct of human life; we produce some every time we exhale. But we've been producing way too much carbon dioxide from burning fuel and other sources. It escapes into the atmosphere, where it traps warmth and overheats the planet.
The Elysis process, on the other hand, doesn't produce carbon dioxide. According to Interesting Engineering, it uses an inert anode instead of a carbon one. That means there's no carbon for the gas from smelting to bond with, and it's simply released as pure oxygen. Rio Tinto developed this process together with competitor Alcoa.
Rio Tinto will be creating a demonstration plant at Arvida, using 10 pots to produce 2,500 tons of aluminum per year. As a partner in the joint venture, Alcoa will have the option to purchase a portion of the metal for the first four years.
"In addition to delivering even lower-carbon primary aluminum for our customers, this investment will allow Rio Tinto to build its expertise on installing and operating this new technology, while the Elysis joint venture continues its research and development work to scale it up to its full potential," said Jérôme Pécresse, Rio Tinto's Chief Executive, per Interesting Engineering.
The firm added: "This pilot operation will be a critical step in Rio Tinto's learning journey towards full-scale industrialization of the Elysis technology."
This new, even more environmentally friendly aluminum is great news for the planet. Aluminum was already a first-choice material because it's endlessly recyclable — 100% of the metal can be reused and cast into the same products repeatedly without any degradation. If it can be produced without any direct air pollution, it's going to be an even better choice.
According to Interesting Engineering, the new plant is set to begin operations in 2027.
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