After 4.5 existing years, the SisAl Pilot project is coming to an end. These years have been filled with lots of lab and pilot-scale experiments both in pyro and hydro, intense discussions about LCA and future business cases and last but not least incredible memories from project meetings around the globe.
Highlights from the WPs:
WP1 Raw Materials: SINTEF and Orykton (subcontractor) assembled an extensive raw material map for SisAl. This has given us a better understanding of the scrap market and the type of Al scrap being exported from Europe and the pricing for potential silica and lime sources.
WP2 Aluminothermic reduction: 3 large pilots for MG-Si/AlSi (Elkem, RWTH, Mintak, FRey, Wacker, Erimsa and Hydro) and 1 medium scale pilot for SoG-Si (Silicor and RU) have shown that this is not just possible in small scale but also in large scale! We have also managed to illustrate challenges in refractories, tapping etc. which is invaluable for scale-up activities. Also complex, next level modelling of reactors and processes have been done (SIMTEC and CITMaga).
WP3 Slag valorisation/Alumina production: 2 very challenging pilots!
• Alkaline route (METLEN, NTUA, NTNU): Next level (from the EU funded projects Ensureal (ID#: 958307) and Removal (ID#: 776469)) understanding of the challenges (SiO2, CaO/Al2O3 ratio etc) in obtaining MG-Al2O3 from SisAl slag.
• Acidic route (METLEN, NTUA and SiQAl): Pioneering work on successful production of 4N HPA.
WP4 and WP5 Environmental and Economic assessments: Seamless collaboration to secure best possible/relevant assessments of environmental and economic performances (BNW-Energy, NTNU, HZDR, SBC and DOW). A special thanks to Befesa for providing LCA Al recycling data!
• Learnings from constructive «arguments» on system boundaries, allocations of environmental loading, CAPEX etc.
• Landing CAPEX for non-industrial processes is not trivial...
• Parameter sensitivity studies are often more constructive/valuable than attempts at exacting values
• Continuously developing/updated process flowsheets are essential for both E&E assessments
WP6 Communication and Dissemination: CTECH and INNEN has kept us up to date on social media/on-line and showed us off at various opportunities, kept a record of our dissemination and communication activities. Also, a special thanks to Science Business and NTNUs Brussels office for helping us organising the thought-proactive roundtable event titled “Critical raw materials and circular economy: A new way forward for Europe?”.
