Alcoa -- Refinery of the Future

Refinery decarbonization

As part of our vision to reinvent the aluminum industry for a sustainable future, our Refinery of the Future^TM project aims to achieve zero-carbon alumina refining through a host of processes and new technologies.

We have assembled a team of brilliant minds from across the globe dedicated to designing a refinery that eliminates carbon emissions, reduces fresh water use and ultimately eliminates bauxite residue.

Much of the work to make our vision a reality is happening in Western Australia including development of two technologies known as Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) and electric calcination. 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.

Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR)

Renewably powered Mechanical Vapor Recompression has the potential to replace fossil fuel use for steam generation in the Bayer alumina production process.

Electricity sourced from renewable energy would power compressors that turn waste vapor into steam which would then be used to provide refinery process heat.

MVR has the potential to reduce an alumina refinery’s carbon footprint by 70 percent and eliminate up to 35 percent of fresh water usage.

With support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) Alcoa will soon launch a pilot MVR at our Wagerup refinery in Western Australia to test the process at scale.

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Electric calcination

The final stage in the alumina refinery process, calcination currently uses fossil fuels such as natural gas to heat alumina hydrate crystals to remove water molecules.

We are piloting electric calcination at our Pinjarra refinery in Western Australia in direct replacement of a traditional calcination plant.

Under the pilot project renewable energy will drive the calciner - eliminating carbon emissions and allowing residual energy currently lost to the atmosphere as steam to be captured and reused.

This will negate the need for stacks to vent steam and result in significant water savings.

Another benefit of electric calcination is the ability to deliver heat via a thermal storage system - enabling the refinery to act like a battery to support stabilization of the electricity grid.

At times of high power demand, the refinery could reduce its reliance on the grid and draw heat from thermal storage.

When supply to the grid exceeds demand, the refinery could draw additional renewable power to effectively re-charge.

While the application of electric calcination is still in the research and development phase, the building block technologies to support the process are proven.

Our pilot electric calcination program is supported by  The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and  Western Australia’s Clean Energy Future Fund (CEFF).