DTE signs US$1.85 million deal with Norurál to supply metallurgical solutions for low-carbon aluminium products

DTE, an Icelandic metal innovator, has signed a US$1.85 million treaty with Norurál Grundartangi ehf (Nordural), a fully-owned subservient of Century Aluminium Company, to meet the growing demand for low-carbon aluminium products. DTE will utilise its flagship chemical composition analysis solution to enhance the four skimming units of the new low-carbon billet casthouse.

Norurál Grundartangi’s newly integrated casthouse will successfully produce150,000 tonnes of billet latest by the first quarter of 2024. DTA’s help is crucial in checking the quality of the molten aluminium transferred from the electrolysis pot room to the furnaces. DTA then helps in determining which quality of aluminium should be stream-lined for use for which particular purpose so that a circular economy can be created.

This upgradation by DTE will practically multiply Norurál’s annual capacity by two so that it can produce primary foundry alloys at the rate of 120,000 tonnes per annum rather than the earlier accumulation of 60,000 tonnes.

This newly fathomed billet and primary foundry alloy capacity will overpower the standard-grade ingot production, ultimately increasing the product premiums for Norurál items. The total investment of US$120 million will open 90 new employment leads during the construction phase and another 40 permanent positions. 

Norurál will gain a lot by maximising throughput, lessening the furnace cycle time, curtailing emissions with energy consumptions and discarding bottleneck limitations in the casthouse. Here DTE comes into play as its fully integrated solution does not require any manual intervention by plant officials upholding the safety of the plant along with cutting down inspection costs.

Norurál took the intense decision after coming across a similar solution which is under scrutiny in their existing casthouse. The project manager of the new billet casthouse at Norurál, Olafur Arnar Fridriksson, illustrated the details: “We are very pleased to continue working with DTE. We see great potential in the equipment under testing in our current casthouse, so selecting DTE for this project was a straightforward decision. DTE is a strategic partner for Norurál, with their solution being gradually implemented throughout the production process”.

CEO of DTE, Diego Areces, quoted: “I’m very thankful and excited for this opportunity, which is a major milestone for DTE. Norurál has been one of our strategic partners and has remained a great supporter of DTE. We look forward to delivering on this commitment and contributing value to the new low-carbon billet casthouse project. In addition, we will continue working together, deploying DTE’s solution along Norurál’s production process to maximise operational efficiency, resilience, and sustainability.”

DTE and Norurál Grundartangi together will produce these Natur-Al™ billets and foundry products to suffice the emerging need for low-carbon aluminium products in the European sub-continent. Norurál utilises 100 per cent renewable energy sourced from Iceland to make its Natur-Al™ aluminium leaving negligible carbon footprints in the world.

End-user items made with Natur-Al™ aluminium will automatically have a lesser carbon footprint which is very beneficial for the retail market, automobile, construction and packaging sectors.