ELYSIS accomplishes Industrial R&D center in Saguenay; a step close towards commercial production of carbon-free Aluminium

The Canadian Technology company, ELYSIS, that has been delivering disruptive innovation for aluminium smelting is now a step closer towards commercialization of a process to produce carbon-free aluminium and it has reached another significant milestone with the accomplishment of construction of the Industrial Research and Development Center in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec.

ELYSIS, a joint venture by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, is scaling up a breakthrough technology that eliminates all direct greenhouse gases from the aluminium smelting process, instead of producing oxygen.

Vincent Christ, CEO of ELYSIS, said: “We’re proud to have reached this milestone with completing the Industrial Research and Development Center, despite the challenges of 2020 with the global pandemic. Commissioning the Centre will be a significant step forward for ELYSIS in its journey towards the large-scale commercialization of its technology. We are seeing strong results on metal purity and electrode durability as we continue to develop the ELYSIS technology, and are extremely encouraged by the interest in the market.”

The accomplishment of construction on the facility is the next step towards ramping up to industrial-scale the breakthrough technology, first developed at the Alcoa Technical Center near Pittsburgh in the United States. The new center will produce metal at a scale similar to smaller, industrial-sized smelting cells that are in operation by some producers today.

The Industrial Research and Development Center is commissioned in a space leased at the Rio Tinto’s Complexe Jonquière, which is now underway with full-scale research and development work to begin in the first half of 2021.

Alf Barrios, CEO of Rio Tinto Aluminium, commented: “We look forward to seeing the ELYSIS technology scaled up for commercial use here in Québec, where Rio Tinto already makes some of the world’s lowest carbon aluminium using clean hydropower. ELYSIS is the next step to deliver zero-carbon aluminium smelting for the industry and reduce the carbon footprint of items we use every day, from cars to smartphones and food and beverage packaging.”

ELYSIS pursues to work closely with Alcoa’s and Rio Tinto’s technology teams. The team at Alcoa’s Technical Center delivers support to ELYSIS, particularly in the manufacture of proprietary materials that are used to produce the new, proprietary anodes essential to the carbon-free process. The Rio Tinto technology team is leading scientific research and the development of the commercial-scale designs for the ELYSIS™ technology to be used in existing smelters and new smelters.

The new, 25-member operations team at the Industrial Research and Development Center will complete technical training over the next few months, along with equipment tests and commissioning activities for the full start-up.

Hereby is the technology at a glimpse:

“The development of this new center signals an important step in progressing this technology to commercial scale, opening up new possibilities for aluminium producers to completely transform the traditional aluminium smelting process. It’s exciting to see Alcoa’s technology advance through this partnership, and I congratulate the team for reaching this milestone – they are carrying forward a spirit of innovation that aligns well with Alcoa’s history and our goal to advance sustainably”, said by Ben Kahrs, Executive Vice President of Alcoa