Rio Tinto Alcan Speeding, Expanding Research Project
Will study expanding scale AP50 pilot smelter
Will study expanding scale AP50 pilot smelter
Rio Tinto Alcan reports it will accelerate the pre-feasibility study for two more phases of its new aluminum smelting technology at a pilot plant in Quebec’s Saguenay region. The AP50 technology is being developed as the next evolution of the company’s proprietary electrolytic process for converting alumina to primary metal.
AP50 is a prebaked-anode reduction process that will operate with 500-kA electrodes, for high productivity at low operating cost. To prove its commercial viability, a $550-million AP50 pilot plant is being built at the Jonquiere, QC, smelter complex. This plant is seen producing 60,000-metric tons/year of metal from 44 pots, beginning in 2010. After the initial demonstration of AP50, Alcan originally projected a 390,000-metric tons/year capacity expansion by 2015, using that version of the technology.
The pre-feasibility study will evaluate adding another 140,000 metric tons/year of capacity to the pilot plant, at a projected investment of $2 billion to $2.5 billion, and the study also will consider a subsequent expansion of the smelter to as much as 400,000 metric tons/year.
The first phase of the AP50 pilot plant will have 44 pots and an initial production of 60,000 metric tons of aluminum using the new generation of AP technology and powered exclusively by clean, renewable hydroelectricity.
AP50 is a prebaked-anode reduction process that will operate with 500-kA electrodes, for high productivity at low operating cost. To prove its commercial viability, a $550-million AP50 pilot plant is being built at the Jonquiere, QC, smelter complex. This plant is seen producing 60,000-metric tons/year of metal from 44 pots, beginning in 2010. After the initial demonstration of AP50, Alcan originally projected a 390,000-metric tons/year capacity expansion by 2015, using that version of the technology.
The pre-feasibility study will evaluate adding another 140,000 metric tons/year of capacity to the pilot plant, at a projected investment of $2 billion to $2.5 billion, and the study also will consider a subsequent expansion of the smelter to as much as 400,000 metric tons/year.
The first phase of the AP50 pilot plant will have 44 pots and an initial production of 60,000 metric tons of aluminum using the new generation of AP technology and powered exclusively by clean, renewable hydroelectricity.
