Aluminum Reduction Technology Joint Session with REWAS: Decarbonizing the Metals Industry: On-Demand Oral Presentations
Sponsored by: TMS: Recycling and Environmental Technologies Committee, TMS: Aluminum Committee
Program Organizers: Mertol Gokelma, Izmir Institute of Technology; Stephan Broek, Kensington Technology Inc
Monday 8:00 AM
March 14, 2022
Room: Light Metals
Location: On-Demand Room
Research on Low Temperature Aluminium Electrolysis Charging Recovery System of Renewable Energy Cycle Power Generation System: Huimin Lu1; Neale Neelameggham2; 1Beijing Ofikintai Technology Co Ltd.; 2IND LLC
This paper studies a low-temperature aluminium electrolysis charging recovery system of a renewable energy cycle power generation system, which involves the field of renewable energy and aluminium electrolysis. This article research covers wind power systems, photovoltaic power systems, intelligent integrated power coordination control systems, high-purity aluminium production, low-temperature molten salt aluminium electrolysis charging recovery system and aluminium-air battery power generation system. The intelligent integrated power supply coordination control system presented in this paper is electrically connected to the low-temperature molten salt aluminium electrolysis charging recovery system and the aluminium -air battery power generation system to provide reliable power. Aluminium electrolysis takes places at low temperatures in range of 700-750°C where by the anode is an inert anode producing oxygen gas. The metal is of high purity while the current efficiency is in 90-95% range. The attached the aluminium-air battery power generation system is used for wind power and photovoltaic power regulation.
The Contribution and Economics of Demand Side Response towards Decarbonizing the Aluminium Industry: Nicholas Depree1; David Wong2; David Thomas3; 1EnPot Ltd; 2Atmolite Consulting Pty Ltd; 3Energy and Environment Ltd
Baseload energy consumption by smelters is rapidly becoming less valuable to power grid operation and stability due to penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE). For global industry to decarbonize, many smelters must find pathways to reduce their dependence on thermal baseload generation. Retrofittable technology can now enable +/-20% modulation at any time, allowing smelters to increase the use of VRE in their energy mix, or for them to help firm VRE in national grids. Decarbonizing power systems provide by far the greatest driver to reduce carbon footprint - firming of VRE via smelter modulation is the cheapest way to achieve this, and can attract governmental attention and funding. A detailed analysis of two energy markets shows that beyond the decarbonization benefits, modulation is also economically advantageous to smelters, with short payback periods, and new contractual scenarios are proposed whereby smelters could sell the unused power in the market.
Building of a Superconductor Busbar at 200 kA for an Aluminium Plant: Wolfgang Reiser1; Viktor Stark1; Till Reek1; 1Vision Electric Super Conductors Gmbh
Superconductors have reached industrial readiness and there are first superconducting applications and demonstrators. Superconductors are conducting direct current with extremely high densities of more than 500A/mm². Further advantages are loss-free transmission and a low carbon footprint. This paper explains the current evolution steps that had been undertaken to develop an industrial-ready technology into real industrial applications for the aluminium industry. The paper explains the design of a 200 kA demonstrator with the target to complement an existing aluminium plant and covers the following points: - Current status of superconducting high-current DC development and applications - Motivation and overview of the DEMO200 project - Design of a 200 kA busbar, current lead and connections - Technical layout of currents, magnetic fields and forces - Design and construction of the test stand for a 200 kA systemA conclusive status of the project and an outlook for further applications will be given.