Probing carbon capture for aluminium smelters
Rio Tinto and Hydro are partnering to evaluate carbon capture technologies for use in aluminium electrolysis.
The current Technology Readiness Level is low and requires significant development efforts to mature from laboratory to commercial scale. The collaboration between Rio Tinto and Hydro aims to speed up this development process.
They aim to create improved offerings of commercially viable carbon capture technologies from relevant suppliers.
The partners expect to invest approximately US$45mln over five years for the initiative, and will share data, results and costs covering specific R&D activities from lab tests.
Anode consumption during the electrolysis process accounts for approximately three quarters of a smelter’s direct CO2 emissions.
Rio Tinto and Hydro have been exploring different carbon capture technologies as complementary solutions to help each company meet their climate targets.
They have also developed and scaled up 'carbon-free' aluminium smelting technologies such as Hydro’s HalZero technology and Rio Tinto’s ELYSIS joint venture.
