Work to commercialise a process that produces carbon-free aluminium has reached another significant milestone with the completion of construction on the Elysis Industrial Research and Development Center in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec in Canada.

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

The completion 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 centre will produce metal at a scale similar to smaller, industrial-sized smelting cells that are in operation by some producers today.

Elysis: aiming to produce low carbon products

Commissioning of the Industrial Research and Development Center, in a space leased at the Rio Tinto's Complexe Jonquière, is now underway with full-scale research and development work to begin in the first half of 2021, the company said in a statement.

Elysis continues to work closely with Alcoa's and Rio Tinto's technology teams. The team at Alcoa's Technical Center provides support to Elysis, especially 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.

The technology at a glance

• The Elysis technology addresses the global trend towards producing low carbon products, from mobile phones to cars, planes and building materials.
• The new process will reduce operating costs of aluminium smelters while increasing production capacity. It could be used in both new and existing aluminium smelters.
• In Canada alone, the Elysis technology has the potential to reduce GHG emissions by 7 million tonnes, the equivalent of removing 1.8 million cars from the roads.
• Elysis will also sell next-generation anode and cathode materials, which will last more than 30 times longer than traditional components.

The new process will reduce operating costs of aluminium smelters

“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 commercialisation 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,” said Vincent Christ, CEO of Elysis.

“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,” commented Alf Barrios, chief executive of Rio Tinto Aluminium.

“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,” noted  Ben Kahrs, Executive Vice President of Alcoa.

Elysis is a technology company that was created through a partnership between two global industry leaders – Alcoa and Rio Tinto. The company says its goal is to revolutionise the way aluminium is produced across the globe. “Our process eliminates all direct greenhouse gases from aluminium smelting, and instead produces oxygen.” 

Alcoa, Rio Tinto, the Government of Canada and the Government of Québec provided a combined investment of $188 million (CAD) to create Elysis and to see this technology reach commercial maturity in 2024.