Three smelting processes dominate the production of light metals:
- The Hall-Heroult cell for aluminium
- The Kroll process for titanium
- The Pidgeon process for magnesium
In each case the original inventors felt these processes would be superseded. This has not happened despite much research effort over the years. It is a good time to review the status of the latest programs and developments in potential alternative processes and share these developments across the research community of all three light metals.
This keynote, which will include a panel session, will look to explore synergies among the three light metals, such as co-production and common problems and approaches for all three metals. The intent is to break down silos between research groups and explore cross-fertilization opportunities.
Topics will include:
- Reviews of the of the latest work on alternate processes for aluminum, magnesium and titanium including TiCOR and thermochemical treatment of titanium slag
- An update on carbothermal processes for aluminum and magnesium including Solar carbothermal.
- An analysis of the alternate silicothermal process to the original Pidgeon process.
- Alternatives to conventional feedstocks
- Use of olivine as feedstock to produce electrolytic magnesium and by product silica
- The use of anorthsite for alumina production>
- An overview of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) light metal smelting projects
- An overview of Chinese research on alternate processes including alumina from flyash
The session will finish with a panel discussion.
Speakers will include:
- John Grandfield, Grandfield Technology Pty Ltd, Australia, session chair
- Jim Metson, University of Auckland and Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, New Zealand
- James Klausner, University of Florida and U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), USA
- Aldo Steinfeld, ETH Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
- Kathie McGregor, CSIRO Process Science and Engineering, Australia
- Zak Fang, University of Utah, USA
- James Sever, Nevada Clean Magnesium, USA
- Mark Cooksey, CSIRO, Australia
- Per Bjørn Engseth, Silmag Production As, Norway
- Asuncion Aranda, Institute for Energy Technology- IFE, Norway
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