POWRE: Solar-Thermal Processing for Clean Aluminum Production

高度集中的太阳光能够在非常高的温度下为化学反应提供充足的过程热。在这个项目中，它将被用于两个活动。第一种方法是通过直接碳热还原任何含铝硅矿石来生产铝硅合金。该产品是铝硅合金，既可以用作合金，也可以通过1970年代末开发的分馏结晶和电解分离工艺进一步精制。该项目的主要挑战将是开发一个适合利用太阳能过程热的反应堆，以及一个容纳反应堆和直接入射太阳通量的接收器。该项目触及了铝工业的两个最基本的需求：需要减少全行业对霍尔-赫罗特工艺的依赖，需要经济地使用其他形式的铝矿。它有望实现自发现金属以来铝工业研究最受欢迎的目标之一：直接从矿石还原为合金或金属，而不依赖昂贵的电力供应过程热。导致美国在原铝制造领域失去国际竞争力的不仅仅是高昂的电力成本。风险是由成本波动和对能源成本上升的担忧造成的。太阳能直接还原工艺商业化的好处还包括在某些情况下可能在矿床所在地设置冶炼设施。使用高温太阳能过程热将大大减少铝制造过程中的排放。

Highly concentrated sunlight is capable of supplying ample process heat for chemical reactions at very high temperatures. It will be used in two activities during this project. The first process produces an aluminum-silicon alloy from direct carbothermal reduction of any alumina-silica containing ore. The product is an aluminum-silicon alloy that can be either used as an alloy, or further refined via a fractional crystallization and electrolytic separation process developed in the late 1970's. The main challenge of this project will be to develop a reactor suitable to utilize solar process heat, and a receiver to contain the reactor and direct incident solar flux. This project touches two of the most fundamental needs of the aluminum industry: the need to reduce industry-wide dependence on the Hall-Heroult process, and the need to economically employ other forms of aluminum ore. It holds the promise of realizing one of the most sought-after goals of aluminum industry research since discovery of the metal: direct reduction from ore to alloy or metal without relying on expensive electrically-supplied process heat. It is not only the high cost of electricity that is making the United States lose its international competitiveness in primary aluminum manufacture. Risk is imposed by fluctuating costs and fear of increasing energy costs. Benefits from commercialization of a solar direct reduction process also include the possibility of locating smelting facilities at the site of ore deposits in some cases. Use of high-temperature solar process heat will drastically reduce emissions from the aluminum manufacturing process.