GOALI: Direct Thermal Production of Aluminum - Investigation and Characterization of Processes Suited for Solar Process Heat

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This Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) research project will investigate the use of highly concentrated solar energy as a means of supplying a large amount of process heat at very high temperatures. The production of metals by carbothermal reduction of their oxides involves a high-temperature, energy-intensive process. The temperature required, in the range of 2100 - 2300 deg C, is at the upper limit for practical process heat addition from a combustion source alone. It is expected that when used for aluminum production a solar process would reduce the CO2 emissions from the aluminum industry, and the gas product would be CO rather than CO2. The expertise provided by the principle investigator and the Alcoa collaboration will be directed towards developing a creative and potentially revolutionary reactor and process concept that could have significant implications for the manufacture of the more exotic, difficult to extract materials, as well as aluminum. Experimental work will be conducted at the Institute for Materials and Processes solar test facility in Odeillo, France.