Scale-up and demonstration of Carbomex: a novel system to treat & recycle hazardous Spent Pot Liner, creating secondary resources with zero waste to landfill

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Aluminium is the second most used metal after steel. Primary aluminium smelting (extracting metal from mined raw material - bauxite) is a major global industry; some 64.3M tonnes of aluminium were produced in 2018\. With light weighting of more and more metal products, production is set to increase further in the years to come.A major waste stream arising from primary aluminium smelting is Spent Pot Liner (SPL). Some 1.4M tonnes of SPL was created in 2018\. The pot liner is the carbon and refractory lining of the cell or 'pot' where electrolysis is used to extract aluminium metal from alumina. Over time during the operation of the cell, substances, including aluminium and fluorides are absorbed into the lining. After a period of use (several years) the lining fails and needs to be replaced. The old 'spent' liner is SPL.In the EU, USA and many other parts of the world, SPL is designated as a hazardous waste because:* It contains toxic fluoride and cyanide compounds leachable in water.* It is corrosive - having high pH due to alkali metals and oxides.* It is reactive with water - producing flammable, toxic and explosive gases.Unfortunately there are few good solutions available for SPL. Presently, most SPL is either permanently stored at the smelters' site or sent to controlled landfills. These are expensive solutions and may create future problems.Ultromex has developed an innovative process for treating SPL removing all toxic compounds, evolving no gases to atmosphere, creating no hazardous effluent and leaving behind no wastes; all outputs from the process being turned into secondary resources for use by other industries. The process, using Ultromex plant & equipment is designed to operate at the smelters' site and be cost effective to purchase and operate.Developed from proof of concept Ultromex now seeks to build a small-scale commercial demonstration plant to showcase the technology and validate the techno-economic performance.Once deployed commercially, Ultromex plants will be the solution the industry has been seeking to deal with current SPL arisings, stockpiled SPL and even previously landfilled SPL, resolving the SPL problem permanently, sustainably and at an economic price point.