Conservation of energy and quality by utilizing post-consumed aluminium

By 2012, the AlEnergy aims to demonstrate selected techniques for post-consumed aluminium recycling in the form of blending, melting and removal of contaminations, will result in an increase of the amount of post-consumed aluminium used at Hydro by 50% co mpared to 2010 levels, representing approximately 50.000 tons associated with a reduced energy impact of 0.7 TWh. To realize this AlEnergy will 1. Secure a sustainable recycling strategy by developing and implementing global Al mass flow analysis, that w ill identify availability of scrap. 2. Implement a computer model (HALopt) at Hydro casthouses as a systematic approach to composing batches containing post-consumed Al to (still) meet the tight chemical specifications for products, enabling an increased use of post-consumed Al with 40 % by the end of the project. 3. Optimise and implement best practice on furnaces for post-consumed Al processing, leading to approximately 5 % reduced energy consumption during the project. 4. Define optimized parameters a nd conditions for decoating of post-consumed Al, to permit the use of it in Hydro?s processes, enabling an energy reduction of 5 % on the mid-term. 5. Develop and implement a simple and robust tool for metal quality analysis, to enable the maximum use of post-consumed Al without jeopardizing the stability /quality of Hydro?s processes. 6. Develop an efficient melt purification technique, that will enable 10 % increase in post-consumed aluminium at mid-term. The project includes two work packages: (1) Im plementation of information systems for strategic and operational decision making, leading to short-term gain at Hydro's casthouses, and (2) Critical technologies for scrap recycling, leading to gain for Hydro within 5 years after the project. Furthermore , the consortium wishes to establish a consortium to form the basis for new EU-projects in this field, facilitated by a workshop on Aluminium recycling in Trondheim June this year.