Low carbon Aluminium Heat Exchanger Products

Aluminium i bil bidrar til lavere vekt og reduserte CO2 utslipp i bilens bruksfase. Inkluderer man bilens totale livssyklus i CO2 regnskapet, blir også bilens produksjonsfase relevant. Høyere krav til bærekraftig materialproduksjon fra bilprodusentene har økt markedet for bærekraftige materialer med dokumentert miljøvennlig produksjon og lavt karbonavtrykk. LowEx har fokusert på å redusere karbonavtrykket til DC-støpte aluminiumslegeringer til bil med minst 1 tonn CO2 per tonn aluminium produsert og klargjøre produktene for (Environemental Product Certification (EPD)). Mulighetene for å tilsette post-consumer en andel skrap (PCS) i legeringene uten å redusere prosessbarhet og kvalitet er kartlagt. Utvalgte skraptyper er karakterisert og testet, og det er etablert et modelleringsrammeverk for å kartlegge endringer i mikrostruktur og støpbarhet ved bruk PCS. Rammeverket er benyttet for å studere effekten tilsetting av ulike mengder og typer skrap vil ha på ulike legeringer. En bærekraftskalkulator som kan brukes til å raskt estimere karbonavtrykket til det støpte produktet ut fra tilgjengelige materialer (primære og sekundære) er utviklet i prosjektet. Prosjektet har demonstrert muligheten for å redusere fotavtrykket til DC-støpte aluminiumslegeringer til bil med minst 1 tonn CO2 per tonn aluminium produsert ved bruk av lavkarbonmaterialer (aluminium og legeringselementer) og PCS.

Otucomes of the project: -Increased competence on measures to achieve carbon footprint reduction in production of aluminium ingots including use of post-consumer scrap -Tools to evaluate the carbon footprint of products and processes -Strengthened collaboration across value chains, e.g. Al and Si production. -Strengthened collaboration between Research Institutes, industrial R&D and production units and demonstration of the benefits of interaction between these groups in development of new products and processes Impacts: -Ensuring development of Norwegian industrial production within an environmentally sustainable framework. -Sustainable development in society by carbon reduction in aluminium and silicon production as well as light-weighting of vehicles -Contributing to the transition to circular economy by use of post-consumer scrap in wrought aluminium alloys

Aluminium in automotive applications contributes to light-weighting transportation and reducing carbon emissions in the user phase. Due to the global push for sustainable development and the transformation into a more circular and resource efficient economy, the sustainability of materials in the production phase has come into focus as well. When the entire life cycle of passenger vehicles is considered, i.e. taking into account both the production and use-phase in the overall balance, the relevance of the production phase of the car becomes obvious. Higher sustainability demands from the automotive sector on material production opens a market for sustainable materials with documented environmental conscious production and a low carbon footprint along the entire value chain. This project focuses on the production phase of heat-exchanger materials for the automotive sector with an overall aim to develop low-carbon footprint sheet ingot materials, aligned with Hydros certified product classes for low-CO2 emissions, Reduxa and Circal. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from current levels by at least 1 ton per ton aluminium produced. Processes and products developed shall be ready for environmental product declaration (EPD) and fulfil the quality demands on heat-exchanger materials. This will be done through selection of documented sustainable raw materials (Al, Si and alloying materials) produced with clean and sustainable energy sources and low emissions, increasing the content of recycled materials, alloy design that enable down-gauging of metal sheets with higher recycled content and process improvements that increase yield.