Photograph of a man watching a machine pour in an Ingot Mill

Breakthrough technology for primary aluminium

Supporting the aluminium industry to remain globally competitive by developing new energy saving technologies.

24 February 2010 | Updated 14 October 2011

Overview

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Themes

Researchers from the 'Breakthrough technology for primary aluminium' cluster are using their expertise in pyrometallurgy and primary aluminium production to develop new technologies that will support the aluminium industry to find new ways of lowering the amount of energy that is needed to produce aluminium.

The aluminium industry is important to both the Australian and New Zealand economies. In Australia, the aluminium industry employs over 13 000 people.

The long-term sustainability of the industry relies on the development of more energy-efficient processing techniques. Currently, the aluminium industry uses approximately 13 per cent of Australia's total electricity consumption.

Experts from CSIRO's Light Metals Flagship have joined five leading universities to answer an important research question: how can we lower the energy required to make aluminium?

Improvements in energy consumption will increase the future financial viability of many companies and strengthen Australia's economic performance.

While past technology improvements have increased the current efficiency of aluminium cells up to 96 per cent, the industry continues to pursue research to increase energy efficiency, improve productivity, and reduce emissions in primary aluminium production.

The cluster initiative brings together a group of high profile Australasian researchers with technical expertise in high temperature metallurgical processing, with the aim of using their expertise towards developing new solutions for the aluminium smelting industry.