OREANDA-NEWS. On 11 June 2008 UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, announced that it has successfully launched test production of the key component of a unique environmentally sound aluminium production technology - colloidal anode paste. The total investment in this project will amount to USD 25 million.

The main goal of this project, developed by the UC RUSAL Engineering and Construction Division, is the development of the ideal Soederberg reduction cell, which minimises environmental impact on the consumption of raw materials and matches the production efficiency of pre-baked anode technology. In addition to using the colloidal anode, this technology brings a number of technological and technical innovations, which will enable Soederberg technology to achieve the ecological parameters of the alternative pre-bake technology.

The research, development and testing of the technology began in 2006 at UC RUSAL’s Krasnoyarsk smelter. In April 2008, test production of colloidal paste was started. Today, 20 reduction cells at the Krasnoyarsk smelter use colloidal anode paste. When the testing is completed, the technology will be implemented at one of potrooms at the smelter and later it will be rolled out across five potrooms. In the period 2010-2015, the technology will be introduced at all UC RUSAL smelters that use Soederberg technology.

The new colloidal anode technology will become the second stage of the ecological modernisation of the Krasnoyarsk and Bratsk aluminium smelters, the world’s largest aluminium smelters using Soederberg technology. The technology will be also implemented at Irkutsk, Novokuznetsk and Volgograd aluminium smelters, where the ecological modernization and transition to colloidal anode will be made in a single stage.

When this unique technology is introduced at the Krasnoyarsk smelter, the hydrofluoric emissions will be cut to 0.24 kg per tonne from 0.7 kg per tonne previously, fluorine emissions to 0.6 kg per tonne from 1.62 kg per tonne, CO2 emissions to 53.5 kg per tonne from 78.9 kg per tonne, benzo(a)pyrene emissions to 0.001 kg per tonne from 0.002 kg per tonne tonne. The benzo(a)pyrene emissions levels will meet the requirements of the Russian laws and recommendations of OSPAR 2010.