Biocarbon in the Aluminium Industry: A Review

Abstract

Reduced fossil carbon footprint is currently a hot topic in the metal-producing industries. Replacement of fossil carbon with bio-based equivalents is thus an important topic also for the primary aluminium industry. Several challenges related to biocarbon have been discussed in the literature as the quality and performance of carbon materials made from bio-based sources tend to be inferior to the fossil-based materials, unless they undergo expensive treatments for adaptation to the aluminium industry. The most likely successful scenario appears to be a gradual introduction of biocarbon into the fossil-based carbon materials already being used. Strategies being considered include replacement of the fossil binder material with a bio-based binder as well as introducing small amounts of bio-coke in the production of carbon anodes and ramming paste. The current paper reviews research works on candidate bio-based carbon materials in the aluminium industry. The sustainability of biocarbon with respect to availability is also discussed.