ULTRA CLEAN Magnesium Aluminothermic Process

Tech Magnesium’s ULTRA CLEAN Process is a breakthrough reinvention of the traditional aluminothermic reduction of magnesium oxide (“MgO”) that achieves best-in-class carbon footprint, process efficiency & production cost .

The traditional aluminothermic reaction below suffers because magnesium metal yield cannot exceed a theoretical maximum of 75% which exacerbates the cost penalty associated with the use of an expensive aluminum reductant. These limitations have prevented widespread commercial exploitation of the traditional aluminothermic method.

                  4 MgO  +  2 Al =  3 Mg(g) +  MgO.Al2O3 

Tech Magnesium has made significant technical breakthroughs that enables a “complete" Aluminothermic reaction as shown below thereby increases the maximum magnesium metal yield to 100%:

                    3 MgO + 2 Al = 3 Mg(g) + Al2O3  

Proof of the Tech Mag ULTRA CLEAN Process concept: was provided by rigorous thermodynamic modelling conducted by Professor Arthur Pelton, Polytechnique Montreal – an internationally recognized metallurgical thermodynamics expert & co-developer of industry leading FactSage thermodynamic modelling software. Pelton’s thermodynamic model was supported by bench scale experimental test work carried out at XPS – Expert Process Solutions located at the Glencore facilities in Sudbury, Ontario Canada. 

Using the fundamental modelling & test work results, Tech Magnesium applied its extensive metallurgical industrial processing expertise to develop a highly efficient, ultra-clean and low-cost patent pending aluminothermic process.

Lowest Carbon Footprint:  3.84 kg CO2 per kg Mg when using renewable electricity & aluminum from the industry leading Alouette smelter. Because MgO can be obtained from a variety of different process routes each with its own separate CO2 contribution, the CO2 from MgO production must be added in.  For reference, CO2 from magnesite calcination would be expected to add ~2.13 kg CO2 per kg Mg. 

Even after adjustment to 5.97 kg of CO2 per kg Mg (using MgO from magnesite), the ULTRA CLEAN Process carbon footprint is on par with the world’s cleanest aluminum production plants and is significantly lower than other mainstream magnesium production processes including

• the 27.7 (21.8 after credits) kg CO2 per kg Mg average for Chinese Mg plants.
• the ~14 to 18 kg CO2 per kg Mg for existing electrolytic Mg plants.

Further reduction in the process’ carbon footprint is expected by employing technology to recover magnesium condenser waste heat to produce steam or electricity. 

Highest  Magnesium Yield of 98.3% represents a step change increase of more than 20% over the typical magnesium recovery for the current Chinese Pidgeon process.

Maximized Raw Material Utilization Efficiency: the ULTRA CLEAN Process has been designed to facilitate exceptionally high heat & mass transfer rates to enable full conversion of reactant MgO & Al to 99.6% purity Mg metal & high purity alumina (Al2O3) in accordance with reaction thermodynamics.

Eliminates Low Value Solid Process Residue:  thermal magnesium processes typically generate between 2 to 4 times more solid residue than the weight of Mg metal produced. At best, this solid residue (e.g. 2CaO.SiO2 with the Pidgeon process or MgO.Al2O3 for the traditional aluminothermic process) represents a low value byproduct, or at worst, a process waste with a disposal cost. 

Because the ULTRA CLEAN Process reaction goes to completion, it produces only high purity alumina & magnesium metal both having a high commercial value.    

Innovative Electrical Process Reactor Design: Tech Magnesium has adapted industrially proven electric furnace technology into a novel Process Reactor specifically designed for the most efficient magnesium production with the complete Aluminothermic reaction. This proprietary Reactor provides the following 

• replaces fossil fuels with clean renewable electricity, significantly reducing the process’ carbon footprint.
• provides an atmospherically tight design critical for efficient Mg metal recovery.
• facilitates exceptionally high mass & heat transfer rates which are the efficiency limiting constraints in all thermal Mg processes.
• facilitates atmospheric Mg production pressures reducing the need for a vacuum.
• facilitates condensation of Mg process gas to molten Mg metal using Tech Magnesium’s proprietary isothermal condenser. Molten magnesium condensation is an important enabler to increase Mg yield, reduce energy consumption, lower production costs and facilitate efficient molten metal transfer methods.

OPEX Cost Leadership: the ULTRA CLEAN Process produces magnesium metal at a lower production cost than both Electrolytic & Chinese Pidgeon Process, The process' production cost is also on a par with or lower than the average cost to produce aluminum after adjustment for magnesium & aluminum density differences.

Low CAPEX per ton: an ULTRA CLEAN Process plant can be built in 5,000 MT modules in tune with market demand.  Most importantly, its capital cost is ~ 4 to 5 times lower than the capital cost of a typical magnesium electrolytic plant thereby maximizing ROI.