Solar Aluminum Production by Vacuum Carbothermal Reduction of Alumina—Thermodynamic and Experimental Analyses

Thermochemical equilibrium calculations indicate the possibility of significantly lowering the onset temperature of aluminum vapor formation via carbothermal reduction of Al2O3 by decreasing the total pressure, enabling its vacuum distillation while bypassing the formation of undesired by-products Al2O, Al4C3, and Al-oxycarbides. Furthermore, the use of concentrated solar energy as the source of high-temperature process heat offers considerable energy savings and reduced concomitant CO2 emissions. When the reducing agent is derived from a biomass source, the solar-driven carbothermal reduction is CO2 neutral. Exploratory experimental runs using a solar reactor were carried out at temperatures in the range 1300K to 2000K (1027°C to 1727°C) and with total pressures in the range 3.5 to 12 millibar, with reactants Al2O3 and biocharcoal directly exposed to simulated high-flux solar irradiation, yielding up to 19pct Al by the condensation of product gases, accompanied by the formation of Al4C3 and Al4O4C within the crucible. Based on the measured CO generation, integrated over the duration of the experimental run, the reaction extent reached 55pct at 2000K (1727°C