Altech Batteries Ltd Stock Market Press Releases and Company Profile
Green Credentials of Altech HPA Production Process
Green Credentials of Altech HPA Production Process

Perth, Feb 28, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited (googlechartASX:ATC) (googlechartA3Y:FRA) has increasingly been requested by potential institutional investors and investment banks, especially in Europe, if it can demonstrate the green credentials of its disruptive kaolin-alumina high purity alumina (HPA) production process.

The current industry standard of producing HPA is the "alkoxide process" (bauxite - refinery - smelter - alkoxide), with high grade aluminium metal used as feedstock. In response to these requests, the Company has undertaken a detailed "mine to gate" study and compared the greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from the two HPA production methods. The results of the study are that Altech's single step kaolin-alumina HPA production process will release 46% less greenhouse gas per tonne of HPA compared to the alkoxide process. Altech's process will have a comparative carbon footprint of 6.6 tonne CO2 per tonne of HPA versus 12.3 tonne CO2 per tonne of HPA for the alkoxide production method.

In addition, Altech's HPA production process will deliver a 41% reduction of energy consumption per tonne of HPA with estimated energy consumption of 45 GJ per tonne of HPA, versus 77 GJ per tonne of HPA for the conventional bauxite - refinery - smelter - alkoxide HPA process.

The results of the study are unsurprising to Altech, as the current industry standard of producing HPA is to reprocess high grade aluminium metal which involves dissolving the metal in alcohol, hydrolysing, then calcining back to alumina (see figure 1*). This alkoxide process is highly energy intensive as the aluminium metal that is used as feedstock is produced via the Bayer refining process where bauxite is mined then initially processed into smelter grade alumina.

The smelter grade alumina is then fed to an energy-intensive aluminium refinery to produce aluminium metal ingots or powder. Current HPA producers cannot use smelter grade alumina to produce HPA due to the sodium impurities that remain from the Bayer process and are driven downstream in the production process to purchase high grade aluminium metal as feedstock. The production of aluminium metal consumes significant amounts of energy - and is high in greenhouse gas emissions.

Altech's direct process involves the extraction of high purity alumina from a kaolin (alumina silicate) ore feedstock using a hydrochloric acid process, rather than from expensive aluminium metal. The first advantage of Altech's process is that its kaolin feedstock is extremely "clean" with very low levels of iron compared to bauxite which generates large amounts of red mud waste. The second advantage is that nearly 100% of the hydrochloric acid used in the chemical process is recycled and reused in the process plant. The third advantage is that all heating in the plant uses clean natural gas as fuel.

Finally, the HPA plant in Malaysia is designed to international environmental standards and to satisfy the equator principles for lenders. Since the senior debt funding will be provided by KfW IPEX-Bank, under export credit cover (ECA), the emission standards from the process follow very stringent international standards. For these reasons Altech's HPA production process is considered to be highly disruptive to established HPA producers and estimated at one third to half the cost of the conventional production process.

A comparison of the HPA production processes is illustrated in link below.

HPA Critical to LEDs and Lithium-ion Batteries HPA is a critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED (light emitting diodes) lights. LEDs are proving to be the environmentally friendly lighting of the future with potential electricity savings of eighty (80%) percent compared to incandescent lighting.

The forecast production of LED units is expected to increase from 0.8 billion units to 4.1 billion units by 2025. With this growth, Altech has estimated a reduction of 77 million tonnes of CO2 per annum, just from new LEDs displacing traditional incandescent lighting. Without HPA and synthetic sapphire, this reduction of CO2 would not be possible within the currently estimated timeframe.

Increasingly HPA is used in lithium-ion battery manufacturing as both an important coating for separators and as a coating directly onto battery anodes and cathodes to prevent shrinkage, combustibility and improved battery safety and life. Lithium-ion batteries are the key source of energy storage to support the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors. HPA is positioned to be a critical ingredient in growing the renewable energy sector.

*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/9BY3L51M


About Altech Batteries Ltd

Altech Chemical Ltd ASX:ATCAltech Batteries Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is a specialty battery technology company that has a joint venture agreement with world leading German battery institute Fraunhofer IKTS ("Fraunhofer") to commercialise the revolutionary CERENERGY(R) Sodium Alumina Solid State (SAS) Battery. CERENERGY(R) batteries are the game-changing alternative to lithium-ion batteries. CERENERGY(R) batteries are fire and explosion-proof; have a life span of more than 15 years and operate in extreme cold and desert climates. The battery technology uses table salt and is lithium-free; cobalt-free; graphite-free; and copper-free, eliminating exposure to critical metal price rises and supply chain concerns. 

The joint venture is commercialising its CERENERGY(R) battery, with plans to construct a 100MWh production facility on Altech's land in Saxony, Germany. The facility intends to produce CERENERGY(R) battery modules to provide grid storage solutions to the market.

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Contact

Corporate
Iggy Tan
Managing Director
Altech Batteries Limited
Tel: +61-8-6168-1555
Email: info@altechgroup.com

Martin Stein
Chief Financial Officer
Altech Batteries Limited
Tel: +61-8-6168-1555
Email: info@altechgroup.com



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