RP1.013: Alumina refineries’ next-generation transition (AlumiNEXT™) project

• Project leader: Associate Professor Woei Saw, Adelaide University
• Project partners: Adelaide University, CSIRO, ANU, Hydro, South32, Emirates Global Aluminium, Rio Tinto, CBA, Calix, MRIWA, Worley, 1414 Degrees, SysCAD, Energy Exemplar

HILT CRC project RP1.013 AlumiNEXT™ brings producers, technology providers and researchers together to develop practical pathways to lower-carbon alumina, combining refinery retrofit options with research on next-generation processes.

Industry priorities shaping the research

At the project’s second face-to-face meeting in Adelaide in May 2026, Australian and international partners sharpened the focus on integrating calcination, steam recovery, electrification and thermal energy storage. Priorities included alumina quality, equipment durability and fouling, retrofit constraints, energy costs and operational flexibility.

Monthly meetings and individual consultations keep research aligned with partner needs. External engagement included A/Prof Saw presenting at ICSOBA 2025 in Nanjing, China; Prof Gus Nathan presenting a webinar to the International Aluminium Institute; and the team facilitating a Decarbonising Alumina workshop at TMS 2026 in San Diego, USA.

Research progress

• Published modelling showed that cleaning, compressing and reusing steam from calcination could reduce steam-supply energy use by 21–36% and associated CO₂ emissions by 27–43% compared with supplying all steam from natural gas boilers.
• SysCAD models for low- and high-temperature refinery reference cases provide a basis for comparing steam generation and recovery options.
• A steam-supply optimisation framework and waste-heat recovery modelling link with HILT CRC’s thermal storage (RP2.017) and energy infrastructure (RP3.007) projects to assess how process changes interact with energy supply.
• Existing facilities have generated initial data on calcination reactions and particle breakage. The new drop-tube reactor has been assembled (photo at top of page) and the team is aiming to complete commissioning and begin experiments before the end of 2026. This will allow testing of how temperature and steam affect calcination and alumina quality under real-world conditions.

Next steps include validating models against experimental data and assessing how heat recovery changes refinery water requirements.

View the AlumiNEXT™ animated explainer:

AlumiNEXT case study