Rio Tinto Alcan is building a demonstration plant at its Complexe Jonquière site in Québec, Canada to test and continue to develop their proprietary AP60 smelting technology, the most modern aluminum reduction technology developed to-date.

The project will be delivered in three phases. The first phase is a pilot plant with 38 pots expected to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of aluminum. It will also be the platform for future generations of AP60 technology.

After all phases are complete, a total of 272 cells will have been installed with a production capacity of 460,000 tpa.

The project is the first of its kind in the world and the development plant is the first step in a planned investment program in Québec’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region.

Scope of Services
Hatch and a joint venture partner are responsible for EPCM for Rio Tinto Alcan’s AP60 Jonquière Plant Phase 1 to test the new AP60 technology on an brown field site in Jonquière, Québec, Canada.

Hatch and its joint-venture partner completed the project feasibility study including specifying the final project scope, costs and schedule for the construction of the Phase 1, setting up critical contract packages, and the early execution of detailed engineering and critical site work. In November 2010 the team presented the project to the board of Rio Tinto Alcan and received its ‘notice to proceed’.

The EPCM team will peak at approximately 220 people.

Project Highlights

• The AP60 technology is the most modern aluminum reduction technology ever developed. At start-up, Phase 1 will operate at an unprecedented current of 570,000 amperes with the possibility to increase it to more than 600 000 amperes; most new smelters operate in the range of 350,000 to 400,000 amperes.
• Using the same number of pots, an AP60 potline will produce 67 percent more than a 300-kA potline and 39 percent more than a 360-kA potline. This will deliver lower CAPEX per tonne of capacity, improved labor productivity, reduced operating costs and shorter construction, commissioning and start-up schedule for the same capacity.
• Phase 1 of the AP60 Jonquière plant will be powered exclusively by clean, renewable hydroelectricity.
• Rio Tinto Alcan and Hatch JV developed and introduced very demanding standards on Health, Safety and Environment on this project. It will be a new benchmark in the industry.
• The AP60 technology employs the highest productivity cell design and focuses on energy efficiency and total cost reduction in the aluminum smelting process.
• Since the AP60 technology is so modern, it requires suppliers to be innovative with their technologies that are part of the Phase 1. To promote further innovations, Rio Tinto Alcan has created a special fund to support new developments by suppliers after which those products are used in the Phase 1 of AP60 Jonquière plant and future Rio Tinto Alcan plants. This strategy not only allows the suppliers to conduct some research and development, but also provides regional economic growth as most of these suppliers are located in the immediate vicinity of the project.