Canadian equipment manufacturer STAS and mining and metals company Rio Tinto have entered into an agreement to commercialize an advanced compact filtration technology (ACF) for aluminium cast houses.
The ACF technology, which can eliminate more than 90% of inclusions in liquid aluminium, will now be manufactured and sold under licence by STAS worldwide.
The technology was developed at Rio Tinto’s Arvida Research and Development Centre (ARDC) in Quebec, Canada in the early 2000s.
Rio Tinto partnered with STAS to design and manufacture the first prototypes of the ACF technology for its Grande-Baie and Laterrière smelters in Canada, where it has been used successfully for more than a decade.
“We believe the ACF technology has enormous commercial potential for the global aluminium industry and we are convinced that this partnership will maximize the value it can deliver,” said Louis Bouchard, executive president of STAS.
