recently, bluestar elkem invited clients, business partners and government officials to attend the 75th anniversary of the establishment of its tech center. at the ceremony, employees and management reviewed past achievements.
from pig iron smelting and aluminum metallurgy to the carbothermic method
an important achievement during the center’s early development was its pig smelting technology through the electrolytic process. the technology was tested at a pilot plant in kristiansand city, south of norway. another important technological achievement of the company was its process to produce ferro-nickel products from laterite nickel ore. the technology still prevails now in the field.
for the past 10 years, bluestar elkem’s tech center has been developing a solar power industrial silicone smelting process that cuts energy consumption by 75 percent, as compared with the conventional process. at the celebration, geir ausland, head of elkem’s solar power business, expressed confidence in the process. ausland said that it has industrialization potential thanks to the tech center’s extraordinary efforts.
in addition, the center is still working on optimizing the aluminum smelting process using the carbothermic method. the process was developed for elkem’s long-term partner alcoa, and elkem employees were in on the ground floor. at the moment, alcoa claims ownership of the process, and testing has been transferred to the lista plant.
lab and pilot equipment open to clients
the tech center is mainly engaged in the development of high-temperature, electric-arc furnace and metallurgy processes. it has established close cooperative relations with some of the world’s top high-temperature research institutions.
more and more specialty products have sprung up in recent years, and product testing and scientific research services are becoming more and more important. therefore, bluestar elkem has opened its services to external customers and partners.
at the moment, there are 59 employees in the tech center. “it’s rare for companies in the industry to have as many senior researchers, pieces of industrial-scale pilot equipment, plants and labs as elkem,” said gro eide, head of the company’s tech center. it is a strategic asset for the company to stay in the forefront of technology. continuous process development is essential to a company’s competitiveness. after the tech center opened to the public, the company received a great deal of positive feedback. the center is likely to bring in more business opportunities to elkem and raise core competitiveness, according to gro eide.
gro eide, head of elkem’s technology center
geir ausland, head of elkem’s solar energy business