HPQ Silicon Inc. (HPQ-X) has revealed its French technology affiliate Novacium SAS has successfully validated its aluminum recycling technology and is proceeding with construction of a pilot phase production facility in Lyon, France.

Parallel to this announcement, Novacium is filing a provisional patent application for its proprietary method of transforming black aluminum dross (BAD) - a major toxic byproduct of aluminum recycling that currently ends up in landfills - into a feedstock for green hydrogen production.

Not only does this process eliminate the approximately $900- to $1,500-per-tonne cost of disposing the BAD into landfills, it also provides a source of heat generation while converting any remaining materials into a saleable solid by-product. 

Once in operation, this new method of repurposing BAD will both reduce costs and revolutionize aluminum recycling by turning it into a 100 per cent circular, sustainable process.

"The basic innovation that Novacium developed is a technology that turns the dross into a renewable energy source in the form of green hydrogen and lowers the carbon footprint of aluminum recycling," Bernard Tourillon, president and CEO of HPQ Silicon and Novacium, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

New revenues for aluminum recyclers

HPQ holds a 20 per cent equity stake in Novacium and an option to increase that share.

"That's important for the recyclers because it provides them with two additional sources of revenue while eliminating landfill costs. Novacium is now on the verge of building a system that can be operated at the end of their production line to not only produce green hydrogen as an energy byproduct but also convert the heat generated by this exothermic process back into electricity." 

Finally, a third supplementary revenue source stems from the chemical reaction that takes place with the extraction of the hydrogen which renders the remaining waste inert. This can be used as a filler either in the cement or in the ceramic industries.

"Of course, we're limited to the amount of black dross that's produced, but we're still talking about four to five million tonnes per year of that material which otherwise goes to landfills."

Already Novacium, based in Lyon, in conjunction with HPQ, has begun discussing the potential of its BAD recycling tech with leading European companies.

Novacium also advancing on the silicon battery front

On Feb. 5, Novacium also announced it has confirmed test results on its advanced GEN3 silicon-anode batteries that maintain approximately 80 per cent capacity after 900 cycles. 

This performance surpasses existing industry standards for silicon batteries, which typically last between 150 to 200 cycles. The results also confirm the capability of Novacium's GEN3 batteries to achieve a substantial 31 per cent cumulative energy gain over graphite benchmark batteries.

The Novacium findings further enable HPQ Silicon to leverage these silicon anode battery innovations to allow companies to increase overall performance, ultimately improving sustainability.

"We have demonstrated an understanding of what's required to make a very good silicon anode material that can be blended with graphite to generate high performance batteries," Tourillon said.

"The next step for us will be to start building pilot plants to manufacture that silicone anode material. We have already filed a patent application for this process which is part of our pathway to develop this technology with Novacium."

This puts Novacium at the forefront of a major technology advance in battery technology that has applications to the EV market and other sectors.

HPQ Silicon building "verticalities" for its silicon products

HPQ Silicon is an advanced materials engineering provider that offers sustainable silica (Si02) and silicon solutions. Headquartered in Montreal, the company is anxious to explore the potential of its value-added silicon products for the battery industry, the electric vehicle sector and other markets.

Having invested over $1 million into helping Novacium bring its various technologies to fruition while serving as its sole customer, HPQ Silicon is poised to move forward on multiple fronts by building new plants and creating "verticalities" for its primary silicon business.

"The market is going to be so huge in this battery space and demand to increase massively. We're well-positioned to be able to do provide the right types of silicon material that will result in major improvement in battery performance," Tourillon said.

"We can buy the material and upgrade it ourselves and once we get all that moving at commercial scale, then make sure that we're fully vertically integrated."

Transitioning from pre-revenue to pilot plant production

HPQ Silicon is raising fresh capital to enable it to realize an ambitious expansion strategy to take what has, thus far, been a pre-revenue R&D company and technology incubator to the pilot plant production phase.

In January, the company announced that PyroGenesis Inc., the technology supplier to HPQ's wholly-owned subsidiary, HSPI, had "completed all preparatory work" for its cornerstone Fumed Silica Reactor pilot plant expected to begin operations in the coming weeks.

"We're trying to monetize ourselves now," Tourillon explained. "We have two ways of generating revenues. One is the traditional process of generating revenues from our products and the second one involves creating value through spin-offs.

"We are also in discussions to secure additional financing and trying to obtain the best terms possible . . . For the most part, though, things are proceeding according to plan."