Global competition seeking new ideas for aluminium use 
The Global Technology and Innovation Project Initiative is a UC RUSAL programme to which the IAI provides its support. The Global Technology and Innovation Research Project is designed to promote the identification of innovative and sustainable applications for aluminium products. In the period 2008-2010 we will be searching for the brightest ideas and research projects, which aim to foster the development of products and applications that encourage increasing use of aluminium in sustainable applications where the material can bring substantial benefits.
UC Rusal is keen to support innovative ideas for the sustainable use of aluminium and welcome any proposals. The key objective of the programme is to encourage greater use of sustainable aluminium products around the world through the application of advanced technologies and innovations.
Between 2009 and 2011, up to 10 research projects will be selected and receive funding. Priority will be given to commercially focused and ground breaking research projects that bring new ideas, applications and commercial products to markets. Funding of research projects will focus on one specific end use market for each year of the programme. The following research topics have been defined for each year of the programme:
2008 — Transportation
2009 — Building & Construction
2010 — Packaging
Proposals should aim to deliver innovations and benefits and/or solve major challenges through the use of aluminium.
Projects selected as winners in 2008:
- Aluminium for Hydrogen storage in Transport - Curtin University, Australia
The objective of the Curtin University project is to undertake the research required for aluminium to be used as a hydrogen storage material. If successful, one of the biggest drawbacks to implementing the “hydrogen economy” will be solved. Hydrogen is promising to replace fossil fuels as the fuel of the 21st century. Aluminium, given its low weight, high volumetric density, abundance and present production rate is the only potential hydrogen storage material capable of satisfying the current and future ground transport needs of the planet. Preliminary experiments carried out by the research team at Curtin University have shown that AlH3 nanoparticles encased in a salt can be synthesised using the mechanochemical technique and further research is ongoing to optimise this method. Researchers within the team have recently discovered a method for washing the salt so that pure alane nanoparticles remain. Further research is required to optimise this method for optimum hydrogen storage with the aim of producing an off-board and on-board hydrogen storage material. The practical use of the proposed technology will enable the development of hydrogen fuelled cars, which will reduce transport impacts on the environment and contribute to mitigating the risk of climate change. The research will take three years. UC RUSAL’s contribution to the project is USD 180,000.
- New cost-effective aluminium alloy for the automotive industry - Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, Russia
Development of a high-tech and thermally stable wrought aluminium alloy based on the Al-Cu-Mn-Zr system is proposed by the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. The industrial use of the proposed alloy in transport vehicles and cargo transporters, instead of the currently popularly used 6xxx series alloys, will provide higher productivity due to the reduction of the process cycle used in production of wrought semi-finished products for automotives. Today, most of the aluminium products and parts used in the automotive industry use aluminium alloy from the 6xxx series, which requires a complicated and energy-intensive preparation process. The proposed alloy will not need the homogenization (for ingots) process and the thermal hardening (semi-finished products) process, thus providing significant energy savings and enabling reductions in harmful emissions during the production of aluminium products and applications for the automotive industry. The research will take two years with an estimated project budget of USD 160,000.
- Woven structures from aluminium fibres - Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, Russia
The project will research the development of technology for creating 3D 'knitted' composite structures based on aluminium fibre. The technology will enable 3D part structures to be created by interweaving aluminium fibres. In contrast to carbon composites, which are used today, the proposed technology will use metal instead. It will enable alloys to significantly increase shear resistance and reduces the overall structural weight of parts used in the automotive industry. The energy required for producing the proposed metal composite is ten times less than that of an item produced using the traditional methods. This is due to the fact that energy is spent on the manipulation of metal instead of melting. The proposed technology will enable the manufacture of defect-free, strong, and light metal composite structures needed in transport vehicles, thus providing fuel economy and reducing green gas emissions. The research will take three years with an overall budget of USD 500,000.
For additional questions please e-mail: gtip@rusal.com