SisAl Pilot aims to demonstrate a patented novel industrial process to produce silicon (Si, a critical raw material), enabling a shift from today’s carbothermic Submerged Arc Furnace (SAF) process to a far more environmentally and economically alternative: an aluminothermic reduction of quartz in slag that utilizes secondary raw materials such as aluminium (Al) scrap and dross, as replacements for carbon reductants used today. SisAl Pilot represents a path-breaking approach, and a strong contribution to “circularity” through industrial symbiosis where the Al industry will act as both a raw material supplier and end user to the Si industry. Across sectors, SisAl Pilot will give substantial reductions in material yield losses, enhanced valorisation of waste- and by-product streams, at a 3 X lower energy consumption and radically lower emissions of CO2 and harmful pollutants, at a considerably lower cost. The SisAl Pilot project brings together raw material provider (Erimsa), silicon and aluminium key actors (Wacker, Elkem, DOW, Silicor, SiQAl, Hydro, FRey, Befesa, MYTIL), SME´s/consultants/ equipment manufacturers (BNW, SIMTEC, WS and SBC) and research organisations (NTNU, RWTH, NTUA, ITMATI, SINTEF, HZDR, MINTEK) to demonstrate the SisAl process with different raw materials and product outputs in 4 different countries. These pilots will be accompanied by environmental, economic and technological benchmarking, and industrial business cases will be assessed for locations in Norway, Iceland, Germany, Spain and Greece. The timing of SisAl Pilot is impeccable; the transformation to a circular economy, the strongly enhanced focus on climate and future expected EU-ETS CO2 allowances with associated risk for carbon leakage from Europe, the rapidly increased difficulty of exporting aluminium scrap from Europe to China, and modern society’s ever-increasing need for silicon metal. With SisAl, all these challenges are turned into new European opportunities.

SHARK will unlock the potential for laser texturing for the generation of functional surfaces by boosting the productivity, efficiency and flexibility of the process. This will provide the European industry with a highly robust, cost effective and environmentally friendly system that is capable of producing a broad range of functional surfaces at industrial scale throughputs, and place Europe in an unassailable lead in this key area of manufacturing. SHARK will advance laser surface texturing from the current ‘trial and error’, lab-scale concept into a highly predictable, data driven industrial approach by developing a digitally enabled knowledge management platform with a comprehensive database of process parameters and functionalities. SHARK system will be configured as an Open-platform independent of the laser source manufacturers, which for long, has been one of the main limitations for the process. SHARK’s system will be underpinned by a number of technology advances. Two laser surface texturing technologies will be developed, both based upon nanosecond fibre lasers. Pseudo Random laser texturing and Direct Laser Interference Patterning will be employed, offering complementary techniques to yield a highly flexible tool capable of delivering wide range of functional surfaces with exceptional productivity and excellent process efficiency. The project will develop surface texture predictive modelling to rapidly define key process variables required for specific surface functionalities. This will be combined with inline surface characterisation to enable rapid feedback and inbuilt quality assurance. The project will deliver the following benefits: • The capability to deliver surface functionalities into real products for less than 10% of the cost of the conventional part • Greater than 20% improvement in product performance based on the surface functionalities deployed. • Accelerated product development • Strengthened global position of European manufacturing