“The Calix Technology is a bit like a new kind of cake tin. It’s a technology that keeps the ingredients clean and separate from the energy source, and enables good heat distribution throughout the process, resulting in a high quality product while keeping the oven clean.”
Michael Wheatland, Business Development Manager Sustainable Processing
One of the biggest challenges of climate change and elevated levels of CO2 in the atmosphere is the scale of the problem. It seems insurmountable, as global industry has been developed around carbon based fuels for over a century.
While operating a large scale minerals production facility using solely electricity may seem impossible to some today, it is predicted that producing minerals using carbon based fuels in 20 years time will be uncompetitive, thanks to the global push for rapid decarbonisation of industry.
The Calix technology provides a unique solution to the problem of scale up due to the technology being modular. This means the integration of the technology within existing plants is possible, allowing for greater flexibility of production and a greater ability to adjust to energy cost fluctuations, with no detrimental impact on product quality or equipment longevity.
Traditional calcination technologies also have the challenge of needing to remain in operation around the clock, to avoid the possibility of degradation of the hard face refractory – the insulating layer that keeps the heat in the vessel, and protects the vessel’s steel skin.
With the Calix technology, the mineral and process flow never come into contact with the hot face of the refractory. This allows use of a softer and more pliable refractory, more resilient to thermal cycles.
Combining the Calix technology to existing calcining technologies not only allows for energy fluctuations and production rate adjustments, but it could also generate revenue by providing stability to the local electricity grid.
The modular nature of the Calix technology allows the implementation during an expansion of production capacity at a low capital expense, while improving the flexibility of production rates and energy sourcing options as the world changes over the next 50 years.
December 1, 2023