Eramet’s Manganese Alloys Business Unit Research and Development (R&D) vision is a research activity located close to the plants for a sustainable and data-driven operation. Our R&D efforts are at the heart of our mission to be a leader of the manganese alloys industry in terms of innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence. With a focus on reducing environmental impact, improving efficiency, and driving technological advancement, the R&D department plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of the company and the industry.
Strategic focus areas
Eramet Norway’s R&D initiatives are structured around key priorities that align with its sustainability and operational goals:
- Climate solutions: Developing technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the use of biocarbon and advancements in Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS).
- Sustainability:
- Circular economy: Optimizing the use of resources (energy, raw materials), finding innovating ways to repurpose by-products and reduce waste, turning industrial by-products like Silica Green Stone© and furnace gases into valuable resources. Collaborations with research institutions drive innovation, ensuring efficient resource use across operations.
- Environment: Minimizing environmental impact of our operations, in particular emissions to air and water.
- Energy efficiency: Enhancing energy recovery systems to optimize resource use and reduce consumption.
- Digital transformation: Using data-driven solutions for process optimization, improving precision and efficiency to reduce inefficiencies.
Eramet Norway’s R&D department is the core of the Manganese Alloys R&D Business Unit. It is composed of four experts located in Trondheim, where we work closely with internal partners (processing plants, Eramet Ideas) and external partners. Key collaborations include:
- Eramet Ideas: We are fully integrated with the Eramet group’s research and innovation centre (based in France with over 150 employees covering all of Eramet’s activities) to constitute Manganese Alloys R&D.
- Academic institutions: Partnerships with NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and SINTEF enable cutting-edge research in metallurgy and environmental sciences.
- Research networks: Eramet Norway is a central member of the Norwegian Ferroalloy Producers Research Association (FFF), Swerim (metallurgical research association based in Sweden), DigiPro center (digitilization) and the Eyde Cluster, among others, to support knowledge sharing and innovation.
- Government support: Projects are often co-funded by the Research Council of Norway, ENOVA, Skattefunn, the EU and other national programs to foster sustainable industrial growth.
Technological innovations
Eramet Norway’s R&D team is involved in a wide range of projects, including:
- Biocarbon: Exploring renewable carbon sources to replace fossil-based reducing agents, through 10 cooperation projects as ENOVA CO2MBI project for industrialization or FME ZeMe for more fundamental studies.
- Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS): A pilot CCUS project in Sauda is underway, with plans to scale up to full production by 2030 while solutions are being evaluated for the other Manganese Alloys plants.
- Physical and data-driven operational excellence: Advanced modelling, characterizing and steering tools to control emissions and improve production processes.