R&Di
Aluminium
Our goal is to be technologically competitive by providing environmentally sustainable services for the recycling of hazardous waste from the aluminium industry.
16
Patents have been registered
€7,12m
R&D expenses in the last 5 years
30
Projects in the last 5 years
>50
Open innovation technology centres universities and partners
Since 2012, Befesa Aluminio has its own R&Di testing house center where R&Di efforts are focused to achieve our objective, promote circular economy and introduce new high value products from recycling origin in the market.
Our R&Di strategy is designed to create value by developing sustainable improvements to existing technologies, optimizing operations and product quality, developing new processes to achieve higher recycling efficiency, reducing cost and improving environmental conditions.
More than 400 m2 of facilities, located in Valladolid (Spain), constitute our fully equipped multidisciplinary laboratory which is dedicated exclusively to our researching and innovation commitment, faithfully recreate an environment similar to our industrial process.
In our continuous goal to progress our knowledge, different pilot plants have been developed to better understand our business.
Treatment of salt slags and SPLs, recovering brine and secondary aluminium oxide (9 tpy)
Crystallization plant where brine is transformed to salt KCl/NaCl (2 tpy)
Refining treatment of secondary aluminium oxide (6.5 tpy)
Brine cleaning recovering aluminium rich compounds (35m3py)
Team
Befesa Aluminio has a R&Di team made up of 5 highly qualified members who are exclusively dedicated to dealing with challenges in the aluminium recycling value chain: raw material, process and products.
Collaborations
One of the pillars of Befesa’s R&Di strategy is external collaboration. This is primarily executed via research groups and institutions, public research centres, universities and other industrial enterprises with whom Befesa frequently collaborates in R&Di projects with.
Befesa is a founding partner of Basque Innovation Agency (Innobasque), which seeks to coordinate and promote innovation in the Basque Country. Befesa is a member of the Labein Tecnalia Foundation, a private technology centre with significant business involvement that creates partnerships within their markerts to develop innovative capacity using technology as a tool to increase competitiveness.
Recently, Befesa is joined to the Basque Hydrogen Corridor (BH2C) that will enable to progress to be made in the decarbonisation of the industrial process.
Our main collaborators:
Projects
Befesa Aluminio’s strategy in the field of innovation is designed to create value by developing sustainable improvements in existing technologies, optimizing production processes and product quality, as well as developing new processes and products that allow greater efficiency in recycling, reducing cost and improving environmental conditions.
At Befesa Aluminio we actively participate in European, National and Regional
R&Di support programs.
Fissac
Fostering Industrial Symbiosis for a Sustainable Resource Intensive Industry across the extended Construction Value Chain.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No 642154
Radius
Recycled automotive brake disks by upgrading metallic scraps.
This activity has received funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union under the Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
Bauxal II
Valorization towards a circular economy of Al-by products in refractory industry as alternative to CRM-Bauxite-LIFE17 ENV/ES/000160.
The BAUXAL-II Project (LIFE17ENV/ES/00160) is co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme
Sisal
Innovative pilot for Silicon production with low environmental impact using secondary Aluminium and silicon raw materials.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869268
HYINHEAT
Hydrogen technologies for decarbonization of industrial heating processes
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No 101091456
REPLACEMENT OF LIGTHS TO HIGH EFFICIENCY LEDS
File number: 174-AEE/2019
Total investment: 44.517,40€
GRANT: 6.864,44€
FINAL EXPECTED SAVING: 348.5MWh/year.
Una manera de hacer Europa
Proyecto acogido a la línea de ayudas de ahorro y eficiencia energética en PYME y gran empresa del sector industrial, cofinanciada por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), y gestionada por el IDEA con cargo al Fondo Nacional de Eficiencia Energética , con el objetivo de conseguir una economía más limpia y sostenible.
Installation of tilting rotary furnace
File number: FN-PGESI-2018-002195
The main goal of the project is to achieve an important improvement in global energy and environmental efficiency of the aluminium recycling process, in particular in the Befesa Aluminio facilities of Las Franqueses del Vallés (Barcelona).
The main rotary furnace and the peripheral devices: the salt slags cooling system and gas treatment system have been replaced to achieve the objective.
The additional annual saving has been estimated at 15,307,452 kWh, which is equivalent to 1,316.20 metric tons of oil equivalent (toe) (1 toe = 11,630 kWh).
Una manera de hacer Europa
Proyecto acogido a la línea de ayudas de ahorro y eficiencia energética en PYME y gran empresa del sector industrial, cofinanciada por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), y gestionada por el IDEA con cargo al Fondo Nacional de Eficiencia Energética , con el objetivo de conseguir una economía más limpia y sostenible.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR THE PROCESS OF MELTING SALTS RECOVERY
File number: 12-SUBAIXEN-2020
Total investment: 908.419€
Grant: 200.525€
Una manera de hacer Europa
Proyecto acogido a la línea de ayudas de ahorro y eficiencia energética en PYME y gran empresa del sector industrial, cofinanciada por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), y gestionada por el IDEA con cargo al Fondo Nacional de Eficiencia Energética , con el objetivo de conseguir una economía más limpia y sostenible.
SYSTEM OF HEAT RECOVERY FOR PAVAL DRYING AND GAS TREATMENT
File number: 83-SUBAIXEN-2020
Total investment: 296.204€
Grant: 88.861€
Una manera de hacer Europa
Proyecto acogido a la línea de ayudas de ahorro y eficiencia energética en PYME y gran empresa del sector industrial, cofinanciada por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), y gestionada por el IDEA con cargo al Fondo Nacional de Eficiencia Energética , con el objetivo de conseguir una economía más limpia y sostenible.
MAT EV
New polymeric materials with advanced properties for new generation components and systems for electric vehicle.
File number: ZE-2019/00019
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2014-2020 (FEDER)
SU TREN
Safety and light materials, products and systems for the railway sector.
File number: ZL-2021/00297
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2021-2027 (FEDER)
Alfused
New corundum-based abrasives from secondary bauxite derived from the aluminium recycling process.
File number: ZL-2020/00177
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2014-2020 (FEDER))
Alumelt
New quality of secondary aluminium through improvement of recycled fluxes.
File number: ZL-2020/00111
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2014-2020 (FEDER))
HPP
High-purity secondary aluminium oxide for LED and electronic devices manufacturing.
Actuación cofinanciada (50%) por la Unión E uropea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2014-2020 (FEDER)
Alusalt
Study and improvement of recycled salts quality from salt slag valorisation process.
File number: Al-19/2918
Proyecto financiado dentro del programa de subvenciones para proyectos de economía circular y eco innovación en el municipio de Valladolid (2018)
Floreal
New flocculants based on recycled materials from the aluminium industry for water treatment and construction.
File number: ZL-2021/00186
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2021-2027 (FEDER).
Alujoint
Development of modular lightweight chassis through integration of structural components by merging advanced aluminium processing and bonding technologies.
File number: ZE-2020/00014
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2014-2020 (FEDER).
Linavu
Redesign of ingot moulds to increase operational lifetime.
Actuación cofinanciada (50%) por la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2014-2020 (FEDER)
H2Hornos
Development of industrial burners and furnaces to used hydrogen as fuel.
File number: ZL-2022/00519
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2021-2027 (FEDER)
PURALED
Recycled high pure alumina to manufacture LEDs and electronic components.
File Number: ZL-2022/00058
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2021-2027 (FEDER)
RESPLA
Recycling of Spent Pot Lining (SPL) waste from the primary aluminium industry
File number: ZL-2023/00031
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2021-2027 (FEDER)
DESKAR30
Research and development of innovative technologies to smelting and foundry value chain decarbonization in 2030.
File number: ZE-2022/00043
Actuación cofinanciada por el Gobierno Vasco y la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional 2021-2027 (FEDER)