Primary Aluminum

A modern aluminum smelter is a vast industrial complex, where each sector leads to another from the arrival of raw materials by boat, train or truck, to shipping the aluminum ingots. So it is vital that, from the start, the supply services ensure that the raw materials, goods and services necessary for the manufacture of aluminum are delivered and stored on time and in sufficient quantities. The operations require perfect coordination between employees, machines and computers. Engineers, chemists, biologists, technicians, purchasers, computer experts, accountants and professionals from several other disciplines all contribute to a smelter's smooth functioning. The manufacturing process takes place in two major phases, each composed of many steps.

1. EXTRACTING ALUMINA

Approximately 75% of the bauxite is composed of hydrated alumina (Al2O3 3H2O and Al2O3 H2O). It is first ground in giant crushers and then mixed in autoclaves with a solution of caustic soda. At high temperatures and under pressure the caustic soda dissolves the hydrated alumina and produces a solution of sodium aluminate. Impurities remain in a solid state and are separated from the aluminate solution through scrubbing and filtration under pressure. The residue, referred to as red mud, is inert; it is mostly composed of iron oxide, silicon and titanium, and is withdrawn by decantation and filtration. The red mud is washed to recover the chemical products and discarded in successive layers at a site prepared for this purpose.

The sodium aluminate obtained is then pumped into precipitator tanks 25 to 30 meters high, in which very fine, pure alumina trihydrate is added as seed material. Under the effect of agitation and gradual cooling, the alumina trihydrate solution precipitates, forming crystals. These are then separated from the caustic soda solution by sedimentation and filtration. The caustic soda solution is then returned to the autoclaves to be reused.

The crystals are then calcinated in long rotating furnaces where a temperature of approximately 1000C removes all the water. What remains is calcined alumina, a fine white powder not unlike table salt. It is a very hard compound; only diamonds and certain synthetic products are harder. Calcinated alumina will then be transformed into metallic aluminum. Four to five tonnes of bauxite are required to obtain approximately two tonnes of alumina which, in turn, will produce one tonne of aluminum.

2. PRODUCING ALUMINUM

Aluminum is extracted from alumina through an electrolytic reduction process (known as the Hall-Hroult process, named after its inventors), which takes place in pots through which a highamperage direct current flows. The rectangular steel shelled pots are lined with refractory bricks and carbon blocks which act as the cathode.

An aluminum smelter is divided into three main sectors: the carbon, potlines and casthouse.

CARBON SECTOR
This is where anodes are produced. Anodes are designed to be hung over electrolytic pots to carry the electric current.

The anodes are a mixture of petroleum coke and liquid pitch. Coke is crushed to a very precise granulometry, and mixed with pitch to form a paste which is then baked for several days at approximately 1100C in natural gas or oil-fired ovens. The smoke given off by the anode baking process is thoroughly treated in highly sophisticated and efficient systems. Once baked, anodes are rodded with cast iron and attached to aluminum stems from which they will hang over electrolytic pots. Anodes burn and must be replaced about every 20 days; the carbon sector is also responsible for the recovery of carbon content in spent anodes (or butts) for recycling as well as for the cleanup of stems which will be reused.

POTLINES
Aluminum is obtained from alumina by electrolytic reduction - a chemical term meaning the removal of oxygen atoms from aluminum oxide. The calcined alumina is reduced to aluminum metal in electrolytic cells, or pots, connected in series to a direct current power source. The cells are rectangular steel pots lined with refractory bricks and carbon blocks acting as the cathode. The pot contains a molten electrolyte, called bath, in which alumina is dissolved. The electrolyte is a mixture of cryolite (Na3AlF6), a molten salt, and certain additives to give it the appropriate density, conductivity and viscosity. The principal additive is aluminum fluoride (AlF3) which must be replaced from time to time, due to losses through evaporation and a chemical reaction converting it into more cryolite. The emitted fluorides are collected and treated.

Electrical current passing from the anode through the electrolyte to the pot, which acts as a cathode, reduces the alumina molecules into aluminum and oxygen at a temperature of approximately 950C. This process is called electrolysis. The oxygen is released on the carbon anode, where it combines with the carbon to form carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO and CO2). The aluminum, being heavier than the bath, settles to the bottom of the pot. Considerable

electrical energy, between 13 and 17 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of aluminum is consumed in the process.

At regular intervals, the molten aluminum is tapped from the bottom of the pot into large ladles and transferred to holding furnaces for casting. Each pot is tightly closed to achieve greater energy efficiency and to capture the pollutants emitted; gas treatment centres provide a very effective environmental protection.

ELECTRICITY: ESSENTIAL IN PRODUCING ALUMINUM

The electrolysis process used to produce aluminum requires large quantities of electric power. This resource, which is plentiful in Quebec and British Columbia, has made it possible for the industry to develop and grow in Canada over the past century. A little more than one-third (35%) of the cost of producing one tonne of primary aluminum is devoted to electric power. To produce one kilo of aluminum, it takes an average of 15 kilowatthours (kWh).

Since each small gain in energy consumption quickly impacts on costs, all producers have implemented energy efficiency programs that yield excellent results. Research programs and technological development have enabled more alumina to be extracted from one tonne of bauxite and, over the years, the energy efficiency of the electrolytic pots has been increased by 50%. By 2015, all smelters using the Sderberg technology, which requires over 17,000 kWh to produce one tonne of aluminum, will be closed, replaced or upgraded. At that point, all aluminum smelters in Quebec will use the prebaked anode technology, which is much more efficient in terms of energy and the environment. This technology reduces the quantity of electricity required to produce one tonne of aluminum by over 25%. In addition, Rio Tinto Alcan, Alcoa and Alouette will be actively participating in the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation introduced by Natural Resources Canada and will be working with the Agence de l'efficacit nergtique du Qubec and the Office of Energy Efficiency of Canada. In January 2005, a Protocol for Collaboration in Energy Efficiency was signed with Hydro-Qubec. Over the past 35 years, the quantity of energy required to produce primary aluminum has been reduced by 30%. According to the Canadian Industry Energy End-Use Data and Analysis Centre at the Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, the quantity of energy required to produce one tonne of aluminum in Canada decreased by 6% between 1990 and 2000. And of all the industrial sectors, aluminum has the best kilowatt-hour utilization factor. In SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean, Rio Tinto Alcan produces the electrical power it needs in its six hydroelectric power plants: Isle-Maligne, Chute--Caron, Shipshaw, Chute-du-Diable, Chute-la-Savane and Chute-des-Passes. Located on the Pribonka and Saguenay rivers, these power plants produce an average of 2000 MW each year, enough power to supply a million homes for one year. For its part, Alcoa, together with the Abitibi Consolidated papermill, operates the McCormick hydroelectric power plant with an installed generating capacity of 350 MW. In view of the importance of the cost of electricity, the growth of the primary aluminum industry will depend largely upon the smelters ability to acquire a long-term energy supply at a cost which enables them to maintain their competitiveness. (See the brochure on energy in our Publications section).

CASTHOUSE
Molten metal from potlines is transferred to huge holding furnaces with a capacity of up to 90 tonnes, where it is refined and optionally mixed with metal additives to produce aluminum

alloys.

The aluminum is cast into shapes that vary depending upon the type of equipment that will be used to process the metal. For example, very large ingots of rectangular shape, also called slabs, are intended for hot-rolling to produce plate, sheet and foil. Cylindrical ingots, also called billets, are for extrusion, while metal for remelting can be cast into large blocks called sows, as well as tri-lock shapes or T-ingots, depending upon the shape. Each ingot can weigh up to 25 tonnes. Aluminum can leave an electrolysis plant in four shapes:

in slabs, to manufacture plates of various thicknesses, airplane wings, tanks, packing cartons, sheets...; in billets to manufacture automobile frames and structures, or in foundry ingots to manufacture pressurized bottles, landing gear, etc.; in rods for electrical use (power transmission and distribution lines) and for mechanical purposes (rivets, solder, mesh...); in ingots to be used in the foundry.

PROCESSING
ROLLING Rolling is used to obtain sheets or strips of aluminum to manufacture all light products with large surfaces that require highly performing mechanical properties. Made from primary or secondary metal, hot-rolling a slab of aluminum, followed by cold-rolling creates thicknesses of as little as 6 microns (aluminum foil). In hot rolling, the rolling ingot is preheated so as to soften and/or homogenize it. It is then passed back and forth through massive rolls that reduce the ingot's thickness while increasing its length, without changing the width.

Hot-rolling improves the metallurgical qualities of the metal without appreciable workhardening. Subsequent cold-rolling gives the strength characteristics that result from workhardening, and the metal can be rolled to tighter dimensional tolerances. Plate which is hot-rolled is 6.30 mm, while sheet, which is hot-and-cold-rolled, varies in thickness from 6.30 down to 0.15 mm. Sheet is also cold-rolled to gauges below 6 microns. A continuous length of foil, 450 km long, could be rolled from a single slab. The aluminum beverage can market is the primary end-user for aluminum sheet.

EXTRUDING The extrusion process consists of pushing a pre-heated cylindrical aluminum ingot billets through a steel die. The ingot is formed into a continuous length of uniform cross-section, in much the same way as decorative icing is forced from a pastry pouch. Extruded tubing and hollow shapes are formed by placing a steel mandrel inside the die opening. The aluminum is forced to flow between the mandrel and the die, reproducing the shape of the mandrel on the inside of the section and the shape of the die on the outside. Extruded tubing is used in the manufacture of such items as doors, window frames, building wall cladding, highway lighting standards and garden furniture, as well as in the manufacture of railcars, truck trailers, aircraft and ship superstructures.

OTHER TECHNIQUES Aluminum may be cast into various shapes by pouring molten metal into molds. The methods used are die casting, permanent mold casting and sand casting. In the forging process, the part is formed in a confined die from a hot metal slug. This is achieved by applying force which causes the metal to flow and fill the die cavity. Drawing is used to manufacture aluminum wire as well as some tubing and rod products. This cold-rolling process consists of pulling starter stock through a die in which it is both shaped and reduced until it reaches the desired diameter. Impacting is a combination of both extruding and forging. A disc-shaped slug of metal is placed in a die and struck by a punch; part of it is forged into a base, flange or hub, and the remainder is extruded upwards, downwards or sideways from the forged section. Anodizing is used particularly when the aluminum is intended for architectural purposes. Anodizing is an electro-chemical process whereby the natural oxide film on aluminum is thickened. This oxide can be coloured with dyes. This process also increases aluminum's hardness and corrosion resistance.

Secondary Aluminium

Manufacturing residues and aluminum products at the end of their life cycle (for example, beverage cans) are used in the remelting process. For this reason, manufacturing residues and aluminum products should be considered as a raw material and not as waste. In fact, articles made from aluminum can be recycled indefinitely. Cans, aluminum foil, plates and pie tins,

window frames and garden furniture are remelted and used to manufacture other aluminum products. At present, close to 35% of world demand for aluminum is filled by recycled aluminum. Producing aluminum from recycled products saves up to 95% of the power required to produce primary aluminum because it does not require the electrolysis process; a perfect choice for environmental protection.

In Canada, on the average, each person produces over 600 kg of domestic waste each year. The aluminum industry promotes and supports selective collection programs as a means to reduce the quantity of solid waste, and supports the 3R principle: Reduce, Recover and Recycle. These interventions are part of the industry's commitment to sustainable development. In the automobile sector, a large portion of the production is also recycled. Over 80% of car parts made of aluminum are recycled, and the quantity of aluminum used in automobiles increases every year. It will not be long before we have automobiles made entirely of recyclable products.