TALAT Lecture 1101
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TALAT Lecture 1101 Resources and Production of Aluminium 25 pages, 25 figures (also available as overheads) Basic Level prepared by Geoff Budd, Aluminium Federation, Birmingham Objectives: − to aquire sufficient basic knowledge to recognize the application benefits of aluminium and the forms in which it is available. More specifically, the objectives are − to illustrate the natural abundance of the element and the history of its extraction from the ore − to show the properties of pure aluminium. To outline the importance of alloys to commercial development. To show the range of alloys available and their classification − to describe the principal markets for aluminium − to illustrate the basic processes used in the production of primary aluminium and the main fabricating routes used to provide the products needed by manufacturing industry − to outline the structure of the European aluminium industry and the historical contexts which shaped its growth. Date of Issue: 1999 EAA - European Aluminium Association 1101 Resources and Production of Aluminium Table of Contents 1101 Resources and Production of Aluminium................................................ 2 1101.01 History of exploitation and production..................................................... 2 Introduction............................................................................................................... 3 History of Discovery................................................................................................. 4 Development of Industrial Production...................................................................... 5 1101.02. Developing Useful Properties and Markets............................................... 8 Properties of Pure Aluminium .................................................................................. 8 Aluminium Alloys .................................................................................................... 9 1101.03 Principal Markets ....................................................................................... 12 Building and Construction ...................................................................................... 13 Transportation......................................................................................................... 14 Electric Engineering................................................................................................ 15 Packaging................................................................................................................ 15 Other Applications.................................................................................................. 16 1101.04 Production of Primary Aluminium and Semi-finished Production ....... 18 Primary Aluminium ................................................................................................ 18 Semi-fabricating...................................................................................................... 21 Rolling................................................................................................................. 21 Forging. .............................................................................................................. 21 Casting................................................................................................................ 21 Extrusion............................................................................................................. 22 1101.05 Development of the European Industry.................................................... 22 1101.06 Literature..................................................................................................... 25 1101.07 List of Figures.............................................................................................. 25 TALAT 1101 2 1101.01 History of exploitation and production • Introduction • History of discovery • Development of industrial production Introduction It is only 160 years since the element aluminium was discovered and only 100 years since a viable production process was established, yet by volume more aluminium is produced each year than all other non-ferrous metals combined. An astonishing achievement and a very good reason for engineers to appreciate the benefits and master the application technology. Aluminium is the third most abundant element - comprising some 8 percent of the earth's crust. Therefore the natural abundance of aluminium is a key factor in a world of diminishing resources (see Figure 1101.01.01). Why was it not discovered sooner? The main reason is that it never occurs naturally in metallic form. Aluminium is found in most rocks, clay, soil and vegetation combined with oxygen and other elements. .0001% Copper .006% Sulphur .009% Manganese .009% Carbon 0.12% Phosphorus 0.14% Hydrogen 0.62% Titanium 2.07% Magnesium 2.58% Potassium 2.83% Sodium 3.64% Calcium 5.06% Iron 8.07% Aluminium 27.61% Silicon 46.46% Oxygen Source: Metals in the Service of Man. 9th Ed. 1989 alu Analysis of Earth's Crust 1101.01.01 Training in Aluminium Application Technologies Aluminium bearing compounds have been used by man from the earliest times, pottery was made from clays rich in hydrated silicate of aluminium. Ancient Middle Eastern civilisations used aluminium salts for the preparation of dyes and medicines: they are used to this day in indigestion tablets and toothpaste. Alum, a double sulphate containing aluminium has been used for centuries for many useful purposes. TALAT 1101 3 History of Discovery In 1807, Sir Humphrey Davy, the British scientist, postulated the existence of the element arguing that alum was the salt of an unknown metal which he said should be called "Alumium". The name was respelt as the more euphonious aluminium by later scientists. Following Davy's work, H.C. Oersted in Denmark isolated small nodules of aluminium by heating potassium amalgam with aluminium chloride (see also Figure 1101.01.02).. By 1845 Wöhler in Germany had established many of the metal's properties, including the remarkably low specific gravity. It was the determination of this property that paved the way for more generous development funding - its lightness! 1825 The Danish chemist Oersted produced aluminium by reducing the chloride with potassium amalgam. 1827- The.. German scientist Wohler succeeded in separating small globules from 1845 which he determined essential properties. 1854 The French scientist Saint-Claire Deville reduced aluminium chloride with sodium. 1856 Deville started "industrial" production at Nanterre using sodium. 1886 Hall in America and Heroult in France independently developed the fused electrolysis method of producing aluminium from alumina dissolved in cryolite. 1888 America took up industrial production of aluminium by the new electrolytic method. In the same year, industrial production started in Switzerland, at Neuhausen. France also commenced production at Froges. 1910 By 1910 production was established in seven countries (Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, U.K. and U.S.A.); total output 45,000 tonnes. 1918 By 1918, with production in nine countries, the total world production was 208,000 tonnes. alu The Early History of Aluminium 1101.01.02 Training in Aluminium Application Technologies During the third quarter of the 19th Century Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, a Frenchman, developed a reduction process using sodium which, with further refinement by others, allowed the production of high cost metal in limited quantities. Kilogrammes were a great advance on grammes. These initial attempts to produce metallic aluminium in commercial quantities were of necessity based on chemical reduction of the oxide. The invention of the dynamo increased the options available to include electro-thermal and electrolytic processes. TALAT 1101 4 Development of Industrial Production In 1886, Charles Martin Hall and Paul L.T. Héroult each perfected a similar method for producing aluminium electrolytically from aluminium oxide (alumina) dissolved in cryolite (Figure 1101.01.03). Hall filed patents in the USA and Héroult in France, a fact that was to have great influence on the future structure of the industry. alu Heroult's Crucible - 1888 1101.01.03 Training in Aluminium Application Technologies The success of the Hall/Héroult process was compounded in 1888 when Karl Bayer, an Austrian, developed a viable process for producing alumina from bauxite ore. While the Deville production cost savings were the more dramatic in magnitude, the final figure (price) was still uncompetitive with alternative materials. The Hall/Héroult invention closed the critical gap. By 1890 the cost of aluminium had tumbled some 80 percent from Deville's prices (see Figure 1101.01.04). The metal was now a commercial proposition, how would it be used? Aluminium Aluminium Ingot Ingot £ /Kg £ /Kg 200 7 The 5 Hall-Héroult The Deville Effect Effect 100 1 1880 1890 1895 10 1860 1870 1880 Source: Light Metals Industry. Temple Press. 1949 alu Early Cost Changes 1101.01.04 Training in Aluminium Application Technologies Figure 1101.01.05 shows that differences in density make a price per unit of weight TALAT 1101 5 largely irrelevant. Price/volume is the key. In most lightly stressed applications it is area that matters most for practical purposes. Thus, in 1896 tin, bronze, gunmetal, German silver, copper and nickel were obvious targets. Substitution of ″cheaper″ materials would be possible only where aluminium could provide a key benefit commanding a premium price. Comparative