- Aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting
aluminium from its oxidealumina , generally by theHall-Héroult process . Alumina is extracted from the oreBauxite by means of theBayer process at an alumina refinery.This is an electrolytic process, so an aluminium smelter uses prodigious amounts of electricity; they tend to be located very close to large power stations, often hydro-electric ones, and near ports since almost all of them use imported
alumina .Layout of an aluminium smelter
An aluminium smelter consists of a large number of pots, steel containers lined with carbon, in which the electrolysis takes place; smelting is run as a batch process, with the aluminium metal deposited at the bottom of the pots and periodically drained off. Power must be constantly available, since the pots have to be repaired at significant cost if the liquid metal solidifies.
The
anode s are made of carbon, generally derived from pitch.A typical smelter contains about 300 pots, each of which produces about a ton of aluminium a day, though the largest proposed smelters are up to five times that capacity.
Environmental issues of aluminium smelters
The process produces a quantity (as small as 0.5 kg per ton of aluminium in the best plants in 2007, up to 4 kg per ton of aluminium in older designs in 1974) of
fluoride waste:perfluorocarbons andhydrogen fluoride as gases, and sodium andaluminium fluoride s and unusedcryolite as particulates. Unless carefully controlled, these fluorides tend to be very toxic to vegetation around the plants.The Soderburgh process produces significant emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as pitch is baked to form the electrodes.
The linings of the pots end up contaminated with cyanide-forming materials;
Alcoa has a process for converting spent linings into aluminium fluoride for reuse, synthetic sand usable for building purposes and inert waste.Example aluminium smelters
*
Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter , powered by the coal-fired Lynemouth Power Station in north-eastEngland
*Anglesey Aluminium , powered byWylfa nuclear power station in north-westWales
* The Valco aluminium smelter inGhana , powered by the Akosombo Dam hydro-electric dam
*Fjarðaál inIceland , to be powered by theKárahnjúkar dam
*Jharsuguda inOrissa ,India , to be powered by its own 1215 MW coal-fired power station.
* Alcoa'sPoint Henry smelter near Geelong,Australia , powered by its own brown coal fueled power station and grid electricity.ee also
*
List of aluminium smelters
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