Aluminium International Today Jul Aug 2017

NEWS

SECONDARY

ANALYSIS & TESTING

FOCUS ON: ANODES

www.aluminiumtoday.com July/August 2017—Vol.30 No.4

THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

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Leading partner in the world of metals

Trust: Solid competence for the aluminum industry Being able to trust in the expertise and performance of every team member, is the foundation for success. From thermal pre-treatment to shaping and refining, we always meet the constantly rising challenges of the market.

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Phone: +49 211 881-0 Fax: +49 211 881-4902

communications@sms-group.com

www.sms-group.com

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CONTENTS 1

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Volume 30 No. 4 – July/August 2017 Editorial Editor: Nadine Bloxsome Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855115 nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

COVER NEWS

2

AEROSPACE

ROLLING

2

Consulting Editor: Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Production Editor: Annie Baker

www.aluminiumtoday.com July/August 2017—Vol.30 No.4

THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

Sales Sales Manager: Anne Considine anneconsidine@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855139

NEWS

2 MINUTES WITH...

7 Will Savage UPDATES 8 EUROPE: The aluminium playground 12 INDIA: Indian aluminium sector exploring

Sales Director: Ken Clark kenclark@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855117

Advertisement Production Production Executive: Martin Lawrence Managing Director: Steve Diprose Chief Executive Officer: Paul Michael

Circulation/subscriptions Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034­ email subscriptions@quartzltd.com Annual subscription: UK £231, all other countries £251. For two year subscription: UK £416, all other countries £452. Airmail prices on request.

Single copies £42

LEADER

TRANSPORT & HANDLING

new end-use possibilities

15

INDUSTRY 4.0 - Is ‘Digital’ just a flash in

the pan? Or is it changing the industry?

18

ASSOCIATION: The Aluminium Federation

Cover picture courtesy of FIVES GROUP

7

8

Supporters of Aluminium International Today

22

PRODUCTS & PROJECTS

SECONDARY 24 Aluminium scrap processing 26 Waste management 29 Chip and coolant recycling

12

15

ANALYSIS & TESTING 31 High-speed profile measurement in the

ALUMINIUM INTERNATIONAL TODAY is published six times a year by Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email: aluminium@quartzltd.com

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Aluminium International Today (USO No; 022-344) is published bi-monthly

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Contents Template.indd 1

Non-contact temperature measurement

for extrusions

FOCUS ON ANODES 39 Green anode plants - 10 years of success HISTORY 41 Le déluge:

@AluminiumToday

Aluminium International Today

Lab based brazing simulation

© Quartz Business Media Ltd 2017

ISSN1475-455X

35 37

hot rolling mill

Aluminium in the age of global conflict

DIRECTORY Taster page 43

July/August 2017

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2 COMMENT

INDUSTRY NEWS

Ma’aden signs Alcoa MOU

Safety is key The safety and wellbeing of employees has long been a commitment of the aluminium industry.

In recent interviews that I have conducted and across events and conference programmes, safety remains a priority and the industry is proud of its achievements.

It occurred to me however, that there is not a designated platform for the value chain to come together and discuss successes in safety, practices, initiatives, measurement and results...

I am therefore on a mission to develop an Aluminium Industry Safety Guide, which will act as a respected resource and be sent directly to HSE managers, CEOs and other industry professionals.

Due to be published in January 2018, the Guide will also be distributed at major events next year and online. The idea is to make the content accessible for all.

The Guide already has the support and input from the IAI, ASI, the Aluminum Association, European Aluminium, AMS and the Gulf Aluminium Council, but I am very interested to hear from companies across the industry and cover a range of different topics from PPE standards, operation of mobile equipment and controlling risk, to a closer look at general health and wellness.

If this sounds like something you would like to know more about, then don’t hesitate to get in touch! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue! nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com July/August 2017

Nadine july aug.indd 1

Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden signed two landmark Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with its U.S.-based partners Alcoa and Mosaic at the ongoing inaugural Saudi-U.S.CEO Forum that was launched in Riyadh in May. The Memorandums are expected to provide fresh impetus to the Kingdom’s mining sector which is identified to be a playing a crucial role in the economic diversification of the nation as outlined in Saudi Vision 2030.

The first MOU outlines the scope of feasibility assessment of

a potential expansion of aluminium production complex in Ras AlKhair Industrial City, by Ma’aden and Alcoa, the joint developers of the project.

Since inception in 2009, the Ma’aden-Alcoa aluminium smelt-

ing joint venture complex has made a significant contribution amounting to US$4 billion to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. On completion of expansion, primary aluminium capacity of the venture is expected to be raised by 600,000 metric tonnes per year.

It would also result in over 3,000 high quality jobs creation in the Kingdom.

The other two MOU also pertain Ma’aden’s mining and fertiliser businesses. The projects are subject to the definitive studies and obtaining necessary approvals and consents of the Board.

First concrete in potline 6 foundation Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) announced that the First Concrete in Potline 6 Foundation was successfully achieved in May 2017 with the commencement of early works in the construction site.

The Potline 6 has two pot rooms, E&F, wherein each pot room is approximately 1.4 km in length and are considered the

longest buildings on the Line 6 Expansion Project plot.

Commenting on this achievement, Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa said: “We are very pleased with the fast-track approach adopted by our team towards our landmark project. We also remain optimistic

that by reducing the lead time activities, we will be able to get Line 6 Expansion Project off to a successful start as per schedule and have the First Hot Metal by January 2019.”

Upon completion in December 2018, the concrete foundations for Potline 6 will be approximately 85,000m3.

Partnership extension

Quintiq has announced the extension of its partnership with Aluar Aluminio Argentino S.A.I.C. (Aluar) to further improve the aluminium producer’s planning and optimisation capabilities.

Quintiq’s optimisation technology has been at the core of Aluar’s operations since 2007. In January 2016, Quintiq established its

headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil to better serve its customers in Latin America.

Aluar is using Quintiq to plan across all time horizons, including tactical planning in sales and operations planning, capacity planning and master production scheduling, and detailed production scheduling.

“The advantages of Quintiq were clear to us from the start,” said Gabriel Perez Villamil, Aluar’s IT Director. “In 2007, we worked with the Quintiq team from the Netherlands to implement the solution. Now that Quintiq has expanded into Latin America, we are being served by a local team. This enables us to collaborate with even more ease.”

Aluminium International Today

19/07/2017 12:36:14

INDUSTRY NEWS 3 APPOINTMENTS Alba

Hydro acquires Sapa Norsk Hydro has agreed with Orkla to acquire its 50 percent interest in Sapa for a total enterprise value of NOK 27 billion, giving full ownership in the global leader in extruded aluminium solutions and making Hydro a leading force in the global aluminium industry.

The transaction will be financed through cash positions and issu-

ance of bonds in Norwegian and international markets, and will be temporarily funded by committed undrawn credit lines.

Following the transaction, Hydro is committed to retain its investment grade rating and a robust balance sheet. Hydro will maintain its dividend policy of returning 40 percent of net income

over the cycle, with NOK 1.25 per share seen as a floor in 2017.

The purchase price will be paid in cash at completion, adjusted for net debt and normalised working capital.

Completion of the transaction is subject to approval from relevant competition authorities, and is expected in the second half of 2017.

Constellium grand opening Constellium N.V. has announced the grand opening of its new plant in White, Georgia, dedicated to the production of advanced aluminium automotive structural components and crash management systems.

The 135,000 sq. ft. facility is strategically located to supply automakers in the Southeast U.S. and may be expanded to 220,000 sq. ft. to meet customers’ supply needs in the future. Constellium expects to have 150 employees in White, Georgia, by 2019.

“I am very pleased to be in Georgia today to celebrate the opening of this new plant, its state-of-the art manufacturing capability and world-class team that is committed to work in partnership with our automotive customers,” said Paul Warton, President of Constellium’s Automotive Structures & Industry business unit. “Being closer to our customers’ assembly plants will allow us to better serve automakers in their mission to make vehicles lighter and safer and to

respond to the industry’s growing demand for aluminium structural parts.”

“On behalf of Constellium, I would like to extend our gratitude to the State of Georgia, Bartow County, our local partners and employees for their strong support in establishing the White, Georgia, plant,” commented Eric Krepps, Vice President and General Manager of Constellium Automotive Structures North America.

“We are honoured to be part of your community.”

New cold rolling mill After commissioning a new hot rolling mill in September 2014, AMAG opened one of Europe’s most state-of-the-art aluminium cold rolling mills in the presence of around 700 guests on June 22, 2017.

With the construction of the new plant within a record construction time of just 16 months, AMAG commits itself again to Upper Austria as an industrial location – a site where orders worth EUR 350 million have been realised between 2013 and 2017.

A total of 450 new jobs will also have been created, most of which have already been established.

With its 1,750 employees AMAG is one of the flagship companies in the region playing an important role in encouraging growth and innovation.

Besides doubling production Aluminium International Today

Nadine july aug.indd 2

capacity to more than 300,000 tonnes, wider cold-rolled aluminium sheets and strips can also be produced now. The company retains its focus on special rolled products and sustainable production, which also prompted the company to expand its casthouse and increase recycling capacities.

Helmut Wieser, CEO of AMAG Austria Metall AG, took the opportunity to express his thanks: “We would like to thank our owners who are enabling our strate-

gic growth development through their forward-looking decisions, as well as our customers who have supported us on this path and have spurred us on.” Wieser addressed particular thanks to the workforce and to the parties involved in the project: “We are very satisfied with the precision with which this project has been realised, including its implementation to deadline. Outstanding work by our project team and project partners has made this possible.”

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), has announced the promotion of Abdul Rasool Ahmed Abdul Rasool as the Director of Casthouse.

Speaking on this occasion, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray said: “Casthouse is the operational area that interfaces directly with our customers and A. Rasool has played a critical role in maximising Alba’s ValueAdded Production (VAP). Alba will continue down the path of growing our VAP portfolio with the commissioning of a new state-of-the-art Casthouse as part of the Line 6 Expansion Project.

ALFED

The Aluminium Federation (ALFED), the trade body of the UK’s aluminium sector, has announced the appointment of a new President.

Giles Ashmead, managing director of Powdertech (Corby) Ltd, was previously Vice-President of the Aluminium Federation, and succeeds Adrian Platt.

Arconic Arconic has announced that Eric Roegner, Chief Operating Officer of Investment Castings, Arconic Titanium and Engineered Products and President of Arconic Defense, has been named President of Arconic Global Rolled Products (GRP), effective immediately.

EAFA Bruno Rea, commercial director at Laminazione Sottile Group of Italy, has been elected the new President of the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) at the Association’s summer conference in Bilbao, Spain.

He succeeds Jan Homan of Constantia Flexibles, who served two terms.

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4 INDUSTRY NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF Ultra-light car parts

Researchers at Brunel University London are developing a new generation of ultra-light car parts that will reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions.

The three-year, £7.5m project is a partnership driven by Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST), Jaguar Land Rover and others.

Liquid metal engineering experts will work on it from Brunel’s Advanced Metals Casting Centre (AMCC) and Advanced Metals Processing Centre (AMPC) at its Uxbridge campus in West London.

The aim is to perfect incredibly light, thin-walled aluminium die-cast parts for future Jaguar Land Rover vehicles, which could be used for shock absorption, chassis parts or door closures.

Qatalum update The Qatalum plant in Mesaieed is operating at full production of value added aluminium products, and the closing of the borders by KSA, UAE and Bahrain has had no impact on day to day production.

Qatalum is closely monitoring political developments in the GCC, and is working together with its shareholders to find mitigating actions to continue to serve global customers despite the current logistical challenges arising from the closure of transport links between Qatar and KSA, UAE and Bahrain.

ARABAL 2017 Sohar Aluminium, organisers of the 21st Arab International Aluminium Conference & Exhibition (ARABAL) has announced full details of the agenda for the event.

For full details of the ARABAL 2017 program and its speakers, to submit a paper, or to take advantage of Early Bird Registration, please visit www. arabal.com.

July/August 2017

Nadine july aug.indd 3

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Can recycling milestone Seven out of ten aluminium drink cans sold in the UK in 2016 were recycled, according to the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation.

Beverage cans make up by far the largest sector of the 180,000 tonnes of aluminium packaging placed on the market during the year; and with the UK being the largest beverage can market in Europe, and aluminium the dominant metal used for can manufacturing, the 70% milestone for aluminium cans makes a major contribution to the European metal packaging sector’s ambition to reach and exceed an

average 80% metal packaging recycling rate by 20201.

Commenting on the recycling rate milestone Alupro Executive Director Rick Hindley said: “We are obviously very pleased that aluminium packaging recycling rates continue to increase year on year and it’s particularly nice to reach a new 70% ‘milestone’ for beverage cans. The continued growth is due to the support of our members and partners in the wider industry and their commitment to invest in and support our programmes to drive positive, lasting behaviour change among consumers.”’

Recycling report A new report by Nespresso on consumer attitudes to recycling has been released to identify opportunities to close the gap between official and self-reported recycling rates.

The results found that despite 98% of Brits having high intentions to recycle and 70% claiming to recycle every day, official statistics highlight a gap between intention and reality with only 44% of waste being recycled across the UK. In order to help consumers to meet their aspirational goals, it’s important to look at what can be done to help increase recycling rates. The report identified consumer recycling confusion, highlighting a need for better communication and simplification of the process, as two in five (39%) consumers state that they’re unaware of what can or can’t be recycled, and a third (33%) are unaware of which items have to be separated.

The research identified a number of additional factors that will

help UK residents to recycle more, including more bins being provided (27%) and increased frequency of collections from home (27%).

Nespresso – which has been investing in its dedicated UK and Ireland recycling schemes for almost 10 years – commissioned the report to help understand what needs to be done to help consumers recycle more. Nespresso capsules are made from aluminium, which not only maintains the freshness of the coffee but has the dual benefit of being infinitely recyclable, a fact which is not widely understood.

Francisco Nogueira, Managing Director, Nespresso UK and Ireland comments: “When it comes to recycling, consumer participation is vital. Nespresso’s Consumer Attitudes to Recycling Report shows that people in the UK want to do their part - but they don’t necessarily know how. Consumers need clear and comprehensive information and accessible infrastructure to enable them to recycle more.”

2017 DIARY September 25-27 32nd International Aluminium Conference* Bringing the global aluminium industry together for 32 years.

Held in Bahrain. www.metalbulletin.com/events

October 02-05 ICSOBA 2017* Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Industry in Europe and New Global Developments. Held in Hamburg, Germany. www.icsoba.org/icsoba-2017

05-07 Aluexpo 2017* Hannover Messe Ankiros Fuarcılılk A.S brings together all suppliers producers and buyers of the aluminium sector. Held in Istanbul, Turkey. www.aluexpo.com

25-26 Aluminum USA* With ALUMINUM USA, Reed Exhibitions expands its world leading brand ALUMINIUM to one of the most important markets for the global aluminum industry. Held in Nashville, Tennessee. www.aluminum-us.com

November 06-09 ARABAL* The Arab International Aluminium Conference will be hosted by Sohar Aluminium in Oman.

www.arabal.com

13-17 Rolling Technology Course* The Aluminium Rolling Technology Course covers all the key aspects of hot and cold rolling of aluminium flat products. www.innovaltec.com

*Pick up a free copy of Aluminium International Today at this event For a full listing visit www. aluminiumtoday.com and click on Events Diary Aluminium International Today

19/07/2017 12:36:20

Introducing an aluminum mill de-drossing solution that’s versatile, easy to use and reliable Gradall is introducing an XL 4210 V maintenance machine that is the proven solution to efficiently skim dross and maintain the walls and bottoms in aluminum furnaces. With a 49-foot (14.9 m) boom reach and mobile crawler undercarriage, this unique Gradall can quickly and accurately skim the molten surfaces in one or more furnaces while minimizing door opening times.

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BRUNO PRESEZZI SpA’s PATENTED CASTER ROLLS

Cores with flat surface and shells with grooved ID for: - improved productivity - better temperature uniformity - reduced fatigue - very short working time for cores reconditioning - rolls assembly completely interchangeable with existing casting lines - transformation of your existing standard rolls in Bruno Presezzi’s Patent Rolls also available.

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY

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Furnaces cover page.indd 1 Furnce guide cover_FINAL.indd 1

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Furnaces International brings readers a selection of news and technical features focusing on all aspects of the international furnaces market.

Published quarterly in a digital format, the magazine is sent straight to the inbox of over 50,000 professionals from across the aluminium, steel, and glass industries.

As publishers of Aluminium International Today, Steel Times International and Glass International, we are able to bring you the latest developments and news from across the furnaces industry.

Contact us for more information: Editorial Nadine Bloxsome, Tel +44 (0) 1737 855 115 nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com Sales Manuel Martin Quereda, Tel +44 (0) 1737 855 023 manuelm@quartzltd.com

Esme Horn, Tel +44 (0) 1737 855 136 esmehorn@quartzltd.com

2 minutes with…

Will Savage

Consultancy and technical support to the aluminium industry • Build long-term partnerships with our aluminium experts • Solve your current aluminium production problems • Prepare a downstream business case

1. How did you get into the aluminium industry?

I started my career in the ferrous casting sector and studied metallurgy in the mid 80’s.

My transition into the ‘bright/light’ side came slowly through my consulting career in the US and Asia, and was consolidated when I was asked to join the Aluminium Federation in 2006.

2. What are three things you would change in the industry?

1. Make our industry more attractive to young people.

2. Ensure that Government understands the true value of UK manufacturing.

3. Get companies to work more closely and co-operatively as an industry.

• Detailed investigation and testing • Product and process training courses • Aluminium industry expertise

Tel: +44 (0) 1295 702800

Email: enquiries@innovaltec.com

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3. Your best piece of advice?

One of my inspirations is Winston Churchill so I think it would be ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Those who know me would question the ‘Keep Calm’ part, but we all mellow as the years go by.

If I’m allowed two pieces of advice, the other would be ‘Persist, Persist, Persist’!

4. Something we don’t know about you?

On my garage wall I have an aluminium casting I made in my school workshop – yes the school had a small foundry, unthinkable now in the days of health and safety regulations…..

It’s an aluminium sand casting, and has my school form number on it. I was 10 when I made it, and I am very proud of it.

Little did I know then that it would be a talisman for my career!

5. Biggest achievement?

I hope it’s yet to come! However on the list would be the birth of my children, although I only played a bit part in the process.

And my first long sailing trip as skipper, and getting the crew and boat safely into harbour.

6. Who is an individual you most admire?

I’ve mentioned Winston Churchill – his grit and determination to carry on when it seemed all was lost was truly remarkable.

7. Proudest moment?

Crikey, that’s a tough one. I’ve mentioned children and sailing, but more recently passing my Motorcycle Test at the age of 59!

8. Your most prized possession?

When asked this question, it’s natural to think of something big and with monetary value.

I have a lovely 1956 Austin Healey, but I think my most prized possession is a technical drawing set, dividers and compass, given to me by my late Grandfather when I was about 14. My Grandfather would also be high on the list for question 6. � www.aluminiumtoday.com

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8 EUROPE UPDATE

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The aluminium playground European Aluminium’s event “Driving mobility to a low carbon future” gave more than 250 participants in Brussels a taste of the innovative aluminium solutions that enable low carbon mobility.

Through the very first ‘Aluminium Playground’ and high level political speakers, the European aluminium industry positioned itself as a leading voice in the debate on the future of mobility.

From electric motorbikes designed by students in the consortium STORM Eindhoven to Scania’s city buses and bikes made from recycled beverage cans, sustainable urban mobility needs smart and innovative solutions where aluminium can play a fundamental role. To showcase this potential, European Aluminium organised an event on 27 April at the Autoworld Museum in Brussels. For the first time, the event consisted not only of policy debates but also of an interactive Aluminium Playground. Companies brought real-life examples of innovative, lightweight and fully recyclable aluminium solutions that participants could personally experience.

Officials from the European institutions acknowledged that aluminium is an important partner in the decarbonisation of transport and in the creation of a circular economy. Dr Mark White, Technical Specialist on Light Weight Vehicle Structures, also stressed the historical role of aluminium in low carbon mobility and its potential in the next decades, in particular for hybrid and electric vehicles.

“Aluminium has proven it can contribute to making cars lighter, more economical, lower CO2. We need to do more of it in a more cohesive and cost effective way,” he said.

Aluminium’s uniquely light and strong properties mean it is already widely deployed in automotive manufacturing.

The average European car currently uses 150 kg of aluminium, as indicated in a study published by Ducker Worldwide.

Given the right encouragement, this figure could increase to 200 kg by 2025, delivering a consequent reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel savings. Today, the average European car weighs 1400 kg.

By replacing 400 kg of mild steel in a car with aluminium and thereby making it 200 kg lighter, the CO2 emissions per kilometre can be reduced by up to 16 g.

Taking into account that on average car manufacturers in Europe have to move July/August 2017

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from 123 g/km today to 95g/km by 2021, increasing the aluminium content in cars could play a significant role in helping car manufacturers reach their target. Lightweighting through the use of aluminium offers a real opportunity to accelerate the shift towards low emission mobility.

Debating options to limit CO2 emissions from the road transport sector The transport sector accounts today for roughly 14% of the global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In the EU, transport’s share is 27% of all GHG emissions and 70% of all transport emissions originate in road transport. Europe is not on track to

reach its objective to reduce CO2 emissions from transport by 60% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. Instead, emissions from transport have even increased by 20% since 1990. The European Commission’s new low-emission mobility strategy , presented in July 2016, defines the legislative steps that must be taken at European level to further decarbonise the transport sector.

At European Aluminium’s event, the EU Commission indicated it will present a proposal to revise the EU regulation setting CO2 emission limits for car manufacturers in November. The European Commission also opened up for the possibility that the new regulation could move away from the current method of setting individual targets for manufacturers based on their vehicle’s mass. Under the current system, manufacturers with heavier vehicles are allowed to emit more than the 95 g/km required on average for 2021. Instead, European Aluminium supports a sizebased approach, which would set higher limits for cars with a larger area between their four wheels (footprint). Another option, according to the Commission, would be to have no parameter at all. This could mean that all cars would face the same limit regardless of weight or size, or that all manufacturers would receive individual targets based on a percentage reduction. The NGO Transport & Environment also endorsed a move from mass to footprint-based CO2 targets. This recommendation was based on a study carried out by Ricardo-AEA that found that a shift to a footprint-based target would make reaching post-2021 targets 16% cheaper.

Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium, also backs the shift to footprint as a means of ensuring that lighter and less-polluting models would no longer be penalised with stricter CO2 limits. “Lightweighting solutions are integral to limiting CO2 emissions from vehicles and reaching future EU Aluminium International Today

19/07/2017 12:46:39

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10 EUROPE UPDATE

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targets. Currently the situation in the EU is paradoxical: Heavier cars are allowed to emit more CO2 emissions than lighter cars. We expect the new regulation to remain technology-neutral. In practice, this means abandoning the mass-based approach. Car manufacturers should be free to choose the most cost efficient solutions to attain their CO2 reduction objective.”

Securing Europe’s innovative edge Given the advantages offered by lightweighting, Europe should embrace this opportunity to decarbonise the transport sector. Vehicle weight-reduction remains an unexplored solution to Europe’s climate challenges. The next revision of the CO2 standards for cars and vans presents an opportunity to correct the negative effects of basing targets on the mass of the vehicles.

The mass-based system has a perverse effect of discouraging solutions that contribute directly to reducing CO2 emissions. This does not make sense from an environmental or cost-efficiency point of view. First, because heavier vehicles are currently permitted higher CO2 emissions than lighter ones. Second, car

manufacturers don’t realise the full benefit of their investment in lightweighting, as a lighter car has to comply with tougher targets over time.

However, a switch to a footprint-based approach, based on a vehicle’s size rather than its weight, would increase the appeal of lightweighting and encourage manufacturers to explore the full range of options for boosting fuel efficiency.

The positive impact on innovation in the car manufacturing sector should not be underestimated. In the US, lightweighting is fully integrated in the fuel efficiency legislation with a footprint approach.

This has already dramatically accelerated US investment in and deployment of lightweight technologies. Lightweighting is a strategic priority for European car manufacturers which could lose any competitive advantage compared to competing regions if the incentives to invest in innovative lightweigthing solutions are not there.

Lastly, one should also take into account the wider benefits of aluminium, most importantly its lifetime contribution to a circular economy. Recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy used for primary production. Today, more than 90% of the

aluminium included in a car is actually recycled when the car has reached its end of life in Europe, a further significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.

The scrap generated during the production process is also fully recycled and can be used over and over again for new car parts or other aluminium components without any loss of properties.

European Aluminium’s recent event demonstrated that the advantages of lightweighting are indisputable. And in the case of aluminium, the technology is tried, tested and already available. EU policymakers should seize this opportunity to realise its potential. The proposal of the European Commission to revise the current regulation is expected to be presented in November 2017.

European Aluminium will continue to work closely with all stakeholders, from EU policymakers to cars manufacturers, NGOs and other materials to define the best possible way to correct the negative effect of the current EU regulation, with the objective to achieve cost efficient and sustainable mobility.

Further information can be found in the Decarbonisation of Transport page on European Aluminium’s website. �

PURE ENOUGH?

ALUMINUM recycling is worthwhile: with up to 95% of energy savings when compared to the laborious extraction of primary aluminum, smelters gain new and cheaper sources of material by separating aluminum alloys and heavy metals with high precision, so that aluminum purities of 98-99% can be achieved. www.tomra.com/recycling

TOMRA Sorting GmbH - 56218 Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany - Phone: +49 2630 96520 TSRE_Aluminum International_185x128mm_GB_170616.indd July/August 2017

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1

16.06.2017 15:22:06Today Aluminium International

19/07/2017 12:46:39

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12 INDIA UPDATE

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Indian aluminium sector exploring new end-use possibilities

By Beethika Biswas, Manager - Content & Media & Dipanwita Gupta, Senior Executive - Content, AlCircle The Indian aluminium sector is waking up to a whole new world of opportunities.

If the outcome of Aero India 2017, held in February, is to be believed, then the aluminium applications sector surely has some great bandwidth to experiment and grow within it, effectively. The aerospace and defence sector is creating some exciting opportunities for the aluminium alloy, extrusions, parts and additive manufacturers of the country. Plus, the government is also planning to replace all gasoline or diesel vehicles with electric vehicles by 2030; this would open up huge business prospects for the domestic OEMs and automotive body sheet makers.

Demand-Supply Gap A look at the consumption pattern of aluminium in India would reveal that the greatest share goes into extrusions making since they serve as the input materials for the manufacture of rods, plates, profiles and tubes that are used in the Building & Construction sector- the largest aluminium end user industry in India. There are presently 250 odd active extruders producing a variety of complex extrusions in the country but not too many of them are engaged in the production of high-grade aluminium alloy extrusions.

In fact, speciality aluminium alloy production remains a government-only pursuit where state controlled entities like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd have to rely on imports to meet their entire requirements.

There exists a huge gap between what is produced in India and what is available commercially in the world market. With new investment opportunities being

July/August 2017

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created through programmes like ‘Make in India,’ this gap is likely to be narrowed down in the future.

Aero India 2017 saw India’s MSMEs forging quality tie-ups India’s leading aerospace precision engineering and manufacturing company Aequs announced at the recently ended Aero India 2017 in Bengaluru that it will invest INR 500 crore for setting up a dedicated facility for Indian defence production at Tuem, Goa. The multi capability manufacturing facility, to be set up with an initial investment of INR 500 crore, will be a part of the Tuem Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) hub. Aequs will manufacture defence aerospace components using composites and high-end alloys of aluminium, titanium, steel and other metals. The operations are expected to commence by February 2019.

The company offers forging capabilities through its group company SQuAD Forging India Pvt Ltd. SQuAD specialises in Aerostructural Parts, Landing Gear and Braking System components in aluminium, steel, titanium or nickel base alloys.

Commenting on the development, Aravind Melligeri, Chairman and CEO, Aequs said, “This is the first venture in the private sector, which will manufacture highend components and systems for the

aerospace and defence sector and support the ‘Make in India’ initiative.”

Intech DMLS Limited, a metal 3D printing additive manufacturing establishment in India’s aviation sector, launched its first indigenously developed jet engine series for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Remote Controlled (R/C) Aircraft at the event in Bengaluru.

The company specialises in making cost-effective, functional components for cabin interiors, engines and turbines, and optimum light weighting solutions using high-end, innovative metal alloys such as Aluminium Magnesium alloy AlSi10Mg. Prior to this, seven Indian corporate houses have ventured into the segment.

Hindalco Industries Ltd, Aditya Birla’s flagship company, recently announced plans to set up a high-end alloy plate manufacturing unit for the country’s defence sector. The project costing INR 2000 crore will be built following a publicprivate partnership (PPP) model.

Aero India 2017 also saw the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) roping in India’s Dynamatic Technologies Ltd (DTL) to jointly tap the Indian UAV (unmanned air vehicles) market. Both companies signed a cooperation agreement regarding the production, assembly and support of mini UAVs in India. The agreement also encompasses the transfer of technology from IAI to DTL to enable the indigenous capability for mini UAV systems.

DTL manufactures high quality NonFerrous Alloy and Castings for Industrial, Automotive and Aerospace Applications Aluminium International Today

20/07/2017 09:39:22

INDIA UPDATE 13 5

www.aluminiumtoday.com

under its partner company Dynametal®.

Its Dynamatic-Oldland Aerospace™, India, is a partner of choice for agencies of national importance for the development of exacting Airframe Structures and Precision Aerospace Components. The UK facility, on the other hand, is a certified supplier to international aerospace majors like Airbus UK, Boeing, GKN Aerospace, Magellan Aerospace, GE Aviation Systems, Lockheed Martin etc.

IAI also signed a term sheet for a joint venture with Pune-based defence business Kalyani Strategic Systems, at Aero India 2017. Joseph Weiss, president of IAI, sounded bullish on India as he went on to say, “We will transfer technology to build these products for India.” IAI has similar ventures with Tata Advanced Material and Bengaluru-based Alpha Design.

Earlier in August 2016, global aircraft manufacturer Boeing awarded a contract for manufacture of titanium machined parts and aluminium assemblies for the 787 Dreamliner and 737 airplanes to Bengaluru-based MSME CIM Tools.

The company continues to increase its footprint in India as direct and indirect suppliers and sourcing activities continue to grow rapidly.

Electric vehicles It is not only the aerospace and defence sector, but also the automotive sector, especially the electric car segment, which is soon expected to change the picture for aluminium in India.

According to a government statement in March citing Power Minister Piyush Goyal, the Indian government will take measures to ensure that by 2030 almost all vehicles in the country are powered by electricity in order to cut oil imports and pollution. India’s fast growing economy and rapid urbanisation are expected to drive global energy consumption growth in the coming years. As a conscious step towards choosing sustainable energy sources and to stop selling of all gasoline or diesel cars by 2030, they government is taking up the electric car scheme.

The government had already launched the FAME India scheme in 2015 offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles of up to INR 29,000 for bikes and INR 1.38 lakh for cars in order to push the sales and production of electric vehicles in the country.

According to the 2015 data, there

are 1.3 million electric cars on the road worldwide. India would need to sell more than 10 million electric cars in 2030, if they go ahead with the energy strategy for the automotive sector. The goal is equal to about 10% of the global target for electric vehicles on the road in 2030 as agreed in the Paris climate talks. India had close to 5,000 electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2016, according to the IEA in comparison to more than 3 million passenger vehicles sold in the country in FY2016, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

A number of infrastructural additions and changes would be required in order to replace gasoline cars with electric vehicles and the market will take time to adjust: � India would need domestic manufacturing units for electric cars. � Automakers need more battery breakthroughs to cut battery cost. � India lacks extensive networks of battery recharging stations, which needs to be upgraded.

Companies like Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Volvo Cars, BMW AG and Toyota Motor Corp. sell electric or hybrid cars in India. The government has invited electric

car major Tesla to set up a manufacturing unit in India under foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.

Currently, the lithium-ion battery is not manufactured in India and the automobile industry has to depend on imports. India needs to develop indigenous production capabilities for lithium-ion batteries in order to make electric vehicles affordable.

The government is considering incentives for manufacturers to set up facilities for making lithium-ion batteries in India and domestic car makers, who invest in lithium-ion battery plants in India, in order to discourage Chinese car and battery manufacturers seeking to enter the market.

Union heavy industry minister Anant Geete has recently said that efforts are being made to remodel the battery made

by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to be used in electric vehicles. The government is planning to establish a manufacturing facility with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited with an investment of INR 100 crore. Currently, ISRO is finalising the memorandum of understanding with BHEL for the low-cost lithium ion battery project for electric vehicles, which also covers a buyback commitment for end-oflife batteries.

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14 INDIA UPDATE

There is scope to source components of the fuel cell by using aluminium foil from Hindalco or Nalco, copper foil or sheet from Cubex and graphite from Himadri Chemical, who are interested to be a part of the project. Electric vehicles today can only go a limited distance before requiring recharging. So, such a change would require increased number of charging stations.

The ambitious plan, thereby, has high potential to spur demand for aluminium and many other materials in the country.

Aluminium, with its properties, is bound to play a dominant role in order to cut down the weight of electrical vehicles. A lower car-weight not only increases the battery range but also cuts down the costs for the expensive battery pack. Aluminium is used in various areas of electric vehicles and for the build-up of its infrastructure including battery housings, E-drives, inverters, BIW, and charging stations.

India is opening up but there are bottlenecks: Both aerospace and defence present interesting opportunities for the Indian aluminium sector. The air traffic growth is robust here, thanks to the growing middle-income group with more

www.aluminiumtoday.com

disposable income in hands, and ongoing airfare rationalisation by the airlines. This is spurring long-term demand for aircraft fleet where aluminium is expected to dominate despite the entry of other substitute materials such as carbon fibre composites.

Defence being key strategic area is drawing more attention from the Central Government. The Centre is attempting to boost MSME sector’s contribution towards indigenous manufacturing in defence and aerospace from the present 20-30 to 70% in the next five years under its ambitious ‘Make in India’ programme.

On the contrary, there are major technology and infrastructure-related constraints in producing aerospace-grade alloys in India. The companies here have achieved some measure of success in producing aerospace-grade aluminium alloy billets and slabs, but that is clearly inadequate keeping in mind the growing requirement for the material. The need of the hour is to establish state-of-the-art facilities with upgraded technologies for advanced manufacturing. As the demand for aerospace alloys in the country grows coupled with decent opportunities for exports, the Indian aluminium sector can seriously think of forging specific cross-border ventures to effectuate faster

transfer of technologies.

Presently, India imports nearly 60% of its defence manufacturing components.

The Government of India is committed to lending support to the country’s MSMEs and work in close association towards import substitution and job creation.

Further, with the country’s private sector increasingly being included into defence production, MSMEs can have a wider set of customers to target. Their go-to-market approach needs to be followed up with a clear articulation on what capabilities will support the right execution by them.

But as Anurag Garg, Director with PwC’s Strategy& – Aerospace & Defence Leader, says, “…there is no short cut for the same.

However, once you are there, you are sorted for at least a decade of margin-rich sustainable business.”

For electric vehicles too, the higher cost has been a hurdle in implementing the category in the passenger segment, first, because of the battery component and also because of the kind of material and components used to make the cars lighter and energy efficient. This however brings about a positive prospect. If we consider the ‘Make in India’ policy, this plan will open up huge business prospects for the domestic OEMs. �

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Aluminium International Today

20/07/2017 09:39:25

INDUSTRY 4.0 15

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Is ‘Digital’ just a flash in the pan?

Or is it changing the industry?

By Stefan Koch* Aluminium is the foundation for many of today’s products. It’s used in everything from food and beverage containers to cell phones, automobiles and airplanes.

Especially aluminium use in the automotive market is on the rise as vehicle manufacturers replace steel parts with aluminium in order to reduce the weight of vehicles and increase fuel efficiency. To meet the growing demand, worldwide production of primary aluminium is projected to grow Yet despite healthy demand, many aluminium producers have to work hard to remain profitable in an industry characterised by oversupply, strong competition and volatile market conditions. Production is based on enormous capital investments in plants and assets. In order to run their business successfully, many aluminium companies have chosen a long-term partnership with SAP, some of them already for decades.

With the many changes now taking place because of the new digital economy, companies are re-imaging their processes, how they manage assets and even how they build lasting customer relationships.

This is crucial to ensure they can build sustainable business that can make sure

the final products get sold - even in the future. For the aluminium industry, specifically, companies are applying Industry 4.0 concepts and big data insights to add value along the entire supply chain from managing production to ensuring the appropriate quality and delivering orders exactly as expected.

Digital technology trends impacting the aluminium industry Companies across all industries are struggling to capture, analyse and use the vast amounts of data available today. As software applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management have become more robust and comprehensive, they have also become more data-intensive. Likewise, physical assets such as mining equipment, transportation vehicles and obviously machinery in production are delivering continuous streams of information that are steadily growing. Aluminium producers must have the right technology in place to extract value from data and use it to transform how they do business. For example, machine learning is helping to improve product quality and automated processes. Augmented reality is also

changing plant operations by blending physical and virtual models. To take advantage of these latest trends, metal producers need a technology solution with three core features: � A powerful technology platform that combines database, application processing, and integration services capable of quickly processing heavy amounts of data from multiple sources; � A graphical, intuitive and adaptable interface to make it easy for non-technical users to access, share and use data; � Cloud-based services so companies can have sophisticated, always-available solutions when and where they need it.

With the right technology solutions in place, it’s possible to begin accessing, analyzing and using data to make smart decisions. In particular, digital innovations are helping companies anticipate realtime changes in demand and supply, enhance operational efficiency, operate resilient supply-chains and add new value to customers.

Agility and responsiveness The traditional value chain for aluminium is quickly transforming, driven by massive

*Global Lead for Metals, SAP Aluminium International Today

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16 INDUSTRY 4.0

structural changes, new technology, highly interactive devices and close-to-real time processes. While no company can ever accurately predict demand 100% of the time, technology is making it possible for metal producers to create digital models, which are analysed in real-time and used to adjust production so that output more closely matches demand.

For example, signing a car sales contract might become a data point available and used by an aluminium producer for more accurate planning. This endcustomer data indicates to the producer the demand of his automotive supplier that provides different parts of this car. So, it could shorten time needed to get this demand signal as well as allowing better planning as multiple supplier for this car type are served.

Customer focus and added value Digitalizing and connecting systems can add new value to a customer.

Technology advancements provide the ability to understand customers and their buying behaviours in ways never before available, allowing for the development of personalised experiences, even in B2B scenarios. The use of digital assistants is making it possible for manufacturers to provide faster service, with less staff.

Customers can interact with suppliers using any device (PC, phone, tablet, etc.) and any channel they prefer such as web, email, phone, or chat. An interaction supported by conversational applications can guide the service representative in responsive manner and will incorporate in the background the detailed data that is now available. New services can provide full transparency during order processing and allow access to detailed product data.

Operational and energy efficiency Data from machines, vehicles and products can be combined to make better predictions, simulations and decisions.

Automation and connectivity throughout the plant is helping to reduce error rates, increase speed and cut operation costs.

For example, by integrating systems for demand planning, production capacity and transportation capacity, producers can maximise throughput and asset resources, which also lowers stocks.

Additional efficiencies can be achieved by correlating sensor data with business data in real-time, which can help producers, use less energy and reduce their carbon footprint.

Fleet management is another opportunity to leverage data insights for increased efficiency. Connected fleets combine vehicle telematics data (tire pressure, engine speed, etc.); driving behaviour data (speed, accelerating, July/August 2017

INDUSTRY 4.0.indd 2

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braking, time spent loading and unloading); and business data to save on transportation costs. For example, by viewing fuel consumption under various conditions, such as a full load, no load, idling, etc., producers can identify the trips with the highest fuel consumption, drill down to the details, then compare to fleet benchmarks in order to reduce activities leading to higher-than-normal costs. This is applicable to the trucks that operate within the mines as well as the trucks that go out to deliver to the customers.

Supply chain operations In the aluminium industry, the supply chain is long and complicated. It begins with mining operations and ends with the piece of aluminium that is sold. The classic industry set up where a single company handles the end-to-end process from Mining over refining, smelting,

and downstream fabrication has been changing over the past few years.

Buying and selling companies has become the norm in the aluminium industry. A classic example of both a merger and a divestment of comes from looking at the history of Novelis, which was a set of separate companies before its acquisition by Alcan. Consequently, the rolling units were reorganized and renamed “Novelis” and then acquired finally by Aditya Birla Group. Another example is Emirates Global Aluminium that is expanding to cover the aluminium value chain from the start. In this case the growth by acquisition of bauxite mining is another factette.

Now the norm is constant mergers, acquisitions and divestitures as companies seek to balance portfolios and maximise profits in a much shorter time frame.

These frequent organisational shifts can be extremely difficult for organizations to manage. Many companies turn to technology, which can not only smooth the transition but in many situations, can actually support the business case because of the speed and efficiency with which the M&A can happen. Technology and best practice approaches provide

standard processes that can be more easily assimilated by new divisions. Cloud solutions are a natural option because the fact that they are not a physical installation and thus tightly related to a business unit can support a more flexible move of business units.

Circular economy One trend that is also driving mergers and divestiture is the concept of circular economy. The circular economy, especially in North America and Europe, is an important industry and business milestone as it implies that the regional amount of commodities in circulation is sufficient.

Meaning, no more virgin raw material additions are needed if recycling or even better re-use is orchestrated properly. A related positive impact is the reduction in energy use and CO2 emissions. The vision is to create a virtuous cycle that fosters prosperity in a world of finite resources, moving away from traditional linear consumption patterns. It will also fuel potential new business models.

Taking that cycle in motion you will have to perform multiple business tasks like manufacturing of a product, sales and distribution, collection, and recycling.

This is nothing new in general but in the future, you can envision that all of this could be administered by one player and complemented by other supporting processes for example, lifetime material tracking, financing and other services like service provisioning. As a result, new business models might evolve like leasing for versus selling aluminium.

Digital Technology will play a major role to enable this future. Supporting technologies such as block chain might also enable a decentralised tracking of material not possible as of today.

In what has been described as the “era of big data” or Industry 4.0, aluminium manufacturers are finding new ways to use data to make smart decisions, allowing them to meet industry regulations while simultaneously saving money through more efficient operations and increasing customer satisfaction. Yet, this is just the beginning. Thought leading metal companies that support and test creative ideas at all levels of the organisation will discover new ways to achieve sustainable growth while becoming a strong lever for competitiveness and differentiation.

SAP is supporting metal companies around the globe on their journey to the Digital Business of the future – and this is no flash in the, hopefully aluminium, pan - but often beyond the plant fence. � Contact www.sap.com/mill

Aluminium International Today

19/07/2017 14:13:49

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18 ASSOCIATION UPDATE: ALFED (UK)

Focus on: UK Aluminium

By Ian Oliver* We have just had a General Election in the UK that was supposed to deliver a stable government and certainty through the period of negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union – almost universally referred to on this side of the Channel as ‘Brexit’.

In the event, voters once again did not do what they had been told, and the outcome is less political stability, not more.

I am relieved that the Aluminium Federation – the trade association for the UK’s metal industry – decided to take a neutral stance in the period leading up to last year’s UK referendum. Individual members expressed the full range of opinions on this issue, and had we taken a position, it would have been at odds with a significant number of members. That said, aluminium is very much an international industry, and most of the UK’s larger aluminium processors and users have foreign ownership. Arconic, Bridgnorth Aluminium, Befesa, JLR, Innoval, Real Alloy, Sapa, Boal…it’s a long list.

We have though consulted our members on the priorities for our lobbying activity with UK government – both politicians and civil servants. We are clear that the UK’s new relationship with the EU should take full account of the needs of business, and of the metals sector in particular.

Barriers to trade within Europe are not helpful, and members have also expressed concern about the easy with which they will be able to recruit suitably-qualified EU nationals to work in UK facilities.

The Aluminium Federation will monitor developments in these, and other areas closely as Brexit negotiations progress over the next two years.

It is worth bearing in mind that European countries Switzerland, Iceland and Norway – each with a significant and flourishing aluminium industry – are outside the EU. One of the immediate effects of the referendum last year was a drop in the value of the pound against the Euro and the US Dollar. This was good news for members that export, and has reduced the attractiveness of imports. As a result,

UK industry in general is buoyant currently, but there is understandably concern about the longer term outlook.

Aluminium use in the UK continues to grow, the most high profile applications being in the automotive sector, with recent launches of aluminium-bodied models such as the Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Discovery and Aston Martin DB11. All manufacturers in this sector are looking to save weight, with aluminium components if not whole systems and bodies. Casting and forging are areas offering great potential for lightweighting, and the Aluminium Federation is working with a number of members and the Advanced Forming Research Centre in Scotland to produce a light forged aluminium suspension link. Last year we formed an Innovation Group, bringing together members to collaborate on just such projects.

Because of the great interest currently in automotive lightweighting, the Aluminium Federation will be hosting a conference later this year focusing on this area. Advanced Aluminium Engineering for the Automotive Industry will take place in Birmingham, the heart of the UK automotive industry, on November 21 and 22. It will feature technical presentations from OEMs, suppliers and technology companies, as well as presentations from industry experts on the place of aluminium in the automotive world.

It is now two years since the Aluminium Federation moved to a ‘direct’ company membership model, and this has resulted in a steady flow of new members. Recent joiners reflect the dynamic UK automotive sector, and include die casters Castalum; forgers Stokes Forging, Tecomet and SDF Automotive; aluminium drawers Spartal, heat treaters Alloy Heat Treatment and Heat Treatment 2000 and pressings manufacturer Salop Engineering. We are also delighted to have forged a partnership with BCAST – the academic research centre based at Brunel University in London, which focuses on the solidification of metallic materials. Its research activities span from fundamental research to technological developments

*Marketing and Communications Manager, ALFED July/August 2017

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Aluminium International Today

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m to industrial applications, working with companies such as Constellium Innoval and JLR. Perhaps the most significant company to join the Aluminium Federation recently is Liberty British Aluminium. This company was formed when the Liberty House group purchased the Lochaber aluminium smelter and associated assets from Rio Tinto. Powered mainly by hydro-electricity, generated on the slopes of Ben Nevis, the Lochaber plant has been producing aluminium since 1929. Not only does this move guarantee the future of the UK’s last remaining primary aluminium facility, Liberty has announced exciting plans to manufacture alloy wheels at the plant.

We have been aware for some time of the need for better training in the UK aluminium industry, and have taken steps to address this, which are beginning to bear fruit. A new workshop on casting has been introduced, and in October we will be launching ‘Aluminium for Engineers’ – a technical workshop aimed at technicians and engineers with some technical knowledge – but not necessarily experienced in working with aluminium. We have also created a new post of Outreach Officer, and this person will assist members with their training requirements and also managed our relationships with universities and other educational establishments. A key aspect of this work is our engagement with secondary schools. Developed and managed to date by Alupro, the Aluminium Federation will take over administration of the Aluminium D&T Challenge from 2018. This educational initiative for 11-14 year old pupils schools has been well received to date, and is a fantastic way of getting children enthused about design, technology and of course, aluminium.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Adrian Platt of Befesa for his great contribution to the Aluminium Federation. Since becoming a Director of the Aluminium Federation in 2012, Adrian has served with great distinction, especially during the past two years as President. I welcome his successor, Giles Ashmead of Powdertech, and wish Giles a successful presidency. �

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Aluminium International Today

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20 ALTEK ADVERTORIAL

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Electromagnetic stirring applications

Contact: sales@altek-al.com www.altek-al.com

Based on their highly successful Electromagnetic Stirring range ALTEK have developed a Curved Electromagnetic Stirrer (CES) range for applications where the furnace shell is curved or rounded.

In the past 15 years the proliferation of furnace electromagnetic stirring technology has taken the aluminium industry by force (excuse the pun), drastically improving casthouse efficiency along the way. It is commonplace for new furnaces to be provided with a stirring mechanism, and many existing furnaces are being retrofitted to take advantage of the technology and its associated benefits.

There can be many factors attributed to the growth of this technology: Difficult market conditions and increased competition for example, however the key point is that a furnace should be stirred regardless. Benefits include improved melt rates, reduced gas consumption, reduced melt loss, improved chemical and temperature homogeneity (quality control), improved alloy yield and improved operational and process control to name but a few.

A small price to pay relative to the extensive range of economic and operational benefits.

In recent years ALTEK have cemented themselves as a leading supplier of Electromagnetic Stirrers (SIBERFORCE™) to the aluminium industry due to their unique design and performance.

Air-cooled, lowest energy consuming and an unrivalled ability to circulate the molten metal stand these machines apart from the competition. ALTEK dedicate a lot of investment, continued research and development into the technology and are pleased to announce two new designs: Curved Electromagnetic Stirrer (CES) ALTEK have developed a Curved Electromagnetic Stirrer (CES) range, maintaining all the unique SIBERFORCE features but with the opportunity to be installed on the side or bottom of almost any curved furnace (existing or new) design. There are many dome furnaces in operation around the world, many of which do not have a basement area or access for bottom mounted July/August 2017

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installations. ALTEK have now given these companies access to non-contact, reliable and effective stirring technology, with the additional benefit of uncomplicated civil works for installation.

The first installation in summer 2017 will be a CES-700 model (pictured), positioned on the side of a 100T dome furnace. A bottom mounted installation was not possible at this site as there is no basement area for the EMS. It is important to highlight at this point that only ALTEK’s high performance stirrer technology is capable of effectively circulating molten metal from a side mounted installation due to the unique electromagnetic flow patterns created by the inductor design.

Although there was no doubt the CES-700 could create excellent movement, the installation position on the side and natural shape of the dome furnace would create a strong flow of metal near the refractory edge, slowing the further into the centre of the furnace you went. The main reason to stir molten metal is to significantly improve the heat transfer from the burners and radiated heat from the refractory to submerged scrap and colder metal in other parts of the furnace. Since submerged scrap and colder metal tend to be located at the bottom of the bath in the centre of a dome furnace, this circular movement would not optimise the benefits of the EMS. To solve this ALTEK modelled different scenarios on their ANSYS, FLUENT and CFD modelling software whereby the direction of electromagnetic force, strength of the force and operating frequency of the EMS would change many times in a furnace cycle to ensure constant turbulence throughout the molten metal bath. ALTEK’s versatile control system allowed them to achieve this by creating several automatic EMS cycle modes that will integrate with the customer’s furnace PLC controls.

Further developments to follow Later on in the year ALTEK will be presenting a case study on another new EMS system after a joint collaboration project with Norsk Hydro ASA. The system is designed for submerging shredded extrusion scrap through a small side port, whilst circulating a 40t furnace at the same time to ensure chemical and temperature homogeneity in the bath. Implemented in early 2016, the project was officially signed off after successful performance trials, opening a new era of submergence technology to the aluminium cast house.

Aluminium International Today

19/07/2017 14:15:04

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22 PROJECTS & PRODUCTS

The aluminium industry is constantly embarking on new projects and developing new products. In this regular feature, Aluminium International Today presents the latest announcements in these areas. If you’d like the opportunity to be considered for publication, please contact: nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

GE’s powering efficiency COE solutions help aluminium company Hindalco reduce power generation costs Following on the heels of its Powering Efficiency Center of Excellence (COE) launch in March, GE has announced an agreement with Hindalco Industries Ltd. (Hindalco) to upgrade generation equipment at its Renusagar Captive Power Plant located in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The steam turbine modernisations provided

by GE will help increase the plant’s efficiency by up to six per cent and reduce the cost of power generation by approximately $15 million over five years.

New Foil Production with Achenbach OPTIMILL® and OPTIFOIL® Technology Already the two new Achenbach aluminum cold rolling mills delivered in 2015, one strip rolling mill and one thin strip rolling mill have set standards by its superior technology. They are the core components of the aluminum thin strip production at Weihai Haixin New Material at Weihai plant in the Shandong province. Step two within their vision to build up a large ‘aluminum park’ has been the recent decision on production expansion by an aluminum foil production at the same location. Again, Achenbach was chosen as partner for the delivery of the required

machinery. To start with, part of the order are four OPTIMILL® foil rolling mills for the production of 1,700 mm wide foils which can be rolled down to strip thicknesses of 0.005 mm. They are equipped with the complete OPTIROLL® i3 package for rolling mill automation and SUPERSTACK® II filtration systems with a CONDUSENS® conductivity sensor carrying out the rolling oil micro-filtration process during production in a closed loop system. Above that, the OPTIFOIL® technology for doubling, separating and slitting the rolled foils proved to be superior.

Casthouse capacity expansion Impol d.o.o. based in Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia has placed an order for a stationary melting furnace and charging equipment for a melting rate of six to eight tons an hour with Hertwich

Engineering, a company of the SMS group. It will be part of a new casting plant for rolling ingots due to start operation in May 2018.

Danieli aluminium plate stretcher and rolling mill modernisation to ALRO ALRO SA, part of Vimetco NV, has contracted Danieli for the supply of a new aluminium plate stretcher and major cold rolling mill modernisation for its plant located Slatina, Romania.

The new 18MN plate stretcher will process very

thin aluminium plates with high surface quality of alloys series 1xxx to 7xxx used for aerospace, marine, defence and commercial transportation applications.

Tenova: New order for a walking beam furnace Tenova has recently been contracted by NLMK for a 320 t/h walking beam furnace for the Hot Flat Shop HRS at their plant in Lipetsk, Russia.

Ultra-Low NOx Flexytech® technology will be used to reach outstanding results in performances, representing also a new benchmark for reheating furnaces all over the world. It allows to achieve very low values in term of NOx emission and low fuel consumption. Startup of the furnace is scheduled on September 2019.

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Aluminium scrap processing When recycling aluminium, the disintegration and separation of impurities is one of the most important tasks, in order to maintain high quality wrought alloys for instance. Besides simple impurities such as plastics, paint and anodised surfaces, the separation of iron and copper components is the main purpose of mechanical processing.

Typical aluminium scraps such as window profiles, construction profiles, sheet metal constructions and offset plates are usually tied to metallic impurities in the form of screws, nails and cables, which are included in the alloy during the refounding process and thus negatively influence the metallurgic properties.

Case study An Scandinavian aluminium profile manufacturer runs it own refounding operation with a hearth furnace in which high quality aluminium wrought alloys are smelted from scraps and raw aluminium.

A scrap processing installation was sought that would provide high quality mechanical disintegration combined with limited wear and high availability.

For this reason a variety of processing units were considered closely including the classic hammer mill shredder, the slow-moving dual shaft shredder, as is, e.g. available in mobile shredders, among other aggregates.

It was quickly apparent that dual shaft shredders, originally used for the processing of commercial waste and provided for scrap processing by various manufacturers, may require little investment, but would not be a viable option due to the wear costs, sensitivity to impurities, uptime and degree of disintegration.

Hammer shredders, originally used in scrap steel processing, only have a limited use in aluminium processing due to the hammer-anvil approach.

In this process the scrap is crushed rather than ripped, which can lead to a greater chance of metallic impurities being cold forged with the aluminium than separated out.

Since the team at the Scandinavian aluminium profile manufacturer already had experience with shredder processing using a star-ring rotor, this process was also given due consideration. Besides classical shears and presses the company Oberländer Recycling Maschinen GmbH, July/August 2017

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Fig 1. Cut and uncut shredder feed material

Fig 1. Oberländer star-ring shredder cross-section

Fig 2. Ejected 10kg chunk of aluminium

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based in Hagen/Germany, also provides state of the art star-ring shredders, specially designed for aluminium processing.

The free iron and copper content of the aluminium can be reduced to under 0.1% using the aluminium shredder technology provided by Oberländer, which includes an air classifier and downstream systems technologies such as classical magnetic drums, eddy flow separators, but also X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

A bulk part discharge in the shredder allows for the ejection of non-shreddable impurities, such as large chunks of aluminium, before they are able to cause any damage.

In addition, the Oberländer shredder units are characterised by easy maintenance and modern explosion control, the importance of which should not be underestimated in aluminium processing. The advantageous dry dust collection, which simplifies the recovery of the dust content, is built to ATEX design and has corresponding explosion control using, among other things, pressure shock resistance with rupture discs.

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Fig 3.Explosion proof exhaust filtering unit

The systems technology in a variety of shredder units and drive capacities ranging from 400 to 1.000 kW, allows for a throughput capacity of 10 – 25 t/h, depending on the type of aluminium scrap.

In the autumn of 2015 the Scandinavian aluminium profile manufacturer decided on an Oberländer shredder unit, which was successfully put into operation in the summer of 2016. Besides the required

separation of impurities, a shredder fraction scrap density of 0.5 kg/dm³ was achieved, which guarantees a short smelting time in the hearth furnace.

The shredder technology with star-ring rotor provided by Oberländer has proved itself for decades in various facilities in e.g. Germany, Hungary and Russia for renowned operators in primary and secondary aluminium production and the automotive industry. �

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Waste management Since 1977, Engitec has been involved with a plant processing secondary aluminium slag with the goal to reuse as much of the recovered material as possible from this waste. This article highlights the Engitec approach to the treatment of these wastes. By Alberto Bergamaschini & Dr. M. Maccagni

The secondary aluminium industry commonly deals with the recycling of a wide range of aluminium scrap, both in form and composition. The scrap is sorted, prepared, blended, melted and refined into a variety of alloys with controlled specifications. Fluxes consisting primarily of NaCl, KCl or blends of both salts are used to cover the molten bath during the melting process to reduce metal oxidation and to remove impurities from the charge.

At the end of the melting operation, a salt slag is formed containing salt fluxes, some metallic aluminium, aluminium oxide fines, and water reactive aluminium compounds. The presence of these compounds makes the disposal of this slag virtually impossible for environmental reasons. The high salt concentration makes the slag very prone to leaching chlorides when in contact with rainfall or groundwater. In addition, when salt slag is in contact with water, gasses evolve containing mainly hydrogen, ammonia and methane. Smaller amounts of hydrogen sulphide and phosphine may also be evolved. The production of the salt slag strongly depends on the type of furnace used. A large amount of this waste is treated internally in plants with it built into the aluminium production site or in consortium plants operated by waste management companies.

Secondary aluminum salt slag The secondary aluminium industry is involved in the recovery of a wide range of aluminium scrap that is very different both in form and composition. The melting process is performed using different furnace types, but in all of them, fluxes consisting primarily NaCl, KCl or blends of both salts are used to protect the molten metal from air oxidation and also to remove impurities contained in the feed. When the metal is tapped from the furnace, there is also a slag containing salt fluxes, some metallic aluminium, aluminium oxide fines, and water reactive aluminium compounds.

In principle, the process for the treatment of the salt slag is simple: The July/August 2017

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salt is leached, the salt is recovered and a mix of usable aluminium compounds is rejected. But the salt slag reactivity is quite high, which makes it practically impossible to dispose the material for environmental reasons. This is not only because the slag is very prone to leaching chlorides when in contact with rainfall or groundwater, but also because it evolves noxious and dangerous gases such as hydrogen, ammonia and methane when water

Salt

contacts the salt slag. Small amounts of hydrogen sulphide and phosphine may also be evolved.

Engitec Technologies S.p.A. started with the development of a system for salt slag processing in 1977. The process underwent many improvements over the years and is a process that links efficiency and low environmental impact. The following information will provide details about this process.

Lagoon

Fig 1. First generation of the salt slag treatment plant

Sterile Salt slag

Process gas

Hot granulation

Leaching Water

Screening Al flakes to smelter

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The STE Process The story of the process is quite long. The first plant built in 1977 (Fig 1) had the goal of recov-ering metallic aluminium, while additionally recovering the salt in lagoons and venting the gas un-treated to the atmosphere. A granulation in water of the hot slag was followed by a screening, for aluminium recovery.

Aluminium production changed, environmental regulations became stricter and the process had to be updated to meet the limits imposed by the new situation. The process changed quite considerably in the early nineties, as can be seen in the Fig 2.

The recovery of the aluminium was done after a wet screening and the gas generated during the leaching was burned to produce the necessary energy for crystallising the salt in a flash evaporator.

The residue cake still contained some reactive aluminium compounds and continued the reaction even after the filtration.

This problem caused some issues in the commercialisation of this filter cake, it was usually left to react for some days in a storage area.

The next advancement of the process takes the technology to the present design (Fig 3).

According to the most recent version, the current process is composed of the following main units: � Dry milling (Pre-crushing) � Wet milling � Leaching � Gas treatment � Salt crystallisation � Inertisation of the residue

Fig 2. Second generation of the salt slag treatment plant

Salt

Flash evaporation Sterile

Hot gas Salt slag

O2 CH4

Hot granulation

Burner Process gas

Leaching

Screening Al flakes to smelter

2 Al + 3 H2O

Water

Al2O3 + 3H2

(1)

2 AlN + 3 H2O Al2O3 + 2 NH3

(2)

Al4C3 + ese 6 H2O

2 Al2O3 + 3 CH4

(3)

2 AlP + 3 H2O

Al2O3 + 2 PH3

(4)

2 AlAs + 3 H2O Al2O3 + 2 AsH3

(5)

Al4Si3 + 6 H2O

(6)

2 Al2O3 + 3 SiH4

Box 1

Dry milling The slag coming from the smelter is fed to a dry milling unit with the goal not only to grind the ma-terial to make it easily leachable but also to recover some metallic aluminium. The unit is practically a grinding station with a screen for metallic aluminium recovery.

Wet milling In the wet milling, we have an additional aluminium recovery and a pre-leaching of the salt. In this unit, the slag begins reacting and sending salt into solution and producing reaction gasses.

Leaching unit The slurry from the wet milling unit is the feed to the leaching reactor. The leaching reaction is practically completed in this unit. The salt is completely leached out while the reactive aluminium compounds have time to react almost completely. The compounds and their reactions are shown in (box 1).

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As we can see, the gases generated in the wet milling and leaching units are a mix of noxious and dangerous (flammable) gasses. The main problem in designing a possible process for the secondary salt slag is the gas treatment.

There were different ways to address this gas-handling problem, and Engitec chose combustion.

With this method, energy can be recovered and therefore decreasing the energy required in the downstream salt crystallisation.

The gas treatment The gas treatment highly depends on the concentration of the AlN in the slag. The gas produced is burned according to the following reactions: When ammonia is burned (generated

by AlN leaching) NOX is produced which is regulated in the gaseous emissions.

If the ammonia concentration is quite high, it is better to scrub the produced gas with sulphuric acid (H2SO4). This achieves two goals: Ammonia is removed from the combustion stream, avoiding July/August 2017

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Brine

Crystallisation (various design)

Salt

Hot gas

Steam generation

H2SO4

NH3 scrubbing

O2 CH4

Burner

The salt crystallisation The salt crystallisation is important because it allows for the recovery and reuse of the fluxing salt, which reduces the cost for this important reactant for the aluminium smelting. As already mentioned, a reasonable portion of the energy is provided by the combustion of the gas generated in the wet milling and leaching units and the balance requires some other combustible.

(NH4)SO4

Process gas

Wet milling

Screening

Leaching

Water NaOH make-up Screening

Pre-crushing (dry milling)

Sterile

Al flakes to smelter Inert

Salt slag

Inertisation

Fig 3. Latest configuration of the salt slag treatment process

2 H2 + O2

2 H2O

(1.b)

2 NH3 + 3/2 O2

N2 + 3 H2O

(2.b)

2 NH3 + (3/2 + x) O2

2 NOX + 3 H2O

(2.c)

CH4 + 2 O2 CO2 + 2 H2O

(3.b)

PH3 + 2 O2

H3PO4

(4.b)

AsH3 + 2 O2

H3AsO4

(5.b)

SiH4 + 2 O2 SiO2 + 2 H2O Box 2

the generation of NOX; and ammonia is converted into ammonium sulphate [(NH4)2SO4) which is a fertilizer. Of course, the energy from combustion of the reaction gases is not sufficient to crystallise the salt, but it greatly contributes to the crystallisation energy requirements.

(6.b)

Inertisation of the residue The slurry leaving the leaching reactor still contains reactive aluminium compounds, which continue reacting even after the filtration is completed. All that is needed is a small presence of water. To fully inertise and, most importantly, deodorize this oxide cake, an inertisation unit was recently in-troduced. In this unit, practically all the reactive aluminium compounds are converted to oxide and the generated gas can be sent to the ammonia scrubbing or directly to the steam production unit according to the contained ammonia in the gas stream.

The inertisation process is patented and is based on the fact that the decomposition reaction for the reactive aluminium compounds is cata-lysed by [OH-]. The higher the pH, the higher the reaction rate. So the inert is fed in a reactor where the pH is kept in the range of 12-12.5 by NaOH and at a temperature > 60°C. The reactions are the same seen before in the leaching [(1) through (6)] and the only chemical consumption is NaOH make-up to replace the amount leaving the filter cake in the soaking solution. The inert, because of the highly reduced smell, is more acceptable for further uses.

Conclusion The problem of the treatment of wastes coming from aluminium production is not completely solved. There is a need for additional efficient and environmentally friendly processes.

Engitec developed the STE Process for the treatment of the secondary aluminium salt slag many years ago and has upgraded it to the present standard to be in line with the most advanced environ-mental regulations. ďż˝ Contact Engitec Technologies S.p.A. www.engitec.com

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SECONDARY 29

Chip and coolant recycling Lanner® Anlagenbau GmbH has been specialising in the development and production of complete chip processing systems since 30 years.

Lanner® manufactures fully automated solutions to save costs and recycle metal chips: From the compact Vetamat® system up to the customised central systems.

Chips, generated in all kind of machining process like turning or milling, normally contain coolant liquids. This mixture needs to be separated before further processing. The chip processing system is fed with this material e. g. with chip carts over a chip cart dumper.

This unit is feeding a conveyor which stores bigger quantities and loads dosed a chip crusher. Here are all chips resized to an equal size and can be free-flowing transported further to the next machine. One big advantage of the vertical Lanner crusher is the automatic ejection of mistakenly inserted tramp metals.

After the crusher the chips are transported into the centrifuge.

One of the centrifuges which Lanner offers is the patented DS lifting bottom centrifuge. It is not only suitable for drying chips but also for grinding sludge, because of its self-cleaning principle.

The LB briquetting press fits perfect as an alternative or supplement to the centrifuge. A specialised high-pressure cylinder compresses the chips or grinding sludge to qualitatively high briquettes, which have a very high density and low residual moisture. The re-gained coolant is collected and then pumped into a coolant filtering system. The processed chips can be sold at a significantly higher result or can be re-melted with more efficiency and a better output. All this happens with very low electrical and without thermal energy Chip processing systems have an important meaning in environmental protection and efficiency. �

Materials handling solutions for your industry

Contact www.lanner.de

• Improved storage utilisation • Safer product handling • Increased productivity • Indoor / Outdoor Aluminium International Today

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High-speed profile measurement in the hot rolling mill

By Christopher Burnett*

Aluminium, thanks to its lower density, is finding new markets for sheet applications across several industries, most notably in the area of transportation. Lighter weight vehicles consume less fuel, and where total loaded vehicle weights are concerned, allow higher volume shipments. These markets demand the tight tolerances for sheet thickness uniformity head to tail and edge to edge. Localised dimensional abnormalities can result in major issues in the downstream processing of the sheet, either in mechanical or aesthetic properties, ultimately impacting the end user.

This paper will describe a stereoscopic x-ray profile gauge with the ability to determine both the cross- thickness profile and the physical position of the strip in space as it exits the mill, throughout the entire sheet. By using a narrow x-ray fan

Profile pair

Multi-channel

beam to measure the strip, the system can record the height of each point of the strip in the time domain, the flatness, or shape, of the strip can be calculated, thus empowering process control engineers and mill managers to produce the highest quality sheet.

The consumption of fossil fuels used in personal automobiles, material shipments by rail or truck and all other aspects of transportation have been discussed scientist and politicians around the world.

Reducing overall vehicle weight has been an active topic in those discussions.

Aluminium producers have responded to this discussion with an array of products that help meet those goals. World-class aluminium producers rely on consistent mill processes to efficiently produce the highest quality sheet. However, even the most consistent mill requires independent

measurement parameters.

of

critical

product

Process variables in the hot aluminium rolling mill There are dozens of instruments and measurement systems in a modern hot aluminium rolling mill. These sensors each contribute to the end goal of producing a coil with uniform mechanical and dimensional properties from head to tail and edge to edge. Advanced process control algorithms use hundreds of variables from various sensors and drives to maximise the prime quality yield from each ton rolled.

Starting with the mechanical properties of the alloy, strip tensions and temperatures are measured between every stand, pressure transducers measure reduction force and laser based velocimeters provide

X-ray source 1

Simultaneous profile Temperature profile

X-ray source 2 Strip position

Hot strip movement

Detector array Width Contour Flatness

Thickness profile

Crown & wedge Edge drop

Ridges & grooves

Fig 1. Measurement data from two single point style x-ray thickness gauges arranged in a Profile Pair and a multi-channel system compared to Thermo Scientific™ SIPRO

Centerline thickness

Fig 2. Dimensional measurements available from the stereoscopic SIPRO gauge

*Technical Product Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific Aluminium International Today

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590 580 570 560 550

Beam from source 2 dline

Tren

Beam from source 1

s)

ues ial g

(init

R1

540 530 520 510 500 8-00

-600

-400

-200

490 0

Strip Actual contour

200

Fig 3. Contour measurement with trend line overlaid

line speeds that monitor mass flow for use in feed-back and feed-forward control loops. At the end of the mill, prior to strip coiler, a simultaneous profile gauge is used to validate the strip produced meets the tight dimensional tolerances demanded in the market place.

While each sensor contributes to the overall strip quality, the operator and mill computer are responsible for digesting those inputs and producing the desired product. The profile gauge has the ultimate responsibility for validating the specifications are achieved. In the past, if coil quality was questioned, a chart recording of the gauge output might have been the only archived data to review. However, today, with highspeed data archiving, all of the previously mentioned variables and measurements can be recorded and reviewed by quality assurance, process engineers and plant management. Each discipline is able to mine the data for information critical to their areas of responsibility.

Simultaneous Profile Gauge (SIPRO) In the last two decades, the evolution and miniaturisation of the integrated circuit has made high-speed radiation sensor arrays compact enough to fit into a robust frame for use in a hot strip mill.

The first thickness gauges used large ion chamber or scintillator/photo-multiplier based detectors, which were only capable of providing a single measurement point averaged over several hundred square millimeter. To collect information about sheet thickness uniformity from edge-toedge, multiple sensor packages had to be used. One of the first approaches to measure profile used a stationary sensor package in the center of the sheet, while a second sensor package mechanically traversed the sheet (see Fig. 1).

This arrangement provided a complete profile every 10-20 seconds depending on the speed of the traversing and strip width.

The next step in profile measurement evolution was to install multiple sensor July/August 2017

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t1

400

600

800 Detectors

packages into one frame. While this increased the frequency of profile data, the physical size of the sources and detectors limited the resolution of the profile data, resulting in a small percentage of the cross profile actually being measured. Efforts to increase the resolution required offsetting the sensors in the rolling direction, which further complicated the issue of a discontinuous profile, but at their best, these profile systems still collected data on less than 30% of the total sheet width.

A modern detector array capable of simultaneously providing over 500 independent measurements across the strip has been developed, providing a quantum leap in the percentage of strip area measured. The miniature pixels are constructed using a special scintillator crystal mounted directly to a nearly continuous array of photo-diodes. The resulting measured profile is over 95% of the total sheet width when considering a single source above the strip.

However, when the detector array are positioned below two x-ray sources arranged in such a way to provide a stereoscopic view of the full strip width, the Thermo Scientific™ SIPRO gauge is capable of stitching together the two views to provide a high resolution thickness profile measurement based on 100 percent of the cross strip area.

Within the detector array housed in the lower arm of a stainless steel C-frame, individual detector pixels are positioned every 6mm across the width of the strip.(see Fig 2). When translated up to the level of the roller table, the resulting measurements are provided at a resolution of 5mm of strip width. This high resolution provides mill operators information on ridges and grooves, unlike lower resolution sensors.

The two-x-ray sources of the SIPRO are positioned above the strip and are arranged to view the strip from different angles. A unique rotating shutter design exposes the aluminium sheet to one source at a time. Data from the detector

t2

Fig 4. Calculating the gradient from a stereo thickness view of the strip. The view is along the process direction.

array is collected every 5 milliseconds and is synchronised with the rotation of the shutter. At a strip speed of 15 m/s, this 5-millisecond update equates to a measurement value every 75mm of strip length. Profile systems based on scanning or oscillating sensors require much more time and are 200 to 2000 times slower.

The positioning and synchronised data collection from the different sources also provides information on the physical position of the strip in space. In the event the strip is bouncing above the roll table surface, the profile thickness, width and all other measurements are not degraded.

Flatness measurement Additionally, a flatness value can be calculated from the position, or height data. The measurement of flatness is essentially a two-stage process. First, the contour is measured. Then a history of the contour in the process direction is built up and the flatness calculated.

The contour calculation itself follows a number of stages: 1. Selection of a series of points across the strip - for which it is necessary to “locate” the strip.

2. Calculation of the transverse gradient at these points.

3. Integration of the gradient to give a relative height profile (contour).

4. Further iterations carried out, as necessary.

The flatness calculation stages include: 1. Collection of the height data along a set of “threads” 2. For each thread calculation of the length of the thread and the horizontal distance between ends.

3. Calculation of the flatness.

Locating the strip The locations of the edges of the strip are calculated from the stereo thickness view both the horizontal and vertical positions are known very accurately (See Fig 3). At this stage, because of the assumption that Aluminium International Today

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34 ANALYSIS & TESTING

the strip has out-of-flatness, the vertical positions of points on the strip between the edges are not known. Initially however, the vertical position of each point on the strip can be estimated from the “trendline” - an imaginary line between the edges of the strip.

It is possible to make a calculation of the contour using these points. If the thickness of a point on the strip is measured from two directions, there will be a difference in measured thickness, which is dependent upon the gradient of the strip. The gradient can be calculated from the two thickness values as the vector diagram in Figure 4 shows. R1 is the resultant of the vectors t1 and t2 and its direction is the gradient of the strip. The directions of t1 and t2 are calculated from the positions of the detectors at which they are measured relative to the sources.

These directions are fixed from the outset, since there is no movement of either source or detectors.

This method of measurement assumes that both surfaces of the strip are parallel - i.e. the thickness is not changing.

Additionally it assumes that the gradient

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of the strip is not changing. In both cases, the distance between detector elements becomes very important.

When detector elements are 25mm or further apart, there will be an error in the gradient. Therefore, it is essential that the transverse measurement resolution is as small as possible, so that the effects of changes in either thickness or gradient are minimised.

The operator will want to examine the flatness at a number of predetermined points across the strip. These points extend in the process direction along ribbons or threads. The positions of the threads can be configurable and each time the contour is evaluated the heights are calculated for each of them. For each thread, the height data is built up over time and can be related to the longitudinal position on the strip. The latter is calculated from the velocity of the strip and the time since the head of the strip was detected.

Summary The two source stereoscopic geometry, coupled with a highly specialised detector results in a profile measurement that is

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capable of simultaneously measuring six essential hot rolling parameters: � Centerline thickness for automatic gauge control (AGC) � Instantaneous cross profile thickness � True sheet width, regardless of strip contour or height � Crown and Wedge data � Edge drop measurement � Sheet wander (relative to mill centreline) � Flatness or Shape For hot sheet aluminium producers, this wealth of data provides insight to the rolling process and how it can be tuned to provide uniform sheet dimensions for the end user. The end user, in turn is assured to have a consistent supply of material to meet not only their current demands, but also the needs of future applications where aluminium sheet can be used to light weight other modes of transportation. � Contact: www.thermofisher.com

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Lab based brazing simulation Aluminium is the preferred material for both engine cooling and air conditioning in cars. This is due to its unique combination of strength, corrosion resistance and recyclability. Of course, it plays an important part in vehicle lightweighting too. As a result, there have been numerous developments in the aluminium brazing process, the flux chemistry and in system design to make its use more costeffective. Adam Nadin* explains Controlled atmosphere brazing (CAB) is the primary process for manufacturing aluminium heat exchangers. Consequently it is undergoing continuous development to meet the challenges of today’s OEM’s.

The CAB process requires accurate control of the thermal cycle from room temperature to >600°C in an inert gas atmosphere. However, the continuous industrial CAB furnaces are not suitable for running trials to optimise the process conditions for new materials and designs.

Innoval does a lot of work for aluminium heat exchanger manufacturers and their suppliers. This is either an R&D project or an investigation to get to the bottom of a production problem. To do this we’ve developed several techniques to establish the surface condition of sheet products.

For clad products, oxide film thickness and carbon residue are two key factors in brazeability. We are able to measure both of these using our FTIR and Leco carbon analyser. However, we have found that relating these to brazing performance with a practical method is crucial to understanding the balancing act between oxide, carbon and flux levels.

After reviewing all ‘off-the-shelf’ options for an aluminium brazing furnace suitable for experiments in the lab, we decided to manufacture our own, Figure 1. We wanted a glass tube furnace that would meet our experimental needs for characterising and testing brazeability.

Table-top aluminium brazing furnace Our brazing furnace bridges the gap between the theoretical brazeability based on oxide and carbon results, and industrial trials. We can program it to run an almost infinite number of braze profiles in an inert gas environment. We use nitrogen gas with certified levels of oxygen as a contaminant. We can also use it to assess the impact of metallurgical properties like

microstructure and grain structure on the brazing process. We do this using a simple angle-on-coupon test specimen.

It’s also possible to evaluate other material parameters such as the cladding alloy chemistry, clad ratio and surface condition of the clad alloy, together with flux type and flux load.

The tube furnace has a viewing window

The test pieces During brazing we use an angle-oncoupon (AoC) test piece as a standard, Fig 2. This compromises a clad product as the coupon and a 3003 alloy for the angle, which represents the tube and fin found in heat exchangers. These are, of course, customer dependant and we can vary both.

Fig 1. Innoval’s laboratory brazing furnace

The coupon is usually coated with flux.

We raise the angle with stainless steel wire to make it harder to form a complete fillet.

Fig 2. Example of a post brazed angle-on-coupon sample with full fillet formation

for in-situ video monitoring of the clad melting and fillet formation process. This provides an insight into the critical events which occur during the brazing cycle.

How we use our furnace During brazing, the balancing act between time and temperature is critical to achieving a good brazed product, assuming the surface chemistry is favourable. For example, it may seem possible to reduce the number of rejects by using a longer dwell time at the peak temperature of the braze cycle.

The example in Fig 3 shows two identical AoC samples of a tubestock prepared with the same flux load. Both experienced the same temperatures during a braze cycle.

However, the sample on the right had an

*Materials Technologist, Innoval Technology Limited, UK Aluminium International Today

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Fig 3. First image shows a uniform ‘good’ braze. The second shows over braze resulting in localised core erosion (arrowed)

extended dwell time at peak temperature.

This has resulted in severe erosion of the core alloy of the tubestock, and has eroded a great deal of the 3003 angle.

If the over brazing shown here had occurred on a heat exchanger, the manufacturer could expect to see a significant reduction in the strength of the tubes due to the reduction in the cross sectional area. There could also be a reduction in corrosion resistance depending on the alloys used.

The image on the left shows a good uniform brown band** region which is typical of long life alloys. However, the image on the right has no perceptible brown band formation, and would therefore have decreased resistance to corrosion. � **The ‘brown band’ forms during brazing. It consists of densely precipitated particles containing Al, Mn and Si. This band is typically a few tens of microns thick at the surface of the core adjacent to the cladding layer. The brown band is responsible for corrosion resistance of the clad side of the brazed product.

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ANALYSIS & TESTING 37

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Non-contact temperature measurement for extrusions Richard Gagg* discusses advances in non-contact temperature measurement for aluminium extruders.

While aluminium extrusions are common, the process of extruding high-quality profiles is far from easy. Understanding temperature and controlling press speed and quench rates during the extrusion process are critical to producing products that have the required quality and properties. The extrusion press exit temperature, for example, affects the dimensional properties and surface finish of the final product. Should the temperature be too high, the surface finish may suffer imperfections that, apart from being unattractive, can potentially lead to cracks.

Extruding a product at an improper temperature can cause it to not achieve the design dimensions once cooled. If the extrusion temperature is even slightly too cold, the die in the extrusion press may wear more rapidly due to the increased hardness of the metal and additional pressures required to extrude it. As a die wears, the physical size of the extruded section changes, and new dies are very expensive. For those reasons, it is imperative to continuously monitor press exit temperature as accurately as possible.

Contact temperature measurement methods are not well suited to the extrusion process. When these measurements are taken, they are typically done manually at a single point. In addition, many contact measurement devices require prodding the hot aluminium, which can damage the surface. In comparison, non-contact temperature measurement sensors allow producers to continuously measure the temperature of the metal at each stage of the process.

Non-contact temperature sensors (infrared pyrometers) never touch the aluminium, so there is no opportunity to damage the surface. The pyrometer views the radiated energy that is emitted from the aluminium surface to measure it.

SPOT AL EQS Pyrometer display and settings

Unfortunately, aluminium alloys have unique emissivity and reflectivity characteristics that challenge conventional infrared pyrometers. Emissivity is an object’s ability to emit (radiate) infrared energy. Knowledge of the precise emissivity value of an object is a critical factor for accurate non-contact temperature measurement.

Aluminium alloys have very low emissivity values sometimes under 0.1.

That means the aluminium alloy emits less than 10% of its energy. That is why when someone walks close to a hot aluminium billet it does not radiate heat towards you. It has none of the “body language� associated with a very hot object. That

lack of emissivity, if uncorrected, can lead to an apparently low temperature reading from the infrared pyrometer. The reading needs to be compensated for by applying an appropriate emissivity (gain) correction factor. The emissivity value of the aluminium varies with the wavelength chosen, alloy grade and surface condition, including any slight oxidisation.

Because the native emissivity of aluminium is so low, infrared pyrometers need to employ high gain amplification.

With such large amounts of signal amplification, any small changes in emissivity will be amplified and cause errors in temperature readings. In comparison with other metals like steel, aluminium is

*Industry Manager-Metals, AMETEK Land Aluminium International Today

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customers choose a fixed installation with manually adjustable mount that can be re-oriented following a die change.

Other customers choose a combination of the SPOT AL EQS Pyrometer along with a new motorized actuator. In that example, the pyrometer and actuator communicate with each other directly, causing the pyrometer to be automatically aimed at the optimum measurement position on the new profile. This temperature measurement is typically fed back to the press control system to enable dynamic press speed control. The small measurement spot of the SPOT AL EQS, combined with its rapid 15mS response speed, facilitates this dynamic tracking.

SPOT AL EQS on a manually adjusted mounting at the press exit.

Bright Green targeting LED pattern on extrusion.

processed at much lower temperatures, so fundamentally less energy is emitted even before factoring in the effects of very low emissivity. It is challenging to compensate for emissivity variations on these small signals, making accurate temperature measurements difficult to achieve.

Commonly available single-wavelength infrared pyrometers are unable to cope with the combination of both low and variable emissivity that is prevalent with aluminium alloys. Alternative Ratio (2-colour) pyrometer designs also are unsuccessful, as the emissivity at their two measurement wavelengths varies at different rates. The ratio pyrometer’s non-greyness (e-slope) adjustment cannot compensate accurately for the diversity of aluminium alloy types.

In the 1980’s research was undertaken by some pyrometer companies to find methods of correlating the energy emitted at many wavelengths and developing application specific algorithms that would make sense of that radiation data. The aim was to produce a device that would accurately measure these materials with little or no adjustment requirements.

Some resulting devices demonstrated much better results than prior measurement methods. However, the limited number of Infrared detectors, low-noise amplifiers and computational circuits available at that time affected the performance of these early devices.

Over the years, with improved designs and a better understanding of the applications, product performance improved greatly. Today’s infrared pyrometer designer can choose from an extensive menu of high-quality and highperformance components. Advanced application-specific infrared pyrometers are now available for challenging materials

like aluminium.

Most recently, AMETEK Land has developed the SPOT AL EQS multiwavelength pyrometers with the aid of extensive site trials and data collection from many different alloys. Complex signal processing algorithms have been developed and function in real time with the aid of powerful high-speed digital signal processing and ultra-low noise signal amplification. These application specific algorithms and computational capabilities produce accurate results over a ange of alloys and surface conditions.

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Extrusions begin with aluminium billets Aluminium extruders measure temperatures at various locations. The three most common tend to be: Billet Profile 1. At the start of the process, a billet is heated to temperature as it slowly progresses through a specialised reheat furnace. At the furnace exit, the billet temperature is measured, either a single reading on its cut face or a profile along the side of the billet from head to tail.

Many extruders now prefer to measure the billet profile temperature just as the billet arrives at the extrusion press. AMETEK Land offers a motorised actuator, which rapidly scans the SPOT AL EQS Pyrometer along the length of the billet generating a temperature profile. The actuator can either be integrated with the press control system or driven manually from a handheld controller.

2. The press exit as the extrudate appears from the die. A SPOT AL EQS Pyrometer (set in “E” mode) is typically positioned above the press exit, looking downwards onto the profile. Some

Typical SPOT AL EQS Installations at the Press Exit The Quench Exit 1. This measurement location also popular, particularly with extruders who produce high- strength sections and those with specialised characteristics.

A SPOT AL EQS Pyrometer (set in “Q” mode) is typically positioned at the exit of the quench section looking downwards onto the profile. Many customers choose a combination of the SPOT AL EQS Pyrometer together with a motorised actuator. In this application, the pyrometer and actuator communicate with each other directly causing the pyrometer to be automatically aimed at the optimum measurement position on the profile.

Extrusions can wander laterally at this location, and the actuator dynamically tracks any movement of the extrusion.

Here too, the small and well-defined measurement spot of the pyrometer, combined with its f15mS response speed, facilitates such dynamic tracking.

The same model of SPOT AL EQS pyrometer is used at all three measurement locations. The SPOT AL EQS Pyrometers digitally communicate over an Ethernet connection via Modbus TCP. There are versions of the AL EQS software available that combine data from multiple SPOT Pyrometers and calculate quench rates, and some customers have integrated SPOT AL EQS Pyrometers directly into their PLC’s or press controls.

Fully integrated temperature measurements of billet ‘taper,’ extruded sections and quench rate help to ensure superior extrusions with exact dimensions and superior finish surfaces.

Future applications may require improved surface finishes and metallurgy.

Knowledge of exact temperatures throughout the process will allow producers to improve quality and increase production yields. � Aluminium International Today

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FOCUS ON: ANODES 39

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Green anode plants -10 years of success Over the last 10 years, Fives’ Green Anode Plants have been based on the Rhodax® process, which allows a selective crushing for higher green and baked anode densities. By Christophe Bouche*

Fives develops three fields of expertise in the aluminium sector: � Carbon with Green Anode Plants, Carbon Butts Crushing and Recycling units, Firing Control Systems, Fume Treatment Centers, Furnace Tending Assemblies, Anode Rodding Shops, Bath Processing and Recycling Units � Reduction with Gas Treatment Center, Pot Tending Machines, cathode transport cranes, alumina transport systems � Casthouse with Melting & Holding Furnaces, Heat Treatment Furnaces and complete solutions for secondary aluminium casthouse Green Anode Plants are proposed with extended battery limits including a crushing and recycling unit, raw material storage, a paste plant, forming, a cooling tunnel and all associated utilities.

Rhodax® History The Rhodax process is the result of two parallel developments started in early 90’s.

On one side, Aluminium Pechiney (now Rio Tinto) was validating a new concept of high Grain/Sand ratio, which has been proven to be a key factor to minimise anode thermal shock problems.

On the other side, Solios Carbone (Fives Solios) had developed a new crusher for

Green scrap

Fine grinding

Grains >300mm

To mixing & forming areas

Fig 1. Rhodax® key process features

the mineral processing applications, the Rhodax®, which key characteristics are linked to the in-bed compressive grinding principle: � The outlet particle size distribution (PSD) is almost insensitive to the inlet PSD � Selective crushing takes place by preserving the hard and coarse feed particles (mostly baked scraps) while crushing preferably the weaker, porous or pre-cracked particles (mostly raw coke).

In carbon anodes application, it prevents also from producing fine particles from the baked scraps.

Fig 2. Rhodax® dry mix preparation line

MIXING

Rhodax® flow sheet

Fines 70% < 32mm

Rhodax®

Much less spares Reduced maintenance COKE

MIXING

40% less items

<0.03mm

Two fractions only

Coke

Green & baked SCRAPS

>0.3mm

<0.3mm

15% reduction in main steel 20% less cranes 20% less electrical consumers

<0.3mm Ventilated classifyer

Ventilated classifyer

Recycl.

Conventional flow sheet

Coke

Baked scrap

>3mm

Screen

All raw materials mixed

In the early 2000’s, Fives and Aluminium Pechiney joined their R&D efforts and copatented the SCAP-RHODAX® process which consisted mainly in: � Mixing all solids (raw coke, green and baked scraps) to crush them all together at the same time without any detrimental impact on anode quality � Producing a recipe based on two size fractions only leading to a drastic flow sheet simplification Rhodax® key process features A full scale 35t/h industrial prototype was successfully tested from 2002 to 2004 at Aluminium Dunkerque in France. Design and operation concepts were validated and the achieved baked anode quality was found at least as good as with conventional process.

Rhodax® Process Flow Sheet The Rhodax® dry mix preparation line consists mainly of one Rhodax® crusher (R), two TSV dynamic classifiers (C) (one for sand fraction, the other one for fine fraction), and one ball mill (B).

Rhodax® dry mix preparation line The dry aggregate final product consists of two fractions only: grains from 0.3 to 30mm and fines from 0 to 80 µm, with a grain/sand (G/S) ratio above 5.

*Technical Director, Fives Solios and André Pinoncely, VP Technology, Fives Aluminium Division Aluminium International Today

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Scrapers

Rhodax® + Horomill® flow sheet When considering the energy consumption of the whole grinding circuit, the Rhodax® + Horomill® solution appears to be the most efficient:

Extraction zone

Material speed control system Inlet

Scrapers Outlet

Solution (*)

kWh/t

Rhodax® + Ball Mill

78

Rhodax® + Horomill®

59

(*) Including filter fan and other equipment

Centrifugation zone

Fig 3. Horomill principle ®

4-6 grinding actions Project (location)

Year

Configuration

ALBA Line 5 (Bahrain)

2005

1 GAP: 1 Rhodax® + kneader/cooler

35

SOHAR (Oman)

2008

1 GAP: 1 Rhodax® + 1 IMC®

36

QATALUM (Qatar)

2010

1 GAP: 1 Rhodax® + 1 IMC® 60

MA’ADEN (Saudi Arabia)

2012

2 GAPs

Productivity (tph)

40

HINDALCO Mahan (India)

2014

1 GAP

35

HINDALCO Aditya (India)

2015

1 GAP

52

Table 1. Rhodax® Green Anode Plant References

The circuit operates smoothly and continuously, thanks to several regulatory control loops managing the throughput level and the grains/fines silos balance.

Rhodax® Green Anode Plants are supplied with two types of mixing technology: kneader + Eirich cooler, or Intensive Mixing Cascade (IMC®) + two Eirich mixers.

All together, these references represent more than 1.5 Million tons of anodes installed capacity, 60% of newly installed capacity outside China and 2.6 Million tons of Aluminium.

Rhodax® Green Anode Plant Performance After 10 years of industrial references, representative results on baked anode properties have been compiled. Rhodax® based baked anode density and specific electrical resistance are among the bestin-class, ranging respectively from 1.58 to 1.60 g/cm3 and below 54 µWm. Rhodax® based baked anodes show very good levels of CO2 and air reactivity residues, with values ranging respectively from 90 to 95% and 75 to 80%.

Rhodax® Process: New Challenges Fives is committed in the development of eco-designed solutions, which combine high performance and sustainable development such as Eolios, the efficient pitch fumes treatment solution based on a combination of Dry Scrubbing and RTO, or Amelios, the sustainable plant performance tool.

The Horomill®, a high pressure grinding mill, is another example. It is an energy efficient grinding technology based on July/August 2017

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the same in-bed compressive grinding principle as in roller presses, vertical mills or Rhodax® crusher. This high pressure grinding mill has been marketed for more than 20 years. With applications in cement and slag processing industry, more than 50 mills are today in operation with throughput ranging from 10 to several hundred tons per hour.

Horomill® principle The Horomill® was tested successfully at pilot scale for conventional green anode plant process in 1995 but no industrial applications were decided at that time.

New pilot scale tests were conducted in 2013-2014 for Rhodax® process this time and the process flow sheet was slightly adapted to integrate the Horomill®, which is not air-swept but working by gravity.

On top of that, the Horomill® brings some other interesting technical advantages like: � Very small footprint in the plant, � Almost no iron pollution, � Low noise level (below 85 dBA at 1m) Conclusion The Rhodax® process is now recognised as the state of the art in dry mix preparation for green anodes. After 10 years of history, with 7 Green Anode Plant references, representing more than 1,500,000 mtpy of anode production, the Rhodax® based baked anode properties are proved to be among the best-in-class and a major contribution to pot operation performance.

It accounts why the main key players in the aluminium primary industry out of China have adopted this technology.

And recently, Xinfa, a Chinese aluminium producer has selected this technology for its two anode production lines of 60 t/h capacity each.

A further improvement is now proposed with the integration of the Horomill® in place of the ball mill for the production of fines, in order to lower the grinding energy consumption, avoid the iron pollution and reduce the noise level.

As an enterprising partner, Fives is working on solutions that combine operational excellence and high environmental performance. �

Fig 4. Rhodax® + Horomill® flow sheet

Rhodax® process

Turbo classifyers

To mining & forming line

Horomill®

Aluminium International Today

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HISTORY 41

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Le déluge:

Aluminium in the age of global conflict In this second instalment looking at the development of the global aluminium industry, Dr Andrew Perchard* explores the effects of the global conflict on the industry between the outbreak of WWI, in 1914, and the height of the Cold War in 1962.

In 1915, Britain’s Minister of Munitions David Lloyd George referred to the conflict raging since 1914, as a ‘deluge… bringing unheard-of changes in the social and industrial fabric’. Lloyd George, who subsequently became Prime Minister of a new wartime coalition in December 1916, was acutely aware of the pressure that the new industrialised warfare had placed on an economy ill-suited to meeting such demand, and of the need for a reformed war economy.

Formerly Chancellor of the Exchequer (1908-1915), Lloyd George had been appointed Minister of Munitions, on the back of the Shells Crisis of May 1915, overseeing the redirection of Britain’s wartime industrial capacity to meet the war effort, including for vital raw materials. Between 1914 and 1918, military spending in all of the three main belligerent powers – Britain, France and Germany (the United States did not enter the War until 1917) – remained above 50% of GDP. World War One (WWI) transformed the market for global aluminium and the relationships between national producers and governments.

Shortages in, and the rising cost of, other non-ferrous metals (particularly copper) as well as technological innovations, during WWI created a substantial demand for aluminium.

Global consumption of the metal almost trebled from 66,000 metric tons (mts) to 196,000mts between 1913 and 1918.

Uses for the metal (in virgin ingot, alloy and powder form), which had started off being used primarily for field canteens, in explosives, and to replace copper wiring,

expanded as its adaptability, lightness, as well as innovations in military technology and warfare developed.

Increasingly aluminium became associated with the growth in aerial warfare (initially for aero-engines and dirigibles), with military aircraft production in Britain alone increasing from 245 machines in 1914 to 32,018 by 1918, and aero-engines from 99 to 22,088 over the same period. This had been aided by German metallurgist Alfred Wilm’s pre-war invention and patenting of Duralmin (an alloy of aluminium, copper, manganese, and magnesium). By 1915, Hugo Junkers had designed and built the first all-metal aircraft, the Junkers J-1 (Fig 1).

Even Imperial Germany, the economy

Fig 1. Junkers J-1

best organised and equipped to meet the demands of modern warfare, was quickly put under pressure as it became clear this was be a war of attrition rather than a swift campaign. It was Germany’s

depletion of its scant remaining matériel, as well as the ghastly toll in human life, which eventually brought it to its knees in 1918. Whilst Britain, in particular, was slow to adapt to a modern war economy, it is important to underline that the scale and nature of the war on the Western and Eastern Fronts was unprecedented.

Britain’s ability to transform to a war economy and prosecute economic warfare, and draw on Empire arms and resources and American finance, were crucial to preventing it from collapse. At the outbreak of war, Britain relied almost exclusively on the output of the aluminium reduction works of the British Aluminium Company (BACo) in the Scottish Highlands (producing 92% of Britain’s aluminium), with some smaller quantities from the Aluminium Corporation’s Dolgarrog plant in Wales and BACo’s Vgielands Brug in Norway. The advance of the German army by 1915 reduced BACo’s access to bauxite supplies from its southern French subsidiaries. Instead it was forced to reopen its inferior bauxite deposits at Larne in Ireland. Britain’s supply issues were further compounded by the fact that it was also acting for much of the war as the armoury for the Entente Powers.

This included aluminium, which it was also supplying to Imperial Russia (prior to October 1917). By 1915, Britain had become dependent on aluminium from the Northern Aluminium Company of Canada (subsequently the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan), owned at the time by US firm Alcoa. This created tension between Britain and the US (a

As Dr Dewey Anderson, director of Washington think tank, the US Public Affairs Committee, remarked in 1951: ‘Aluminium has become the most important single bulk material of modern warfare. No fighting is possible, and no war can be carried to a successful conclusion today, without using and destroying large quantities of aluminium.’

*Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University (UK), and co-founder and director of the History and Strategic Raw Materials Initiative Aluminium International Today

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42 HISTORY

neutral power before 1917), with the British Government increasingly inflamed

by Alcoa’s exponential raising of the export prices for aluminium ingot from an Empire source and their perceived war profiteering. For Imperial Germany, cut off from its main Swiss (but German owned) supplier AIAG Neuhausen by 1915, the increasing effectiveness of blockades after 1916, and supply shortages was the midwife of innovation to create substitutes. It also gave birth to a new industry player, Vereinigte Aluminium Werke AG (VAW) (in 1917), and the building of four new smelters in Germany between 1915 and 1917.

Even France (one of the few national aluminium producers with plentiful access to domestic bauxite) struggled because of the pressures on the supply chain.

As aluminium gained in strategic importance, it consequently transformed the relationship between the aluminium industry and the state in the main combatant nations. In Britain, France, and Germany, the industry leaders were co-opted into government service. In the longer term, this afforded British, French and German aluminium industry leaders political and financial support for the expansion of the industry. British and French industry leaders also saw the opportunity to seize control of lucrative post-war central European markets through the support of the seizure of AIAG’s plants, held by the French authorities as enemy assets, and by attempting a failed attempt to seize directorships on the Swiss company’s board.

After the signing of the Armistice in 1918, the global industry leaders from the Entente powers, Louis Marlio of France’s Alais, Froges et Camargue (AFC), BACo’s Andrew Tait, and Alcoa’s Arthur Vining Davis met to carve up the postwar market for aluminium; Alcoa taking North America, and AFC and BACo, central European markets and the British Empire. Whilst the immediate post-war period presented challenges for the global industry, with an immediate fall in demand and stockpiles of ingot and scrap metal dumped onto world markets, the war increased the visibility, and understanding of the applications, of aluminium. Alcoa and its Canadian subsidiary had expanded their markets, especially with an end to imports for the duration of the war, and their smelting capacity. Despite the 1918 agreements with BACo, Alcoa’s Davis saw an opportunity for Northern to exploit British imperial markets. However, this was hampered by lingering suspicion of Alcoa, after wartime price rises, until 1928 when Northern (by now Alcan) was legally separated from Alcoa in response July/August 2017

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to US anti-trust actions against the parent company. Competition within European markets was also increased by the wartime creation of the VAW. After global tensions in the industry between 1918 and 1923, the industry experienced a period of

Fig 2. Graf Zeppelin bombing Warsaw (1914)

relative peace with the establishment of the Aluminium Association in 1926 (excluding Alcoa and Northern because of the ongoing US anti-trust action).

As well as setting sales quotas and price, this cartel’s functions also included advertising, R&D, and logistics.

This was replaced by the Alliance Aluminium Company in 1931, including Alcoa and Alcan. It is important to note that cartels were far more common in this period governing about 40% of world trade by the late 1930s, and that they were generally condoned by many national governments.

Fig 3. Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Peace in the aluminium industry, as in wider society, was ruptured by rearmament and the outbreak of the Second World War (WWII) in 1939.

Aluminium became even more crucial as a strategic metal. Between 1939 and 1944 alone, global aluminium consumption rose from 677,400mts (almost double that of 1936) to 1,468,000mts, while

production increased from 720,000mts to 1,690,000mts. Much of this went to meet the exponential growth in aircraft production. Nazi Germany constructed 111,767 between 1934 and 1944, and Britain 123,819 between 1934 and 1945. Between 1940 and 1945, the United States built 300,000 military (or associated) aircraft (such as the Boeing Superfortress, Fig 3) and the Soviet Union around 136,800 during WWII. Nazi Germany dramatically increased aluminium production and amassed.

Between 1934 and 1939, German output of aluminium grew from 30,000mts to 200,000mts. From being completely reliant on AIAG for aluminium before 1915, Germany had become the largest single global producer of the metal by 1939 (accounting for 30% of global output).

Increasingly, after 1939, most aluminium, like magnesium, was consumed by the Luftwaffe. Part of the attraction to the Nazis of invading Norway, for example, lay in its production of aluminium, magnesium, molybdenum, and nickel. Most of France’s aluminium output, though largely based within the Vichy zone, was given over to the Nazi war effort. Similarly, as with oil, rubber, tin and nickel, so too Imperial Japan seized the bauxite reserves within Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.

On the eve of the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940), Britain was facing a shortage in aluminium supplies, essential to building aircraft like the Spitfire (Fig 4), which was a mainstay of the Royal Air Force’s Fighter Command. Despite, the addition of the Lochaber smelter to the roster of BACo’s Highland smelters, their Norwegian plants had been seized

by Nazi Germany in June 1940, and demand for aluminium had quickly outstripped domestic supplies. From 1941 until 1943, Britain relied heavily on costly (both in shipping losses and investment) imports of Canadian aluminium to meet its requirements; if Detroit, and the US more broadly, fast became known as the ‘arsenal of democracy’ then Canada became the ‘arsenal of empire’.

For many of the belligerent powers, aside from the US and Canada, secondary aluminium recovered from scrap became increasingly important. But it was in North America where the largest growth in the global industry occurred. Largely unhindered by enemy air attack, and with considerable financial and political support from government on both sides of the 49th parallel (and in Canada’s case from the British government), the US and Canadian aluminium industries expanded production capacity dramatically.

For Alcoa though, the war and antitrust sentiment, led to the creation of two major Aluminium International Today

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DIRECTORY 43 5

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ALUMINIUM INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY As a leading resource for the aluminium production and processing industries, the Directory reaches the most senior buyers and suppliers in the business. Distributed HANDLING & STORAGE

CLAUDIUS PETERS PROJECTS GMBH Schanzenstraße 40 DE-21614 Buxtehude, Germany T: +49 4161 706-0 F: +49 4161 706-270 E: info@claudiuspeters.com W: www.claudiuspeters.com Claudius Peters stockyards, pneumatic conveyors, silos, clinker coolers, grinding mills, and packing systems can be found in Cement, Coal, Alumina, and Gypsum plants across the globe. The group’s other principal Division, Aerospace, manufactures aircraft parts for Airbus.

PRIMARY REDUCTION/SMELTER PRIMARY

ALUMINIUM BAHRAIN B.S.C. (ALBA) Building 150, King Hamad Highway Askar 951, Bahrain T: +973 1783 0000 F: +973 1783 0083 E: alba@alba.com.bh W: www.albasmelter.com Aluminium Bahrain has been consistently ranked as one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world and is known for its technological strength and high quality aluminium.

FURNACE

HERTWICH ENGINEERING GMBH Weinbergerstr. 6, Braunau, Upper Austria, 5280, Austria T: +43 7722 806-0 F: +43 7722 806-122 E: info@hertwich.com W: www.hertwich.com Hertwich Engineering, a company of the SMS group, is active worldwide with design, supply, construction and commissioning of speciality equipment for the aluminium industry, in particular for aluminium casthouses.

to more than 50 countries and read by thousands of industry contacts, it contains a comprehensive alphabetical listing of company and contact details.

SLITTING

DANIELI FRÖHLING Scherl 12, D-58540, Meinerzhagen, Germany T: +49 2354 7082 0 F: +49 2354 7082 200 E: info@danieli-froehling.de W: www.danieli-froehling.de Danieli Fröhling is synonymous for innovative tailor-made solutions for the aluminium industry.

Fröhling customers trust in nearly 70 years’ experience in manufacturing of rolling mills and cutting lines.

CARBON ELECTRODES

R&D CARBON PO Box 361, Sierre 3960, Switzerland T: +41 27 459 29 29 F: +41 27 459 29 25 E: rdc@rd-carbon.com W: www.rd-carbon.com R&D Carbon provides expertise for the worldwide metal, oil and coal industry through R&D studies,onsite audits and process optimisation, carbon test equipment, quality control, certification and training courses.

SHEET CASTING CONSUMABLES

ZIRCAR CERAMICS INC 100 N. Main St Florida, NY USA T: +1 845 651 6600 E: sales@zircarceramics.com W: zircarceramics.com ZIRCAR Ceramics, Inc. is a US based manufacturer and international marketer of castertips, graphite release agent, boron nitride coating, vacuum formed, and pre-cast refractory products for use on all makes of continuous aluminum sheet twin roll, belt and block casters.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the listings that will appear in the 2017 Aluminium International Directory.

QUALITY TESTING & MEASUREMENT

POLYTEC GMBH Polytec Platz 1-7, D-76337, Waldbronn, Germany T: +49 7243 604-0 F: +49 7243 69944 E: info@polytec.de W: www.polytec.de Polytec is the market leader for non-contact, laser based vibration and velocity measurement instrumentation. Our innovative solutions allow our customers to maintain their own technical leadership across many fields.

SAFETY

AJ CHARNAUD & COMPANY (PTY) LTD Tel: RSA +27 11 794 6040 T: +27 11 794 6040 EU: +44 (0) 1133 507651 E: aj@charnaud.co.za W: www.charnaud.net Over 40 years of experience in protective clothing AJ Charnaud & Company (Pty) Ltd. has, since its foundation, been at the forefront of the development and manufacturing of specialized personal protective clothing. With a complete head-tofoot range of certified products, supported with advanced professional and technical assistance, Charnaud is regarded as a leading global supplier of personal protective clothing for protection against flames, fire, radiant heat, molten metal splash, acid and the thermal effects of electric arc flash.

It is free to list your company, get in touch today to find out more:

Anne Considine Sales Manager Tel: +44(0)1737855139 Email: anneconsidine@quartzltd.com

Aluminium International Today

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44 HISTORY

www.aluminiumtoday.com

(and a number of smaller) competitors, the Reynolds Metals Company and Kaiser Aluminium. Strong political (and financial) support was crucial to Reynolds and Kaiser’s entry, survival and success in a US market previously monopolised

by Alcoa. Between 1944 and 1946, Reynolds Metals increased their share of US aluminium production from 7% to 30%, and Kaiser from 2% to 20%. Both would go on to become significant global players.

The expansion of aluminium production to meet wartime demands also profoundly affected technological innovation within the industry and increased the race to identify new reserves of bauxite. Whilst the dropping of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – and the subsequent development of nuclear strike capabilities by the Soviet Union, Britain and France – decreased the emphasis on large conventional forces in the longer term, aluminium remained crucial to meeting the military requirements of the ‘hot’ Cold War (and, in particular, the Korean (19501953) and Vietnam (1955-1975) Wars).

This also led to US government stockpiling

of the metal. Given aluminium’s strategic importance, and with decolonisation (and associated nationalisation of natural resources, including bauxite, in some newly emergent nations) between the 1950s and 1960s, this also proved an important point of negotiation between mature industrialised economies (largely in the northern hemisphere) and newly emergent mineral wealthy nations (predominantly in the global south).

As the next instalment (The Age of Light

Fig 4. Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I

Metal) outlines, the principal driver of post1945 growth for the aluminium industry in the mature industrial economies was growing affluence and mass markets for

consumer products, characterised by the so-called ‘Golden Years’ of 1950-1973.

However, the global conflicts of 19141918 and 1939-1945 were watersheds for the global aluminium industry in terms of its uses, organisation, and relationship with the state. � Supplementary reading: Marco Bertilorenzi, The International Aluminium Cartel: The Business and Politics of a Cooperative Industrial Institution (1886-1978) (Routledge: London, 2015).

Hans Otto Frøland, Mats Ingulstad, and Jonas Scherner (eds.), Industrial Collaboration in Nazi-Occupied Europe: Norway in Context (Palgrave: London, 2016).

Robin Gendron, Mats Ingulstad, and Espen Storli (eds.), Aluminum Ore: The Political Economy of the Global Bauxite Industry (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011).

Andrew Perchard, Aluminiumville: Government, Global Business and the Scottish Highlands (Carnegie: Lancaster, 2012).

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH Hornstraße 19

D- 45964 Gladbeck / Germany

phone + 49 (0) 2043 9738 0 fax + 49 (0) 2043 9738 50 email: info@glama.de History.indd 3

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Al

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