The production of aluminum ingots consists of production links such as bauxite mining, alumina production, and aluminum electrolysis.
1. There are three main types of bauxite for the production of alumina: gibbsite, diaspore, and boehmite. Among the proven global reserves of bauxite, 92% are weathered laterite-type bauxite, which belongs to the gibbsite type. These bauxites are characterized by low silicon, high iron, and high aluminum-to-silicon ratio, and are concentrated in Africa. West, Oceania and Central and South America. The remaining 8% is sedimentary bauxite, which belongs to boehmite and diaspore type, with medium and low grades, mainly distributed in Greece, the former Yugoslavia and Hungary. Due to the different characteristics of the three types of bauxite, various alumina production enterprises have adopted different production processes. At present, there are mainly three types of Bayer process, soda lime sintering process and Bayer-sintering combined process. Usually high-grade bauxite is produced by Bayer method, and low-grade bauxite is produced by combined method or sintering method. Due to its simple process and low energy consumption, the Bayer process has become the most widely used method in the current alumina production, accounting for about 95% of the total global alumina production.
Aluminum electrolysis production can be divided into three categories: side-inserted anode rod self-baking tank, top-inserted anode rod self-baking tank and pre-baked anode tank. The self-baking tank production electrolytic aluminum technology has the characteristics of simple equipment, short construction period and low investment, but the flue gas cannot be treated, the environment is seriously polluted, the mechanization is difficult, the labor intensity is high, it is not easy to enlarge, the single tank output is low, and some are not easy to overcome. The downside is that the production process is being phased out. At present, most countries and production enterprises in the world are using large-scale pre-baked tanks. The current intensity of the tank reaches more than 350KA, which not only has a high degree of automation, low energy consumption, and high output per tank, but also meets the requirements of environmental protection regulations.
2. Classification of aluminum and aluminum products
1. The production process of electrolytic aluminum: bauxite → alumina → electrolytic aluminum.
2. According to the main component content of aluminum ingots, it can be divided into three categories: high-grade pure aluminum (aluminum content 99.93-99.999), industrial high-purity aluminum (aluminum content 99.85-99.90), industrial pure aluminum (aluminum content 98.0-99.7) .
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