Aluminum - aluminum with technical purity, containing various amounts of impurities, depending on the method of preparation. Electrolytic refining produces aluminum containing 99.95 - 99.955% Al. Metallurgical aluminum, obtained by electrolysis of aluminum oxide in molten cryolite, contains 99.0 - 99.8% Al. With regard to the chemical element (Al, Latin aluminum) the term "aluminum" is used. According to some sources and in colloquial speech, the term "aluminum" also refers to the chemical element (aluminum, Al).

Aluminum recycling

With the development of the global economy, not only has the number of aluminum packaging increased, which is a measure of the progress of civilization, but also increased the amount of rubbish in the natural environment. Among the waste there are also useful ones that create the possibility of recycling, eg aluminum scrap. Aluminum scrap is one of those wastes that can be recycled and used! And what's important, its recycling can be repeated indefinitely!

Cable recycling is a growing and profitable segment of the secondary waste market.

Only a few companies are still involved in it, and even fewer do it in an effective way, in accordance with European standards.
Profit provides a large difference between the price of cable scrap and prices for aluminum scrap.

This is what MACHTEK machines are used for - they turn old cables into valuable raw materials, such as aluminum.

Read more about MACHTEK machines to start earning the recovery of aluminum >>>

Aluminum production technology

Aluminum is mainly obtained from bauxite. Mine output goes to the enrichment plant, where bauxite is converted into aluminum oxide. The first operations are:

    fragmentation of ore to the consistency of sand in a ball mill,
    aluminum oxide extraction during the Bayer process, in which ground bauxite is mixed with quicklime and sodium hydroxide.

The product is placed in pressure tanks and heated to 240°C, resulting in the formation of sodium aluminate. After separation of insoluble impurities from sodium aluminate in gravity tanks, hydrolysis is carried out. In the presence of nuclei, aluminum hydroxide is precipitated, which is converted into aluminum oxide in the calcination process.

In the Halel-Heroult electrolytic process, aluminum oxide is converted into free metal as a result of:

    dissolution of aluminum oxide in the electrolyte, which is molten cryolite at a temperature above 900°C,
    dip the graphite anode into the bathtub and conduct electrolysis with a current of hundreds of thousands of amperes.

The resulting metal falls to the bottom of the tub in a liquid form and is gradually removed.