China's aluminum industry needs urgently to realize high-tech transformation and upgrading

The aluminum industry is an important basic raw material industry that is characterized by resources, energy, capital, and technology. According to relevant department statistics, in 2006, China’s output of electrolytic aluminum remained the first in the world for four consecutive years, and processing output of alumina and aluminum ranked first in the world for the first time.

However, with the development of China's aluminum industry from the "quantity" mainly to the "quality"-based new stage, some new problems such as resources, energy, environment and high-tech product development have gradually become the bottleneck restricting the development of the industry.

In order to ensure the healthy and stable development of China's aluminum industry and meet the needs of all industries, the aluminum industry must overcome the current constraints on its own development and strive to take the path of sustainable development. Relying on scientific and technological progress to overcome various obstacles in the sustainable development of the aluminum industry, the use of high technology to transform traditional industries has become the key to the sustainable development of the aluminum industry.

Raw materials and energy consumption become weaknesses in development

It is understood that China's bauxite reserves only account for 2.4% of the world's total, but annual production accounts for 8% of the world's total, and mining consumption is greater than the growth of proven reserves. In addition, the indiscriminate use of bauxite resources in China is prominent and the recovery rate is only 40%, which is far below the level of 80% in foreign countries, causing a serious waste of domestic bauxite resources. At the same time, the scale of alumina enterprises in China is generally small, the production process is relatively backward, and the production cost is higher than the international average by more than 50%. Alumina is a non-renewable resource. According to the estimation of alumina production capacity during the “11th Five-Year Plan” period, the proven reserves in China can only last for about 10 years. The development of the alumina industry is bound to be limited by resources.

With the continuous and substantial increase in alumina production, China’s alumina imports began to decline steadily, but the dependence on imported bauxite was significantly increased. Statistics show that the external dependence of China's bauxite supply has rapidly risen from 9.4% in 2005 to 26.2% in 2006; it is expected that this indicator will further increase to 47.3% by 2008. The shortage or even interruption of raw materials for bauxite will affect the smooth and healthy development of the entire aluminum industry in China.

At the same time, the problem of the disorderly construction of alumina in the past two years has been a serious problem. Aluminium projects blindly constructed despite resource guarantees and external conditions have been banned for many times. Xu Yankun, director of the Minerals Department of the China Minmetals Chemicals Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, said that the blind investment in the alumina project has led to a large-scale disorderly mining of bauxite resources, which has added to the shortage of bauxite resources in the country, resulting in the protection of local resources in the Chinese aluminum industry. The number of years has drastically shortened, and it is vulnerable to the impact of the international market, which is very unfavorable to the sustainable development of the entire industry.

In addition, the aluminum oxide downstream industry electrolytic aluminum is a large energy consumer, it is understood that the production of 1 ton of electrolytic aluminum consumes about 15,000 kwh of electricity and 1.95 tons of aluminum oxide; the cost of electrolytic aluminum constitutes about 35% to 40% of electricity. Alumina accounts for more than 40%. Electricity, alumina consumption and price levels have a fundamental impact on the cost control and market prospects of the electrolytic aluminum industry.

According to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission, there are currently 21 electrolytic aluminum projects under construction and proposed in China, and in total there will be 2.52 million tons of new electrolytic aluminum production capacity in the future. According to the optimistic forecast of domestic electrolytic aluminum consumption by related agencies, even if the consumption growth rate reaches 25%, it will only increase the consumption of about 2.2 million tons. The increase in supply is much greater than the increase in consumption.

In this regard, Xu Yankun believes that the country should continue to strengthen the regulation and control of the alumina industry, strengthen the approval and inspection of the current alumina projects under construction, and resolutely investigate and punish illegally launched alumina projects, control new production capacity and eliminate existing backward production capacity. To be carried out simultaneously to prevent the overheating of investment in the alumina industry; on the other hand, the management of bauxite resources should be strengthened, foreign advanced technologies introduced, the level of mining increased, and the waste of bauxite resources avoided; third, the industrial structure of the aluminum industry must be adjusted in a timely manner. Encourage qualified companies to go global, participate in international alumina production investment, and strengthen the control and development of upstream bauxite resources.

Independent innovation accelerates the upgrading of industrial structure

A few days ago, a scientific and technological achievement entitled "Aluminum Electrolyzer Double Balanced Control Technology" passed the project appraisal of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Appraisal Committee. It is understood that this technology has determined the technical route of "low molecular weight ratio, low temperature, and appropriate degree of superheat" in aluminum reduction cells, making full use of informational control means to achieve on-line control of superheat, and developing a balance-type alumina concentration control technology. The adjustment strategy for the addition of aluminum fluoride was determined to achieve automatic on-line adjustment of the set voltage and automatic deduction of a more reasonable aluminum out plan.

Zhang Guocheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, stated that the successful development and application of this technology will make the production and management of electrolytic aluminum more standardized and reasonable, reduce the influence of artificial factors in the electrolytic tank, thereby comprehensively improving technical and economic indicators such as current efficiency, and reducing consumption and reduction. Emissions and lightening of labor intensity have made positive contributions to the industrialization of China's aluminum industry's advanced control technologies and the application of high-tech to transform traditional industries.

Niu Yinjian of the China Nonferrous Metals Association believes that accelerating the upgrading of the non-ferrous metals industry such as the aluminum industry must follow the ideas of circular economy and green economy and use high technology to transform traditional industries. It is necessary to establish a group of companies that save both resources and energy while being environmentally friendly. High-tech industries with high technological content, strong market competitiveness, and good economic benefits emerging non-ferrous metals.

If the unilateral increase or optimization of output and indicators only reflects the shift in production capacity from the surface, then reducing energy consumption and emissions, and implementing circular economy are the keys to achieving rapid industrial development.

In order to solve the problems of high cost and high energy consumption of traditional processes, China National Aluminum Corporation Zhongzhou Branch and Central South University jointly developed a new alumina production process with enhanced intellectual property and reinforced sintering to increase alumina production by 30%. In view of the characteristics of China's bauxite mines which are mostly low-grade ore and the backwardness and outdated equipment in China's aluminum smelting industry, the company has also succeeded in overcoming the original innovation in the production of alumina by the Bayer process, with the help of science and technology institutions. Technology, followed by research and development of the ore dressing Bayer method plus mineral enrichment dissolution technology.

According to Wang Yonghong, deputy general manager of Chinalco Zhongzhou Branch, the sintering alumina process can reduce energy consumption by 25%, and the cost per ton of oxygen and aluminum has dropped by more than 130 yuan. The re-development and utilization of the new art of alumina production by the intensified sintering process will increase alumina production capacity by 50%, energy consumption by 40%, waste residue by 52%, and cost reduction by 50%. Each year it will save approximately 680,000 tons of raw coal and 120,000 tons of limestone. Tons of water and water will be 2 million tons; red mud will be reduced by about 1.1 million tons, and new benefits for three years will be about 2.5 billion yuan.

Resources, energy, and the environment are problems that need to be solved in the aluminum industry for a long time. Liu Health, deputy general manager of China Aluminum Guizhou Branch, believes that accelerating the technological innovation of the aluminum industry is the basis, and the system management is the guarantee, while the economic efficiency is the driving force.

Products are the ultimate goal of production. The variety, quality, and structure of products are related to the economic benefits and market competitiveness of companies and even the industry. Therefore, new product development is strengthened, product quality is improved, and the product structure is adjusted in time according to market demand. Sustained development is very important.

Niu Yinjian suggested that a common key technology for the preparation of a number of common non-ferrous metal new materials should be studied to meet the needs of domestic users and to replace imports. Such as aluminum alloy products, should increase the processing of large sections and plates, finishing and heat treatment technology, thin slab casting and blanking technology, lithium aluminum alloy engineering development and impurity control technology and other R & D investment. Really take the road of resource-saving and environment-friendly industry development, and improve the industrial chain of “bauxite ore—aluminum—electrolytic aluminum—aluminum processing” through technological innovation.