Technical information
Aluminum also reduces the consumption of many other resources:
- Aluminum packaging materials are resistant to light, air, and moisture, thus reducing food waste and spoilage.
- Aluminum windows, facades, and infill walls help increase the natural penetration of light and heat, thereby reducing the cost of artificial lighting and heating.
- Aluminum is resistant to corrosion, and therefore structures require only minimal maintenance.
- Cars and trucks made of lightweight aluminum are energy efficient and consume less fuel.
- Aluminum is 100% recyclable, it can be used repeatedly without losing its properties, using only 5% of the energy that was necessary for its initial production.
The first particles were produced by the Dane Oersted in 1911. 1825. The first real pieces of metallic aluminium were produced by the German Wöhler in 1827. The first to develop a process for the industrial production of aluminium by reducing AlCl3 with metallic sodium was the Frenchman Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville in 1854.
The Bayer method of obtaining the oxide (1888) and the Hall-Héroult (1886) method of producing aluminium using electrolysis and aluminium oxide, enabled the production of aluminium in tonnes and are still used today. From 4 tonnes of bauxite (4 tonnes of coal and 0.5 tonnes of caustic soda are added) 2 tonnes of aluminium oxide are obtained and from this 1 tonne of aluminium (4 tonnes of carbon and 15 MWh of electrical energy are consumed). The main requirements are bauxite, coal and cheap energy.
Compared to the thousands of years that humanity has used bronze, copper, lead, iron, etc., aluminum has only been available for a very short time.
