Earthquake's impact on aluminum smelters still to be calculated

Shanghai. May 13. INTERFAX-CHINA

Damaged facilities and disrupted power supplies are expected to affect aluminum smelters in earthquake-hit areas of Sichuan Province, though broken communication lines has made it difficult to calculate the degree of impact, analysts told Interfax today.

According to State Grid, six transformer substations were shut down, reducing power supply to the Sichuan power grid by 4 million kilovolts after a 500-KV and five 220-KV transformer substations in Sichuan were affected by the earthquake. In addition, five power plants in western Sichuan were disconnected from the power grid.

"Any possible structural damage to facilities or power cuts will heavily impact aluminum production. Sichuan Meishan Aostar Aluminum Co. Ltd. (Meishan Aostar) and Sichuan Guangyuan Aostar Aluminum Co. Ltd., in Sichuan's Meishan City and Guangyuan City close to Wenchuan County, are likely to be affected," Huang Fulong, an analyst at Kaichao Investment Bank, said.
"Communication in those areas struck by the earthquake was cut though, making it impossible to receive up-to-date information," Huang said.

"Although the possible impact of the earthquake has not yet been confirmed, an aluminum smelter in Sichuan said the affect on production is minimal. However, the current lack of direct communication to the earthquake affected areas prevents us from confirming the information, and all we can do is wait and see if smelters have cut production or shut down altogether," Li Yang, an analyst with Beijing Antaike Information, said today.
"Domestic aluminum prices, which may temporarily go up due to the disruption, are not expected to be affected in the long term as long as there are no major production cuts or halts," Li said.

When contacted by Interfax, a Bosai Minerals Group official based in Nanchuan county, Chongqing Municipality, who asked to remain anonymous, said "Nanchuan experienced slight tremors yesterday afternoon, but it did not impact operation However, we have been trying to get in touch with our smelter in Aba Prefecture, Wenchuan county, and this morning sent out search parties to make contact with the smelter."

Bosai's Aba Aluminum Smelter is set to attain an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of aluminum this year, and expects to produce 150,000 tons of aluminum. Chongqing-based Bosai, a bauxite miner and alumina smelter, acquired Aba Aluminum in 2006.
China's strongest earthquake in more than three decades hit Wenchuan County at 14:28 Beijing time yesterday, killing more than 11,900 in towns and cities in Sichuan Province and its surrounds. Casualties are expected to rise rapidly. Wenchuan County is about 100 kilometers northwest of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan.

Meishan Aostar had just resumed normal production on April 25 at its aluminum smelting lines in Sichuan. It had shut down 84 electrolytic anodes earlier this year after local power transmission infrastructure was damaged and partly shut down during the heavy snowstorms at the beginning of the year. The company's primary aluminum capacity stands at about 280,000 tons per annum.

The most-traded July aluminum contracts on Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at RMB 18,915 ($2,709.89) today, up 0.53 percent from the previous trading day, while the spot aluminum prices today on the Shanghai market were between RMB 18,450 ($2,639.98) and RMB 18,470 ($2,642.84) per ton, up RMB 20 ($2.86) from yesterday.

Molten Aluminum Spills At Detroit Lakes Foundry

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. - Crews were chipping away aluminum that spilled from a valve and coated a floor 2 1/2 inches deep at a Detroit Lakes foundry. Almost three tons of the molten metal spilled at Team Industries on Monday morning. Plant manager Jeff Sullivan says one of four furnaces was being cleaned when the cleaning apparatus struck a value, dumping the aluminum on the floor. No one was hurt. The spill was expected to be cleaned up in time for the second shift. A damage estimate was not available. The aluminum covered an area ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet.

Associated Press

Why does a ball go farther when hit with an aluminum bat?

Babe Ruth's Baseball Bat

Asif Shakur, Chair of Physics and Engineering at Salisbury State University, gives the following explanation:

Aluminum is a hard material. It doesn't have a lot of "give." In other words, aluminum is highly elastic. Therefore, very little of the ball's initial kinetic energy (the energy associated with motion) is used up in permanently deforming the aluminum. Indeed, the aluminum springs back quickly and the ball retains much of its initial energy. In contrast, wood is less elastic: it is deformed permanently and to a greater extent than aluminum. As a result, a ball colliding with a wooden bat, such as the replica of Babe Ruth's Louisville Slugger (below), loses more of its initial kinetic energy. At the extreme, a ball colliding with silly putty--a plastic that is completely inelastic--could lose almost all its kinetic energy.

During an elastic collision, a ball experiences an incredibly large force for an incredibly short time, causing it to reverse direction at a speed that can be greater than its initial speed. For example, a bullet gains speed when it ricochets off an approaching artillery shell, but looses almost all of its kinetic energy when shot into a wooden block. One must be very careful to distinguish between the expressions "losing kinetic energy" and "losing energy." The total energy is not lost; the kinetic energy is transformed into other forms of energy such as heat. Although heat is a wonderful thing on a cold morning, it does not make our ball move any faster.
The law of conservation of momentum--a profound physical law--governs the motion of colliding objects. An object's momentum equals the product of its mass and its velocity, or mv. And conservation means that the total momentum of objects entering into a collision equals their total momentum after the collision. This law holds whether the collision is elastic or inelastic. On the other hand, the objects' kinetic energy--equal to 1/2mv2--before the collision is not necessarily equal to the kinetic energy after the collision. Indeed, elastic collisions are characterized by the conservation of kinetic energy, whereas inelastic collisions are characterized by the "loss" of kinetic energy into heat, sound and so forth.

Unfortunately, the only way to make this discussion more cogent is to resort to equations. Consider a bullet of mass m and speed v colliding with a stationary block of wood of mass M. After the collision, the bullet is lodged in the wood and the "system" of both the bullet and the block move with a common speed V. Conservation of momentum then says that mv + 0 = (m+M)V. It would be incorrect to write a "conservation of kinetic energy" equation for this case, along the lines of 1/2mv2 +0 = 1/2(M+m)V2. That equation is patently incorrect. In fact, the first equation implies that the second cannot be true! Try yourself by plugging in some numbers. To further elucidate this point, let us calculate the ratio of the kinetic energy of the bullet and block system and the initial kinetic energy of the bullet: what is 1/2(M+m)V2 divided by 1/2mv2?

From the first equation, we know that V = m/(M+m). Substituting this value into our ratio, we find that the kinetic energy of the bullet and block divided by the kinetic energy of bullet alone equals m/(M+m). If m is 10 grams and M is 990 grams, the bullet loses more than 99 percent of its initial kinetic energy.

The moral of the story is that if you want the ball to have a high speed (lots of kinetic energy), make sure that the collision is as close to being elastic as possible. Of course, this begs the question: Why not use a big, bad steel bat? But that's another story for another day!

From www.sciam.com

How to Get Aluminum From Bauxite

An employee at the Alcoa San Ciprian, Spain, plant examines a conveyor belt
full of bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made.

This video from the Discovery Channel shows the process by which aluminum is made from bauxite.

View the video.

Learn more.

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CastExpo'08 Highlights Global Warming, Energy Costs

U.S. dependence on oil, escalating energy costs, and climate change legislation are all important issues facing metalcasters today. All three of these topics will be featured at the 112th Metalcasting Congress to be held in conjunction with CastExpo'08 this May in Atlanta.The U.S. dependence on petroleum for transportation fuels has been a great cause for concern. The Hoyt Memorial Lecture, "FreedomCAR and Casting: Research & Development of Cast Automotive Components," by Joseph Carpenter Jr., U.S. Department of Energy, on Monday, May 19, at 10:15 a.m., highlights the latest research in advanced automotive technologies aimed at reducing reliance on petroleum for transportation. The lecture will focus on the major role cast aluminum and magnesium automotive components have played in the research. Global climate change legislation is a hot topic; however, its final effect on the metalcasting industry remains to be seen. The special session, "Global Warming and the Metalcasting Industry," on Tuesday, May 20, at 8:30 a.m., will inform you of AFS's involvement in climate change issues, define key issues, preview pending legislation, and describe potential costs of compliance. Plan to attend this session to gain awareness of the potential effect global warming legislation will have on your operation.The cost of energy is a big part of the operating budget for metalcasting facilities, and any reduction in energy consumption results in direct bottom-line savings. The special congress workshop, "Forum on Energy Savings," on Tuesday, May 20, at 10:00 a.m., focuses on simple changes metalcasting facilities can make that result in major reductions in these costs. Using metalcasting facility case studies, the workshop will demonstrate how practical energy saving techniques can be applied immediately to your operation.The AFS Town Hall Meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 17, at 11:30 a.m., will review the latest programs offered by AFS/CMI, as well as a chance to meet the AFS National Officers, Board of Directors and staff. Come prepared to discuss current and future metalcasting issues.Don't wait. Register early at reduced rates at www.castexpo.com.

Yamaha to introduce DiASil cylinder in India

Parallel to a slew of launches, Yamaha Motor India is aiming to demonstrate its technological prowess with the launch of DiASil Cylinder in the Indian market. Yamaha “DiASil Cylinder” is used on the new 150cc YZF-R15 which was unveiled at Auto Expo 2008 and will be released in the market later this year.

Developed in 2002 by Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, Yamaha “DiASil Cylinder” is an all-aluminum die-cast cylinder with 60% better cooling performance and 30% cheaper production cost than a conventional cylinder. Yamaha “DiASil Cylinder”, is the world’s first all-aluminum die-cast cylinder and it achieves cooling performance equivalent to that of a nickel-plated cylinder, which is currently recognized as the best in the industry, but at a significantly lower production cost than a nickel-plated cylinder.

“DiASil", an abbreviation for "Die-casting Aluminum-Silicon", is a technology which brings together an ideal combination of material, manufacturing technology and environmental friendliness. The material used is a 20% silicon content aluminum alloy, the manufacturing technology is the Yamaha CF Aluminum Die-cast Technology, which enables the production of an all-aluminum die-cast cylinder. It is Yamaha’s exclusive CF Aluminum Die-cast Technology that enables the mass production of a die-cast cylinder made completely of 20% silicon content aluminum alloy, something that could not be done with conventional die casting methods.

According to Mr. Sanjay Tripathi, Head of Dept- Product Planning & Strategy, “Conventional engine cylinders have a steel liner to reduce the friction resulting from the piston's movement. The "DiASil" cylinder is made by the exclusive Yamaha Aluminum Controlled Forging (CF) technology. Because the "DiASil" Cylinder is all aluminum, it has excellent heat dissipation qualities and reduces engine weight at the same time. In comparison to cast steel liner type aluminum cylinders, the DiASil cylinder has 60% better cooling performance at 30% lower manufacturing cost and enables 30% lighter design which results in better power to weight ratio besides excellent recyclability”.

“Considering the environment-friendly nature of aluminum, we have made aluminum technologies part of our core technology and actively increasing the use of aluminum in our products. Our CF Aluminum Die-cast Technology enables the mass production of die-cast aluminum parts that are both thinner and larger than was possible in the past. This same technology has been applied to the manufacture of engine parts. This is also a technology that can be easily transferred to overseas Yamaha manufacturing bases. Yamaha also plans to apply to new areas automobile and outboard motor engine parts”, he added.

This next-generation technology promises to contribute to improved function and product quality for the majority of Asian market motorcycles and automobiles that presently use conventional pistons with cast steel liners.

Sourced From: Mavcomm Consulting Pvt Ltd