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I've worked in aluminium smelters. Three interesting things: They are hugely energy intensive and a good way of exporting cheap electricity from otherwise har
by lancewiggs 13y ago
I've worked in aluminium smelters. Three interesting things:
They are hugely energy intensive and a good way of exporting cheap electricity from otherwise hard to connect locations. The very bottom of New Zealand, The North east of South Africa as well as Mozambique, the Middle East and of course Norway and Russia. Hydroelectric power, free once the dam is built, is ideal, but oil (Middle East) and coal (Southern Africa) are also used.
They are generally located next to a port so that bulk shipments of alumina and carbon (coal) are easily transferred. The carbon is used to make the anodes and cathodes used in the giant 'pots' where the reaction happens.
The metal itself is alloyed up in final form, but is generally shipped from the smelters in pure ignots, at a price related to the LME quoted price.
And a bonus - we were forbidden to have aluminium cans on site. If they ended up in a pot (full of molten bubbling alumina, cryolite and aluminium) then any fluid left inside the can would get super heated and result in an explosion.
- randomafrican 13y agoIceland !
- caf 13y ago(geothermal)
- bigiain 13y agoI've heard Alimin(i)um referred to as "frozen electricity" and "solid electricity" - the real "value" in Al ingots is based on the electricity required to separate it from the oxygen in bauxite. Another alumin(i)um/electricity anecdote - apparently the smelter in the mountains behind Portland, which was built to take advantage of the cheap hydro electricity there, closed down when Google and Amazon built datacanters there and outbid the Alumin(i)um companies for the electricity…
- mkingston 13y agoI knew I recognised your user name (maybe the fact you mentioned NZ first triggered something in my mind). Quite off topic, but you may be able to answer this: do you have any idea whether shutting down Tiwai Point would indeed affect NZ electricity prices significantly? It's kind of moot now (ugh), but I'm curious.
- lancewiggs 13y agoIt would release demand (15% of total) back to the market, so yes it would. It would also reduce our CO2 emissions, lose jobs from an area that needs them and reduce GDP from exporting that Aluminium and increase profits for the newly sold-down electricity companies. And so on. It's all quite complex but a good analysis should show the net gain or loss. But my take is that the plant can be a lot more efficient.
- mkingston 13y agoThat's exactly what I had expected. I had a suspicion that Manapouri may not have been adequately connected to the grid for sufficient power distribution in the very short term; but even more so, I thought National's assertion that closing down Tiwai wouldn't affect power prices was quite likely disingenuous. It is quite a complex issue, yes. Looks like treasury was fairly firmly against subsidising the smelter from an economic standpoint. Of course there are social issues, too. More efficient how? Power consumption? Or just better margins? If power consumption; presumedly not enough to significantly alter electricity prices for others? Is there anything I can read on this?