WHAT IS ALUMINUM? Hey Engineering Lovers, my name is Gustavo Pereira, and today we are going to talk about this metal here, Aluminum. Lightweight, durable and functional: these are the qualities that make aluminum one of the leading engineering materials of our time.
We can find aluminum in the houses we live in, in the cars we drive, in the trains and planes that take us long distances, in the cell phones and computers we use every day, on the shelves of our refrigerators and even in modern interior designs. But it's funny to think that about 200 years ago, very little was known about this metal. Aluminum is a silvery white metal, and is the 13th element on the periodic table.
A surprising fact about aluminum is that it is the most widespread metal on Earth, accounting for over 8% of the mass of the Earth's core. It is also the third most common chemical element on our planet after oxygen and silicon. At the same time, because it easily binds to other elements, pure aluminum is not found in nature.
This is the reason why people learned about it relatively recently. Formally, aluminum was first produced in 1824 and it took people another fifty years to learn how to produce it on an industrial scale. The most common form of aluminum found in nature is aluminum sulfates.
Sulfates are inorganic salts derived from sulfuric acid that have the sulfate anion (SO42-) bound to one or more metallic elements, forming ionic compounds . cesium or based on a metal from the third group of the periodic table, such as aluminum. Aluminum sulphates are still used today to clean water, for cooking, in medicine, cosmetology, the chemical industry and other sectors.
By the way, aluminum got its name from aluminum sulfates, which in Latin were called alum. Gemstones such as ruby, sapphire, aquamarine and emerald are also aluminum minerals. The first two are aluminum oxides (Al2O3) in crystal form.
It is naturally transparent and second only to diamonds in terms of strength. Sapphire is used in bulletproof glass, airplane windows, and even scratch-resistant smartphone screens. Meanwhile, one of the less precious corundum minerals, emery, is used as an abrasive.
Today, we know about 300 aluminum compounds and minerals that contain aluminum, from feldspar, which is an important mineral source on Earth, to ruby, sapphire and emerald, which are much less common. But regardless of how commonplace aluminum may be, it might have remained hidden forever if not for electricity. The discovery of aluminum became possible when scientists were able to use electricity to break down chemical compounds into their elements.
In the 19th century, Danish physicist Christian Oersted used electrolysis to obtain aluminum. Electrolysis or electrolytic reduction is the process used to produce aluminum, or rather decompose it into aluminum in its reaction. Another very common mineral, bauxite, is used today as a raw material in the production of aluminum.
Bauxite is a clay mineral that has various modifications of aluminum hydroxide mixed with iron, silicon, titanium, sulfur, gallium, chromium, vanadium oxides, as well as sulfuric calcium, iron and magnesium carbonates. In other words, typical bauxite contains almost half of the periodic table. By the way, because of the texture of bauxite, about a hundred years ago, aluminum was often poetically referred to as silver obtained from clay.
On average, 4 to 5 tons of bauxite are needed to produce 1 ton of aluminum. Bauxite was discovered in 1821 by geologist Pierre Berthier in southern France. About 90% of the global supply of bauxite is found in tropical and subtropical areas such as Guinea, Australia, Vietnam, Brazil, India and Jamaica.
In the first stage of aluminum production, bauxite is transformed into alumina, or aluminum oxide. Alumina looks like a white powder and is then processed into aluminum in aluminum foundries using electrolytic reduction. Aluminum production requires huge amounts of electricity, around 15 MWH per ton of production.
This is approximately how much a block of 100 apartments consumes in a month. Therefore, the best location for an aluminum smelter is close to a powerful, preferably renewable energy source. Hydroelectric power plants are the best option as they are the most powerful 'green' energy sources available today.
But why is aluminum so used? Aluminum offers a rare combination of valuable properties. It is one of the lightest metals in the world, being almost three times lighter than iron, but it is also very strong, extremely flexible and resistant to corrosion because its surface is always covered by an extremely thin and yet very strong layer of oxide film.
It does not magnetize, but it is a very good conductor of electricity and can form alloys with virtually all other metals. Aluminum can be easily processed using pressure both when it is hot and when it is cold. The interesting thing is that it doesn't catch fire, it doesn't need special paint for its protection and unlike plastics, it's not toxic.
It is also very flexible, so sheets as small as 4 microns thick can be made with it, as well as extra fine yarn. The extra-thin foil that can be made from aluminum is three times thinner than a human hair. In addition, aluminum is more cost-effective than other metals and materials.
Because aluminum easily forms compounds with other chemical elements, a wide variety of aluminum alloys have been developed. Even a very small amount of additives can drastically change the properties of the metal, making it possible to use it in new areas. For example, in everyday life you can find aluminum mixed with silicon and magnesium literally on the road.
The famous alloy wheels on cars are made from an aluminum alloy. But not only on wheels, but also on engines, chassis and other parts of modern cars. As for the zinc aluminum alloy, chances are you are holding it now as it is this alloy that is widely used in the production of mobile phones and tablets.
Meanwhile, scientists continue to develop new aluminum alloys. Modern construction, automotive, aviation, energy, food and other industries would be impossible without aluminum. Furthermore, aluminum has become a symbol of progress as all cutting-edge devices and vehicles are made of aluminum.
Its melting point is around 660 degrees Celsius, meaning it melts and becomes liquid at that temperature. Due to its relatively low melting temperature, many people tend to create small aluminum foundries at home to fuse aluminum into other parts. I myself have already created an aluminum oven at home to melt cans, and if you want us to create and show you how to make a mini aluminum foundry at home, leave it here in the comments.
The International Aluminum Institute, or IAI estimates that there are currently 400 million tons of aluminum being used in infrastructure, transportation and domestically in the world. It seems that the mix of qualities listed above would be enough to make aluminum the first choice in the industry. However, there is another equally significant property: aluminum can be reused over and over again.
As I already said that many people end up creating aluminum foundries at home, this shows that both aluminum and its alloys can be melted and reused without compromising their mechanical properties. Scientists have estimated that 1 kg of recycled aluminum cans can save up to 8 kg of bauxite, 4 kg of various fluorides and up to 15 KWH of electricity. That is, that little can of some drink that you drank that is made of aluminum, can become another can or any other aluminum alloy, without losing its properties.
About 75% of the aluminum produced when the aluminum industry existed is still in use today. And you, did you like to know about these aluminum curiosities? Is there any object that has aluminum near you?
Interested in creating an aluminum foundry to produce parts there in your house? Leave it here in the comments that I want to know I'm going to leave here two videos that I think you would be interested in and that are worth checking out, so click on one of them and watch. Help us by leaving your like on the video, subscribing to the channel if you are not subscribed, and activating the notification bell to follow our videos.
That's it my friends, a hug, and I'll be waiting for you in the next video.
