Aluminium International Today Highlights 2020 by Quartz Business Media

INDUSTRY NEWS - COMPANY PROFILES - COVID-19: RECOVERY - SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

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THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

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2020 HIGHLIGHTS

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CONTENTS 1

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Digital Edition No8 - 2020 Highlights Editorial Editor: Nadine Bloxsome Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855115 nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

2 Comment and News

COVER INDUSTRY NEWS - COMPANY PROFILES - COVID-19: RECOVERY - SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

Production Editor: Annie Baker

Sales

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THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

Sales Manager: Nathan Jupp nathanjupp@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855027 Sales Director: Ken Clark kenclark@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855117

Covid-19 8 UK aluminium industry helps in the ﬁght against COVID-19 10 IAI: Optimism lies ahead post-COVID Mining & reﬁning 12 Covid-19 fails to stop bauxite mining

Aluminum Processing Fluids

Primary 17 Celebrating aluminium

Advertisement Production Production Executive: Martin Lawrence

Secondary processing 20 Sorting the scrap 24 Ultromex proﬁle: Finding the value in smelting waste

Managing Director: Tony Crinion CEO: Steve Diprose

Circulation/subscriptions Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 email subscriptions@quartzltd.com Annual subscription: UK £235, all other countries £255. For two year subscription: UK £420, all other countries £455. Airmail prices on request. Single copies £43

2020 HIGHLIGHTS FRONT COVER COURTESY OF TOTAL LUBRICANTS

Future of manufacturing 27 Industry 4.0: The future of manufacturing 30 New plans for cans Company proﬁle 32 GARMCO - playing a part in shaping a better tomorrow

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Furnace technology 35 Digitalisation in industrial furnace manufacturing Rolling 38 Assan Alüminyum’s sustainability-oriented approach guides it through the pandemic 40 Aluminium Foil: Rolling with the times

ALUMINIUM INTERNATIONAL TODAY is published six times a year by Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email: aluminium@quartzltd.com Aluminium International Today (USO No; 022-344) is published bi-monthly by Quartz Business Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Aluminium International c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Printed in the UK by: Pensord, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood, Gwent, NP12 2YA, UK

Slug manufacturing 42 Focus on: Slug manufacturing Transport & handling 45 AGV’s will do the job 48 Joining our strengths, today, more than ever

Automotive 50 The new international standard for automotive lightweighting 52 How sustainable materials can reduce the life-cycle footprints of cars

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Sustainability 55 Entering the age of sustainable aluminium

ISSN1475-455X

Aluminium International Today

2020 Highlights

2 COMMENT - TOP 2020 NEWS STORIES

Apple buys first-ever carbon-free aluminium

2020 Highlights It feels a bit odd calling this year’s special December issue ‘Highlights’, because of the strange year we have all experienced! However, if this year has taught us anything, it is that we need to take joy from the little things and so, we have gathered together the most popular articles and news stories from the past year and wrapped them altogether neatly for you to enjoy...just minus the Christmas bow! As this time of year is also one to take some time to reflect, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of our advertisers and readers for your continued support. We know it has not been easy for everyone and across the Aluminium International Today portfolio, we have worked to try and keep you upto-date with as much industry news as possible, through digital issues, webinars and even an online version of the Future Aluminium Forum. We will continue to offer these new, digital platforms as we head in to 2021, but we also hope we can get back to a world with live B2B events and face-to-face networking! In the meantime, please keep an eye on www.aluminiumtoday.com for details on how you can make the most out of our online content and also let us know if there are any other ways we can work to help keep the sector connected. This just leaves me to say that I hope you enjoy this issue and thank you again. I hope you and your families stay safe and well and wish you a Happy New Year...whatever it brings! 2020 Highlights

ELYSIS has successfully produced the first commercial batch of aluminium without any direct carbon dioxide emissions, using a breakthrough, carbon-free aluminium smelting technology. Apple’s purchase represents an important milestone for ELYSIS, a joint-venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto, which is working to revolutionise the aluminium industry with an innovation that emits pure oxygen, eliminates all direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduces operating costs when compared to the traditional smelt-

ing process. Vincent Christ, President and CEO of ELYSIS said: “This sale is an important milestone for ELYSIS and a sign of our progress over our first year of operation. It confirms the market interest in aluminium produced using our breakthrough carbon free smelting technology. We are continuing to progress further development of our technology, with our focus on bringing it to market to revolutionise the industry.” This first sale delivered through

Rio Tinto’s commercial network demonstrates the market potential for aluminium made using ELYSIS’ technology, as the demand for environmentally sustainable products grows. Alf Barrios, Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive said: “Rio Tinto is proud to help deliver through our commercial network the sale of the industry’s first aluminium produced using carbon free smelting technology. This is another important step towards zero carbon aluminium and a more sustainable future.”

EGA celebrates 40 years since first tonne of aluminium Since production began in November 1979 at EGA’s site in Jebel Ali – then known as Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) - the aluminium sector has grown into one of the UAE’s largest industries accounting for 1.4 per cent of the economy and supporting 60,000 UAE jobs. Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) was founded in 2007 by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

President of the UAE. His Highness Sheikh Khalifa directed in 2013 that EMAL and DUBAL merge to form Emirates Global Aluminium. The company has continued to expand under the direction of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. To mark the anniversary of the first production, young UAE Nationals who will be responsible for EGA’s continuing success in the decades ahead ‘ran’ EGA for the day. Ministers also paid tribute to EGA’s contribution to the UAE’s economy and society over the past 40 years.

CANPACK: $150M investment The opening event at the end of 2019 was attended by Rafał Kos, Counselor of the President of Poland; Mr. Peter F. Giorgi, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Giorgi Global Holdings, Inc., owner of the CANPACK Group; Fernando Jaramillo, Legal Vice President and Corporate Affairs at Bavaria; Roberto Villaquiran, CANPACK Group CEO

along with the CANPACK Group’s leadership team. “Following the increased demand for sustainable and innovative aluminium packaging, the CANPACK Group has decided to accelerate its expansion into the South American market. This investment has been founded upon a strong and trust-based relationship we have

established with AB InBev. We are looking forward to expanding our business operations in Colombia as we see great potential for growth within the Colombian market,” said Peter F. Giorgi, President and CEO of Giorgi Global Holdings, Inc., owner of the CANPACK Group. With a built area of approximately 75,000m2 and more than 200 direct employees CANPACK is the first ever producer in Colombia with the ability to deliver not only standard can sizes for the local market, but also unique can formats such as 269ml and 473ml. The new facility is designed to deliver an annual production capacity of more than 1.3 billion cans, expandable to 1.9 billion depending on the business needs. Aluminium International Today

TOP 2020 NEWS STORIES

ALUMINIUM 2020 Postponed ALUMINIUM, which was to take place in Düsseldorf from 6 to 8 October, has been postponed to 18 to 20 May 2021 due to the serious consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The accompanying ALUMINIUM Conference will also be postponed tonext year. The decision was made after numerous discussions with the industry and partners, who were all in favour of postponing the fair. The aluminium industry as well as international supply chains have been hit hard by the pandemic and the lockdown. “Together with exhibitors and partners, we had long hoped to be able to get the industry back on track for October. Unfortunately this hope has not been fulfilled. The vast majority of exhibitors have therefore expressed the wish that ALUMINIUM should be rescheduled to next year,” says Michael Freter, Managing Director of organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH. With the outbreak of the Coronavirus crisis, demand for aluminium has fallen, in some cases mas-

sively. Importantly, demand from the main application industries such as automotive and aviation in new orders and call-offs fell sharply and in some cases have come to a complete standstill, according to the German association Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. (GDA). “The decision to move ALUMINIUM to May next year is, in our view, absolutely the right one. The markets for aluminium have collapsed on a broad front. I do not yet see any recovery at present,” said Marius Baader, Managing Director of Gesamtverband der Aluminiumin-

dustrie e.V. (GDA), the supporting association of ALUMINIUM. This is also underlined by Dr. Gerd Goetz, Director General of the European Aluminium industry association: “Our main focus is currently on sustainable economic measures to overcome the crisis by the EU and its member states. The aluminium industry can play a key role in the realisation of a green European action plan. Therefore ALUMINIUM is important for us especially next year, when the situation in the application industries will hopefully have eased again,” said Gerd Goetz.

TRIMET: Electrolysis 4.0 Project TRIMET Aluminium SE is participating in the “Aluminium Electrolysis 4.0” project. In cooperation with the University of Wuppertal (BUW), the materials specialist is developing innovative concepts for a more efficient production of aluminium in fused-salt electrolysis and for adapting aluminium production to the power supply through renewable energies. The aim is to reduce CO2 emissions by improving operational energy efficiency. A large number of aluminium electrolysis process optimisations are being researched and tested. The process developed by TRIMET to make aluminium electrolysis more flexible, which the company is currently testing on an industrial scale, serves as the basis. The initial results of the research project show that energy can be saved and efficiency increased by optimising cathode design, plate current measurement and process control, even in the case of flexible aluminium electrolysis. For Aluminium International Today

example, high-cost cell cathodes can be operated without critical wear. In addition, power requirements can be kept nearly constant despite the flexibilisation of the energy input by using metals with low electrical resistance in the supply lines and improved insulation in the cell wall. With the help of modern simulation models, data analysis and predictions, any deviations from optimum process conditions can be detected and corrected much faster. The required controller hardware and user interface has already been designed, programmed and installed in some furnaces for test purposes. Cost-effective plate current meas-

urement has also been developed with a new type of data evaluation in a robust implementation. The combination of these new developments leads to an energy-efficient, control-optimised aluminium electrolysis with flexible process management. In the current test phase, electrolytic furnaces equipped with the new technology show stable energy consumption, even under a flexible current feed. The prerequisite for implementation in standard operation is an energy policy framework that gives adequate consideration to a flexible production process.

GARMCO: Green products

Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill [GARMCO] has embarked on a transformative role in shaping the climate agenda through the GARMCO Green Initiative that sets the stage in steering the company’s vision for a sustainable future in a tangible direction. The GARMCO Green Initiative is the culmination of years of best practice in eco-friendly processes, and provides the template for the company’s new strategic direction of being a champion of environmental causes. The Initiative received a further boost on 18 June, 2020 when the company obtained the prestigious ISO 14021:2016 certification for successfully promoting best practices in environmental management across the organisation. The assessment for GARMCO’s certification was conducted by TUV Nord. The certification further endorses the company’s continuing efforts in minimising the adverse impact of climate change through the environmentally and eco-friendly processes already in place, and through its wide ranging portfolio of recyclable products. The Company’s Chairman, Mr. Basim AlSaie said: “We have always been passionate for protection of the environment. Obtaining the ISO 14021:2016 certification was thus a natural evolution in this direction. We place high priority on the need to have environmentally friendly products and processes as part of our commitment towards a sustainable growth while conserving the environment.” 2020 Highlights

6 TOP 2020 NEWS STORIES

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ALVANCE Aluminium Group completes acquisition of Duffel ALVANCE, the international low-carbon aluminium business, part of Sanjeev Gupta’s sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, has completed its purchase of the Duffel aluminium recycling and rolling mill near Antwerp in Belgium. Founded in 1946, Duffel is a leading European producer of premium aluminium rolled products and a pioneer in the European automotive body sheets (ABS) market. The plant has the capacity to process 250ktpa and

currently reuses around 104ktpa of aluminium scrap material, taking ALVANCE closer to its aim of reaching 1mtpa of capacity. The acquisition of the plant – to be renamed ALVANCE Aluminium Duffel – marks a significant bolstering and expansion of ALVANCE’s downstream portfolio and its ambition to be a leading supplier of value added, sustainable aluminium products to the automotive sector and other industries. ALVANCE is committed to max-

imising both the volumes and variety of value-added products produced at the 1,000 worker site and plans to increase the production capacity by significantly investing in the modernisation of its production equipment. Duffel will also benefit from synergies with ALVANCE Aluminium Dunkerque, Europe’s largest aluminium smelter, which will include a direct supply of guaranteed high-quality primary aluminium. The acquisition of Duffel will

JLR up-cycling cuts emissions Research by Jaguar Land Rover has revealed how an innovative recycling process could up-cycle aluminium waste from household appliances and end-of-life vehicles into the premium cars of the future and reduce production CO2 emissions by up to 26 per cent. The REALITY aluminium project is a key part of Jaguar Land Rover’s Destination Zero mission to reduce carbon emissions and its ambition to make societies safer and environments cleaner through relentless innovation. Engineers were able to use the recycled aluminium parts and mix it with a lower amount of primary aluminium to form a new and tested prototype alloy, comparable to the existing Jaguar Land Rover grade and quality.

Analysis of the recycling and manufacturing process revealed it has the potential to reduce alloy production CO2 emissions by up to 26 per cent compared to the current automotive grade, helping Jaguar Land Rover further close the loop on its manufacturing and use of raw materials. By recovering the high-quality automotive-grade aluminium used to manufacture vehicles, Jaguar Land Rover can re-use the premium properties as part of a blend, reducing the need for virgin aluminium in vehicle production. Typically, end-of-life vehicle scrap is exported overseas where it can be re-used for low-end applications, but new advanced separation technology has enabled it to be up-cycled back into the auto-

motive process, helping close the loop and reduce the environmental impact. The £2 million project, co-funded by Innovate UK and in partnership with Brunel University, is helping Jaguar Land Rover extend its aluminium closed loop and recycling initiatives as part of Destination Zero. Jaguar Land Rover has already reduced its global operating CO2 emissions per vehicle by 50.7 per cent since 2007 and remains committed to an ongoing decarbonisation process. Between September 2013 and March 2020, around 360,000 tonnes of closedloop scrap have been processed back into the brand’s lightweight aluminium intensive architecture, across all vehicle lines including the Jaguar XE.

Alcoa to supply low-carbon Alcoa Corporation has reached an agreement to supply ECOLUM™ rolling slabs to Gränges. ECOLUM™ is part of Alcoa’s SUSTANA™ line of low-carbon products that support supply chain sustainability. Gränges has a long-term target to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions across its entire supply chain. “Gränges is committed to reducing our climate impact from a life-cycle perspective, and thereby 2020 Highlights

enhancing our sustainability performance,” said Sofia Hedevåg, Gränges’ SVP Sustainability. “One of the key priorities in our climate strategy is to collaborate along the value chain and increase the sourcing and use of recycled aluminium and low-carbon primary aluminium since such materials significantly reduce our products’ carbon footprint.” Alcoa’s ECOLUM™ cast products are produced at hydroelec-

tric-powered aluminium smelters and guarantee no more than 2.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide smelter emissions per metric ton of aluminium. This is 75 percent better than the industry average. When also considering the upstream emissions from bauxite mining and refining, ECOLUM™ guarantees less than 4.0 metric tons of total carbon dioxide equivalents, per metric ton of aluminium.

also add to GFG Alliance’s credentials as a significant foreign direct investor in Belgium following the acquisition of the Liege steelworks from ArcelorMittal in July 2019. Duffel will also add to GFG’s drive to maximise “closed loop” operations across its value chain where waste or scrap products are either recycled by the site that produces them or by another plant within the group lowering the carbon footprint of the business and extracting even more value from the process. Duffel already recycles a large proportion of its own scrap and will expand recycling to include any potential synergies with customers and G

Hydro and Lyse to establish hydropower company The new company will be called Lyse Kraft DA and have a normal annual power production capacity of 9.5 TWh, of which Hydro will own 25.6% and Lyse 74.4%. The agreement is expected to bring synergies of approximately NOK 500 million in net present value. As a consequence of the transaction, the RSK assets will not revert to state ownership at the end of 2022, meaning Hydro can use its share of the power produced by the new company for aluminium production in Norway. “This is a great day for the future of Norwegian renewable-based industry. The agreement is strategically important for Hydro, as it secures the value of our RSK hydropower assets and contributes to predictability for further industrial development in Norway,” says Hydro President & CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim.

8 COVID-19

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UK aluminium industry helps in the fight against COVID-19 As the COVID-19 crisis unfolded globally, UK manufacturers and suppliers joined together to ensure aluminium played a vital role in providing much needed medical equipment and products. Nadine Bloxsome* explains Based in Fort William, the UK’s only smelter saw its aluminium gain a new use; to produce oxygen bottles for patients battling COVID-19, as the UK began to get to grips with the virus over the last few months. Bridgnorth Aluminium, based in Shropshire, which usually supplies aluminium to the pharmaceutical and food industries, placed the order for the oxygen bottles in March. The smelter’s Managing Director, Brian King, said: “Bridgnorth are our main customer and they have been for many years. “Originally, we faced some criticism for keeping the plant running, but the workforce have been hugely supportive and we are now being recognised by the

community for these efforts.” The smelter was also praised in a motion submitted to the Scottish Parliament by Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron, which read: “That the Parliament commends the contribution made by the ALVANCE British Aluminium smelter in Fort William and its workforce to the action to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; understands that the company is producing 20 tons of oxygen bottles, which will be used to treat patients with COVID-19; further understands that it donated protective facemasks to the Belford Hospital; acknowledges the support that so many businesses such as ALVANCE British Aluminium have given to their local communities in the Highlands and Islands and elsewhere, and wishes the

smelter and its workforce every success in their future endeavours.” When passing the motion, Mr Cameron said: “The smelter is one of many local businesses that are going the extra mile during this emergency. “It’s very reassuring to see how our business community has been so flexible and creative in its response to the pandemic.” ALVANCE also owns Europe’s largest smelter, which in turn is working to maintain production for aluminium use in blister packaging, as well as the food and pet food industry. Guillaume de Goys, Managing Director of the smelter based in Dunkerque, said: “While we have reduced production to 85%, we are continuing to serve our

Dunkerque smelter, France

*Editor, Aluminium International Today Highlights 2020

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COVID-19 9

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Metalex workers putting in extra hours to ensure demand is met for medical supplies

customers and meet this increase in demand for pharmaceutical and food packaging during this crisis. “Our customers experienced some difficulties in finding raw materials outside Europe, which is why we have focused our production in these areas.” Supplying the demand The entire UK supply chain has been commended in its efforts towards not only helping to manufacturer medical products, but also in the aluminium used in the rapid construction of temporary hospital structures and medical facilities. Metalex Products is currently working overtime at its sites in Poole, Horsham,

Birmingham and Milton Keynes to process orders for aluminium plate and bar billets being used in the rapid production of medical equipment. “To date we have supplied over 80 tonnes of plate and bar to OEM’s such as Penlon, Luxfer, Mclaren, Renishaw and a huge number of subcontractors who are working on this project, and have orders for a further 90 tonnes with more coming in every day,” said Managing Director, Paul Nicola. “As the UK’s largest independent distributor of aluminium plate and bar products we were ideally placed to assist in this work and have retained all of our staff whilst our competitors have been

furloughing large numbers of theirs.” The team at Metalex are complying with strict social distancing regulations to continue working safely, but remain committed to the cause, with many even volunteering to work over the Easter weekend to help meet the demand. “My staff have all been absolutely fantastic and have supported this program with huge enthusiasm. I would also like to thank some of our suppliers, both in the UK and in Europe who have unbelievably responsive during this critical time for all of us. It shows what a great engineering community we have got here in the UK and how they can respond,” said Paul. �

Lochaber smelter, Fort William, UK

Aluminium International Today

Highlights 2020

10 IAI

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Optimism lies ahead post-COVID By Miles Prosser* and Chris Bayliss** At the start of 2020, there was a feeling that the global economy was finally shaking off the effects of the financial downturn of a decade ago. But then COVID-19 struck and since then, no industry has been spared the effects of the pandemic including the aluminium industry. In late 2019, the International Aluminium Institute commissioned a report, to look into the global demand for aluminium up to 2050. The authors, CM Group, identified the outlook in February as ‘strongly positive’ with a demand of 335 million tonnes per year by 2050. But since COVID, the landscape has changed and so has the forecast for the industry. And for this reason, the report had to be updated to reflect the impact of the pandemic on the aluminium value chain. Subsequently, An Initial Assessment of the Impact of the Covid–19 Pandemic on Global Aluminium Demand report has been published. While there is the inevitable conclusion that the demand for aluminium will fall this year, there remains significant optimism to mid-century. The long-term drivers of aluminium growth remain after COVID and, if anything, the opportunities are greater. COVID-19 can, and should be, a pivotal moment for aluminium industry. That the industry (like all industries) needed to adapt to changing expectations from society on ESG performance, was already well understood, but 2020 has sharpened those expectations. Growing demand is predicated on delivery of metal to markets that meets and exceeds those expectations – responsibly sourced, lower carbon, lower environmental impact. At the same time, the report indicates there is a growing appetite for environmentally friendly solutions in transport, infrastructure, energy and

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL ALUMINIUM INSTITUTE

Miles Prosser

The International Aluminium Institute IAI was established in 1972. Current IAI membership represents over 60% of global bauxite, alumina and aluminium production. To find out more about the IAI and the work they do, visit www.world-aluminium.org.

food security, which aluminium is poised to deliver. This was a trend before the pandemic but is being accelerated by the crisis. Aluminium is the most recycled and recyclable of all materials. Aluminium can be reused over and over again. Both aluminium and its alloys can be melted down and reused without any detriment to its mechanical properties. About 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today. With such a strong sustainability credential, the metal is ready to meet consumer expectations. The CM Group Report, using forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in conjunction with its own evidence, identifies opportunities for the industry to deliver tangible benefits, including: � The elimination of outdated capacity � The elimination of capacity unlikely to meet tightened environmental standards � Acceleration of projects that position the industry for a carbon-constrained future � New market opportunities where competitor materials have been impacted by COVID-19 There is also a strong positive sentiment within the industry, based on the findings and survey responses analysed by CM Group. Significantly, 83% believe the pandemic will have just a short-term impact on aluminium consumption; with most

Chris Bayliss

expecting China’s economy to rebound in 2021, which aligns with the report’s own data. More than half (56%) do not think the pandemic will cause fundamental changes to supply and consumption and that lowcost and well-performing organisations can benefit and increase their market share at the expense of outdated, highcost rivals. Crucially, when questioned whether the situation would be positive or negative to long-term demand growth, more than a third (37%) believe there are opportunities to grow aluminium consumption, particularly in terms of furniture and UHV cables in construction. The aluminium industry – like all industrial sectors – is still facing a testing future in the short term, but there should be cause for optimism. To take advantage the industry needs to analyse its operations and strategies and seek new market opportunities. To achieve this will require all hands on deck – consumers, industry leaders, policy makers, governments and all stakeholders playing a part to deliver positive change. It will take appropriate policies, fiscal stimulus packages as well as a continued transformation in consumer purchasing habits and lifestyle to deliver change and drive demand post-COVID-19. The opportunities are there. And In the midst of this COVID pandemic lies hope and good prospects for the aluminium industry. �

*General Secretary of the International Aluminium Institute. **Deputy General Secretary of the International Aluminium Institute Highlights 2002

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12 MINING & REFINING

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Covid-19 fails to stop bauxite mining Michael Schwartz* reviews recent developments in the raw material behind aluminium Worldwide headlines continue to stress the importance of tackling Covid-19 and mining is no exception. As an example, in a news release on April 3 Alcoa announced that it, “continues to take strong measures to protect its workforce and its locations from the threat caused by Covid-19, which is challenging the world’s economies and contributing to significant uncertainty in global markets. Presently, all of Alcoa’s bauxite mines, alumina refineries, aluminium smelters, cast-houses and its rolling mill remain operational and with appropriate protocols in place to protect our workforce, suppliers, customers and communities. Those actions include alternating shift patterns, social distancing, increased cleaning and disinfecting, remote work where practical and regular communication to our workforce regarding personal hygiene, including frequent hand-washing.” Alcoa is also supporting requests from charities to help with pandemic-related health and social service operations. Its donations to date total US$4 million, featuring $1 million for coronavirus relief in the communities where it operates and almost $3 million committed to humanitarian causes, which include Covid-19. The bauxite sector is playing its part in preventing the spread of the virus and finding a cure for it. State-of-the-art technology, too, is helping companies carry out their operations. One example directly assisting bauxite mining is the communication system jointly designed by Motorola and Rio Tinto. From a Queensland-based operations centre owned by Rio Tinto Aluminium, every aspect of production, quality and safety can be monitored at isolated bauxite mines in Northern Territory and Queensland. As a consequence, domestic and overseas plants can be supplied uninterrupted. Even if the operations centre can be accessed, Rio Tinto can still track production movements via its TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio) digital two-way radio communications system, linked into its disaster recovery centre. Impressively, it took just five days for Motorola to develop its new system.

Covid-19 concentrates minds… As if the health implications of Covid-19 are not severe and tragic enough, the virus has sparked off other reactions. A bauxite project in Ghana - a country famous for its gold rather than its bauxite - has been singled out for financial support to be withdrawn. The Chinese and Ghanaian governments signed a memorandum to explore bauxite deposits in Ghana. These latter lie in two deposits, Awaso in western Ghana which hosts rich deposits within a rich forested area and the less-rich Atewa deposits located in Eastern Ghana’s Upland

as a stick to beat the supporters of the project. To make matters worse, the forest comprises roughly 17,400 ha of upland evergreen forest (rare in Ghana), and it is managed by several organisations, eg, the Forestry Commission of Ghana and the Okyeman Environment Foundation (the latter as a matter of policy curtailing local farming and championing eco-tourism). Further pressure comes from hunting for bushmeat, logging and the presence of gold deposits in addition to the bauxite. The arguments of the lobbying organisations can be summarised as

Evergreen forests. Under the agreement Ghana would hand over 5% of the bauxite to China, which in turn would install $2 billion of infrastructure - rail, roads and bridges. Ghana’s Parliament has already passed the Ghana Bauxite Integrated Aluminum Industry Act to provide the legal framework for operations. Reaction has been fierce: more than 260 organisations globally have lobbied the Chinese Ministry of Commerce for the mining of bauxite to continue only if communities and stakeholders are happy that project design and implementation satisfy their criteria. This has led to an argument as to whether Atewa Forest should receive financial support from China during Covid-19. It is as if Covid-19 is acting as some catalyst to inspire those lobbying for their various aims - or even

follows: � the need for international cooperation and transparency; � the need for relevant information, eg, pre-feasibility assessments and environmental impact assessments; � public feedback and participation; � compliance with international - and Chinese national - standards; � non-impact on bio-diversity in turn including allowing rivers to flow freely and animals to migrate unhindered; and � human aspects per, among others, the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. At the time of writing, several NGOs in Ghana have expressed their own belief that Atewa Forest bauxite mining should

*Correspondent Highlights 2020

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not qualify for support from Chinese sources during Covid-19 - least of all if the criteria for mining do not satisfy local organisations. Bauxite 360 - Norsk Hydro One company with interests in two bauxite mines in Brazil is Norsk Hydro, which describes itself as a fully integrated aluminium company (with 35,000 employees in 40 countries). Crucially, because it extracts bauxite, refines alumina and generates energy as well as producing primary aluminum, rolled and extruded products and recycling, Norsk Hydro claims to be the only 360° company in the global aluminium industry. Hydro became this integrated aluminium company in 2011, when it acquired the aluminium assets owned by Vale in Brazil. While the company prefers not to disclose the size or life of its bauxite reserves, Einar Stabell, Norsk Hydro’s

communications manager, global media, answered Aluminium International Today’s questions. Stabell explained the beneficiation and transportation processes for the bauxite: “The removed bauxite from Mineração Paragominas passes through the beneficiation stage, which consists of crushing, grinding and classification. The processed ore is mixed with water, forming a pulp that is exclusively pumped through a pipeline to the Alunorte refinery, in the city of Barcarena, where the bauxite is refined, transforming it into alumina, the raw material for aluminium. “The pipeline is 244 km long and passes through seven cities in the Pará State: Paragominas, Ipixuna do Pará, Tomé-Açu, Acará, Moju, Abaetetuba and Barcarena. In addition, the transport system crosses the Capim, Acará, Acará Mirim and Moju rivers. Hydro’s alumina refinery Alunorte also receives bauxite from Mineração Rio Aluminium International Today

do Norte which is transported by ships to refinery.” Norsk Hydro also has its land rehabilitation strategy. Stabell again: “All areas that are available after the mining go through a rehabilitation process.” In particular, he mentioned the mine in Paragominas, “…an important part of Norsk Hydro's strategy as a global supplier of innovative and sustainable aluminium solutions. The use of the environmental best practices is part of the commitments of Mineração Paragominas, which invests in the rehabilitation of mined areas to return to society and environment similar or better to the one existing before the beginning of its activities. “In the recovery of these areas, the original landscape is reproduced and then the topsoil is added. Then, the land is prepared to receive the seedlings, which grow, creating vegetation similar to the native forest of that area. The seedlings come from seeds and other seedlings collected in the forest area of Mineração

Paragominas and its surroundings. On average, between 150,000 and 200,000 seedlings of native species are produced per year, but production may increase with the advance of reforestation in the region.” Norsk Hydro’s reforestation programme commenced in 2009: up until December 2018, 2,100 ha had been recovered. Last year, Norsk Hydro rehabilitated almost 136 ha in already mined areas at Mineração Paragominas. Of those, just over 82 ha were rehabilitated with the planting of 91,401 seedlings. The remaining 54 ha were renewed by the nucleation technique, which uses materials from the removal of vegetation, eg, branches and roots and topsoil. This technique accelerates the rehabilitation process naturally inducing the formation of a new soil. (In an example of biodiversity research, The Brazil-Norway Biodiversity Research Consortium (Biodiversity Research Consortium, in English) brings together

researchers from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, the University of Oslo (UiO), and Norsk Hydro professionals in Brazil and Norway). And Norsk Hydro’s future in Brazil? Norsk Hydro maintains its investment programme for continuous improvements and new technologies in the different sectors of its operations. In 2014, for example, the Alunorte Refinery made an investment of US$186,978,022 for the construction of a new bauxite waste deposit area, which uses what it describes as the most modern and sustainable technology in the world for bauxite waste management, the press filter. Alunorte has been designated a pioneer in its large-scale application: The press filters generate a waste with 78% solid content, which allows for stacking by compaction,

increasing the safety of the solid waste deposit and significantly reducing the area required for disposal. Continuing the plan of improvements, Alunorte also expanded its water and effluent treatment capacity, from 10,000 m3/hr to 14,500 m3/hr with its new Industrial Effluent Treatment Station, which only just entered into operation this January. Construction of the two new containment basins increased water storage such that the two have a capacity of 274,000 m3, or 110 Olympic swimming pools. Total investment to modernise the refinery's effluent management system was just over US$126,000,000. All these measures were taken to make the unit even more prepared for climate changes in the future. In addition, and this is highly timely in the light of major tailings disasters, the company has been adopting measures to go beyond what is required by Brazilian Highlights 2020

14 MINING & REFINING

law and to adopt the best national and international practices for the construction and management of dams. Mineração Paragominas made improvements in order that the safety of the dams met the international recommendations of the sector. In addition, the mine has operational procedures that further reduce the volume of water in the environment destined for tailings and with improved instrumentation and system monitoring programs. Built on an old bauxite mining area, the Plateau Tailings Disposal System started operations at the end of 2017 and has a storage capacity of approximately 11,000,000 m3. The system is subdivided into four tailings reservoirs and eight water reservoirs (clarification basins), aiming at making better use of this resource for reuse in the production process. The four reservoirs are used alternately to dispose of the tailings, allowing the deposited layers to dry and compact. This methodology increases the safety and stability of the structures. Jamaica faces its challenges One market that recognises both its rivals and its internal challenges is Jamaica, which contains some of the largest deposits of bauxite anywhere (the bauxite is refined into alumina but can also be exported unrefined). Subsequent marketing is carried out by the major international companies that mine the bauxite. The Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) has recently reviewed its strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, and in rather general terms, the Institute believes, “the future looks relatively secure for the industry.” It points out increased capacity at the island’s alumina plants through recent investment as well as a purer than average product, low transportation costs and proximity to North American smelters. The problem, as the Institution points out, is competing with other bauxite producers. Australia and Guinea emerged long ago as more significant players, Brazil overtook Jamaica in the early 1980s and China and India did so in the 2000s. In addition, despite the nearby North American markets, smelters have still been built in Asia and Europe, while output per Jamaican worker is lower and wages higher than for other countries. In the Institute’s own words: “Jamaica needs to find a way to reduce the cost of mining bauxite to remain competitive. This is especially so as transport costs have dropped. This has caused mining costs to become a more important factor than location near a smelter.” Highlights 2020

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Stevie Barnett, one of JBI’s directors, replied to some questions posed by Aluminium International Today. He first looked at the purity of Jamaican bauxite, explaining that, “generally, Jamaican bauxites from any particular area have a consistent chemical and mineralogical composition. While the dominant chemical component is alumina (Al2O3), it is the mineralogical components which play the significant role in the processibility of the bauxite. “The predominant mineral is gibbsite (Al2O3.3H2O), which is invariably associated with boehmite (Al2O3. H2O). The latter is often present in insignificant amounts, but in some areas the monohydrate form may exceed 5% by weight of the total bauxite. The proportion of trihydrate to monohydrate is of considerable importance since the processing characteristics of monohydrate bauxite is markedly different from that of trihydrate bauxite.

“The gibbsite content of Jamaican bauxite ranges from 34-46%, whereas boehmite can range from 1-12%. For this reason, Jamaican bauxite may be classified as “mixed” trihydrate/monohydrate or gibbsite/boehmite bauxite. Some amount of blending can be tolerated in the processing, and this is encouraged in order to maximise use of the resource.” JBI is keen to stress its commitment to restoring land used for bauxite mining. Special Mining Licences (SMLs) are issued to bauxite mining companies by the Commissioner of Mines. A condition of the licence is that all lands disturbed for mining must be restored to some productive use. On completion of mining, the orebody must be certified as mined-out, and a certificate to commence reclamation is issued. Once the restoration process is completed, the mines are inspected and if the restoration is deemed satisfactory, a restoration certificate is issued by the Commissioner of Mines. Furthermore, Section 53 of the Mining

Regulations (amended 2004) requires that all ore bodies are rehabilitated within three years of being certified mined-out. Failure to meet this requirement means that a penalty of US$ 25,000/ha of land is charged to the company, with a further US$2,500/ha for each year that it remains uncertified. The mining company therefore has an obligation to present each minedout orebody for inspection within that three-year time-frame. Stevie Barnett also set out the JBI’s objectives regarding reclamation and the use of mined-out lands. They include: � reducing the backlog of unreclaimed lands; � effectively increasing the area of mined-out lands under commercial agriculture; � making more lands accessible to more small farmers; � making mined out lands available for housing and other non-agricultural uses; and � minimising the aesthetically unpleasant appearance of unreclaimed lands. With respect to post-mining land use, Barnett continues, “lands are generally returned to pasture. A significant acreage has also gone back into farming of cash crops, orchard crops, and forest trees. In areas where farmland is desired by residents, the land will be put into crops and then handed over to farmers with the mining companies continuing to provide some level of support. “If the mining area is near to a town where land is required for expansion, then the mining company will work with local authorities to decide on the best end use. These may include lands for resettlement of residents dislocated by mining or new residential developments, school playgrounds, community centres, landfills, water harvesting areas, orchards or forest.” Regarding transportation of the bauxite, each bauxite company has its own private infrastructure. Generally, bauxite is transported by road trucks on companyowned haul roads from the mines to a load-out. From the load-out stockpile, bauxite is moved by rail and/or belt conveyor to the processing plant and by rail and/or belt conveyor to the port. Conclusions The bauxite industry has not been deterred by Covid-19. Rather, it has continued to find methods of improving productivity, rehabilitation - and aiming to prevent disasters of the type recently and tragically encountered. � Aluminium International Today

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Celebrating aluminium GFG Alliance reaffirms commitment to Scottish industry as the UK’s only aluminium factory marks its 90th birthday.

� Scottish report from GFG Alliance details industrial investment of £500m across Scotland, the creation or safeguarding of 400 jobs and spending of £22m with local suppliers � Employees past and present celebrate the anniversary of the Lochaber hydro-electric plant and aluminium smelter � Liberty examines options for downstream manufacturing plant in Fort William to produce automotive wheels or alternative aluminium products

Past and present employees of the UK’s only remaining aluminium factory gathered in Fort William in December to mark the 90th anniversary of the Lochaber hydro-electric plant and smelter – one of Scotland’s best known industrial plants. The factory, on the foothills of Ben Nevis, was acquired by the GFG Alliance for €330 million three years ago and produces up to 50,000 tonnes of aluminium annually, powered by renewable energy from fresh water running off the slopes of Scotland’s highest mountain. Guests including Ian Blackford, the SNP Westminster leader, were treated to commemorative bottles of whisky from the local Ben Nevis distillery and a retrospective exhibition detailing the Lochaber plant’s colourful history. Coinciding with the event, the GFG Alliance published its first Scottish report detailing industrial investment of £500m in six aluminium, steel and energy sites across the country, the creation or safeguard of over 400 jobs and spending of nearly £22m with local suppliers. Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman of the GFG Alliance, said: “The Lochaber complex was an engineering triumph, requiring 2,000 men to drive tunnels through the solid rock of the Ben Nevis range. That Highland ‘can do’ spirit has Aluminium International Today

endured for generations as Lochaber has kept lights ablaze and provided high quality metal for use across British industry. “I’m very proud that the GFG Alliance is not only keeping that tradition going in Lochaber but is investing in staff, capacity and in downstream manufacturing. This is a very special place and it’s a privilege to be a part of its history. As we drive this project forward we have added forty people to our Fort William team. “The model we see here – of renewable energy powering heavy industry – is at the very heart of GFG’s vision for the renewal and revival of foundation industries not just in Scotland but internationally. Our goal is for our steel businesses to be carbon neutral by 2030.” The Lochaber smelter has long played an important part in the local community. Under GFG’s ownership, initiatives have included: � An increase in employment by 26% to 237 roles � 1,000 aluminium water bottles donated to the local high school under an “eliminate plastic” initiative � Football strips donated to South Lochaber Thistle and sponsorship of the Balliemore Cup � Subsidised tickets for residents for the soon-to-open Highland Cinema in Fort William � Development of the JAHAMA Highland Estates to open access and build profitable local business like the new zip wire and our mountain biking events � Development of further clean green power projects locally Liberty has invested nearly £5 million in preparatory work for a downstream manufacturing plant in Fort William. Options under consideration include an automotive wheels plant or, in view of a downturn in UK car production, alternative

industrial uses for the liquid aluminium produced in the Lochaber smelter – such as industrial extrusions or water bottles. Amanda Mackenzie, chief executive of Business in the Community, said: “You can’t fail but to be inspired by the scale of what is happening in Fort William using the natural and sustainable resources of the surrounding countryside. GFG’s commitment to the Scottish economy, investment in their surrounding communities and recycled metal production sets an incredible example for others to follow.” Elsewhere in Scotland, GFG’s report outlines growing production from its Liberty Steel Dalzell plant at Motherwell, along with an increase in hydro-power generation at Kinlochleven and a doubling of tidal energy generation at the Meygen project off the Scottish coast. During the period under review, GFG companies supported 400 school pupils in Lanarkshire to gain high-quality industrial work experience, provided or committed nearly £250K to Scottish charities and community projects and, through GFG’s Scottish cycle manufacturer, Shand, supplied the bike that took Scotswoman Jenny Graham around the world in a record time. The document, which can be accessed on the GFG Alliance’s website highlights plans and studies in respect of further investment in Scotland including: � A £154m windfarm at Glenshero in the Highlands � Housing and real estate developments in Clydebridge and across Jahama Highland Estate � A wind tower manufacturing operation in Scotland � Prospects for a GREENSTEEL plant in Scotland, to be driven by an electric arc furnace Highlights 2020

As the Lochaber smelter celebrated its 90th anniversary, Nadine Bloxsome spoke to Brian King, Managing Director about the most memorable moments, what celebrations are in store and plans for future aluminium products. Q. The smelter has certainly witnessed a number of changes over its 90 years in operation – what would you say is the biggest change you have been involved in during your role? A. With all of the uncertainty facing the future of Lochaber Operations prior to its purchase by GFG the focus on people development hadn’t been as high as it possibly could have been. Therefore, there wasn’t any formal succession planning in place, and we struggled to fill key roles on the site. Under GFG’s ownership we have renewed the focus on people development and are starting to see the fruits of that work. In addition, our very successful apprentice scheme has been pivotal in ensuring that we have the requisite skills to meet the needs of the business. It is pleasing to see this manifest itself in the numbers of people who are progressing into senior roles within the business. Q. Do you have any memorable moments of the smelter that would be worthy of a mention in celebration of the plant? A. The most significant event has been the purchase of the business by GFG and its vision for a long-term future for the Lochaber Smelter. This has lifted the uncertainty that hung over the business prior to being taken under new ownership. Q. How will you be marking the occasion and celebrating? Highlights 2020

A. A mix of current and former employees were invited to mingle together in a celebration held at the smelter on Tuesday 10 December. Current employees were presented with commemorative bottles of whisky from the local Ben Nevis distillery. An exhibition showcasing artefacts and pictures depicting the history of the plant was also on show to guests. Among the attendees was Duggie Cairns, who works in the bath plant, and has worked at the smelter for 34 years. He is the fourth generation in his family to have worked across the plants at Lochaber and Kinlochleven, stretching back to his great grandfather James Cairns who started working at the Kinlochleven Smelter before the First World War. Q. The smelter plays a pivotal role in the community of Fort William. What continued impact do you see the developments and the alloy wheel plant having on this community? A. We are committed to building a viable downstream aluminium products facility that will increase the number of high-skilled jobs in the area. Conditional planning permission is in place for the alloy wheels plant and we envisage 350 direct new jobs being created once it operates at full capacity. Building an alloy wheels factory remains our primary objective. However, like any responsible business would, the recent troubles of the automotive sector and

uncertainty caused by Brexit mean we are considering the possibility of alternative or additional uses for the liquid aluminium made there. Alternatives being considered include a plant producing construction and automotive extrusions, or water bottles for Ben Nevis water. Q. Are there plans to help keep employment strong within the local community and encourage more workers? A. GFG is committed to pursuing a viable downstream aluminium business in Fort William and as a responsible business, we have engaged seriously in developing local infrastructure to retain and attract new workers. As part of the plans, we have engaged Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) to review the increased housing requirements for the local area and held active discussions to build a gas terminal on the west coast of Scotland that would enable our business and the local community to benefit from mains gas, which currently does not exist in the town. We have also committed to provide free annual membership cards for 20,000 Lochaber residents to the new Highland Cinema, which will open in 2020. This will entitle them to a 30% discount on cinema tickets for eight months of the year, making Fort William a more attractive place to live. Aluminium International Today

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Looking to the smelter’s future, employees actively attend local schools to offer expertise and help with projects as well as offering insight to apprentice programmes. For example, employees have supported Lochaber High School in their project for the Engineering Education Scheme through the Engineering Development Trust. The smelter also recently donated to Inverlochy Primary school to allow them to buy extra books and material for their dyslexic children. Q. Looking to the future (and the next 90 years) are there any other investment plans on the horizon to develop the site and build Liberty Aluminium’s presence in the UK? A. Our smelter and hydro operations have spent £21.6m with Scottish suppliers and paid nearly £25m in salaries to our Scottish workforce since we acquired the sites in December 2016 and we fully intend to continue with this investment in the local economy. GFG has already committed significant investment to upgrade and refurbish existing facilities including further improvements to the Fume Treatment plant, TAC metal treatment, unloading facility, upgrades to anodes, and ongoing work to refurbish compressors. Project engineering feasibility studies are underway on key equipment that requires upgrading. Enhancing the fume treatment plant and the cranes in the pot Aluminium International Today

room are the priority projects. Lochaber has also benefited from the expansion of Liberty Aluminium into Europe with the acquisition of Aluminium Dunkerque from Rio Tinto. This offers significant upside for Liberty British Aluminium in terms of shared expertise, greater market share, purchasing power and close cooperation on technical/ production best practice. Q. How has the plant adapted to meet market demands and are there more plans to expand into other areas? A. We are reviewing several opportunities around the expansion into value added products at the moment. We are also exploring options around capacity creep to allow us to increase primary metal production. Q. What developments have taken place over the years to make the smelter more sustainable? Any investment in the hydropower? Are there any plans to work towards even greener aluminium products? A. The smelter has always been one of the most sustainable manufacturing operations in the world, powered by clean and renewable hydro-electricity. Lochaber’s hydro power station is currently operating at around 70% of its 100MW nameplate capacity. However, we have undertaken surveys of the main tunnel infrastructure and

local hydrology to take its output closer to 100MW and reduce our imports of electricity from the grid. We are so reviewing options to deploy a biomass CHP plant at the smelter site, which would provide additional heat and power for on-site processes and also potentially the local community. Q. How will the smelter and its workers develop with regards to adopting Industry 4.0 technologies? Is this on the agenda? A. This hasn’t been a focus for us yet but with the investment that is being planned not only for the smelter but our new downstream operations it will be something that will become more and more important to us. Q. Finally, the smelter has stood the test of time, so what would you say is its biggest achievement? A. Undoubtedly, the biggest achievement is the tremendous feat of engineering and human resolve it took to build the water tunnels and dams, which have been crucial to powering the smelter and making it a viable business over the last 90 years. Excavating the main tunnel through the solid rock of the Ben Nevis range from Loch Treig to Fort William required the fortitude of 2,000 men. Until 1970, it was the longest watercarrying tunnel in the world at 15 miles long. � Highlights 2020

20 RECYCLING

Sorting the scrap

By Myra Pinkham*

Overall 2020 has been a tough year for the US aluminium scrap market, although it has been a tale of two markets. While it has been challenging for most aluminium scrap grades, it is a different story for used beverage can (UBC) demand, which has been quite strong. That, as well supply issues, has made the UBC market quite tight. Over the past few months, however, even demand for industrial grades of aluminium scrap have started to exhibit signs of slight improvement, albeit from a low level. “It wasn’t a happy first half of the year for the US aluminium scrap market for obvious reasons, including a lack of scrap generation and logistics difficulties during the second quarter, which resulted in aluminium discounts to narrow considerably,” John Mothersole, director of the pricing and purchasing service of IHS Markit, said. According to the Aluminum Association’s September Aluminum Situation report, US scrap consumption was down 9.4% year to date and 15.1% year on year in June. That, Matt Meenan,

a spokesman for the association, comes with US aluminium demand falling 19.2% year to date through July. “But aluminium demand has already started to improve slightly from its low in May, and there are signs that it will pickup further in coming months,” he said. But while for the year as a whole aluminium demand will likely be down from last year’s levels, “Hopefully it won’t be dramatically so.” He noted that US aluminium demand was also down slightly in 2019 – its first decline since 2009. “But the pandemic has dramatically made that worse, especially in the second quarter when everything fell off of a cliff.” The same has been the case for aluminium scrap, Randy Goodman, executive vice president of Greenland (America) Inc., says, with the market (including the industrial market) starting to see some light. “We expect to see a new normal established by 2021 that will be accepted by the US aluminium scrap market – at least for the next year or two,” he said, adding that in the meantime, with there not being a huge amount

of domestic aluminium scrap demand, companies are looking a little bit more towards the export market. There are, however, varying views. While Anthony Cozzi, vice president of operations for Cozzi O’Brien Recycling, says that spot aluminium scrap demand has gotten a lot better recently, and Beatriz Landa, vice president of metal procurement for Novelis Inc., says that she believes it has been supported by more and more companies seeing the multiple benefits of recycling and of using aluminium scrap in their production, Stephen Moss, vice president of Stanton A. Moss Inc., says it continues to be somewhat spotty – with more strength for some items than some others. “It really depends upon the mix,” he said, explaining that, for example, segregated alloys are fetching a premium, blends, like painted siding and sheet aren’t doing do well. “I think that given scrap availability, consumers are trying to buy as cheap as possible, but I don’t think that there is currently a lot of primary aluminium available,” he said. “That is pushing them

*US correspondant Highlights 2020

Aluminium International Today

RECYCLING 21

more towards scrap and making them more willing to pay higher prices for it.” But Goodman says that in his opinion the mix of how much scrap vs. primary being used by consumers hasn’t changed enough, especially given that primary aluminium is a limited resource that uses about 12 times the electricity than metal produced with scrap. Long term, however, there is likely to be more of a push, Joe Pickard, chief economist and director of commodities at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), says, especially given that primary aluminium producers have been having a hard time competing in the US and that scrap gives its users a relative advantage in terms of price and availability. However, for much of this year, particularly at this height of the pandemic, aluminium scrap availability was also constrained, although Pickard noted that the degree of tightness varied with used beverage cans (UBCs) being particularly tight. The generation of shredded material, including zorba, had also been challenged, especially from April through June, which affected flows of that material into scrapyards. While still relatively tight, zorba availability has started to improve somewhat recently as its prices started to pick up again. In his fiscal 2020 earnings presentation, Alistair Field, group chief executive officer of Sims Ltd., pointed out that after zorba fell to $700 per ton in April from $1,000 per ton in Sims’ fiscal 2019, it had returned to $900 per ton by mid-August. When US manufacturing activity and industrial capacity utilization declined sharply earlier this year, including a twomonth shutdown of domestic auto plants, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it had a big negative knock-on impact upon both the supply and demand of scrap metals in general, including aluminium scrap, Pickard observed. “Although more recently we have seen US manufacturing activity starting to improve, especially with many businesses, including the auto plants, getting back to business, with many starting up again in mid-May, which has been supportive for aluminium scrap,” he said. At the same time, while construction – which is another major use of aluminium, therefore aluminium scrap – has generally remained healthier than most other US economic sectors, very few new projects – particularly non-residential construction projects – have been announced and some announced projects continue to be cancelled, Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors said during an economic outlook session of ISRI’s virtual fall spotlights conference, Aluminium International Today

saying that suggests that, despite recent improvement in housing starts, the construction sector could be one of the last sectors to comeback once the US economy starts to rebound. “That is consistent with the American Institute for Architects’ Architecture Billings Index, which was still stalled at 40.0 points, well in contractionary territory, for a third consecutive month in August. Steve Stoyer, a senior analyst for CRU Group, says that the big question in commercial construction is whether companies will continue to make the same kind of investments in “brick and mortar,” particularly in office space, as they had previously. “There haven’t been large scale cancellations yet, but there is some concern about what business will

“We expect to see a new normal established by 2021 that will be accepted by the US aluminium scrap market – at least for the next year or two Randy Goodman, executive vice president of Greenland (America) Inc.

”

look like for commercial construction in 2021.“ Leading indicators about the manufacturing sector, however, have been more positive, indicating further improvement, Pickard says. For example, while down slightly month on month, the September Institute for Supply management’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), at 55.5% (down from 56.0% in August), remains in positive territory, where it has been for four consecutive months. In industrial applications, Cozzi said that the biggest improvement for aluminium, therefore aluminium scrap has been for by the automotive sector. Landa agrees, noting that since the automakers restarted their US production plants in mid-May, they have been gradually ramping up and are now at a point where they are nearing maximum capacity. That, ISRI’s Pickard says, is similar to expectations, as automakers looking to make up lost time. Still, according to Kristen Dziczek, vice president of research for the Center of Automotive Research (CAR), US light vehicle sales are still forecast to be down 24% to 12.9 million units this year and aren’t expected to return to its 2016 peak until 2025. On the other hand, the aluminium content per vehicle will continue to grow. In fact, according to a study that Ducker recently completed for the Aluminum Association, the average aluminium content in North American light vehicles is expected to go from 459 lbs. in 2020 to 514 lbs. by 2026. That is seen as being very positive for the aluminium scrap market, Landa says, especially given that Novelis and some other mills have increased the amount of close loop recycling agreements they have with automakers. “With those closed loop arrangements, we know the quality of the scrap we get back and how to use it. There are no surprises,” she says. “That is very beneficial to how we run operationally and the efficiency of our scrap use.” Pickard said on the other side of the spectrum is the aerospace industry, which continues to suffer, largely due to Covidrelated issues, and is nowhere near full capacity. Mothersole said that if there is a silver lining to the pandemic for the aluminium and aluminium scrap market, it is that can demand has spiked. This, Goodman pointed out, comes as there also has been some can collection issues, with, at least for a while, many people being reluctant to bring cans in. That was complicated by can handling issues – whether the cans needed to be “quarantined” for 14 days to decontaminate, which takes a lot of room. Also, ISRI’s Pickard notes, some states Highlights 2020

22 RECYCLING

haven’t been accepting cans for the redemption programs and some scrap yard retail operations had closed, at least temporarily. As result there was less material coming through the door, so supply was constrained. In fact, Novelis’ Landa says it has been estimated that UBC supply was off by about 70% at the height of the pandemic in April and May. “But now with some of the restrictions being lifted and with people starting to socialize more, there have been more used beverage cans (UBCs) coming back into the system and that segment of the market is now much better supplied,” CRU’s Stoyer says. “Even pre-pandemic there were challenges to UBC recycling,” Meenan observed, noting that the US UBC recycling rate has only been 50-60% over the past 10 years. Landa says, “What we need to create more domestic supply is to have more deposit bills, including tat the federal level, to create more of an incentive for cans to be recycled and to create more scrap for everyone and to make the planet cleaner.” Meenan says that such efforts are already underway, noting that not only are there a number of bills currently under discussion, including one related to a national deposit Highlights 2020

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program, but also the National Recycling Coalition has been meeting to map out a national recycling strategy, which it plans to announce late in November. “The US needs companies that export aluminium scrap now more than ever to balance out what becomes a somewhat unbalanced market at times,” Goodman said. However, Pickard says that US aluminium scrap exports haven’t been great this year with volumes falling 7% year to date through July, largely reflecting a 51% drop in exports to China given its tighter waste import regulations. But what will happen as far as exports to China going forward remains somewhat of a question mark, Pickard said, given that a new policy in which the country was going to reclassify high quality copper, brass and aluminium scrap as being a raw material input instead of waste reportedly went into effect in July, although available trade data hasn’t yet shown whether there has been a resurgence of US material going into China. Goodman points out that it had been zorba that was is particularly affected by Chinese scrap import policies, stating that, in response, a lot of companies have started to buy more sorting equipment so they can upgrade their material. “That

makes good economic sense given that China, which had been purchasing 6070 percent of the world’s zorba is now not buying it unless it is 99% pure.” he said, maintaining that now many US companies can make pure enough scrap to export to China. Field says that while 90% of its products already meets China’s standard, Sims will also continue to also sell its scrap to Southeast Asia and other markets based on where it can get the best returns. While they haven’t made up the full volumes of aluminium scrap that has been recently lost to China, CRU’s Stoyer says that some other countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia, will likely continue up some incremental volumes. Landa said they will likely do so by buying scrap from the US that they will then process into remelt scrap ingot (RSI) that they will then sell to China. Pickard agrees, noting that at the end of the day China remains the driver of the Asian economy. “It isn’t that we are looking to use third world countries as a dumping ground for environmentally unfriendly material,” Goodman said. “But they have cheaper labour and an economy of scale that enables them to do things that can’t be done in other places. Pickard said that while US aluminium scrap exports to Malaysia were up 79% year to date through July, there is concern about whether their purchases will continue to increase, especially given that they have placed some restrictions on other grades of scrap, particularly nonmetallic grades. He said that amongst the other countries that have been buying more US aluminium scrap are South Korea (up 6% year to date), Thailand (up 202%) and Vietnam (up 357% from a pretty low level previously). In addition to the big drop in China, exports to Hong Kong were down 29% year to date. While exports to India were down 3% through July, Cozzi says more recent it has been stepping up again. “Overall, 2020 has been a horrible year for the US aluminium scrap market,” Mothersole declared, adding, “The only good news is that the worst is over and that conditions are improving.” He, however, warned that the rate of momentum seen over the past few months might not continue much longer. “It isn’t that we will necessarily see a relapse of a W-shaped recovery, but I believe that the low-hanging fruit might have been already picked.” “I think that this has been one of those years when people are just happy to keep the lights on and hope that next year will be a better year,” Moss said. Cozzi agreed. “But I’m optimistic that there is nowhere to go but up.” � Aluminium International Today

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24 ULTROMEX PROFILE

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Finding the value in smelting waste

Based in the North West of England, Ultromex provides vital technologies to the aluminium smelting industry to help it deal with its production wastes. Nadine Bloxsome* met with Nigel Seddon, CEO of Ultromex, to discuss how the company is helping aluminium manufacturers reduce landfill and cut the carbon footprint of their smelting operations. After a successful career spanning nearly 20 years in the chemical industry, Nigel Seddon decided it was time for a change and made a move into the aluminium sector. Over the past five years, he and a select handful of trusted colleagues have brought Ultromex to life and are on the brink of global expansion. “Five years ago, Ultromex had been going for a couple of years and the investors asked me to take a look at the

company. It was based around technology in four metal recovery areas; one of which was aluminium,” says Nigel. “What struck me immediately was that we were never going to be able to continue with all four, so I believed that the aluminium industry looked the most likely to succeed. It was a growing industry and recycling aluminium was an interesting area.” It appears this was the right choice, as

six months later, Ultromex had already signed a deal with a remelter in the UK and also an outfit in the Nordics. “The project in the Nordics involved building a small plant to process salt slag. Looking back, it was optimistic that we could solve the industry’s environmental problems with just a handful of us! Now the organisation has grown to 15.’’ “We developed a technology that amazingly separates all the embedded

*Editor, Aluminium International Today Highlights 2020

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4 1. Ultromex services range from designing, supplying, building and operating plants, to developing technology and problem solving. 2. Metal recovered in original form! 3. Delicate pieces of metal. 4. Zero loss to fines. 5. Foil passed through undamaged! 6. Non metallics - 12 months on, no smell and nature has taken over! 7. Expert chemistry & laboratory facilities. 8. Flux salt recovered. 9. Nigel Seddon, CEO of Ultromex.

Aluminium International Today

7 aluminium from lumps of slag or dross by selectively downsizing non-metallics to ‘sand’ without damaging the metal. The metal is recovered in whichever form it went into the process, and so none of it is lost through being ground to dust,” Nigel continues. “If it’s in a coral shape, it will come out in a coral shape. Or if you add a milk bottle top for example, then it will come out undamaged.” Building a dross and slag database For various reasons, the Nordic company weren’t quite ready to install the plant once it was ready, so the team decided to use it as a pilot plant to test slag and drosses. “It was a great advantage to the business at the time, because we were

able to take in a number of slags and drosses for processing and demonstrate how exceptional our metal recovery is,” says Nigel. “We now have a big database of slags and drosses, so we know how they are going to behave and how different they can be, both physically and chemically.” Chemical reactions With the team behind Ultromex coming from different chemical backgrounds, attention soon turned to recovering valuable products, while making biproducts inert in the best way possible. “We have a patented process called SALTROMEX that alters the chemistry, so that toxic gases such as ammonia are not generated,” explains Nigel. “When we looked at the cost of Highlights 2020

SALTROMEX Plant

processing the non-metallics, once you have recovered all the metal, a major cost was the gas abatement and what to do with these toxic gases. “This technology is going to be a gamechanger, because if these gases aren’t being given off, together with the inherent cost of treating them, then you’ve got a much more economic process.” Pre-processing solutions While investigating the full remelting process, the team also began looking into a solution to treat salt slag. “Our Operations Director Michael Glass, is used to going into chemical plants and questioning them in detail about how they operate and going back to establishing root causes,” explains Nigel. “We came to the conclusion that it is all well and good to want to treat salt slag, but what if you could create less salt slag in the first place?” The ALTROMEX offering, which is a dross concentration process, was therefore born out of this questioning. “The amount of salt added to a tilting rotary furnace is directly in proportion to the amount of waste in the dross, so if you can concentrate your dross before charging into the furnace, you will use less salt and create less salt slag. We can concentrate any dross up to a much higher yield without metal loss and cut salt slag volumes dramatically,” says Nigel. “If remelters concentrate their dross before remelting, they will also free up furnace capacity and only use energy to heat metal, rather than waste.” Landﬁll or stored waste problem solving Historically, aluminium smelting wastes such as slags, drosses, skimmings, spent pot liner and filter dusts were routinely landfilled, but these days, in the EU, Australia, parts of the Middle East and Americas, landfilling of these wastes is now prohibited. There are many hundreds of these historic landfills in existence all over the world and some of them are now causing significant geo-environmental problems, leaching soluble salts and other contaminants into the surrounding groundand watercourses. In addition, when these wastes come into contact with moisture they hydrolyse initiating Highlights 2020

exothermic reactions involving toxic, explosive and smelly gases. In order to address these industry issues, Ultromex developed TERRAMEX as a full service to fully remediate such landfills, removing and treating the toxic aluminium wastes to permanently eliminate the risks for the present and future generations and restoring the site for other uses. “We are working with Rio Tinto on a number of their legacy sites around Europe, one of which will see us processing in excess of 50,000 tonnes of material over a two year period,” says Nigel. The move into Europe will see Ultromex building and developing a plant in France, in order to position itself closer to emerging projects. “This means we will be looking to double in size and be 30 strong this time next year,” explains Nigel. “We have developed a strong relationship within Rio Tinto and we are looking at two other SPL sites for them and the plant in France will be a real springboard for us.” Sustainability drivers Over the last few years, the sustainability agenda has become essential across all industries, not just in aluminium manufacturing. But is the main driver one of economics or ecology? “It’s a different driver for different companies,” says Nigel. “Some want to clean up sites in order for new industries to develop, while others are looking more at reducing costs and optimising production.” “One example of driving change is in the Middle East. For the last 15 years or so, the focus has been on the primary side

and producing metal, but now, attention is turning to improving the management of dross, salt slag and SPL.” The Middle East is a key area where Ultromex has recently secured a contract to process dross and this will see the business grow into another region altogether. “We are in the process of building a plant in the Middle East, so we are in a prime position to continue to help the smelters in that region with other challenges.” ‘Seeing is believing’ These offerings to the aluminium industry are the result of many years of hard work by the team, supported by their investors and by Innovate UK, which have helped to accelerate development of these valuable technologies. With the technology ready to roll out, the team soon realised that potential customers would want to see it in action and has therefore built a multifunctional, ﬂexible plant at the facilities in Bromborough, which will demonstrate the technology to potential customers on an industrial scale. “You can demonstrate certain expertise and put a plant together and a lot of it is consistent, but every customer really needs their process to be looked at from end to end and what we try to do is put our expertise and technology into areas that can give them the best economic value,” says Nigel. At the time of this interview, the plant was likely to be commissioned just before Easter and the team are keen to invite customers to see how the Ultromex technology performs processing a tonne or so of their own material, be it dross, salt slag or SPL. The laboratory-testing centre will also be able to analyse material before and after processing to demonstrate what the technology can deliver. “We encourage anyone who wants to know more to bring your samples of salt slag, dross or SPL to the new plant in Bromborough! We’d be delighted to show you what we can do.” �

ALTROMEX Plant

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The future of manufacturing By Myra Pinkham* The aluminium industry continues to make significant strides throughout its supply chain to incorporate emerging digital technologies – including those under the Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) umbrellas – to increase its competitiveness and to improve its operational excellence. The collection, storage and utilisation of data has been key to its ability to make such inroads and to build upon them going forward. “We are in the middle of a transformation of the aluminium industry with companies increasingly interested in investing in a next generation production plant, in the factory of the future,” in an effort to bring down their costs, to increase their efficiency, improve their quality and differentiate themselves from their competition, declares Stefan Koch, SAP SE’s global lead for metals, who says that while this could include investments in hardware, “It also involves being smarter in how they operate their machinery and equipment and identifying what their production shortcoming are and what they can do prevent that from occurring.” Allison Buenemann, an analytics engineer with SEEQ Corp., says that this has become easier for companies to do. “Given the increased affordability of many different process sensors, there is now a much larger wealth of process data available to aluminium companies,” she says, noting that there are also some new

software packages that are now available at a low entry cost, that could be used to exploit that process data and to gain insights. Actually, it isn’t that there is all that much that is really new, but rather that the aluminium industry is increasingly taking advantage of the technologies that are available and using them in new ways. “The data has already been out there,” Koch points out. “It is more of an issue of bringing everything together, to slice and dice it in a way that a company can derive the solutions that they desire. But clearly IIoT, or the integration of connected devices into aluminium manufacturing throughout the aluminium value chain has been picking up and is very likely to do so going forward at an accelerated pace, Tony Barnes, senior manager at Crowe LLC, says. In fact, he noted that 28 percent of the respondents to Crowe’s latest annual Digital Transformation in the Metals Industry, which came out in November, said that while they aren’t currently using IIoT today, they are very likely to begin doing so within the next three years. “With the cost and size of connected devices going down and with Wi-Fi or cellular signals being available virtually everywhere, companies can put a sensor everywhere on everything,” Barnes says, predicting that this evolution of the use of IIoT by aluminium and other metals

companies is likely to explode in coming years, especially with the advent of 5G, which will have a dramatic impact as to where they can put devices and the real time nature of the feedback that they can get about their products and equipment. He notes that some companies are even embedding sensors into their finished products, which allows them to view real time information how their products are being used in their daily applications. “That is really a big deal,” Barnes says, as it enables them to know where demand is coming from for their products and for what end use applications. He notes that they have discovered that some OEMs who originally bought metal for a certain application found that it worked better for other uses. “That is something that aluminium suppliers weren’t aware of in the past.” That, Ryan Martin, principal analyst with ABI Research, enables what is known as smart manufacturing or advanced supply chain logistics, which, he says can help companies to better figure out how to produce products closer to the markets in which they are sold, used and consumed. The key, Koch says, is for a company to find ways to optimise their production and production processes through its use of data. He says that he doesn’t believe there is a big difference in the acceptance of this region by region or even where the company is in the supply chain. “It is more

*US Correspondent Aluminium International Today

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28 INDUSTRY 4.0

a question of how mature the company is in making use of data, how much data they have available and how much discipline they have in correcting what they do by using this data.” He says that while virtually everyone in the aluminium industry is doing something, the degree that they are doing so and the approach they are taking varies widely. Buenemann agrees, noting that some aluminium companies have taken a top down approach to harnessing these new technologies by creating new executive roles, such as a Chief Digital Transformation Officer, to do so. Meanwhile others are driving digital transformation from the bottom up, especially given a generational turnover in the industry. Buenemann explains that new, younger employees being recruited from universities are strong advocates for these new technology initiatives, including those related to data analytics and software packages at a time when the Cloud infrastructure has enabled large volumes of data storage. She says that these data analytics packages have empowered engineers and other workers to perform certain analyses that were previously done by highly specialised data science personnel. Brian Crandall, another SEEQ analytics engineer, points out that these packages are increasingly being used instead of the spreadsheets that had previously been the tool of choice by aluminium and other metals and mining companies in the past, which is a plus as they take less effort to achieve the desired goal of improved operational efficiencies – a goal that is very important to the aluminium industry. “As raw material costs and finished product selling prices fluctuate, companies are being pinched by their operating costs,” Buenemann explains. “But doing condition-based as opposed to time-based predictive maintenance, which was set up arbitrarily schedule that was set up sometime in the past, can help them to lower those costs as it enables them to maximise their throughput while

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also eliminating unnecessary downtime.” SAP’s Koch says one example of an aluminium company that has achieved very tangible results from its digital transformation efforts is Bulgaria-based ETEM Gestamp Extrusions, which he conservatively estimates has achieved about $300,000 per year savings through their use of data to gain insights as to how to improve the efficiency of their aluminium extrusions processes. This, the company said during SAP’s September Metals and Mining Summit in Moscow, was achieved in many ways, including data unification, which involves establishing a unified view across different data sources and using advanced analytics tools and methodologies for insights extraction; productivity rate “onthe-fly” computation, which involves the combination of various production performance metrics to quantify in real time the effectiveness of production lines

settings; recipe “best run” detection, which involved analysing millions of records in real time on top of the unified data across all data sources to retrieve the operational settings that have historically led to optimal production; operational simulation, which involves employing the Cloud use what-if analysis to compute the impact of new settings upon productivity; and advanced analytics and reporting, which uses the Cloud to obtain meaningful reports on top of the collected data. Koch explains, this includes taking data that they have collected in the past for existing product profiles and shapes and analysing that data in a way that has given them a better understanding of their production processes so they can come up with solutions, including what the best parameter settings would be to achieve to improve certain aspects of production performance that might not have been optimal in the past.

WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE IN PROCESS OR PLANNED?

Highlights 2020

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ETEM has also done something similar for new product profiles that have different geometric shapes from the previous products it has produced. This, Koch says involved the use of data analytics to determine what the best parameters would be to start production of a new extruded product shape to get the desired results, including such factors as temperature, speeds and pressure. He notes that there was a learning curve as to determining the best matching “recipe” to achieve what the company wants for this new product. Koch says that a third way that ETEM has reaped savings using data analytics was in determining beforehand what the benefit would be if they change certain production parameters or incorporate certain emerging technologies, such as machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, into their operations. “Because they already have some experience with the data, they have collected in the past they can make certain predictions through such simulations,” he says, noting that this wasn’t an option for them in the past. In their presentation, ETEM estimated its savings using best run detection being more than €150,000 per year, its savings through recipe recommendations for new profiles being more than €120,000 per year and the use of operational simulations as being “invaluable.” Koch says that ETEM isn’t alone in making such changes in their processes. “Many aluminium companies are in the process of investing in everything related to data analytics and are drawing conclusions from that data. “Whether this is related to machine learning, AI, image recognition or another algorithm, it involves taking data that has been collected and stored and applying science to it to solve a defined issue by applying it to a certain recipe.” He points out that this goes beyond manufacturing activities. “While you can analyse the data relating to the production at a company’s plant, it could also be used for other things, such as tracking trends

in end use markets and product, raw material and energy prices.” It is also being rolled out more or less across the entirety of the aluminium industry and its supply chain, Buenemann says, noting that in addition to being done at all levels of an aluminium producer’s organization, that is also true for their suppliers, downstream processors and end use customers. Crowe’s Barnes points out that historically aluminium mills have used some types of advanced technology to predict downtime and to be more exacting about when they need to do some maintenance on their equipment or if adjusting some of their operating conditions, such as the equipment temperature or the grades of material that they put through the equipment, could influence either that or their operational efficiency, or product quality. “Downtime avoidance is one of the biggest issues for manufacturing in general,” ABI Research’s Martin points out. “If equipment goes down, then everything comes to a complete standstill. However, you can’t integrate maintenance or perform preventative maintenance unless you have good information and real time reporting. As far as the newly developed data analytics technologies, Buenemann says that at least for the time being probably 80 to 90 percent of these investments are being integrated into existing facilities. “That is because the technology is so new and would require a proof of concept at an existing facility before it could be designed into greenfield plant.” Also, Crandall says they are actually quite easy to incorporate into existing operations as most new technologies have been specifically developed to be able to seamlessly be integrated with other information technology (IT) software and infrastructure to enable companies to increase their productivity immediately, especially given that if it required a huge change in network arrangement or the addition of a lot of new equipment it would be a non-starter for a lot of

aluminium companies, who are already financially squeezed. “They were developed to sit on top of existing infrastructure so the company can just plug it in, connect to their data and start solving business problems right away without changing anything or cancelling any other initiatives.” Barnes points out that the aluminium and other metals industries have also been actively working to upgrade their legacy business applications, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM), investing in Cloud-based systems, standardising processes, consolidating support and upgrading end user interfaces. He says the No. 1 reason for doing so is to eliminate the risk of technology obsolescence given that running systems that might no longer be supported could result in security risks. Another major reason it to find new ways to provide new, unique solutions for their customers, including, through new portals, allowing them to see more information about their business. Going forward, the aluminium industry will continue to do more and more to address the analytics topic, Koch says. “It is just nature for companies to continue to find ways to make better use of the data that they are collecting and to apply machine learning and AI to those analytics to derive conclusions from the data to help them make decisions of how to change their business processes, he says. The same is true about transformational digital technologies in general, Barnes says, predicting that over the next two or three years there will be “incredible” advances in companies getting intelligence out of their data and over that timeframe, both machine learning and AI will continue to evolve and become more prevalent in the aluminium industry. In fact, he points out that in Crowe’s latest survey, 35 percent of the respondents said that machine learning was an advanced technology they will begin to use within the next three years, while 33 percent of the respondents said that would be the case for AI. �

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES THAT YOU ARE NOT USING TODAY DO YOU PLAN TO PUT IN PLACE AT YOUR COMPANY IN THE NEXT 3-5 YEARS?

Aluminium International Today

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30 FUTURE MANUFACTURING

New plans for cans Marvin Foreman, Sales Manager at Tonejet explores the beneﬁts of digital print for packaging and how Quebecbased printer, Solucan is utilising its direct-to-pack technology to revolutionise beverage can production and provide a future-proof solution to the market.

The beverage industry continues to experience signiﬁcant change and the push for sustainable packaging alternatives grows stronger and stronger. Fortunately, large global brands and small businesses alike are hearing this call to action loud and clear and are already answering back with a much greener drinks packaging solution: the aluminium can. With a much wider recycling rate, a vastly more efﬁcient recycling process, and directto-can printing eliminating the need for additional wraps and shrink sleeves, it is not surprising that so many are making the switch. Even water is now being packaged in 100% recyclable lightweight aluminium, too. Why digital print for beverage cans? Digitally printing directly onto cans is very cost-effective, allowing brands of any size to capitalise on short run packaging for Highlights 2020

limited editions or special promotions. Products can be printed exactly as required, in the exact quantity needed, without any of the set-up costs or time required for traditional printing formats. We have already seen many of the larger brands using digitally printed shrink sleeves to create marketing hype and increase consumer focus on traditional products or products variations. The same approach has routinely been taken by craft beer companies and small batch beverage producers. However, this was primarily to overcome the minimum order boundaries set by can suppliers and decreases environmental integrity of the ﬁnal product. This is where direct-to-can digital printing really comes in. The true advantage of digital print is that every single can could be produced with a different image, creating virtually limitless design possibilities. Long lead

times and minimum order constraints are eliminated. So, essentially, a digital can printing solution removes one of the most expensive and restrictive parts of beverage can production today. New digital printing technologies can print several batches a day, decreasing product time-to-market. This means that larger brands can leverage digital print to respond to market or seasonal trends quickly and produce limited edition versions for events and social media campaigns much more easily. But brands should start to look beyond digital print for customisation and limitededition products and start to take full advantage of this technology for its economic advantages for mainstream packaging decoration - on any scale. ‘Interactive’ packaging design is also becoming more commonplace as brands adopt methods to engage with customers Aluminium International Today

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company to offer this market a complete digital printing solution in ﬂexible quantities and at a lower cost per can than traditional methods. Digital printing direct to the can offers a future proof solution and anticipates new government regulations enforcing the elimination of single use plastics, rendering some beverage containers obsolete. Solucan is producing hundreds and thousands of cans in production runs from 48 cans to 165,000 for a growing number of customers including the use of AR and interactive packaging campaigns. The use of food quality inks further minimizes the environmental impact of these digitally printed cans avoiding the use of plastics or adhesives and results in cans having the same look and feel to those produced traditionally, and all at a lower cost per can. It’s easy to see why the orders are rolling in. At Tonejet, we are also working with local, Cambridge based craft beer producer BrewBoard on a number of highly customised campaigns, further expanding their range of exclusive and

original craft beer can designs. BrewBoard prides itself on producing craft beers with distinctive and characterful branding and Tonejet’s solution gives them an edge in the highly competitive world of craft beer, affordably. The Tonejet Cyclone gives craft beverage brewers, contract fillers, packaging suppliers and large brand owners the ability to create bespoke packaging for short-run product variations at much lower running costs than those associated with shrink sleeves or pressure sensitive labels, and without compromise on print quality. By eliminating the need to procure, stock, apply and recycle labels a brand owner saves money and makes their product more sustainable. Direct-to-can printing technology benefits both the environment and the bottom line for manufacturers, by reducing time to market and making workflow quicker, simpler, more energy efficient and more cost-effective. It seems entirely possible that moving away from plastic bottles and wraps, committing to greener packaging solutions, and embracing pioneering technologies such as direct-to-can printing will become more than a clever marketing strategy or tickbox for corporate social responsibility, but could in fact become integral for brand survival in this increasingly competitive climate. Aluminium cans produced using the Tonejet Cyclone system remain 100% recyclable. No plastics, no adhesives, no waste! � For more information contact Marvin Foreman, Sales Manager at Tonejet marvin.foreman@tonejet.com

through content such as how-to videos and promotions which can be accessed on a smartphone or device via a printed code or augmented reality (AR) app. This will also have a significant impact on the kinds of data that brands are able to collect about the consumers that are interacting with their packaging. Let’ face it, there is a huge opportunity for brands to engage, entertain, and educate consumers in real time, opening the door for brands to capitalise on specific packaging features for local markets. The same digital print technology is also empowering smaller beverage producers to access global markets. A true revolution in beverage packaging production Doing it well Leading this revolution in North America is Trois-Rivieres based Solucan, as the first Aluminium International Today

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GARMCO - playing a part in shaping a better tomorrow GARMCO has seen the future and is optimistic about it. The company has not consulted an oracle or gazed into a crystal ball, or jumped into a time-machine and got an eyewitness account of the future. However, the way the company is talking these days, it might just seem as if GARMCO got an inside scoop on what the future holds. The brave new world that GARMCO has visualised is not dystopian as the novel imagined it to be but one where the ravages of climate change have been reversed, sustainability is commonplace, ecological con-servation has been a reality, and eco-friendly is a word on everyone’s lips and an integral part of what they do. While this image may seem like wishful thinking or even a wild fantasy, the truth is that for the past forty years GARMCO has been setting up the building blocks for just such a future. Environmental consciousness has been the core motivation behind everything that the company has been doing, and also the driving force at the heart of the company’s operations. While GARMCO realises that it may not be possible to see a complete transformation with the flick of a switch, it does realise that great change can take place only with small but significant steps. A bright and glorious future can be a reality but only if the foundations are laid thoughtfully, sensibly and strategically. It is here that GARMCO has made profound headway in terms of having a clear vision for the future but also in pursuing definite and tangible action plans to make them a reality. When GARMCO selected rolling, cutting and fabricating aluminium as the main focus of its operations, it was not just profits but also environmental awareness that guided the decision by the governments of Bah-rain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to form the first fully dedicated downstream facility in the Middle East in 1981. This environmental awareness was inspired by the eco-friendly properties of aluminium that has helped in designating it as the metal of the future. Aluminium can be recycled as many times as possible without losing its purity, and that means that manufacturers do not require to Highlights 2020

depend on primary aluminium all the time. What is more, aluminium is a very light metal compared to steel, and thus when used in vehicles, for in-stance, it can increase performance while reducing dead-weight and energy consumption. It is also corro-sion resistant, packed with electrical and thermal conductivity, incredibly ductile, good reflector of light and heat, has strength at low temperatures, non-magnetic, and so much more. In other words, aluminium provides key ingredients for wide range of products that can help in building an environmentally friendly future. Aluminium can work as the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle that can turn a product from an ecological burden to an eco-friendly alternative. For GARMCO, these properties of aluminium have helped in powering the engine for its growth, provided the rationale for its operations, and served as the inspiration for its high-quality alloys, sheets and coils that are available in various gauges, sizes and tempers. Today with an annual production capacity of over 165,000 tonnes, it ranks as one of the largest manufac-turers of high quality flat rolled aluminium products in the region. From its headquarters in Bahrain, GARM-CO has grown to be a truly global organisation with a network of offices located in Australia, Europe, Sin-gapore Thailand, USA and Vietnam. GARMCO employs over 600 people worldwide, and has an annual turnover exceeding US$ 450 million. This success has also been fuelled by the support it has received from customers around the world who continue to place their trust in the quality of GARMCO’s products. This trust has been expressed in a variety of innovative applications that have included the roof and wall cladding for the Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi; pizza pan trays worldwide; aluminium nonstick cookware; aviation cargo containers; water reservoirs in Australia; suspended ceiling of Mecca’s train station, steam irons; computers and elec-tronic equipment; delivery vehicles; and aluminium boats by Quintrex of

Australia. Today, many customers are keen on environmental considerations while selecting suppliers for their prod-uct range. Climate change is a reality that many have realised cannot be ignored any longer. It’s an issue that is increasingly grappling not only policy makers and planners but also consumers. Open any publication or watch any TV show or listen to any podcast, you’re likely to be inundated with pas-sionate environmental messages that insist on its urgency. While some take a decidedly pessimistic out-look, there are many who think differently, and for them, any

GARMCOs remelt and casting facility

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negative sentiment is not the end of the road but the start of a fresh new journey. The GARMCO Green Initiative, for instance, came about through just such a reasoning. It recognised that climate change is a reality that can be tackled and remedied through concerted action to prevent any dev-astating consequences for the planet. It was an opportunity to capitalise on the eco-friendly properties of aluminium, set the stage for a world less ravaged by climate change, and strengthen GARMCO’s credentials as a leading voice in promoting sus-tainability. So on one hand, GARMCO was in agreement with the proponents of the doomsday scenario in that the outlook for the world was grim. However, it stopped short from being completely consumed by negativity, and set the stage for a radical transformation whose impact would be felt across continents and genera-tions. This ambitious goal was made possible because GARMCO resolved right from the start to prioritise envi-ronmental conservation as a strategic necessity and injected this thought across its entire operations and processes. Far from seeing

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it as a slogan, the company made every effort to give it a tangible direction and calibrated its activities towards meeting this objective. In straightforward terms, the GARMCO Green Initiative was the culmination of years of best practice in eco-friendly processes, and provided the template for the company’s new strategic direction of being a champion of environmental causes. For GARMCO, it was also a matter of asserting what it was doing all along, giving this activity a name or a title, and recognising how it has always been an integral part of GARMCO’s work culture. It also meant taking a few steps back and examining the product range the company was involved in, and celebrating the fact that it is part of a sector where sustainability forms a key component of the way busi-ness is conducted. Aluminium as the raw material behind GARMCO’s products is an ideal vehicle for embarking on a trans-formative role in shaping the climate agenda, and in steering the company’s vision for a sustainable future. What this meant was that GARMCO and

its customers were able to enjoy the cost advantage of recycled aluminium through the use of more scrap and still enjoy the purity of primary aluminium in their endproducts. GARMCO continues to make a steady push towards increased reliance on recycled aluminium in the manufacturing of its high quality flat rolled products. In addition, the Direct Chill Casting method used in its production process assures better service quality at all times. This is an important element in the company’s quest for ensuring eco-friendly operations. The second step was to open a Remelt and Casting Facility in 2017 as a way to bolster GARMCO’s posi-tion as a regional leader in recycled aluminium, bring down the costs of metal casting, and provide custom-ers with superior quality products without losing purity levels. Recycling aluminium at the facility completes the full cycle and uses only 10 per cent of the energy that is needed for primary aluminium production. This US$ 55 million facility helped the company to meet its environmental obligations but also addressed the needs of discerning eco-friendly customers with high grade

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recycled aluminium. The benefits for these eco-friendly customers is that the metal offers the same degree of purity that primary aluminium possesses, and thus, they were able to utilise the advantage of aluminium as a raw material without worrying about harmful effects on the environment. It helped them as well as GARMCO to underline their commitment to be responsible corporate citizens, and play an active part in shaping a better world for future generations. It’s not just about protecting the bottomline but saving the environment. This is why the GARMCO Green Initiative is based on the following pillars - quality, responsibility and relia-bility. What it means is that the high quality of the company’s recycled aluminium is shaped by commitment to the environment, responsibility to future generations, and determination to remain a reliable source of raw material to its customers around the world. GARMCO’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. The company received the ISO 14021:2016 certification for successfully promoting best practices in environmental management across the organisation. The certifica-tion further endorses GARMCO’s continuing efforts to minimise the adverse impact of climate change through environmentally sound and eco-friendly processes that are already in place. It also praises GARMCO’s commitment to promote its wide ranging portfolio of recyclable products as one of the key steps of the company’s Green Initiative. The ISO 14021:2016 certification introduces internationally agreed standards for self-declared environmenHighlights 2020

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tal claims for products and processes, as well as provides qualifications for their use when these are articu-lated through statements, symbols or graphics. With the certification, GARMCO’s operations will be closely aligned with some of the key principles outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and enable the company to join other organisations around the world in shaping the climate agenda. In more practical terms, the certification provides GARMCO with clearly defined international benchmarks to measure its operations, and work earnestly towards meeting and maintaining those guidelines. For GARMCO it forms part of the company’s initiative to do what it can to build a better tomorrow for today’s youth, and achieving this goal through investments in processes, resources and operations. The return on these investments can be measured through their environmental impact and in the many in-tangible benefits that a well-oiled eco-friendly organisation produces for its stakeholders. What is at stake though is the future of the planet, and towards this end GARMCO remains committed to translate its ecological awareness into practical solutions, and restore hope for a better and a cleaner world for generations yet to be born.

In the final analysis, for GARMCO it is about visualising a future where the best case environmental scenario is a reality. It is also about relentlessly pursuing this goal and taking steps towards bringing them into the realm of the possible. GARMCO has seen this future, a world where the young do not have to fear the harmful effects of climate change, or remain terrified at what pollution can do. The company is confident that with the right steps tak-en collaboratively the world can emerge in a much better shape for the longer term. It is about recognising the priorities that are at stake, and working alongside them to ensure a cleaner outcome. The GARMCO Green Initiative is just one small step in this giant endeavour but remains a crucial step in making the world safer for future generations. While it serves to meet the company’s corporate goals it is also undergirded by a broader determination to play a key role in shaping the climate agenda. For GARMCO it is also a reflection of the passion for environment that is at the heart of everything the company does. It is this passion that has given the company its purpose as well as set the tone for under-taking strategic steps towards conservation and sustainability. As a result, today, the company has built a robust ecosystem for aluminium recycling, and invested in new technologies that would expand this commitment even further — transforming this passion into tangible action plans that deliver on the promise that GARMCO will always be a company that contributes towards a more sustainable future. �

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Digitalisation in industrial furnace manufacturing By Simon Künne, Kunal Mody, Wilfried Schmitz & Günter Valder* The way to Industry 4.0 is an evolutionary process, which offers great potential for improving and stabiliSing production processes and for increasing energy and resource efficiency by way of digitalisation and networking. As a supplier to foundries and semis producers, Otto Junker GmbH is determined to meet this challenge as demonstrated herein on the example of its process models (Digital Twins). Introduction While the automation level and hence, the degree of digitalisation of modern industrial furnace equipment, be it melting or heat treatment systems, has kept rising in recent years, these systems and the associated peripherals have, in many cases, largely remained digital islands to this day. Although extensive digital networking and the consistent acquisition and, above all, consolidation of all available data for the purposes of comprehensive higher-level analysis within the meaning of Industry 4.0 is well underway in foundries and semi finished product manufacturing plants, there are still many steps that remain to be taken. Otto Junker GmbH is making every effort to support this global process in the best possible manner. This shall be detailed in the following sections on the example of its process models (Digital Twins). Process Models (Digital Twins) Motivation Thermoprocessing systems are used to selectively adjust the properties of a component by a defined heat treatment. To this end, the temperature profile within the material must be controlled in

such a way that the desired metallurgical processes can take place. The most important control parameters are the holding temperature and holding time, the cooling rate and the ageing temperature, if applicable. Although the ideal temperature profile may be known from laboratory tests, it is usually not possible in an industrial process to verify whether it is actually being observed. With the aid of process modelling, the full temperature profile inside the material or component can be determined by means of a few selected temperature measurements. Thanks to this mathematical approach, the data will be available in a struc-tured form that facilitates further processing in an Industry 4.0 environment: Thus, for every product passing through the system it is possible to automatically generate a digital twin that will facilitate networking with upstream or downstream process steps. Modular system for process models To be able to supply process models as efficiently as possible for all equipment in its product range, Otto Junker GmbH has developed a software library that enables processes to be mapped as an FVM simulation using a modular system of building blocks. The fundamentals of this system have been explained, e.g. in [1]. Volume elements can be created and linked to diverse boundary conditions. Each volume owns geomet-rical dimensions as well as information about its material properties. The links represent different heat transfer mechanisms. It is thus possible to map effects such as heat conductance, convective heat trans-fer

with or without phase change, radiation or enthalpy flows. The system is then transferred to a solver capable of providing both steady and non-steady solutions to systems of this kind. In doing so, it relies on various numeric methods such as the Crank-Nicolson method, MUSCL schemes or Adams-Moulton methods in order to be able to handle shocks and discontinuities in the temperature profile. These methods can be found in the standard specialised literature, e.g. [2–4]. Application example of an ingot quench In the production of aluminium strip, ingots with dimensions in the region of 4.5 x 1.2 x 0.5m are initially heattreated in pusher furnaces. Here they are homogenized at approx. 540°C. Thereafter, they must cool down to a uniform temperature of 400°C before they can be hot-rolled. For the ends of the ingot, a slightly higher temperature is desired because this is advantageous in the rolling process. Simply letting the temperature drop in air by free convection would take too long; moreover, the desired temperature profile would not be achievable in this manner. For this reason, water quenching with a subsequent soak phase is employed. The ingots are fed to the quench from the various furnaces on a roller conveyor. In the quench they are subjected to a selective application of water before they are transferred to a soak chamber. There they are held at an ambient temperature of 400°C for 20 min. After that the ingots are moved to the hot rolling mill for further processing. It is thus a requirement on the water quench that it should remove no more

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Time: 248 seconds

f Time: 751 seconds

Time: 326 seconds

Time: 1402 seconds

Fig. 1. Modelling the temperature distribution in an aluminium rolling ingot during (a-c) and after (d-f) quenching in water

energy from the ingot than needs to be withdrawn to achieve a uniform temperature decrease from 540 to 400°C. After all, it is not intended to introduce any further energy into the soak chamber. This way, both the energy demand and, ultimately, process costs will be minimised. For the foregoing purposes, the surface temperature of each ingot is measured directly upstream of the quench. Thereafter, its transfer from the furnace to the quench is simulated using a process model based on the above described modular system. The ingot is assumed to possess a homogeneous temperature distribution upon exiting the furnace, and to lose heat by free convection during the transfer. If the surface temperature thus computed coincides with the measured one, the simulated temperature distribution will be used as a basis for the further calculations. An initial recipe is now selected for the quench, and the entire process is simulated all the way to the end of the soak cycle. A test is then carried out to ascertain whether or not the requirements on the ingot temperature are met. If necessary, the recipe will be adapted to the quench and a new simulation will be carried out. This process will be repeated until a setting is found that will cause the ingot to leave the soak chamber with just the desired temperature profile. This recipe is then loaded into the quench controller and executed. About 5 to 10 simulation 2020 Highlights

runs are necessary, but these take only a few seconds to complete. In this manner, every ingot geometry is treated with a tailor-made recipe so as to make optimum use of the residual heat. The results of such a simulation are graphically presented in Fig. 1a through Fig. 1f. Fig. 1a shows the temperature distribution in the ingot at the time when its front end has just exited the quench. In Fig. 1b, the first half of the ingot is outside the quench. It is evident that the surface of that portion has already become distinctly hotter again than it was in the quench. Its temperature has risen from around 50°C to approx. 250°C due to heat conductance from the interior of the ingot. Ultimately, the ingot’s temperature profile upon leaving the water quench is rendered in Fig. 1c. Fig. 1d through 1f show the temperature evolution over the soak phase. It should be noted that the colour scale in this diagram differs from that used in the previous images. In Fig. 1d we can still detect major temperature differences. As is evident from Fig. 1e and 1f, these differences decrease over time. Ultimately, a temperature of around 400°C is reached inside the ingot while its ends are slightly hotter to provide improved rolling properties. Conclusion and outlook The process model presented above generates a digital twin of every ingot,

documenting the temperature profile during the quenching process. Should any problems arise during hot-rolling of certain ingots, these could thus be correlated to earlier process steps through data mining methods. This is a precondition for an extensive interlinking of processes and equipment (‘networking’) in the context of Industry 4.0. In addition, an optimum recipe is generated for every ingot, thereby increasing process quality. The plant operator can directly specify the desired temperature the ingot should have upon exiting the soak chamber. Process parameters such as the water application density and ingot conveying speed are defined via an optimisation routine that maps the process with the aid of a process model. � Literature [1] Künne, S., Mertens, T.: Prozessmodellierung im Rahmen der kontinuierlichen Wärmebehandlung von Aluminiumbändern. Gaswärme international, 6-2016 [2] SCHÄFER, M.: Computational Engineering – Introduction to Numerical Methods. SpringerVerlag, 2006. [3 Dahmen W., Reusken A.: Numerik für Ingenieure und Naturwissenschaftler. SpringerVerlag, 2008. [4] Guinot, V.: Godunov-type Schemes: An Introduction for Engineers. Elsevier, 2003. Aluminium International Today

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Assan Alüminyum’s sustainability-oriented approach guides it through the pandemic Assan Alüminyum, a subsidiary of Kibar Holding and one of the 3 largest aluminium foil producers in Europe, pulls through the Covid-19 pandemic period with its committment to sustainability principles. Keeping sustainability at the core of its business, the company is not only focused on being environmentally friendly and socially responsible, but it also focuses on corporate governance principles, which are especially critical through the difﬁcult period, when the global pandemic crisis is prevalent.

Keeping the wheels turning “The whole world is going through challenging times” states Assan Alüminyum’s General Manager and Global Aluminium Foil Roller Initiative (GLAFRI) President Göksal Güngör. “We, at Assan Alüminyum, are aware of our important responsibility during these times. We are a signiﬁcant link in the food supply chain, supplying packaging rawmaterials, where most of our aluminium foil products are being used. As sanitation became a growing concern during this extraordinary period, packaged goods have become ever more important. Therefore, despite some supply chain Highlights 2020

disruptions, we had to keep the wheels turning by producing and exporting, while ensuring the good health of our employees and our business partners. This is where our ‘Life Safety’ culture, which we have implemented many years ago, proved to be very useful. We already have an occupational health and safety culture, which aims for our employees to act safely and to stay healthy, not only at the workplace, but also in their daily lives. The good health of our employees, our business partners and their families have always been our top priority. We have taken very strict measures from day one, following the directives and suggestions of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, ranging anywhere from travel bans to contact tracing, from various physical distancing measures to home-office opportunities for office employees. We have successfully been able to control the spread of the virus within our company as a result of these precautionary measures and practices that we have put in effect; and consequently we have been qualified to receive the ‘TSE Covid-19 Safe Production Certificate’, by fulfilling the strict requirements determined by the Turkish Standards Institute.” Sustainability-oriented approach Corporate governance, one of the main pillars of sustainability, has also become an essential tool for corporate companies, during this period dominated by unforeseen circumstances. As corporate

risk is being managed professionally by a dedicated department at Assan Alüminyum, the company was able to react quickly to rapidly changing conditions, whether it’s operations- or marketrelated, resulting in minimal disruption in business. Flexibility is one of the core values of Assan Alüminyum, along with reliability, innovation and sustainability. All stakeholders are also in need of ﬂexible solutions and quick actions to reduce supply risks during extraordinary periods, such as the one experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. The sustainabilityoriented perspective of the company was therefore helpful in supplying stakeholders with customized solutions on various issues. Transparency is another essential part of Assan Alüminyum’s sustainability focus. General Manager Göksal Güngör emphasizes that a regular, consistent and transparent corporate communication was executed on every step of the way. “The senior management of the Kibar Group and I, as the main spokesperson of Assan Alüminyum, have shared every update and action with all of our employees and business partners transparently. It is important to stay united and to act together through hard times, as this is what lies at the heart of sustainability, as opposed to an ‘every man for himself’ approach.” states Güngör. Renewable energy production While the Covid-19 pandemic became a major topic of discussion and an issue Aluminium International Today

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health, safety and environment etc. There is also an employee suggestion system, within the Assan Production Excellence Model, where both ofﬁce employees and ﬁeld employees are encouraged to make new suggestions on various issues and processes, including sustainability. This allows for a collaborated effort and a raised awareness about sustainability overall. As a result of this dedication and these collaborated efforts, the company aims to become a role model for all of its business partners and to encourage them to be act more sustainably as well.

of crisis during 2020, the climate crisis continues to become a major global concern. The world’s resources are continuously being used up, due to increasing urbanization, scarcity of energy resources and excess consumption. Therefore, as the future of our planet and the people come under question, renewable energy becomes more and more significant each year, as a major contributor to environmental sustainability. Assan Alüminyum produces clean electrical energy, equivalent to its annual consumption, in its own renewable energy power plant. Additionally, as the company’s sustainability motto of “producing the future, without wasting it” suggests, Assan Alüminyum constantly strives to produce less waste, less emissions and to consume less energy by developing new energy-savings projects every year. The in-house recycling facility also makes positive contributions to the company’s sustainability strategy. Assan Alüminyum aims to reduce its overall carbon footprint through all of these activities. Reducing carbon emissions Assan Alüminyum manages its environmental sustainability issues in compliance with the ISO 50001 Energy Management and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certificates that it holds. As flat-rolled aluminium production uses a considerable amount of electricity and natural gas, the optimization and reduction of these consumptions need to be managed professionally, with Aluminium International Today

dedicated teams. The Energy Management Team at Assan Alüminyum develops new sustainability projects every year. The projects completed in the last six years alone reduced the company’s carbon footprint at a level that is equivalent to the carbon absorption of over 1 million 500 thousand trees. While the company’s production expands every year, its energy consumption per ton has decreased by almost 4% over the last 2 years. Güngör states that they will keep setting ambitious targets in this respect, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of the company to even lower levels. As sustainability is one of the core values of Assan Alüminyum, the sustainability commitment of the company is supported by the dedication of the 1500+ employees, who have responsibilities in different functions, such as investment, procurement, occupational

Aluminium is ‘green’ by nature Göksal Güngör states, “Aluminium is a very versatile material, with many extraordinary qualities such as lightness, excellent barrier properties, flexibility and durability. These qualities make it the material of choice in many different industries, such as automotive, packaging, construction, HVAC etc. Most importantly, aluminium is a key contributor to sustainability in many different applications. Its lightness allows for reduced carbon emissions in transport sectors, its excellent barrier to light and moisture makes it a superior raw-material for packaging solution applications, allowing it to prevent food waste by prolonging the shelf life of food products and so on. Therefore, with growing concern over the sustainability of our world and its resources being quickly used up, aluminium proves to be an excellent product, offering significant benefits for our future. Aluminium’s infinite recyclability makes it a key contributor to sustainability and circular economy. Because of all of its superior qualities, we firmly believe that the aluminium industry contributes positively to many different sectors, in an effort to build a more sustainable future. Therefore, with the strength that our 1500 employees give us, we will keep investing and expanding in our industry, while constantly seeking more ways to contribute to circular economy.” � Highlights 2020

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Aluminium Foil: Rolling with the times With a history stretching back almost 120 years aluminium foil, and the companies which roll it, have had to deal with many changing situations. Some have brought challenges – the current COVID-19 pandemic is certainly one of those – and changes in taste, design and use, as well as cultural shifts, such as the move towards a more sustainable world, where resource efficiency, recycling and circularity are equally as important now as the functionality of a material, such as aluminium foil. Of course there have been many benefits too. The fact that foil is easily recyclable gives it the best credentials in today’s environmentally conscious world. Aluminium foil is blessed with many other characteristics which make it one of the most useful materials. It is light, decorative, printable, easily deformable, with high barrier properties and conductivity. This makes it an excellent choice for many applications, packaging in particular, but also in the automotive and construction sectors where its use as an insulator or heat disperser has enabled major advances in the efficiency of the engines, exhausts and buildings it protects. But aluminium foil is certainly not immune to the changes in economic or market circumstances, both long or short term. Certainly, at the moment, the disruption to global trade caused by the coronavirus has seen dramatic falls in demand for automotive and construction use, while, here in Europe, the focus on Highlights 2020

safe and hygienic packaging for food and pharmaceuticals has sent demand spiralling upward. In recent years, characterised by steady if not spectacular growth, European aluminium foil rollers have had to deal with weak internal demand in domestic markets due, by and large, to flat economic growth after the financial crisis and also the influx of cheap imports from Asia being dumped into the market. Impact Since the start of 2020, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on both supply and demand. Several production facilities were closed temporarily and many customer facilities likewise. Total deliveries fell by 2.0% in the first six months (Q2: 4.5%) with thicker gauges, typically used for semi-rigid containers, technical or other applications, particularly affected, declining 4.4% in the first half (Q2: 13%). Exports too were steeply down, by 14% in the first half of 2020. These figures are collected by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA). Thinner gauges, used mainly for flexible packaging and household foils, were much more resilient, thanks to high demand for these products. Indeed deliveries in Europe actually increased slightly in Q2 (0.3%), helping total deliveries in the first half of 2020 for all gauges to show a modest increase (0.5%) domestically. But the medium to long term impact

of the pandemic on demand from the automotive and aerospace industries has yet to be fully realised and, according to Guido Aufdemkamp, Executive Director of EAFA, the current spike in packaging demand will not fully compensate for decreased demand in these and other segments. Optimistic The sector is more optimistic than at the beginning of the pandemic, however, according to EAFA President Bruno Rea. The fundamentals of the industry are sound and European aluminium foil rollers are agile and used to dealing with ﬂuctuating circumstances, even if they are unwelcome! Because of the nature of many end user customers, such as packaging converters, the hygienic workplace practices were and are already well established, so disruption was less than for other sectors. Factoring in social distancing too, caused fewer problems and the result has been that aluminium foil rollers have largely been spared from outbreaks of the virus. Focus on Sustainability The focus may have switched, for now, from issues such as resource efﬁciency and recycling – while food safety, hygienic distribution and security are paramount. But sustainability, which has, for so long, dominated alufoil and other materials development and use, is regarded by manufacturers of aluminium foil as Aluminium International Today

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just as important as ever. Indeed there may be lessons to be learnt from the COVID-19 response to help create a more coordinated and collective response to the issue of climate change in general. So it could be an opportunity to add some momentum to sustainable development. In truth, the work on this aspect of aluminium foil technology never stops, as it is part of the DNA of the sector by now. A good example of new recycling potential is the work being done by ENVAL in Huntingdon, UK. Previously it has not been easy to recycle laminates made with a combination of plastics and aluminium foil. But this is now achievable using a new, unique proprietary pyrolysis solution capable of handling low-density packaging waste. The process is clean, efficient and economical for both postconsumer and industrial waste, says the company. The process is quite unique, being able to operate on a smaller and decentralised scale. It is capable of recycling plastic aluminium laminates by splitting them into aluminium with a low-carbon footprint and high-value oil which can be used for producing plastic materials again. This should transform the waste sector from within by changing the perception of aluminium plastic laminates and unlocking a strong and profitable circular economy. For other types of valuable aluminium fraction, within mixed packaging collection systems such as aluminium composite packaging and other foil-based packaging, the industry, together with the equipment manufacturers, has focused its efforts on developing various aluminium sorting techniques. Eddy current separators (ECS) and detection-ejection systems including advanced multi-sensor and robot sorting technologies, are able to extract aluminium from mixed materials flows. In a typical European sorting centre Aluminium International Today

using an ECS system, which focuses on medium grain sizes of 80-300mm, a recovery rate of 60% is possible. But adding an additional ECS system, capable of separating fractions between 20 and 80mm, leads to an increase in recovery to as much as 90%. The further addition of an Induced Sorting Separator (ISS), for super fine grain sizes smaller than 20 mm, then increases the recovery rate to 94%. (Source: HTP Study 2018) In addition, the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) has been in existence since 2012. Certification to the ASI Standards, which were first published at the end of 2014, enables the aluminium industry, as well as the users of aluminium, to demonstrate their commitment to social, environmental and ethical standards. The first products such as beverage cartons using certified aluminium foil and others are increasingly being introduced into markets. New formats Of course the fact we have plastics/ aluminium laminates at all is a reflection of the changing world that foil rollers have had to adapt to over the course of time. In just one example, pet food packaging, the can quickly gave way to the aluminium tray and lid, which in turn has been accompanied by the pouch, made from a foil laminate. Likewise who would have thought, even twenty years ago, that the coffee sector would be “dominated” by aluminium pods rather than vacuum packs, or that a whole industry has grown up supplying homes, restaurants, bars and almost everywhere else with tea lights in small aluminium containers. The ongoing barbecue trend is another market offering opportunities for the sector. The rather traditional household foil benefits from its unique properties such as heat conductivity and strength

appreciated by both professional and amateur grillers preparing delicious meals. All these products also present new, or at least interesting, challenges in the areas of recycling and sourcing of sustainable supplies of aluminium. While, as we have seen, programs to deal with foil-based laminates are being established, there are now initiatives to collect used tea light containers in some parts of Europe. For coffee pods various collection platforms are underway. Agility Over its long history aluminium foil has adapted to changes in the markets, formats, fashions and designs as well as embracing technological advances to produce better, thinner, stronger and more versatile foil. These materials, and it is wrong to say there is just one as many alloys and coatings exist which change the function and performance, are truly agile. Aluminium foil rollers have taken most things in their stride. But no one is going to claim 2020 will be a great year for the sector. It is difficult to work around circumstances which stops most economic activity in its tracks for several months. Like most businesses, it is how to deal with these difficult times which shows their true resilience. In fact aluminium foil rollers reported production continued throughout the first half of the year largely uninterrupted. Whether that can be sustained is dependent on whether or not the markets they supply can recover and how quickly. History shows that rollers will continue to innovate and meet the challenges thrown at them, whether regulatory or market driven. Like a river, the aluminium foil sector will continue to roll on. � Contact www.alufoil.org

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42 SLUG MANUFACTURING

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Focus on: Slug manufacturing Last year, while visiting Canadian manufacturers and suppliers, Nadine Bloxsome* met with Sylvain Brisseau** at the Ball plant in Sherbrooke to ďŹ nd out about the world of aluminium slug manufacturing and the sustainable beneďŹ ts it offers to packaging products.

*Editor, Aluminium International Today **Vice President & General Manager, Ball Advanced Aluminium Technologies Highlights 2020

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1. Ball is recognised as a sustainable enterprise – how is the company working to apply these standards across its aluminium slug manufacturing process? At Ball, sustainability is one of our top priorities. Our goal is to make aluminium packaging the most sustainable package economically, environmentally and socially. We offer sustainable packaging solutions to help our customers achieve their goals and provide what consumers want. Ball’s aluminium beverage cans, bottles and cups, as well as impact extruded aluminium aerosol cans, have a unique sustainability profile and many advantages when compared with other packaging materials. Aluminium is infinitely recyclable. Also Ball’s development of ReAL®, a specific patented alloy for the world’s first lighter weight aluminium aerosol can expresses our commitment to innovation and sustainability. ReAL® with up to 20% reduction in can weight. ReAl and the subsequent light weighting provide cost and environmental benefits such as a lower product carbon footprint and using less aluminium For example, we estimate that a 20% lighter 150 ml aerosol can has 18% reduced carbon footprint. One additional sustainability initiative was announced earlier this year that has a direct impact on the environmental impact of our aluminium slugs. In April, Ball announced it had entered into virtual power purchase agreements (for wind and solar), which allow us to address our entire North American electricity load by the end of 2021. We are also looking to implement similar agreements in other regions where we operate. In addition, Ball has an ambitious carbon footprint reduction goal, which

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we are on target to meet. � Water Use: Between 2014 and 2018, Ball’s Sherbrooke plant reduced its absolute annual water consumption by 9.8% � Waste: Between 2014 and 2018, Ball’s Sherbrooke plant reduced its absolute waste to landﬁll by 35.3% � Electricity Use: Between 2012 and 2018, Ball’s Verona plant reduced its absolute annual electricity use by 4.6% � Between 2015 and 2018, Sherbrooke’s and Verona’s combined absolute Scope 2 market-based emissions decreased 13.6%. In the same time, Sherbrooke’s and Verona’s combined Scope 1 emissions decreased 2.3%. 2. What are the main types of packaging that are produced from aluminium slugs? The most common forms of packaging that utilize aluminium slugs are aerosol cans for personal care and beauty products such as hair sprays, sun screens, and deodorants, aluminium tubes for toothpaste, pharmaceutical creams or hair dyes), and aluminium bottles for canned beverages including beer, wine, and coffee. We currently supply customers in all of these industries and product categories. 3. What other market areas are slugs utilised for manufacturing applications? Aluminium slugs are an incredibly versatile raw material for a wide variety of products. The industries utilising slugs range from consumer goods (aerosols, beverages, pharmaceuticals, ﬁre extinguishers, marker and pen shells), to automotive (fuel pumps, battery and motor housings, clutch components and more), and electronics (heat sinks,

sensor housings, lamp housings). There are endless opportunities for aluminium slugs, and we are planning to expand into new categories. Although slugs are most commonly associated with the impact extrusion process both in packaging and technical manufacturing industries, they’re also a great fit for many forging and machining applications as well. 4. How many facilities does Ball produce aluminium slugs at? With 30 years of experience in slug making, Ball Corporation has two manufacturing facilities in), Sherbrooke (Canada), and Verona (the United States) as well as one further joint venture in France with an annual capacity of over 90,000 tons. These three plants supply customers around the world. 5. How are operations monitored and quality control applied during the manufacturing process? We recognise that when it comes to materials for automotive components, electronics and pressurised containers such as aerosol cans, the highest level of commitment to precision and quality is absolutely imperative. Our quality management system – ISO 9001 – is built upon rigorous monitoring of critical parameters in the manufacturing process. Each step, from the preparation of the melt furnace to the final packaging of the finished product, is analysed for alloy consistency and dimensional accuracy to ensure high quality products. With increasing demand on new products, such as automotive safety parts and aerosol containers, we recognise that any metallurgical pollution or defect can cause major risk to our customers. Therefore, we have invested into robust control systems and equipment to protect them.

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Like Ball’s aluminium beverage cans and cups, impact extruded aluminium aerosol cans have a unique sustainability profile and many advantages when compared with other packaging materials. Aluminium is infinitely recyclable and has high recycling rates around the world. When emptied, an aluminium aerosol container can be collected and recycled, again and again, with no loss of quality, making aluminium cans the most valuable containers in the recycling stream. Also Ball’s development of ReAL®, the world’s first lighter weight aluminium aerosol can expresses our commitment to innovation and sustainability.

environmental clean-ups across North America. We also have a Global Recycling Can Challenge for our manufacturing facilities and employees, which seeks to provide education about the beneﬁts of recycling and help increase recycling rates in the communities where Ball operates. We are also members of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, which promotes sustainable aluminium sourcing and enable the aluminium industry to demonstrate responsibility and provide independent and credible assurance of performance. This program strengthens the responsible sourcing framework we launched at Ball in 2013 with partners to ensure that we deliver more sustainable products to our customers and consumers. 9. What does the future hold for aluminium slug manufacturing and impact extrusions? Predicted

6. Have there been any developments in automation/ Industry 4.0 across the slug manufacturing or impact extrusion process? “Smart production” with efficient solutions for automation and equipment connectivity is definitely an area of improvement for our industry. At Ball, we are willing to set the standards for manufacturing, and are investing into technologies to drive efficiency, and improve the working conditions of our employees. 7. How is the current market for impact extruded packaging products? Has there been an increase in demand for aluminium-packaged products over plastic? Yes. Consumer needs and trends are constantly evolving, and belief-driven buying is becoming mainstream around the world across ages and incomes. According to various studies, consumers believe brands should help improve the environment, and are actively buying more environmentally friendly products than five years ago. Consequently, brands are expected to be sustainable. At Ball, we’re offering sustainable aluminium packaging solutions to help our customers meet their goals and provide what consumers want. Highlights 2020

We have certainly seen an increase in requests for information for new products in aluminium cans and aerosols, as more and more companies look for alternatives to plastic packaging. This represents a big opportunity for our company and we are putting a lot of efforts to act on it. 8. How is Ball working with consumers to promote aluminium as a sustainable packaging choice? When we completed the acquisition of Rexam in 2016, Ball publicly committed to making the can the most sustainable package in the beverage supply chain. We are actively engaging with various stakeholders about the positive attributes of aluminium packaging. A signiﬁcant part of this is focusing on sustainable sourcing and working with partners to maximise recycling rates. Through the Ball Foundation, Ball and its employees support a number of recycling organisations around the world that aim to increase metal packaging recycling rates, improve collection processes and provide education about the beneﬁts of recycling. As an example, the Foundation supports The Recycling Partnership, reaching 1.2 million U.S. households to increase recovery of recyclable materials at the curb, and the Can’d Aid and Surfrider Foundations on recycling initiatives and

development/challenges/solutions? Aluminium is a great material, recyclable and sustainable and with a prime resource (Bauxite) abundantly available. Its properties of anti-corrosion, light isolation, heat transfer, malleability, low weight, and increased strength are a perfect fit for a variety of applications. When you couple its benefits to the impact extrusion process starting from aluminium punched slugs, you have one of the most economically efficient, safe, flexible and reliable processes to develop products for a variety of markets like packaging, automotive components, electronics devices and more. As a global leader in both aluminium slugs and impact-extruded cans, Ball aims to leverage the inherent benefits of aluminium to meet the changing needs of our customers and consumers. Whether that is finding new ways to provide aluminium slugs, coil or plate for lighter weight automotive components or electric vehicles, or further improving the carbon footprint of metal packaging. As consumers shift away from plastic, and automakers are leading a revolution with the development of light electrical vehicles, we see great opportunities for continued product development of aluminium components and packaging too. � Aluminium International Today

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AGV’s will do the job Since the technical revolution, producing in a highly demanding and sometimes even dangerous environment, mankind has been developing all kind of strategies and ways for improving labour into more efficient processes. Peter Vanvuchelen* explains

Since technology stepped in, people have made even bigger steps in finding ways to improve efficiency. More important, technology changed the way we are behaving and the way that we are living our lives. People use technology, not only to do simple tasks, mainly in a factoryenvironment, but technology has even integrated into people’s houses and lives. 100 years ago, a simple car was at the point of slowly moving horses back from the streets to the prairies. Not even one generation ago, we started to discover the Internet as a window on the world as we know it today. Today we have machines scanning the surface of Mars, driving around and operating autonomously in the most extreme circumstances. Our cars are so smart that they not only show us the way, but they can even drive us with minimum

or no intervention from the driver. People don’t write letters anymore but they send pictures and video-chat instantly by using WhatsApp, Instagram or similar apps on their smartphones. These simple examples are just one way to understand how we evolved at high speed as species. Yes - we changed. We have become demanding in terms of patience, comfort and developing ourselves. People don’t want to work in unsafe environments any longer, they want to develop their creativity. They don’t want to work in a dusty factory, they want to spend more time with their beloved ones. They look for quality, reflecting in an increasing environmental awareness (green and clean environment, healthy activities, biological food etc) like it was

never seen before. Along with the technological evolution came the opportunity to improve safety – all kinds of systems are watching over us to make sure that we travel safely and that accidents in factories are reduced to an absolute minimum. Wherever possible, unsafe jobs are being done by robots since a few decades. Knowing this, and facing this new reality, it is not surprising that industries are looking for new technologies that apply to these needs. Everyone running a company knows it: Finding technical people becomes a challenge. Finding people who want to do simple repetitive labour is getting impossible. Besides this, safety is still a point of concern: accidents due to operators cannot be avoided for the full 100%.

*Director Business Development, Hencon BV Aluminium International Today

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Continuity, perfect traceability and performing tasks in a perfectly consequent way will never be possible as long as people are doing the job. People need distraction, holidays and coffee-brakes. People get ill. People get bored. People make mistakes. The harsh reality is that people prefer doing other things than monotonous work. This is where smart machines come into the picture. Machines that can take over the job and can do it even faster, safer and far more efficient, with less use of fossil energy then people can ever do. Machines that don’t need to be controlled or where interaction with operators is no longer needed. Machines that improve every step in the production process and detect and communicate every deviation in the production process (temperature, anomalies in anode-blocks, etc). The first AGV’s for pot rooms already exist, and they work. Hencon AGV’s in the aluminium industry When Hencon started as a company, its main focus was on building quality machines for the aluminium industry. Together with increasing experience and know-how, and along with the trends as described above, Hencon also felt that industries were more and more looking for suppliers who are able to think with them about strategic choices, about how to facilitate in their production processes and about how to improve safety and climate in their plants. Low emission of the machines and a zero-tolerance on accidents were parameters that became a fact of life. In the meantime, higher productivity and increasing competition were factors that could not be denied. Just overtaking labour was not enough any longer. Several high-profile trendsetting Highlights 2020

customers of Hencon are looking for possibilities to set up a ‘smart factory’, as soon as possible. Cyber-physical production systems are not just a far dream any longer, with Industry 4.0. a new way of thinking is born. Hencon wants to be the first company within its field, who offers the right products, services and solutions, to get ready for those new needs. Hencon started to develop its own Automatic Guided Vehicles. The first challenge that needed to be tackled was the specific environment in Aluminium Plants. Dust, electromagnetic fields and extreme temperatures are the conditions under which AGV’s – highly precise technological machines – need to operate (in potrooms). No need to explain that the Hencon-engineers lost their sleep in finding ways to overcome these circumstances before producing the first prototype of this high tech equipment. Another remarkable change that grew into the organization was the way in how to interacts with its customer. ‘In the old days’, customers ordered machines for a well-specified purpose. Nowadays there is a continuous dialogue between Hencon and its customers, during which solutions for a smart industry are born progressively, after a mutual exchange of ideas, and the will to achieve goals that have never been set before. The relationship resulting from this kind of collaboration is based on mutual trust and the ambition to set new standards and can rather be described as a solid and durable partnership than as a customer-supplier relationship. Now, several years later, Hencon can

proudly state that its first AGV’s are working in the field at full satisfaction. Hencon is at this moment the only manufacturer who has achieved to deliver AGV’s in the (electromagnetic) field successfully. Within the evolution towards automatisation, there were several steps to be taken. The first step towards the completely autonomous AGV was making machines who served as an accessible, intuitive interface between man and production environment, made for doing simple tasks. The layout of all the instruments, the handles and the screens should become as easy to understand and to work with as a smartphone. Now Hencon is able to build very complex machines that not only take over the job but combine several complex jobs at the same time (transportation, picking up, unloading, measuring temperature, scanning the quality of anodes, etc) Safety is always priority number one because, although AGV’s are conceived to operate totally autonomously, the reality is that in most of the factories it is impossible to avoid situations in which machines and human being cross their paths. It must be emphasized that realization of such AGV’s, but even more the implementation of the final product in a real-life environment can only be successful under the condition of a strong relationship between both parties: The customer and Hencon. It takes a lot of time and mutual efforts. STEP 1: DEFINING Starting from a general idea and direction, towards a full implementation of the AGV, the first step to be taken is a precise definition of the objective and the way that the production takes place at that moment. Hencon needs to understand the process of manufacturing and the projected results in terms of efficiency which are the object of the automatisation. Aluminium International Today

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STEP 2: FEASIBILITY STUDY From there a feasibility study should result in a first draft of the new (automated) situation. During the feasibility study, engineers from both customer and Hencon stay in close contact. STEP 3: SIMULATION If there is mutual agreement on the outcome of the feasibility study, some case-studies will be executed, with equipment that is in operation already, who will then be behaving as AGV’s in order to understand what the impact of automatisation will be. This is an important step, because routes, interaction with the existing factory-environment, potential unforeseen bottle-necks and the reactions of personnel should be analysed before it can be sure that an AGV will be a successful solution with that particular customer. The main purpose is that within this period of continuous reporting & analysing, improvements on the first draft towards a detailed plan will be made. STEP 4: CONCEPT This will result in a crystal clear and extremely detailed planning (the full operational process of the AGV, the routes, the charging points, the safety protocols etc.), as well as a complete drawing and concept of the AGV’s that will be built. All the objections and wishes of managers and operators will be taken into account for optimising the final tailormade product. STEP 5: INTRODUCING THE AGV Finally, the AGV will arrive at the plant. Training of personnel and fine-tuning of the AGV will be the first thing to do. After that, the AGV will do its first steps in the production process and further fine-tuning

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will be necessary. Intermediate evaluation sessions will be planned and will result in further fine-tuning of the AGV. STEP 6: FOLLOW-UP Follow-up on a regular basis, after implementation, with the possibility of a full service of the AGV’s This way of intense working together with the customer is a totally different approach than the traditional straightforward sales process. The main difference is that the customer does not order a number of machines (considered as commodities) but that by introducing new technologies, the customer is boosting its own business into a new era (Industry 4.0), turning its factory into a smart factory. Hencon doesn’t just sell AGVs, the role of the supplier can be rather described as the facilitator in a new way of thinking and as the partner enabling to materialize the ideas that were latent already. Hencon has new similar projects in the pipeline and is looking forward to sharing its growing experience with every potential innovative customer, looking for the same profits and improvements and willing to discover new paths together. Maybe it is useful to conclude with paying attention to a wide scale of additional benefits, that is coming along with the use of AGV’s. Benefits of AGV’s AGVs will contribute to the efficiency of all kinds production processes and all kinds of logistical processes while increasing safety and reducing costs. The following benefits and properties can be identified: � Suitable for picking up, transporting and unloading any load (fluid aluminium, anodes,… )

� Electrifying the powerpack leads to zero emission and less noise � Low costs (maintenance costs are extremely low, personnel costs are reduced tremendously) ( in combination with a much higher output) � 100% Safety (no personnel involved) � Constant communication between machine and supervisors - System helps to track & trace quantities and locations of the transported materials) - Remote and even off-site monitoring of operation - Remote OEM support � The AGV will be directed via a Supervision system to the specific locations that are indicated by the Manufacturing Execution System (MES). This guarantees that the AGV is always at the right time at the right place and ensures the best production efficiency � Machine works 24/7 with an unprecedented reliability � More compact machines (no cabin required, no combustion engine) � Complying with specific needs of Industry 4.0

AGVs are already successfully used in mines, ports, rolling mills, cast houses, potrooms etc. There are no technical limitations to launch AGV technology in any production environment. Hencon is at all time available for more detailed information and appointments can be made at the customer’s offices or at Hencon’s. �

Contact: www.hencon.com

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Joining our strengths, today, more than ever By Éloïse Harvey* The global industrial environment is becoming more and more complex and competitive. Organisations of all sizes live it to various degrees of intensity. The industrial sectors as we know them are grappling with increasingly demanding production and profitability imperatives. This minimises the option of putting operational performance momentarily at risk to integrate a new advantageous technology. Indeed, in aluminium smelters, it is sometimes difficult to change wellestablished and functional ways to try establishing improvements that could have potential risks but also high rewards. How can we ensure that an industry like primary aluminium production continues the desired technological shift towards 4.0 industry while minimising risks as much as possible? How do we go about deploying equipment, such as a fleet of autoguided vehicles in an operating plant, which in addition to coactivity with other equipment, must communicate with other systems without impacting production? Mecfor has given some thoughts on how the dynamic of new technologies development and deployment in the aluminium industry could look like in the future to ensure the sustainability of the ecosystem that exists between equipment manufacturers, aluminium producers, governments, and research centres. This reflection was initiated, among other things, by the recent development and technological showcase experience of Mecfor’s first electrical auto-guided metal hauler, the AGV TEAM – Metal, under real

plant operating conditions. The process surrounding the startup and deployment of the AGV TEAM metal hauler in a smelter was revealing for Mecfor in terms of its complexity and the many factors that are difficult to identify otherwise in comparison with a conventional hauler fleet commissioning. Planning for the implementation of a fleet of AGV haulers in a continuous production plant must be carefully planned and worked out in close collaboration with all parties involved. Equipment manufacturers Over the past 20 years, Mecfor has developed a great expertise and a thorough understanding of the challenges encountered in smelters. Through its delivered projects, the company has gained a global vision of the industry allowing it to identify the common challenges of its customers. One of Mecfor’s engineering team daily realities is making its line of products evolve through innovation and integration of new technologies onto equipment. All is eager to see more technology breakthroughs, but it must be admitted that the equipment supplier’s facilities are light years away from the operating environment of an aluminium plant, thus making it hard to test these new technologies. Indeed, beyond modelling, workshops quickly become a limit to understanding the behaviour of a new component or equipment in real operating conditions and their implications

according to the specifics of aluminium production. In order to minimise the risks, it is ideal when possible to test upstream prior to undertake manufacturing of equipment. For example, in the case of AGV TEAM Hauler, several components were installed on conventional haulers for many months in order to validate their behaviour under magnetic fields, abrasive dust and other inherent conditions of the industry. Access to aluminium plants is a facilitating and reassuring element for an equipment manufacturer when developing new technologies. It allows the equipment manufacturer to validate its choices, to confirm design criteria and to ensure that components react well under real operating conditions. Of course, adding to the ability to test in a smelter, the ultimate is if a synergic alliance can be set between parts’ supplier, equipment manufacturer and aluminium producer. This kind of partnership energises the approach. In this perspective, the acceleration of the integration of new technologies can also go through the association with other experts who have developed targeted skills (e.g.: auto-guided navigation, robotisation, automation platform, etc.). Speciﬁcs of operational conditions Technologies also confront particularities of aluminium plant operating conditions. Profound changes such as a shift towards AGVs in the pot room, for example, require a holistic understanding of the metal flow and the functioning of the

*B. Eng. & Mgmt, President, Mecfor Inc. Highlights 2020

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plant. The challenges are multiplying for the equipment supplier: the different technologies used to produce aluminium, the level of automation to manage the metal flow, plants’ layout (e.g.: floor load capacity), the practices and methods in place (e.g.: crucible on a stand or not), operating conditions (e.g.: temperature fluctuations, abrasive dust, toxic gases, coactivity, high magnetic fields that can be variable). Not only must the equipment designer present a solution adapted to the industry, but he must also be ready to adapt to many levels of customisation to meet requirements of each plant. This reality translates into almost a custom solution; thus, limiting possible volume savings. Governments and Research centres In the development of its AGV TEAM Hauler, Mecfor recognises that governments’ support to promote its project, both during the development phase of the equipment and to test the equipment under real operating conditions, has had a decisive impact. The business environment created by Mecfor’s provincial and federal authorities facilitates the development and integration of technologies by small and medium businesses that do so with minimal resources. Thanks to the onsite trial period, the equipment supplier and customer were both able to benefit from lessons learned. Access to research centres is also a favourable factor. Testing new equipment and technologies in a plant prior to real commissioning helps define required interventions, impact on production and employees, co-activity with equipment, etc. thus better plan full implementation steps. Prime contractors There seems to be a trend to shift responsibility of development and integration of new technologies to OEMs. About 15 years ago, the industry was showing a willingness to take more risks. Aluminium smelters are constantly seeking to optimise operational performance costs in order to maintain shrinking margins. They aim to know with full confidence that the introduction of a new technology will not compromise their production; this risk aversion is understandable. That is why, authorising to conduct tests directly at the plant can be reassuring for both parties (producer and OEM). By testing a new technology, the producer does not feel the pressure linked to the constraint of purchasing an unproven technology and down the road has the peace of mind that the component will perform its function properly without creating unexpected failures. The OEM also comes out a winner since without these tests in real operating Aluminium International Today

conditions, it is difficult to demonstrate the proper functioning of new equipment other than by empirical assumptions. Another mean to improve the industry in general, could be for aluminium smelters to join efforts and contribute together to the development, testing and elimination of the risk of new technologies which are not targeted at the very heart of the process such as vehicles that are considered a commodity. This kind of alliance between a number of operators would allow an equipment manufacturer to invest more in R&D knowing that the industry supports its efforts. It is also likely that this dynamic could be favourable to the development of a high-performance industrial cluster, of a network of experts within which sharing feedbacks from field experience would benefit all.

Reinventing the wheel together To ensure continuity and profitability of our industry, testing in real plant environment, prior to launching new technologies is one of the winning conditions. Developing new technologies in partnership mode remains one of the most accessible approaches as its also reduces the risk for all parties involved. There is no need to limit the partnership model to a binary co-operation. The partnership can be composed of more than two companies, a tripartite co-development or other (many OEMs together, OEM and supplier, smelter and OEM, research centre and OEM, etc.). Design criteria could also be established jointly between several factories to harmonise expectations and minimise the risk of development onto the equipment manufacturer. Integrating the specificity of an application like a fleet of AGV haulers can be challenging. This type of dynamic implies that the linear procurement model as we know it would have to adapt. Open collaboration would ensure conducting promising projects for all. It is more than likely that the climate of trust will enhance sharing of information and knowledge. The business environment has atomized the players by inviting them to be increasingly

strategic to ensure the survival of their businesses. In our experience, close collaboration exponentially accelerates wealth and promotes a fertile and innovative socio-economic context. This collaboration reaches its full power when it is deployed on several levels, involving SMEs, large companies, governments, research and expertise centres and centres of technology transfer. Mecfor can testify that when all are in phase, a symbiotic relationship is woven, benefiting all. In addition, allowing equipment manufacturers to conduct tests in a real operations environment constitutes another solution. The equipment supplier can refine its design, accelerate its learning curve while sharing findings with client. A real bench test that allows making necessary adjustments to ensure the reliability and desired performance levels of equipment. It is not excluded that the equipment supplier may test specific parameters for the clients. Another aspect is the mutualisation of platforms and technologies, which brings operational security and makes the industry less dependent to one single developer while creating a business volume for a model that could be mass produced. In addition, it opens the possibility to multiple phases to a project. For example, when Mecfor selected the Kollmorgen platform (a non-proprietary software available on more than 20,000 vehicles worldwide) in its AGV TEAM, it was with the frame of mind that customers could add other types of AGV equipment over time inside the plant that could all be connected to the same platform (haulers, liftrucks, personal carriers, etc.). OEMs are actively involved in creating value in the aluminium industry. In their efforts to specialise to meet the requirements of their customers, the business volume is not always there. Within the context of a technological shift towards a 4.0 industry promoting cooperation and reducing risks for all would ensure that other impacting technologies emerge together with producers, OEMs and other players interested in taking on challenges. Finally, in recent years, we have seen the appearance of centres of excellence, teams dedicated to innovation and good practices, within corporations. These units are often the link between large business and SMEs. Governments have also recognised the importance of providing dynamic support to the everchanging environment, which increasingly requires advanced technologies. In short, the time has come to mobilise and create a participative co-operation within the industry to succeed in its digital transformation. � Highlights 2020

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The new international standard for automotive lightweighting By John Sellors, Impression Technologies Ltd Environmental legislation to control emissions and reduce pollution continues to tighten across the globe. To meet these mandated challenges in the automotive sector, faith is increasingly being put in the use of battery electric vehicles, hybrids and more efficient internal combustion engine vehicles. A key concern for developers in all of these technologies is a simple one: The weight (mass) of each vehicle contributes to the amount of energy needed to move it. Therefore, the race is on to reduce the weight of every type of vehicle and increase their efficiency, leading to reduced emissions, increased range and improved performance. ‘Lightweighting’, as it has come to be known, has never been more important for designers and manufacturers. This has, in turn, led to a sustained increase in the use of aluminium as the material of choice when manufacturing components, or even entire vehicle structures. The use of aluminium to keep weight down is nothing new, but industry is on a constant mission to improve its structural strength, integrity, consistency, durability, safety and reduce cost. Moreover, manufacturers are always looking to make the material easier to work with, meaning improved, lower cost production processes that can use standard widely available alloys are a major focus of research. Any new process must balance all of these factors and operate increasingly efficiently, as well as affording a greater range of possibilities to a designer’s imagination. One highly innovative solution which meets all of these challenges and offers a step-change in light-weighting potential, to automotive, aerospace, rail, industrial and many other sectors, is Hot Form Quench (HFQ) technology, a patented hot forming technology process and matching simulation capability. This pioneering, unique and easy-toHighlights 2020

adopt manufacturing process and forming simulation package allows automotive OEMs to form deep-drawn and complex shapes from high and ultra-high strength aluminium, replacing the use of steel or cold formed aluminium grades. The process is rapid and meets the cycle times required for low-cost, high-volume manufacturing. Encompassing the simulation, design and manufacturing of high-strength aluminium parts for the automotive industry. HFQ aims to advance global standards of aluminium processing, and, as a common solution for the entire supply ecosystem, facilitate co-operation and best practice sharing among OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, aluminium producers, and design software and equipment vendors. Manufacturing with aluminium in the 21st century Aluminium has already gained a foothold in the construction of vehicles, particularly with premium brands such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, Audi, Aston Martin and Tesla. Ford has also pioneered the use of high-volume aluminium-bodied vehicles with its F-150 pick-up truck. According to the research agency Ducker Worldwide, aluminium content in cars is set to

increase by up to 30 per cent over the coming decade, driven by lightweighting in automotive manufacturing. Aluminium is increasingly being used in closures, bumpers, sub-frames and, specifically in the premium segment, the entire ‘body-in-white’ construction. Other aluminium products such as wheels, engine blocks and suspension components are now commonplace within the sector. However, using aluminium for sheet product in body-in-white construction, within budgets, is highly desirable and will generate additional significant advantages for volume car manufacturers. By utilising HFQ designed parts, manufacturers in the automotive sector can take advantage of the engineering flexibility to use a variety of different grades of aluminium, namely: 6xxx and ultra-high-strength 7xxx series aluminium. In future, high recycled content alloys, offering lower cost and major carbonsaving benefits, will be compatible with the HFQ process, which because of its process characteristics can maintain formability even with high levels of impurities, which would otherwise render the alloy unsuitable. Linked to its inherent recycling benefits, HFQ also enables the creation of a closed-loop cycle of aluminium, as up to Aluminium International Today

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Above and below: HFQ process

90 per cent of this metal could be recycled at the end of the product life cycle. The HFQ process The first stage is to heat a standard heattreatable grade of aluminium sheet in a furnace until it reaches its solutionising temperature (c.550°C), depending on the grade of aluminium alloy. From the furnace, via an automated process, the blank is then transferred to a press and formed between a cold punch and die tool. The tools remain closed for five to 10 seconds to allow rapid cooling of the formed part, until the pressing is quenched. For all aluminium grades, quenching freezes the microstructure of the alloy in a supersaturated solid solution state. During the forming process, there is, in effect, virtually no cold-working of the aluminium alloy, thereby eliminating the need for complicated springback compensation in the part design. Subsequently, should a heat treatable aluminium alloy be used, the part can be artificially aged to further increase the strength of the pressing, thanks to the prior quenching method – taking a little over two hours for aluminium grade AA6082 to achieve peak strength. Partial artificial ageing may also be carried out, followed by full ageing after the part has been assembled into the vehicle structure. Full ageing in this scenario, means that HFQ pressing can take advantage of the heat generated Aluminium International Today

during the paint bake process to achieve the highest strength. HFQ’s ability to improve formability widens the scope for automotive applications in terms of design freedom, process optimisation and achieving high levels of structural strength and stiffness within component Bill of Materials (BOM) cost budgets. Case Study: Aston Martin DB11 A-pillar A vehicle’s A-pillars are integral structural members running both sides of the windscreen and typically extend from below dash level upwards into the roof structure. The A-pillar must support roof crush loads under crash conditions, which impose substantial bending moments on the pillar, therefore the pillars are required to withstand major loads without excessive collapse. Aston Martin is one of the first OEMs to realise the benefits of designing A-pillars and other parts using HFQ. The desire to reduce overall weight and part complexity, but enhance torsional rigidity and structural integrity, allowed designers and engineers to work with HFQ from the earliest phase of design, to design and manufacture an A-pillar pressing without compromise. Aston Martin was able to maintain the desired design language of the DB11 as HFQ was able to achieve tight radii (R/T 0.8), which reduced the width of A-pillar for

better driver visibility. In addition, HFQ enabled a complex and deep drawn pillar to be formed in a single draw operation, while achieving high levels of strength in roof-crush performance. The single-draw operation also reduced tooling investment cost, as existing presses were adapted to produce high formability in deep sections of the A-pillar - a result previously not achievable using conventional cold production methods. Conclusion The commercialisation of HFQ Technology signifies the start of a new international standard and provides a collaborative roadmap for future light-weighting in the automotive industry. A full range of significant advantages can be delivered when HFQ forming is adopted at the outset of a design programme. As illustrated by Aston Martin’s DB11 use case, HFQ is already validated on premium vehicles. Complex parts for world-renowned manufacturers are already under evaluation as candidates for HFQ adoption, as this unique process has the potential to deliver simpler, stronger structures, to budget. Through HFQ, there is an opportunity to catalyse the greater adoption of highstrength aluminium alloys, allowing manufacturers to enhance and refine existing structures, while facilitating greater freedom in design and the creation of new body and chassis concepts. � Highlights 2020

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How sustainable materials can reduce the life-cycle footprint of cars Tesla Model S

Several automakers have carried out thorough life cycle analyses recently, paying particular interest to the impact of raw materials on the overall carbon footprint of their products. We think this is a natural trend that will only accelerate. Dr. Stig TjĂ¸tta* discusses why. We will soon see governments introduce newer measures toward the automotive industry to mitigate global warming. Most likely, these measures will go beyond reducing the amount of tailpipe emissions generated in the use phase of cars, which have been the priority until now, and also include the build phase. The European Union currently requires average carbon dioxide emissions for new passenger cars to be 130 grams per kilometer driven. Next year this requirement will be reduced by about 27 percent by 2021 to 95g/km. The decrease is going to come primarily from further driving efďŹ ciency measures and from lightweighting, but also electrical vehicles will play a larger role. This reduction in tailpipe emissions (usephase emissions) means that the absolute share of emissions generated in the production of the car increases. Attention to the carbon footprint of the build phase will then naturally increase as a mean to decarbonise the vehicle sector. With regard to the build phase emissions, extraction and production of the various materials in a car constitute

around 85 percent of the carbon footprint of a vehicle according to a recent study by Volvo and Polestar. In other words, to reduce carbon footprint of the car production, it is a safe bet that the choice of materials will come into focus.

Aluminium in electric London Taxi

Other aspects driving the focus on build phase emissions, are the overall focus by society and consumers on sustainable

production. Green production and raw material selection therefore make sense not only to comply with authorities but as a good business case. Sustainable sourcing for primary weight savings Most likely, the EU is going to require OEMs to deliver full life-cycle analyses (LCAs) of their models, to demonstrate the environmental footprint of these vehicles. OEMs will have different options as to how to address reducing the emissions in an LCA perspective, but continued focus on weight savings and the sustainable sourcing of materials appear to be the most economical way forward. Weightsaving is one of the most effective enablers to reduce tailpipe emissions. However, weight savings also reduce emissions in the build phase as less raw materials are needed to build a car. If, in addition, these raw materials have a low carbon footprint, substantial reductions of emissions can be realised. Once more, let us take one more look at the emissions targets the EU has established, and what they mean to OEMs.

*Head of Technology, Hydro Primary Metal Highlights 2020

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The coming target of 95g CO2/km in 2021 is ambitious, compared with the current average. If this average remained the same beyond next year, with an estimated violation fine of €95 per g, the potential price increase per car would be substantial. The EU’s next wave of CO2 reduction targets look like this: • 2025 – 15 percent below 2021 • 2030 – 37.5 percent below 2021 It is important to note, however, that the regulations include an incentive mechanism for OEMs to produce zeroemission and low-emission vehicles, which involve a relaxation in the specific CO2 emissions of an OEM provided that its share of such vehicles exceeds 15 percent of total sales by 2025 and 35 percent of sales by 2030. Renewed focus on body concepts and materials selection in BEVs The stringent regulations, at least in Europe, as well as the general increase in demand for vehicles that do not run on fossil fuel, are driving and will continue to drive the escalation in the production of battery-electric vehicles. And of-course the big difference is that you do not have to worry about fossil fuel consumption or greenhouse gas emissions in the use phase of BEVs. As the renewable energy share in a typical European grid has grown considerably over the last years, the total emissions from a BEV in a life-cycle perspective are significantly less than its ICEV counterpart. Still, they have their own weight worries, because BEVs normally are heavier than their ICEV counterparts – about 16 percent heavier in the case of a Volkswagen E-Golf – and because consumers want the freedom to take long drives on a single charge. The combination of low use-phase emissions, and heavier vehicles, and the carbon footprint of the car itself – the production of the car – increases significantly in relevance as compared to direct tailpipe emissions. Here is an example: While the production phase of a C-class ICEV contributes to around 25 percent of the total emissions after 150,000 km, it contributes to close to 100 percent of the total emissions for a BEV being charged from a grid based on renewable energy, like the one where I live in Norway. In Germany, with close to 50% renewable share, the production phase still accounts for around 60 percent of the total emissions. Consequently, the focus will inevitably shift toward carbon footprint of the raw materials used to produce the vehicle. Aluminium International Today

Aluminium in cars

This is why I believe OEMs are going to change their decision-making process with regard to material selection, a process that has been based solely on cost and properties. Instead, they will base their decisions on cost, performance and the carbon footprint of the raw materials, covering extraction and production. Opportunity for material innovation in lightweight design Let’s take a closer look at life-cycle perspective, and at BEVs that use power based on renewable sources. Virtually the entire carbon footprint of these cars, from a life-cycle perspective, will come from the production phase, mainly raw materials. As I mentioned, BEVs are relatively heavy, so lightweighting technologies will have to be evaluated – and evaluated from an LCA perspective to deﬁne the ecological impact of each vehicle. This in itself represents an enormous opportunity in materials innovation. One kilogram of aluminium typically has a higher carbon impact in the production phase than one kg of steel. The steel industry likes this argument when comparing its material to aluminium. But the argument is getting weaker. Considering the fact that aluminium is three times as light as steel, comparing carbon footprint per kg of raw material is not really relevant. In addition, one needs to consider secondary beneﬁts, because weight

saving of a primary component offers the opportunity to realise secondary weight savings in, for instance, the drive train and car structure. A lightweight design leading to overall weight saving will compensate for much of the difference in the material production phase. Furthermore, taking the reduced energy consumption in the use phase into consideration, the lightweight design will often have a superior footprint in a lifecycle perspective. A more sustainable lightweighting solution I mentioned the opportunity in materials innovation, and would now like to move into low-carbon aluminium as an illustration. Fact: The carbon footprint of aluminium depends largely on the energy sources used to produce the metal. The aluminium global average was most recently estimated to have a global warming potential of around 17kg CO2 equivalents per kg of primary aluminium. This is mainly due to the large increase in Chinese aluminium production capacity, which is primarily based on coal. Aluminium produced in Europe, however, has an average global warming potential of 6.7kg CO2e/kg Al. This makes sense for automotive use. But there are now alternatives that make even better sense. A better option to achieve optimum lifecycle sustainability is using certiﬁed low-

Alu vs steel graphic

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carbon or greener aluminium with global warming potential of 3-4 kg CO2e/kg Al. This is approximately one-quarter of the global average. We both know that this is signiﬁcant. And yet we can go even lower. Today we can acquire aluminium based on a large share of recycled post-consumer scrap that offers the opportunity to reach a level of 2 kg CO2e/kg Al, without compromising alloy properties. In the future, we may even have aluminium based on 100 percent recycled material – the footprint will then be a minute 0.5 kg CO2e/kg Al. Compare that to the global average! Reducing carbon footprint with lowcarbon aluminium, compared with conventional steel grades Aluminium produced with a low-carbon footprint will increase the aluminium penetration in vehicles. No question. With low weight and complete recyclability, it reduces the use-phase environmental impact of vehicles where this is important, and its sustainable footprint will help OEMs achieve their low-carbon emission targets from a life-cycle point of view in any type of vehicle. Let me show how a recent study supports this statement.

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Together with the research institute fka in Aachen, Hydro carried out a study that outlines the impact of applying conventional and low-carbon aluminium in comparison to conventional steel grades on the Global Warming Potential of vehicles from a life-cycle perspective.

E-car illustration

In this study, we considered two reference vehicles from different segments and with different drivetrains, and investigated the achievable weight reduction potential by the application of aluminium in a ﬁrst step. Beside the primary weight saving achieved in the body, we also considered secondary effects, such as downsizing the engine or the scaling effects of the battery. In our second step, we performed a lifecycle assessment for the different vehicle variants and compared these to each other in various scenarios.

The results of the study show that the lightweighting by using aluminium can signiﬁcantly reduce the use-phase environmental impact of vehicles and can help automotive OEMs with their carbon emission targets. This also underlines the need for OEMs to perform the ecological assessment of their vehicles from a life-cycle perspective in the future. �

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Entering the age of sustainable aluminium By Dr Mike Clinch* There has never been a more important time to be in Materials Science and Engineering. From our very early days at school, we are taught how the major advances in civilisation have been driven by materials; as we journeyed from the stone age through to bronze and then iron ages. Societies and communities grew as we learned how to make and use tools to build structures and dwellings. Centuries later, it is impossible to imagine a world without engineering materials as the fundamental building blocks of everything around us. Where would we be without wood, glass, steel and concrete? Functional materials such as semiconductors, smart coatings and sensors bring immense power to our fingertips, both at home and daily in our working lives. We are truly in a material-rich age. Aluminium is still a relatively young material, but nevertheless it has grown to become one that touches the lives of most of us every single day. And the growth story is continuing, with aluminium’s remarkable combination of properties and functionality leading to increased demand in many important sectors including transportation, packaging, construction, electrical and power components and consumer goods. Public awareness of materials is also at an all-time high, as people strive to contribute towards the global battle against climate change. Aluminium can play an important role in solving many of society’s grand challenges and is increasingly being turned to as a material of choice, boosted by its inherent recyclability. However, it is important to recognise that not all aluminium is equal. This article will review some of the major innovations that have taken place over the history of the industry and showcase some new technology developments that have the potential to dramatically reduce the environmental impact as demand for aluminium grows. We are entering the age of sustainable aluminium… Today, aluminium is widely used to

package our food and drinks, to transport us between cities and countries, or to encase the technology we use to communicate with one another. It is easy to forget that commercial scale use of this wonder material was only really made possible just over a century ago, with the introduction of the Hall-Heroult process in 1886. In fact, in the late 19th century, aluminium was still viewed as a precious metal – perhaps due to its highly reflective, shiny surface qualities – and was often deployed as a symbol of wealth or opulence. Famous examples are the

Aluminium for the circular economy

banqueting cutlery used by Napoleon III for his most prestigious of guests (those deemed less worthy had to make do with gold), the decorative cap on the top of the Washington Memorial in the US, and the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus, London. The 20th century saw the birth of many industries but one of the most striking is the establishment of commercial aviation as we know it today. This is a genuine story of innovation that highlights how technological developments in the aluminium industry can drive growth in other important sectors. The journey began in 1903 when the Wright Brothers

made their first successful flight. There were several unsuccessful attempts prior to that historic achievement on December 17, but the major breakthrough came after switching out the original iron engine block for a cast aluminium one to save weight. Just 16 years later, the Junkers F13 became the world’s first allmetal transport plane with its extensive use of aluminium. Moving on another 16 years to 1935, the Douglas DC-3 was providing non-stop flights across North America for the first time. This was a major breakthrough as, for the first time, people realised that there was money to be made from commercial aviation. 1967 saw the maiden flight of the Boeing 747, the first wide-bodied aircraft for mass passenger and cargo transport. This transformed the industry and made non-stop long-haul flights a reality for many millions of people. It is no exaggeration to say that this would not have happened without aluminium – quite an achievement for a material that was still a precious metal that could be produced a few grams at a time in the years before the Wright Brothers! The growth of aviation was enabled by the development of new highperformance alloys based on the principles of age (or precipitation) hardening. This followed the work of Alfred Wilm, metallurgist at the Neubabelsberg Scientific and Technical Analysis Centre close to Berlin, who, in around 1906, discovered that the aluminium samples he had prepared on a Friday afternoon were much harder when he returned to his lab after a long weekend of sailing. Wilm had inadvertently produced the first Al-Cu alloy ageing curve, and his work became the pre-cursor to the development of the 2xxx and 7xxx series alloys that are still used in aerospace and other demanding applications today. Other major developments in the 20th century were the establishment of aluminium as a preferred material for hygienic food and beverage packaging,

*Senior Consultant & Materials Development Group Leader, Innoval Technology Ltd. www.innovaltec.com Aluminium International Today

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Sustainable aluminium technologies

the growth of extrusions in construction and other structural applications and a trend towards substitution of steel in applications where ‘lightweighting’ provides economic or performance benefits, such as passenger vehicles. If the essence of the 20th century can be captured by “harder, better, faster, stronger,” then the world certainly feels like a different place as we approach the quarter-point in the 21st century. The impact of climate change is being felt across the planet and people – especially the younger generations – are more aware than ever of the need to take action in order to restrict the rise in global average temperatures to less than 2°C above ‘preindustrial’ levels. This is the main objective of the December 2015 Paris Agreement and has been brought to centre-stage by the work of David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, among others. Natural resources and materials are becoming increasingly scarce, and industries are under the microscope as they seek to demonstrate social and corporate responsibility. Consumers care more than ever where their products come from and want to know that they are not damaging the environment in the process of being manufactured. To achieve this requires a commitment to reducing and eventually eliminating CO2 emissions; often referred to as ‘decarbonisation’ or the transition to ‘net zero’ (CO2 output). Increasingly, there is an ambition to move away from conventional ‘linear’ supply chains to a so-called circular economy. Essentially this involves using the right materials for the right applications, sourcing those materials responsibly, and using them sustainably which means keeping them in service for as long as it is safe and practical to do so. Re-use and re-manufacturing are to be encouraged to keep valuable materials in circulation for as long as possible, with recycling as a further option. Aluminium is an excellent candidate material for the circular economy as it has a vital role to play in strategies for reducing CO2 emissions from the transportation sector. Highlights 2020

Simply put, lighter vehicles require less energy to move and are therefore more fuel efficient – leading to lower fleet emissions. Of course, as we have already established, aluminium also benefits from being recyclable. However, it is not enough to simply say that because a product or component is made from aluminium, it will be ‘green’. The reality is that primary aluminium production is extremely energy – and therefore CO2 – intensive. The picture is further complicated by the fact that smelters in different parts of the world use different energy sources for electricity generation and, as a result, aluminium can have vastly differing amounts of ‘embodied’ CO2 depending on where it is sourced. To put this in context, as a global average across the industry, it takes around 17.0 tonnes of CO2 to produce one tonne of primary aluminium [source: European Aluminium ‘Circular Aluminium Action Plan’ executive summary published April 2020]. However, aluminium produced from coal-fired power is estimated to contain 20.0 tonnes of CO2 per tonne. The average figure for aluminium in Europe, where the energy mix for the electricity used for the smelting of primary aluminium is much cleaner as it is mainly sourced from hydro-power, is estimated at 6.7 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of production. The major breakthrough comes when using recycled rather than virgin metal, since this is

generally acknowledged as requiring 95% less energy than primary production. The world’s aluminium producers have started to take this onboard and many have launched new product lines and branding to highlight their ‘green’ or low carbon aluminium credentials. Examples include Hydro’s ‘CIRCAL’ and ‘REDUXA’, Rio Tinto’s ‘RenewAL’ and Rusal’s ‘ALLOW’ products. At the end of 2019, Apple announced that they had taken delivery of the first batch of ‘ELYSIS’ material, a joint venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto which claims to offer ‘carbonfree’ aluminium via new electrolysis technology. In parallel, schemes such as the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) are driving improved levels of sustainability performance and standardisation across the industry. Innoval Technology has been at the forefront of recycled aluminium technology development for much of the past decade. A number of successful collaborative R&D projects have been undertaken with industrial partners and financial support from UK and European government agencies. Examples are ‘REALCAR’ (REcycled ALuminium CAR), which aimed to develop lower cost, sustainable aluminium sheet for automotive structures; ‘CAAHS’ (Carbon Aluminium Automotive Hybrid Structures), which aimed to deliver a significant reduction in vehicle cost and CO2 emissions using an advanced aluminium-carbon fibre monocoque; ‘REALITY’ (REcycled ALuminium through Innovative TechnologY), incorporating sensor-based scrap sorting, remelting and full-scale coil production; ‘RACEForm’ (Rapid Aluminium Cost-Effective Forming), based on validating and scaling up HFQ® Hot Form Quench technology for mass production and establishing it as a global standard for lightweighting; and ‘LIBERATE’ (Lightweight Innovative Battery Enclosures using Recycled Aluminium TEchnologies), aiming to develop and demonstrate sustainable aluminium intensive battery enclosures for

Sustainable aluminium technologies

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integration into electric vehicles. Industrial collaborators on these projects have included Axion Recycling, Bentley Motors, BMW, Constellium, Gestamp, Gordon Murray Design, Grainger & Worrall, Impression Technologies Ltd, Jaguar Land Rover, Norton Aluminium, Novelis, Stadco, Volvo and Zyomax. Academic partner institutions include Brunel University, Imperial College London and Warwick Manufacturing Group. Further information on these and other recent projects is available online at https:// www.innovaltec.com/about-innovaltechnology-aluminium-consultants/ cutting-edge-knowledge/. In addition to providing metallurgical input and knowledge of industrial process technology input to collaborative projects, Innoval also creates integrated process-energy-cost models that enable manufacturers to have full visibility of operational, economic and environmental aspects prior to commercialisation. In addition to the listed projects, Innoval has also established strategic alliances with other leading universities in the UK such as Loughborough, Manchester and Southampton. Utilising an extended

Cost proﬁles for processes and products

partner network in this way provides our clients with flexible access to a diverse range of expertise and state-of-the-art facilities for technology development. The world of aluminium is responding to the global climate challenge. There is a shift towards cleaner primary production together with increased levels of high performance, high recycled content alloys. A new ‘secondary aluminium’ industry is emerging, which is projected to be of the scale of 40 million tonnes per annum by 2025. To put that in context, in five years’ time, the demand for recycled metal will

be greater than the total output of the global aluminium industry at the turn of the 21st century. As we continue our journey towards net zero CO2 emissions, aluminium looks certain to enjoy further success as a strategic material of choice for the circular economy. Lightweight low emission vehicles, smart food and drink packaging and energy efficient buildings are expected to provide major growth opportunities for some time to come. However, it is important to remember that not all aluminium is born equal. The age of sustainable aluminium is now! �

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