Diapositiva 1

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THE DOUBLE LIFE OF THINGS
ALUMINIUM
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Aluminium

• Aluminium, together with oxygen and silicon,
• is the most common element in nature.
• It is the third most abundant element in the
  earth's crust.
• It is not found in a natural state,
• as pure aluminium, but always in compound form,
  
• that is to say combined with other elements.
• Thanks to a long and complex industrial process
  we can obtain metallic aluminium from the
  aluminium oxide contained in bauxite.

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• Aluminium is a soft, light but resistant
  material
• its silvery grey colour is due to the light layer
  of oxidation that prevents corrosion when exposed
  to air.
• Its weight is one third of that of iron or
  copper.
• It is malleable, ductile and can be easily
  worked.
• Its resistance to corrosion is excellent.
• Aluminiums different reactions are influenced by
  two major factors the type of environmental
  aggressiveness and the metallurgical/chemical
  state.
• Aluminium is not magnetic, does not provoke
  sparks
• it is the second metal in terms of malleability
  and the sixth for ductility.

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Who found Aluminium

• Ancient Greeks and Romans used the aluminium that
  they could produce from alunite, an aluminium
  sulphate found in nature.
• Important and historical aluminium caves can be
  found in the hills around Allumiere, a village in
  Lazio, which took its name from the aluminium
  extraction.
• In textile industry aluminium was fundamental as
  colour fixer. It was also used to tan hides, to
  print parchments, to produce glass, as
  haemostatic, to cure wounds.

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• Aluminium is a reactive metal and it is extracted
  thanks to electrolysis.
• It must be in a liquid state to let the process
  work.
• This process needs a huge quantity of energy and
  as factories usually have an electric power
  station nearby.
• At the moment Canada is one of the biggest
  producers of aluminium, thanks to its big
  hydroelectric system it imports bauxite and
  exports metallic aluminium.

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ALUMINIUM A VERY YOUNG METAL

• Even if the earth's crust is rich in aluminium,
  this mineral is very rare in clear form and in
  the past it was considered a precious metal, more
  valuable than gold.
• It is quite new as industrial metal and it has
  been produced in commercial quantity for less
  more than 100 years.
• Aluminium is so important in our everyday life
  that it is difficult to think that only 80 years
  ago this metal was extremely rare.
• When discovered, it was difficult to separate
  aluminium from the rocks it was contained in, and
  because it was alloyed to other compounds, it was
  the most difficult elements to get, in spite of
  its being one of the most abundant elements in
  the earth

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How Aluminium is created

• Bauxite, an aluminium oxide hydrate with some
  impurities, is the mineral used to produce
  aluminium.
• The process to obtain the metal (aluminium) from
  the mineral (bauxite) has different stages
  firstly bauxite is turned into aluminia that is
  pure aluminium oxide.
• For this transformation different processes have
  been licensed and they are usually known with the
  names of their inventors.
• Then aluminia is separated from its oxide and
  turned into a liquid state, into electrolyser
  cells at high temperature (Heroult furnaces)

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Aluminium has got many merits it is very light,
malleable, soft, good conductor of electricity
and only oxidises slightly. Thanks to its
characteristics it is widely used in the
transport industry, in the electronics industry
and in the construction industry. Its lack of
toxicity makes it suitable as packaging for the
food industry. Nowadays aluminium is one of the
most recycled elements of mineral origin.
Advantages in the use of aluminium
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• Lightness
• Volume being equal, aluminium weighs one third of
  steel.
• Duration
• It is resistant to corrosion and does not need
  any particular treatment or painting .
• Conductivity
• Cables in aluminum lead double current than
  cables in copper.
• Versatility
• Aluminum alloys can be stiff or flexible.
• Appearance
• Aluminum has a good appearance and does not need
  further finishing.

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It's used
car
lorry
ship
train
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Aluminium at home
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Do you know that!!!!

• with 640 cans you can make a car rim
• with 800 cans you can make a bike with all the
  fittings.
• With 3 cans you can make a pair of glasses.
• With 130 cans you can make a scooter
• With 37 cans you can make a coffee maker all the
  coffee makers produced in Italy are made of
  recycled aluminium.

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Aluminium and the environment
Each industrial process affects positively or
negatively the world we live in. As far as
aluminium is concerned, the situation is good.

• None of the production process have adverse
  effects on the environment or health.

The aluminium industry has successfully worked to
reduce the emissions under the levels allowed by
law.
To exclude health risks, constant controls are
being carried out.
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RECYCLING

• Reusing cans as cases is not possible. However
  aluminium can be recycled as many times as you
  want. Recycling allows a massive energetic
  saving, almost 95 of energy , allowing a
  consistent economy of its importation.
• Recycling this metal has become an important
  aspect in the aluminium industry.
• Recycling aluminium has been a common practice
  since the beginning of the 20th century.

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• The aluminium we get from recycling is called
  secondary aluminium. Aluminium can be recycled
  only if pure foreign materials as iron,
  synthetic substances or dort make recycling more
  difficult.
• Packing covered in paper or synthetic substances
  are not good to be recycled.
• Bicycle rims, pans, sprays without vaporizers,
  cans and tops are suitable to be recycled.
• We can always get new aluminium from a used one,
  without having to extract new row material.
• Nowadays about 30 of aluminium world production
  comes from recycled metal.

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• Recycling helps sustainable development because
  aluminium is not consumed but simply used as long
  as a specific product is needed.
• In 2003 secondary aluminium production was more
  than 7.7 million tons, about 25 of the total
  annual production. This proportion is in all the
  technologically advanced countries constantly
  rising.
• Aluminium recycling is an important economical
  activity and employs a lot of people. Italy is
  the first European producer of recycled aluminium
  and the third county in the world.
• Recycled aluminium objects have the mark AL or
  ALU on them. Aluminium can be recycled only if
  pure foreign bodies as iron must be removed
  with adequate procedures, manual or mechanical.

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SECONDARY ALUMINIUM
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Every town has its own fine system to punish
who does not respect the rules in recycling
matter..
THROWING AWAY WASTE MATERIAL IS ILLEGAL

• An activity of supervision, prevention and
  repression is carried out by the Military
  Section for the environment protection in all
  the national area.. The Decreto Legislativon.
  22/1997 is a revolution in solving waste
  materials problems. This low also determined a
  meaningful growth in the raccolta differenziata.
  This new way of controlling waste material is
  also an effective mean to contrast the big
  problem of illegal removal by organized criminal
  infiltrations.
• From 1985 recycling aluminium is a positive
  reality. Recycling a can, for example, helps to
  save energy and reduce pollution. Every town has
  its own fine system to punish who does not
  respect the rules in recycling matter.

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prohibition and endorsements

• In Naples you have to throw waste materials in
  specific containers .
• It is also forbidden to move containers from
  their seats.
• Who does not respect the rules is punished with
  a fine from 20 to 250 Euros.

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RECYCLING IN FACTORIES

• Ariston ,a very famous Italian factory, is trying
  to make ecological bikes by using dismissed
  fridges and household appliances.These bikes have
  a tubular frame of about 3 kg and an absolute
  pleasant aspect.
• In this way Ariston anticipates the new
  directive 2005 WEEE, which will oblige producers
  to provide funds to recollect and recycle their
  own products.
• Recycling, in fact, is not a matter of choice.
  Rules and lows have changed in favour of
  ecological appliances. Two new directives
  recently introduced oblige producers to create
  appliances that can be 75 recyclable , with a
  reduced amount of dangerous substances.

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HOW A CAN IS CREATED

• Cans are made of a single block and, after
  being filled up, they are sealed with a top
  in this way weldings that can provoke rusk are
  avoided. The first cans were made in the fifties
  in the U.S.A. as an alternative to glass
  containers. they were in iron, covered by a tin
  film and made by assembling three different
  parts the bottom and the top were seamed to the
  can main body.
• Because aluminiumbetter preserves liquids
  properties ( especially in the case of wine and
  beer), it has definetly supplanted iron.
• The productive process of a can is quite complex.
  A machine unrolls an aluminium strip ( 0,3/0,4 mm
  thick) emulsifying it up with oil. The strip
  goes into a press that cuts and models it in
  small cups which are one third of a can high and
  one third wider. These small cups are then
  stretched and modelled. At this point another
  machine trims the superior rim, than the cans
  are washed in a washing machine after six
  different washing cycles they are definitely
  cleaned. Finally they are dried, printed and
  enamed.

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CANS RECYCLING

• In Italy 25 cans per person are consumed every
  year, while in USA the consume reaches 256.
  Collecting and recycling cans is particularly
  convenient. Collecting aluminium permits to save
  5 of the energy needed to get the primary
  product. The process is also quite simple.
• For this inmind a special pool has been created
  in Europe, composed of all the factories
  producing aluminium containers. Its aim is to
  promote informative campaigns, to cooperate with
  other associations, to spread the activity of the
  pool itself. It also organizes waste material
  collection in places where it can be splitted,
  squeezed and compressed. the cans are turned
  into small blocks. In a foundry these blocks are
  crushed , reduced in very small pieces and paint
  removed from them. Aluminium is now melt and put
  in stamps, where it becomes solid.
• This process can be repeated as many times as
  you want.
• Many European countries collect aluminium not
  only from cans but from all the disused and waste
  material. These countries can collect much more
  material, reducing the costs for aluminium
  production and limiting the waste of this
  precious source.

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CIAO
Class 2 G Teachers Cifola Carla, Melappioni
Rossana