Opportunities for cost reduction by by-passing Security Filtration in alumina production

摘要

The economics of greenfield bauxite and alumina projects are generally not very attractive!1]. A major reason is that these projects are very capital intensive'2'. Brownfield alumina project generally show more attractive economics, but the infrastructure requirements of several recent brownfield developments are so extensive that their economics are similar to those of greenfield. The current economic climate, with an excess of alumina production capacity and an alumina price which has more than halved since mid 2008, provides an environment in which alumina refineries are seeking ways to lower costs, both operating cost and sustaining capex.