ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF THE PRIMARY ALUMINUM PRODUCTION PROCESSES: A REVIEW ON CURRENT AND FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY

摘要

Laboratory of Metallurgy, School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografos Campus, Athens, GreeceThe common industrial practice for primary aluminum production consists of the Bayer process for the production of alumina followed by the Hall-Heroult process for the production of aluminum. Both processes were developed at the end of the 19th century and despite continuous optimization, their basic thermodynamic inefficiencies and environmental issues remain till today unchanged. As a result, primary aluminum production industry is the world's larger industrial consumer of energy, is ranked among the most CO_2 intensive industries, and is associated with the generation of enormous quantities of solid wastes. In this paper a detail energy and exergy analysis of the primary production of aluminum is presented and alternative sustainable processes are reviewed.