World made out of metal: Aluminium
In America is known as Aluminum, but IUPAC stated that its international name is Aluminium, although both spellings are considered correct, in research papers the IUPAC one is the prevalent. This chemical element represented by Al, is a non-magnetic metal, located in the boron group of the periodic table, with an atomic number of 13. Aluminium is also the third most common element found in the earth crust (It represents around 8 % of the former) being surpassed in abundance only by Oxygen and Silicate.
Aluminium is soft (2-4in the Mohs scale), ductile, malleable, has a silver-white color, has a low density compared to another metals (2700 kg/m3, whereas steel has 7850 kg/m3), it´s an excellent heat (80-230 W/(m·K)) and electrical conductor (between 35 and 38 m/(Ω mm²)), resist corrosion using a protective coat of oxide (phenomenon called passivation, which can be improved by anodizing), and can be recycled with a theoretical efficiency of 100 % without affecting its core mechanical properties.
History and processing
In 1824 Hans Christian Ørsted (important figure in the establishment of electromagnetism) Danish physicist and chemist made the first successful attempt to synthetize Aluminum, using electrolysis in anhydrous Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) with potassium amalgam, he reached several samples, with a lot of impurities, then he presented the samples of the metal in 1825, but left the research due to financial difficulties. By 1827 Friedrich Wöhler came to visit Ørsted to discuss the research, the Danish physicist told Wöhler he didn´t want to follow the research about aluminum extraction.
Wöhler could produce little pieces of Aluminium in 1845, but his processes couldn’t yield mass quantities, these lead to the Aluminium into the status of rare matel, being more expensive than silver, and gold. In 1886 Charles Hall (From U.S.) and French engineer Paul Heroult developed in parallel an inexpensive electrolysis process by which aluminum can be extracted from aluminum oxide in molten cryolite, and electrolysing the molten salt bath, this process is ruled by the following reaction:
The large amount of electricity required to power the electrolytic process limited the production of aluminum. Karl Josef Bayer (Australian Engineer) developed a process in 1888 by which alumina can be extracted from bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium. Both the Bayer and Hall-Herout processes are still used today to produce nearly all the world’s aluminum. The Hall–Héroult process was further improved in 1920 by a team led by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Söderberg; this improvement greatly increased the world output of aluminium.
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQfWzHBUFq6q4BoRx2z3kvX6Zr6eLKoSoLnZcF5AzeUVV/10.jpeg)
Theoretically Aluminium can be recycled with an efficiency of 100 %, this process can be accomplished by simply re-melting the metal, this way Aluminium can be obtained with only a fraction of the energy needed to extract the metal from natural ore, the energy input of Aluminum recycling is 5 % of the Bayer process.
Aplications
Thanks to its properties and easy availability Aluminum can be used in a large array of fields, including but not limiting to: Packaging (cans, foil, tetrabriks), electrical transmission lines, transistors, street lighting, cooking utensils, musical instruments, carabiners, baseball bats, transportations (frames and outsides), coins, watches, etc. Two of the main processes that alow Aluminium its versatility are Anodizing, which allows a superficial oxide coating to the element, granting it an elavated resistance to corrosion; the other process is Extrusion, this one grants Aluminium a huge variety of shapes and sizes, with relative ease in making.
Construction
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmP7qin1AcPSvPq1HMFPyDRQemPEobgEehsnnFTtoxMzHU/image.png)
Even though the use of Aluminium in buildings dates to the 1920s, the first major structure to use it was the Empire State Building in 1930, with some of the interior structures and the spire being made of Aluminium. Later, in 1994, more than 5000 steel windows in of the Empire State were replaced with aluminum frames. (The former frames had deteriorated, allowing for frosting, water and air leakage.) Thanks to this change, the annual energy consumption of the building reduced at least a 15 %.
Due to its low specific weight Aluminum plates can easily half the weight of a steel one, with the same bearing capability, this result in Aluminium as a common material in the construction of skyscrapers, and other kind of buildings. Being used specially in the frames of translucent panes, these feature a low thermal conductivity, which reflects solar heat in summer, and retains heat inside in summer, thus reducing the air conditioner, or heating energy consumption, while letting in natural sunlight.
The Crystal Centre for Sustainable Urban Development was opened in London, in 2012. The building was designed with the application of Aluminium faces and the latest energy-saving construction techniques, and it received the top LEED (the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Crystal Center consumes 46% less electricity and generates 65% less carbon dioxide than any other office building comparable in size.
Aircraft and Aerospace
Since the Wright brothers who used and Aluminium engine in their first flying biplane, this metal has been used in to fly across the earth and into the space, It has been used on Apollo spacecraft, the space shuttles and the International Space Station. Aluminum alloys excel in properties as mechanical stability, dampening, thermal management and reduced weight.
During WWII, the production of aluminum soared. More than half U.S. aircraft production was made primarily from aluminum. From there, alloys were used to construct early rockets, there were also several campaigns to encourage Americans to contribute with Aluminium for the war, In commercial airships, the modern standard is that 80 % of the aircraft is made of Aluminium; this is because of the weight-force ratio of the metal. For fuselage, supporting structures, and wings of commercial and military airships, Aluminium alloys are considered the standard best choice.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmZ91LMtdgm92FU7H1xK13X8P8sVeqBH3SDLtxC4cmvHei/12.jpg)
Julio Verne realized the potential use of Aluminium in his 1865 novel “Journey to the Moon”, when he described a Rocket made of Aluminum in great detail. For the space shuttle´s solid rocket booster, Aluminium was used as the primary propellant, due to its difficulty to ignite accidentally. The next generation of space exploration vehicle, Orion MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, by NASA) will have a primary structure made of an Aluminium-Lithium alloy.
Aluminium Cans
Molson Coors Brewing Company began the use of aluminum cans in 1959, since then there has been an exponential growth in the numbers of drinks that use cans as a standard presentation, because they freeze rapidly, are easy to print on with endless designs, protect the integrity of the content, cans also are lightweight and easily stacked, which result in easy transport; They can be recyclable almost infinitely. The average can contains 70 percent recycled metal.
In the last 50 years, Aluminium cans manufacturers have lightened the design, originally cans weighted close to 85 grams, now they weigh less than 14 grams per unit. This package can be easily formed, doesn´t rust, and it´s resistant to corrosion. Thanks to their cylindrical shape and the yield strength of Aluminium, four six packs can support up to 2 tons.
Being A SteemStem Member
It's funny to think that aluminium was once considered so rare, that the Queen herself replaced her silver cutlery with an aluminium set :/
Great read :)
One of my favourites fun facts about aluminium is that during WWII America began recycling with an iniciative called “Tin foil drives” Were they gave the people free movie tickets in exchange of aluminum foil balls. This was great for the morale of the people, who felt were contributing with their armys effort in war.
That's pretty cool, a bit sad, but such a great initiative!
Aluminium is so useful in industry, but it is considered as a dangerous element if it enters the human body. It causes a large number of health problems, the most important of which are anemia, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, encephalitis, chronic fatigue, some cancers, Crohn's disease and some skin diseases. scientists found that the proportion of aluminum is large in the brain of people with Alzheimer's.
i like your post, thanks for sharing it with us :)
True, Aluminium is being studied as a dangeous element for the human body. I'm doing some experiments to study an altenative (natural) floculant-coagulant, this is because right now in the water treatment industry the primary one is Alum, which has been linked to the diseases you named.
that would be so nice, i wish you a good luck, and you can also read about the the water pollution of the 1990s in Camelford because of a truck driver who unloaded aluminum sulphate in the wrong tank. thank you i will wait your next posts
One or more of your photos is breaking some form of copyright or it is not sourced, whether it be that the photos require proper attribution or are licensed in such a way that they are not free to use. For more information, check out this post here on steemstem copyright standards.
Sincerely,
@kryzsec
@kryzsec I just updated the post, does it comply with copyright rules now? I didn't know it was breaking them.
Yeah, they were just kind of nitpicky things that we are trying to push for.
But yes the issue is resolved
Congratulations @count-antonio, this post is the seventh most rewarded post (based on pending payouts) in the last 12 hours written by a Dust account holder (accounts that hold between 0 and 0.01 Mega Vests). The total number of posts by Dust account holders during this period was 10319 and the total pending payments to posts in this category was $2142.65. To see the full list of highest paid posts across all accounts categories, click here.
If you do not wish to receive these messages in future, please reply stop to this comment.