Chinalco Develops New Aluminum Reduction Cell, Saving 1,300 kwh Per Ton

BEIJING, June 2 -- China's top aluminum producer Aluminum of China, or Chinalco, parent company of Chalco, announced Monday that it had developed a new aluminum reduction cell technology.

    The new technology will lift the electricity utilization rate in electrolyzing aluminum by 5-7 percent, saving 1,300 kwh of electricity in producing per ton of aluminum.

    According to Ao Hong, deputy general manager of Chinalco, the new technology is the first aluminum reduction cell at 160kA level in the world, and its direct current electricity consumption for one ton of aluminum is less than 12,000 kwh, compared with 13,200 kwh for domestic leading technology and 13,000 kwh for world leading performance.

    Chinalco is trying out the technology on reduction cells of various levels, and will promote the new technology across the company within one or two years.

    The full utilization of the technology will save Chinalco 5.2 billion kwh of electricity each year, or 2.5 billion yuan, and save 17.5 billion kwh for the country, said Ao.

    Besides, the new aluminum reduction cell will reduce the emission of four million tons of greenhouse gas each year after Chinalco's full utilization, and reduce over 13 million tons for the country.

    (Source: chinamining.org)