Aluminium is a lightweight, silver-coloured metal that is highly versatile and widely used in a variety of industrial and consumer products. Aluminium is a good conductor of heat and electricity and is non-magnetic and non-toxic. It is also highly resistant to corrosion, making it a popular choice for a wide range of applications, including construction, transportation, packaging, and consumer goods. Some common items made of aluminium include cans, foil, kitchen utensils, and aircraft parts.
- Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted announced the discovery of aluminium in 1825. In 1856, French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville began the first industrial production of aluminium.
- Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, making up about 8% of the total metals present on the beloved planet earth. Silicon is the 2nd most abundant element on Earth.
- Aluminium is a very soft and ductile metal. However, it can be extremely powerful if used properly.
- Aluminum’s commercialization dates back only about a hundred years. Despite being one of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, scientists did not discover how to extract aluminium from ores such as bauxite until the nineteenth century.
- It is a lightweight metal with a density of about one-third that of steel or copper. The exact density of aluminium is 2.7 g/cm³.
- Aluminium chemical element is denoted with the symbol Al and has an atomic number 13.
- Due to its low density, excellent thermal conductivity and reflectivity, it is widely used in heat exchangers, radiators, and cryogenic applications.
- Aluminium is a good conductor of heat and electricity, making it useful in electrical transmission and cooling systems.
- It is non-toxic and non-magnetic, which makes it useful in medical and food packaging applications.
- Workers or people who inhale large amounts of aluminium dust may develop lung problems, such as coughing or abnormal chest X-rays.
- Guinea country has the highest number of Al reserves, with around 7,400 million metric tons. The country that comes in the 2nd spot is Vietnam, with 5800 million metric tons of reserves. Australia comes in the third spot with 5300 million metric tons of reserves.
- It is highly resistant to corrosion, which makes it useful in a wide range of outdoor and marine applications. Due to the formation of a thin oxide layer (aluminium oxide or Al2O3), the metal prevents further corrosion by creating a strong protective layer over the surface of the metal.
- The primary method for extracting aluminium is through the electrolysis of aluminium oxide, which is mined from bauxite ore. Bauxite is the most common aluminium ore. Approximately 98% of primary aluminium production is based on bauxite.
- In 2020, the average price of aluminium was 1704 USD for one metric ton. Whereas in Mar 2022, the average price of aluminium was 3,496 USD for the same quantity as above.
- Aluminium is 100 percent recyclable, meaning that recycled aluminium requires only 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium.
- One of the most important uses of aluminium is in the transportation industry. All types of vehicles, from bikes to spaceships, are made from aluminium. The transport industry is also the largest consumer of this abundant metal, with consumption of 27%.
- It is also a popular metal for aerospace and aviation due to its strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and thermal conductivity. Aluminium makes up about 75-80% of modern aircraft, and it was actually first used in aviation before aeroplanes were invented.
- It is widely used in the construction industry, in the form of aluminium alloys, for window frames, doors, siding, and structural components. Aluminum is the second most used metal in buildings and houses after steel.
- In the packaging industry, aluminium is used to make cans for beverages and food, as well as foil for wrapping and covering food. Aluminium foil is widely used in food and pharmaceutical packaging because it acts as a total barrier to light and oxygen that helps in retaining odours and flavours, moisture, and keeping away germs.
- In the consumer goods industry, aluminium is used to make a wide range of products, such as kitchen utensils, furniture, and electronics.
- China is both the largest producer and consumer of aluminium. In 2013, China was responsible for 48% of all aluminium consumption. Whereas in 2022, China hit record high production of this metal with 40.21 million tons.
- In the energy industry, aluminium is used in power transmission lines such as wires, electronics and is also used in solar panels.
- There are more than 400 wrought aluminium and wrought aluminium alloys, as well as more than 200 aluminium alloys.
- The Moon contains abundant aluminium as an essential constituent of its mineral anorthite. The average composition of the lunar surface by weight is roughly 3% aluminium.
- One metric tonne of molten aluminium typically requires 13 to 15-megawatt hours of Direct Current.
- Aluminium has a low melting point of about 660.32 °C (1220.58 °F) and a boiling point of about 2519 °C (4566 °F).
- In an Airbus A380 super-sized aircraft, 61% of the structure is made of aluminium alloys.
- Aluminum atoms are 27 times heavier than C – 12 atoms of the same mass.
- The surface of aluminium has the ability to REFLECT rather than ABSORB 95% of the infrared rays that strike it. Because aluminium foil has a low mass-to-air ratio, very little conduction can occur, especially when only 5% of the rays are absorbed.
- According to a new report, global aluminium demand will increase by nearly 40% by 2030, and the aluminium sector will need to produce an additional 33.3 Mt to meet demand growth across all industrial sectors – from 86.2 Mt in 2020 to 119. 5 Mt in 2030.
