Producing Aluminum Foil - Assignment Example

Environmental Impact: Aluminum Foil s Submitted by s: Introduction Every mineral on earth is finite and thus should be conserved and used in a wise manner. However, without the exploitation of minerals, the human way of life would be in question and this has made it difficult to change some of the ways in which human beings use resources (Both, 2005, p. 1). For instance, using fossil fuels as a source of heat is an aspect that will probably continue to exist until when this resource will deplete. In comparison to this example, aluminum can be said to be in a fortunate position as it is among the most abundant elements in the planet after silicon and oxygen. The availability of this element is so high that a there is very little chance of demand ever surpassing supply. Producing aluminum is a process that needs a lot of energy; in fact, the commercial growth of this metal in the late nineteenth century was predominantly as a result of the development and accessibility of inexpensive and ample hydroelectric power that has remained the key source of energy for the sector. Energy that is used in the production of aluminum is trapped in the metal, thus if aluminum is re-melted in order to make it new metal, only five percent of the energy that was used initially is needed as ninety five percent of the initial investment in energy will remain in the metal. Since the production of aluminum started, used aluminum has remained a significant source of new metal and based on the industry estimates, almost seventy percent of the aluminum in use will be recycled eventually as it is less costly compared extraction of the metal from its ore. Depending on the previous use of aluminum, the life cycle of aluminum products varies significantly. When aluminum is used in packaging in the form of a foil, it might have a life cycle of approximately a few weeks but when it is utilized as a cladding material in buildings, its life cycle may be approximately a century or even longer. This implies that aluminum has a positive profile in regards to its abundant availability, durability as well as tendency to be recycled at very low costs in terms of energy (Green, 2007, p. 125). Therefore, aluminum foil can make a significant positive contribution towards the conservation of other resources in the environment. Life cycle analysis of aluminum foil Aluminum foil is produced from an alloy of aluminum that contains between ninety-two and ninety nine percent of aluminum, and come in numerous widths and strengths since they can be applied to thousands of applications. Aluminum foil used for manufacturing thermal insulations in the construction industry, components of air conditioners, capacitors as well as food packaging among other applications. Aluminum foil is popular in numerous applications because of the key advantages like ease of availability of materials needed to manufacture the foils, its durability, non-toxicity as well as cost effectiveness among others. Furthermore, it can resist chemical attacks while at the same time providing exceptional non-magnetic and electrical shielding. Raw materials for aluminum foil Aluminum is among the most abundant elements and is the most bountiful element that is found on the surface of the earth (Chiras, 2013, p. 350). Nonetheless, aluminum does not occur in a pure metallic form but as hydrated aluminum oxide that is combined with silica, titania as well as iron oxide. Bauxite is the most considerable aluminum ore and is comprised of hydrated aluminum oxide and iron. Presently, bauxite is sufficiently abundant in that the deposits that contain aluminum oxide of more than forty-five percent in content are mined for the extraction of aluminum. Both northern and southern halves of the globe have concentrated deposits and since bauxite occurs close to the earth surface, the mining process is comparatively simple. Typically, explosives are utilized in opening up large bauxite beds after which the exposed ore is removed and transported to the processing plant. Since bauxite is very heavy and four tonnes of bauxite produce only one tonne of aluminum, most of the processing plants are typically located relatively close to the bauxite mines. Manufacturing process The extraction of pure aluminum generally involves two processes with the first involving refinement to eliminate impurities and smelting to produce pure aluminum, which can then be rolled into foils (Abdullah, 2012, p. 43). The process of refining bauxite involves digestion, clarification, precipitation and calcination with the digestion stage entailing grinding and mixing the bauxite with sodium hydroxide. Clarification, on the other hand, involves passing the solution that resulted from digestion through tanks and presses where contaminants are trapped and disposed. The third stage in refining, which is precipitation, entails the aluminum oxide solution being moved to large silos where the fluid seeds with hydrated aluminum crystals to encourage aluminum particle formation. Calcination, which is the final stage in this phase, exposes the aluminum hydrate to a high temperature to dehydrate the material and leave a residue of aluminum oxide. Consequently, the products of refining are moved to the smelting phase that is supposed to separate the compound comprised of aluminum and oxygen. This step uses a modernized version of the electrolytic method, which was invented in the late nineteenth century. At the end of all the stages of the smelting process, foil can be produced from the aluminum stock by rolling it through heavy rollers. Through rolling, two natural finishes can be achieved, including bright and matte, and when the foil comes from the rollers, circular knives shape it into rectangular pieces. Rolling the foil After the foil stock has been produced, its thickness is supposed to be reduced in order to make the aluminum foil and this is achieved through a rolling mill where the material passed through metal rolls repeatedly. In the process of these sheets passing through the rolls, they are compressed into thinner sheets and consequently extruded through gaps in the roles with lubricants being added periodically in order to make the rolling process easier (Bralla, 2007, p. 627). As the rolling continues, the aluminum is intermittently annealed through heat treatment in order to ensure its workability. The foil reduction is regulated by the adjustment of rpm of the rolls as well as viscosity, amount and the temperature of the lubricant put into the rolling mills. Additionally, the gap between the rolls may be adjusted through raising the upper work roll in order to produce different thicknesses of the foil. When the sheets of foil come through the rollers, razor like knives that have been connected to the roll mills trim them into the required shapes. Trimming is done to the edges of the sheets and slitting entails cutting the foil into a number of sheets. These phases are employed in the production of narrow coiled widths, in trimming edges of coated stock and in producing pieces that are rectangular. For some operations that involve fabrication and conversion, the webs that were broken in the process of rolling must be re-joined or spliced using heat ceiling tapes, pressure ceiling tapes and the ultrasonic method among others. ISO 14001 standard ISO 14001 defines the principles for environmental management systems but does not outline the requirements for environmental performances. Instead, it outlines a framework that an organization or a company can adhere to while setting up their EMS (Haider, 2011, p. 89). Organizations can use it in their attempts to improve the efficiency of their resources; reduction of waste produced and decrease the costs. The use of ISO 14001 may lead to assurance to the management of the company as well as its employees and the external stakeholder that the impact on the environment is being assessed and enhanced. This standard can also be incorporated into other management functions in order to assist organizations in achieving their environmental and economic objectives. Similar to ISO 14000 standards, this standard adhered to on voluntary basis with it key objective being to help companies to constantly enhance their environmental performance and comply with any relevant legislations at the same time. Firms are supposed to set their own goals and performance measures while using the standard as a tool to assist them to achieve its objectives as they monitor and measure these aspects. The standard may be implemented in various other levels of business including product and service levels. Instead of emphasizing on precise measures and objectives of environmental performance, the activities the organization needs to engage in so that they can achieve these goals are highlighted by the standard. In regards to aluminum, it is a resource that accounts for almost eight percent of the crust of the earth, and is mined and extracted from the bauxite ore (Schlesinger, 2007, p. 41). The bauxite ore generally contains a compound known as alumina, which is extracted in an electrolytic process that uses a lot of energy. Typically, four tonnes of bauxite will contain two tonnes of alumina that ultimately produces only a single tone of aluminum that can be considered valuable. In fact, aluminum can be considered as the most cost-effective material in terms of recycling since it is associated with a lot of energy savings of up to ninety five percent. Additionally, all the scraps and left over after aluminum has been produced may be melted and used over and over again. Therefore, recycling is a component on the typical lifecycle for the big industrial products and almost seventy percent of all the aluminum that has ever been produced is still in circulation today. Recycling aluminum foil Aluminium recycling consumes about five percent of all the energy required and emissions that come from extracting it from raw bauxite. The metal can be recycled endlessly without losing any of its properties, and thus embracing the habit of recycling aluminum is among the best practices that humans can adopt for the environment. Majority of the recycling centers and programs do not accept the aluminum foils as part of their recyclable material, which has puzzled numerous people who wish to recycle their foils. Regardless of the foils not being accepted for recycling by some programs, they are one hundred percent recyclable, however, they are typically more dirtier compared to aluminum cans. Since the sheets of foil are filled with food waste that may result in contamination in most of the cases, majority of the recycling centers do not accept them. Even though most US households recycle up to seventy percent of the aluminum waste they produce, most of this waste originates from cans therefore sending thousands of tons of aluminum foil to the landfill (Eggink, 2007, p. 244). It can be said that the amount of aluminum foil thrown away every year can be sufficient to build a fleet of airplanes while recycling a single aluminum can save energy that can power a TV for almost two hundred minutes. Among the simplest ways of saving energy and money is reusing the old aluminum foils and rather than squeezing it up into a ball and tossing it into the trash can, it can be laid flat and washed with soap and water. Aluminum foils are also safe for the dishwasher and thus can be placed on the top shape when running a load, which will result in clean foil sheets that can be reused. Foils sheets may be reused numerous times, which will save money for the household that would have gone towards purchasing new supplies. Environmental impact of recycling aluminum foils The number of times that aluminum can be recycled is limitless and this is what has made aluminum beneficial to the environment. Aluminum is regarded as a sustainable metal and this implies that it has a capacity to be recycled over and over without any of the material being lost. Presently, it is extremely cheap, faster and exceedingly energy efficient to recycle aluminum as various items made of this material are one hundred percent recyclable. Aluminium cans and foils are the most recyclable materials are they are among the products can are one hundred percent recyclable. When an aluminum foil is disposed of in the correct manner, it will be completely recycled and back on the shelves in a relatively short time. Aluminum recycling saves between ninety and ninety-five percent of all the energy that is required in the extraction of aluminum from its bauxite ore (Eggink, 2007, p. 244). Regardless of the product being made from the aluminum, whether cookware, roof gutters or aluminum foils, it is more energy effective and efficient to re-use the metal that already exists than creating new aluminum from its ore. When one pound of aluminum is recycled, approximately seven kilowatt-hours of electricity is saves, and thus with the energy required to produce a small amount of aluminum, a huge amount of recycled aluminum foil can be made. If the energy required to recycle one can made out of aluminum is considered, it can be equated the same amount of power that can power a television for about three hours. If energy is not saved or conserved, it is wasted, and tossing used aluminum foils into trashcans rather than recycling them requires energy that will replace this discarded energy from bauxite ore. This energy needed for extraction of aluminum from the bauxite ore is sufficient to keep a hundred watt incandescent bulb on for approximately five hours or powering a laptop for at least eleven hours. If it is considered how this energy can be conserved through the use of compact fluorescent or LED bulbs, or even energy conserving laptops, then the costs of extracting new aluminum will fall into perspective. Overall, the energy required for the replacement of aluminum foils that are wasted each year in the US alone may be equated to numerous barrels of oil that are enough to keep thousands of cars on the road each year. If all the aluminum foils used in households and for other applications are recycled every year, the electricity saved could be redirected to powering numerous homes. All over the globe, billions of kWh are wasted annually as a consequence of trashing or burning foils and other recyclable aluminum products with the aluminum industry using approximately three hundred billion kWh of power every year. This huge amount of power accounts for three percent of the overall electricity consumption of the entire globe. Conclusion The popular use of aluminum foil particularly for flexible packaging will continue to rise, as sealed pouches have achieved more popularity in military, retail food as well as medical applications (Smith and Rhatigan, 2003, p. 57). These pouches have also be created for packaging wines meant for retail and restaurant markets as well as other food service markets. Furthermore, additional products are still being under development for other applications with the increase in popularity of microwave ovens resulting in development of various types of aluminum-based semi-stiff containers created particularly for ovens. In the recent times, special cooking foils designed for barbecues have also been created. Regardless of the benefits and advantages of aluminum foils, they are examined for their level of environmental friendliness. This has obligated manufacturers to increase their attempts to recycle products in this area with the producers of aluminum foil in the US instigating recycling programs despite the fact that the overall tonnage and capture rate of aluminum foils is considerably lower compared to the easy-to-recycle cans made of aluminum. Foils made of aluminum are light and small, and this assists in reduction of their contribution to solid waste management streams. In actual fact, aluminum foil packaging which has been laminated accounts for a mere 0.17 of one percent of the overall solid waste that is produced in the US. Bibliography Abdullah, M. 2012, Applied energy, Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL. Both, G. 2005, Finite global resources--limited future, Janus Pub, London, England. Bralla, J. 2007, Handbook of manufacturing processes, Industrial Press, New York. Chiras, D. 2013, Environmental science, Jones and Bartlett Learning, Burlington, MA. Eggink, J. 2007, Managing energy costs, Fairmont Press, Lilburn, GA. Green, J. 2007, Aluminum recycling and processing for energy conservation and sustainability, ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio. Haider, S. 2011, Environmental management system ISO 14001:2004, CRC Press, Boca Raton. Schlesinger, M. 2007, Aluminum recycling, CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL. Smith, H. and Rhatigan, J. 2003, Awesome things to make with recycled stuff, Lark Books, New York. Read More