Wagerup Alumina Refinery
Coordinates: 32 ° 54 ′ 54 ″ S , 115 ° 54 ′ 53 ″ E
The Wagerup alumina refinery is located 130 kilometers south of Perth on the border of the Peel and South West regions of Western Australia . It is one of three refineries that Alcoa of Australia operates in Western Australia. According to Alcoa, the mine and refinery employs 900 people, around 30% of whom live in the area.
location
The refinery is surrounded by agricultural land, 4 kilometers from Yarloop , 13 kilometers from Waroona and 70 kilometers from Bunbury Port . It is linked to the Willowdale bauxite mine by a 51-kilometer conveyor belt located in the Darling Range .
The refinery produces 2.6 million tonnes of alumina annually from the bauxite ore from the Willowdale bauxite mine , which is transported by rail to the port of Bunbury for shipping to aluminum smelters around the world.
In 2004 Alcoa announced that it would continuously expand the aluminum refinery to an annual capacity of 4.7 million tons.
environment
Although Alcoa claims that its refineries are among the most environmentally friendly in the world, there have been complaints about the pollution of the refinery to the environment and people, especially from those who live in Yarloop. They have long complained about health problems which they believe are caused by air pollution.
Aluminum oxide is produced using the Bayer process , in which the finely ground bauxite is mixed with concentrated sodium hydroxide solution at around 7 bar and around 180 ° C. A high expenditure of energy is required and when the broken down bauxite is dissolved, basic red mud is formed , which must be dumped and safely stored. Red mud contains caustic caustic soda , toxic heavy metal oxides and about one percent heavy metal hydroxides. Furthermore, ore dusts can get into the environment during transport and toxic components such as fluorides , arsenates , chromates and vanadates can be washed out of the sludge. The aluminum ions are harmful to microorganisms and toxic to animals and plants. Red mud landfills should therefore be covered on their surface and have no contact with groundwater. During the production of aluminum, fluorine and hydrogen fluoride escape , which cannot be avoided entirely. In addition, carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) are released.
See also
Web links
- Wagerup Refinery. Alcoa , accessed August 2, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b alcoa.com : Overview , in English, accessed on April 10, 2012
- ↑ perthnow.au ( Memento of the original dated August 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : John Flint: A 5KM buffer zone around the refinery - as the Health Department wants - would wipe Yarloop, Hamel and Cookernup off the map , in English, accessed April 9, 2012
- ↑ abc.net.au ( Memento of the original dated November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Quentin McDermott: Something in the air , broadcast March 10, 2005, in English, accessed April 9, 2012
- ↑ Frank Muster: Rotschlamm. Residual material from aluminum oxide production - ecological backpack or input for production processes? kassel university press GmbH, Kassel 2007, ISBN 978-3-89958-359-5
- ↑ chemieunterricht.de : Extraction and use of aluminum , accessed on April 6, 2012
