Resumen de Bauxite & Alumina 2015: : Refractories usage in decline
"To put that into context, with production of steel in China, which has been estimated at 823m tonnes, with a unit consumption of 20kg/tonne, that would require 12m tonnes refractories as opposed to 9m tonnes at 15kg/tonne or, if they got down to European levels, that would be 6m tonnes," [Ted Dickson] said.
The three main products created out of this recycling process are: aluminium granules, which can be returned to the secondary aluminium production cycle; salt, which can be returned to refiners for the melting process; and recycled alumina, or what the company calls its "Valoxy" product, which can be used in non-met applications as a substitute for bauxite and alumina.
"About 12m tonnes of salt slag are generated worldwide each year," [Howard Epstein] said. "1 tonne of salt slag on average yields around 550kg of Valoxy, so if every tonne were treated, it could yield recycled Valoxy of 7m tonnes."
