Re: Aluminium facts

From: hcarteau_at_f8ZYqP9JMKG6_aTMi8je1XeeqjGg38W-Etyz9Z0ho-YyoOxuddScSTYN_58IIdF2D-k
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:55:22 +0100


Selon Todd Gardiner <todd.gardiner_at_ooNcJw77aWYErHwyPOWnHEjoCRWTHGPkkRP9peGeWCYhAK0_POuIFaM534mIc6lR5IBESCIEih1dK_2RQt4peCVd.yahoo.invalid>:

> To make aluminum, you first have to dissolve your bauxite in a vat of molten
> cryolite (1,012 °C/1,854 °F, which is less than aluminum's 2000C melting
> temp.) Then, you have to use electrolysis at only 3V, but using a tremendous
> 220 kA to 340 kA. Then, the aluminum precipitate that gathers on the cathode
> must be continuously siphoned to draw the aluminum (in a liquid state) out
> of the mixture and through a series of high temperature valves and pumps to
> a location where it can be cast into ingots.
>
> The technology to do each step requires a highly industrialized economy,
> which is why it was so rare in historical times, even though Aluminum makes
> up 8% of the earth, by weight.

/// And they said role-playing was for ignorants... Incredible what I still learn at 45 starting from preparation work for a scenario. I love it.

Now all I need to know is the link between quicksilver / mercury and aluminium, if there is any, in the real world. In Glorantha I understood that aluminium was the solidified state of quicksilver, the metal of water, wich natural form is of course liquid.            

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