Structure and Properties of Nonferrous Alloys

798 Pages·1995·59.02 MB·English

by  K.H. Matucha (editor)

0 Introduction: Some Economic Aspects of Nonferrous Metals
Karl Heinz Matucha
Metallgesellschaft AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
List of Symbols 2
0.1 Smelter Production 2
0.2 Consumption and Scrap Recovery 3
0.3 Detailed Consideration of Selected Metals 4
0.3.1 Aluminum 5
0.3.2 Copper 8
0.3.3 Zinc 13
0.3.4 Lead 15
0.4 Reasons for the Variation of Production and Consumption 16
0.5 Scrap Recovery and Recycling 19
0.6 The Future of Nonferrous Metals 21
0.7 References 22
Materials Science and Technology
Copyright © WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co KGaA. All rights reserved.
0 Introduction: Some Economic Aspects of Nonferrous Metals
List of Symbols the development and production of high-
alloy steels and superalloys, the metals
utilization potential with a low density (aluminum, magnesium,
recycling rate titanium) obtained their increasing impor-
tance on the basis of their own specific
properties. Since 1960 aluminum has be-
come the most important nonferrous
metal, followed by copper, zinc and lead.
0.1 Smelter Production
In addition to technological reasons, the
worldwide production, manufacture and
The smelter production of iron and consumption of metals depends also on the
some nonferrous metals between 1880 and general economic situation. Therefore the
1980 in general showed an increase in pro- smelter production of nearly all metals de-
duction for all materials (Fig. 0-1). It creased in the period from 1928 to 1933.
should be noted, however, that the produc- On the other hand, the end of world war II
tion of iron was much larger than the total also resulted in a decrease in the smelter
production of all nonferrous metals in production, especially of iron, aluminum
Fig. 0-1. Of the nonferrous metals, nickel, and magnesium. This breakdown of pro-
aluminum, magnesium and titanium had duction was followed by a high yearly in-
the highest growth rates in production crease in production.
(Matucha and Wincierz, 1986). While the Independently of the fluctuating general
growing need for nickel has been a result of economic situation, the median yearly
10V Fe (raw steel)
108
to7
106
105
o
104
Figure 0-1. Smelter production
(total world) of important metals
Al/ Mg/ from 1880 to 1980 (Matucha and
Wincierz, 1986).
1880 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 1980
Year
0.2 Consumption and Scrap Recovery
rates of growth of smelter production have —a Al
shown a falling tendency for the last thirty
years. The yearly growth rates in the pe-
riod 1971-1980 were smaller than in the
previous decade (Matucha and Wincierz,
1986). This tendency continued during the
decade 1981-1990 (Table 0-1). For alu- t i
Pb
minum, copper, lead, zinc, tin and nickel,
the yearly growth rates decreased consid-
erably, leading to "negative" growth for
lead and tin. 106
The numbers given in Table 0-1 are a—a—a—a—a—a—a Ni
world average values. For a detailed con- 3
o
sideration it would be necessary to look at
the actual yearly smelter production
O—u—•—D—•—•—o—•—•—D
(Metallgesellschaft, 1989, 1994). This has
Table 0-1. Yearly growth rates (%) of consumption, 105
smelter production and scrap recovery (Western 1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
world). Year
Figure 0-2. Smelter production (total world) of some
1961- 1971- 1981- important nonferrous metals from 1978 to 1993.
1971 1981 1991
Al: Consumption + 13.2 + 4.7 + 2.8 been done for the period from 1978 to 1993
Smelter Production + 13.9 + 4.5 + 1.7
for aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, nickel,
Scrap Recovery + 13.3 + 8.8 + 4.5
tin and magnesium (Fig. 0-2). The poor
Cu: Consumption + 4.1 + 3.6 + 1.0
economic situation at the beginning of the
Smelter Production + 4.4 + 2.8 + 0.9
1980s led to a decrease in smelter produc-
Scrap Recovery + 4.2 + 1.8 + 2.5
tion of aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel and
Pb: Consumption + 4.4 + 3.5 +0.3
magnesium, whereas the smelter produc-
Smelter Production + 4.1 + 0.5 -0.7
Scrap Recovery + 2.7 + 6.3 + 2.1 tion of tin and lead was nearly constant.
After 1982 the smelter production gener-
Zn: Consumption + 5.5 + 2.3 + 1.2
Smelter Production + 4.9 + 2.6 + 1.5 ally increased. There has been a smaller
Scrap Recovery + 2.5 + 5.9 + 0.9 increase for aluminum, copper and tin
Ni: Consumption + 6.1 + 2.6 + 2.4 since 1989, while the production of nickel
Smelter Production + 7.0 + 1.6 + 2.0 and magnesium has decreased slightly.
Scrap Recovery n.k.a n.k.a n.k.a
Mg: Consumption + 8.3 + 1.5 + 1.9
0.2 Consumption
Smelter Production + 11.8 + 3.1 + 1.6
Scrap Recovery + 7.7 + 22.2 + 0.07 and Scrap Recovery
Sn: Consumption + 2.0 -1.3 + 0.5
Smelter Production + 2.0 + 0.3 -0.9
As can bee seen in Table 0-1, the total
Scrap Recovery -1.4 -1.0 -0.8
consumption of the nonferrous metals had
a n.k.: not known. the highest yearly growth rates between
0 Introduction: Some Economic Aspects of Nonferrous Metals
1961 and 1971. These growth rates in gen- smelter production. This difference was
eral decreased during the following highest for lead, followed by copper and
decade, showing considerable differences aluminum. The scrap recovery (Fig. 0-4)
between the metals. For the scrap recovery indicates high growth rates for aluminum
of the metals data from Western countries since 1984. The reasons for this and other
only are available. The data compiled in influences on scrap recovery will be dis-
Table 0-1 show that the scrap recovery of cussed below.
the metals - with the exception of Sn - has
grown, too. It should be noted that during
03 Detailed Consideration
the last decade (1981-1990) the yearly
growth rates of scrap recovery for alu- of Selected Metals
minum, copper and lead exceeded those of
the smelter production. The global data on the primary produc-
The total consumption of aluminum, tion, consumption and secondary produc-
copper, lead, nickel and magnesium since tion discussed so far could lead to the con-
1978 is given in Fig. 0-3, together with the clusion that during the last few years no
consumption of primary zinc and tin. remarkable changes have occurred.
Comparison with Fig. 0-2 shows that the To prove that conclusion, the primary
development of the smelter production fol- production, consumption and secondary
lowed that of the consumption. In nearly production will be analyzed in detail for
all cases the consumption exceeded the the four most important nonferrous metals
Cu
_m-—in—ts—B—CD—m—u Zn
_E—B—B—B—B—B—B'—E—B—E Ph
.9 106
Q.
-H—a—a"
O
o
Figure 0-3. Total consumption of im-
portant nonferrous metals from 1978 to
105 1993.
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
0.3 Detailed Consideration of Selected Metals
,a—n Al
si—Bl—IB—SI—OB—™—«"—™ Zl1
Figure 0-4. Scrap recovery of aluminum,
copper, lead and zinc since 1978. Western
countries (Metallgesellschaft, 1989, 1994).
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
(aluminum, copper, zinc and lead) since the beginning of the 1980s and in 1985 to
1978. To do this, the worldwide data are 1987. On the other hand, production in
divided according to geographical region. America as a whole has increased sharply
Furthermore, the so-called "Western" and since 1986. This results from the increasing
"Eastern" countries are treated separately. production of primary aluminum in
(In the Metallstatistik (Metallgesellschaft, Canada, Brazil and Venezuela. Canada
1989, 1994) all communist and formerly has become number three in the world
communist states are included under (Table 0-2) while Brazil and Venezuela en-
"Eastern countries", regardless of their tered the list of the top ten and improved
geographical location.) Additionally, the their positions during the last few years.
main producer and consumer are consid-
ered.
Table 0-2. Primary aluminum: Main producer coun-
tries and their contributions (%) to the total produc-
0.3.1 Aluminum tion in 1978 and 1993.
Primary Production 1978 (%) 1993 (%)
The main producers of primary alu-
U.SA 28.2 U.S.A. 18.9
minum are given in Table 0-2 for 1978 and U.S.S.R. 19.4 C.I.S. 15.6
1993, together with the total production. Japan 6.8 Canada 11.8
More than 59% of the total production Canada 6.8 Australia 7.0
Germany (West) 4.8 P.R. China 6.2
was produced by five countries, while
Norway 4.2 Brazil 6.0
more than 72% of the total production
France 2.5 Norway 4.5
came from ten countries. The production P.R. China 2.3 Venezuela 2.9
of these ten states is listed in Table 0-2 for U.K. 2.2 Germany 2.8
each year. Australia 1.7 India 2.4
The United States remained the largest 78.9 78.1
producer of primary aluminum, although
Total world
the production for some years since 1978
(100%): 14767 19600
shows a slightly falling tendency (Fig. 0-5)
(103 tonnes)
driven by the poor economic situation at
0 Introduction: Some Economic Aspects of Nonferrous Metals
8000 r
7000 - ^America (incl. U.S.A.)
Eastern states
e
Europe
New Zealand and Australia Figure 0-5. Primary production of
aluminum since 1978 in different
^" regions of the world. Production
(excl. Eastern states)
in the United States is plotted sep-
,.—©—-©—©—©—©—©~""'P,.
Africa arately (Metallgesellschaft 1989,
1994).
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
The production of primary aluminum in All producers of primary aluminum in
the Eastern bloc, which is partly estimated, Africa (Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, South
showed small variations and did not de- Africa) have increased production, albeit
pend on the general economic situation. at a low level. There the growth rate of
The increase of the production since 1983 Ghana is the highest.
is mainly due to the increasing production Production in Asia (excluding the East-
in the People's Republic of China. ern states) showed a decrease from 1978 to
In Europe (excluding the Eastern 1983 and then an increase. The reasons for
states), production was nearly constant this behavior follow immediately from
from 1978 to 1991 and decreased after- Table 0-3. In 1978, 70% of Asia's primary
wards. Taking into account that the total
production has increased it follows that
the proportion of the European primary Table 0-3. Production of primary aluminum (in thou-
aluminum contribution to total world pro- sand tonnes) in Asia (excluding Eastern states).
duction decreased from 25% in 1978 to
1978 1983 1988 1993
17% in 1993. This follows qualitatively
from Table 0-2, too, which shows that Japan 1057.7 255.9 35.3 18.3
there were only two European producers India 205.4 204.8 334.5 466.4
among the top ten in 1993. Bahrain 122.8 171.7 182.8 450.0
Indonesia - 114.8 185.1 202.1
In Australia and New Zealand the pro-
United Arab _ 151.2 162.5 242.3
duction of primary aluminum has grown
Emirates
since 1983; Australia's production has in-
Total Asia 1511.9 980.6 1013.0 1529.1
creased since 1983 by 19% per year.
0.3 Detailed Consideration of Selected Metals
aluminum was produced in Japan. Pro- Table 0-4 Primary aluminum: Main consumer coun-
duction in Japan was then nearly stopped, tries and their proportions (%) of the total consump-
tion in 1978 and 1993.
whereas India and Bahrain increased pro-
duction. Indonesia and the United Arab
1978 (%) 1993 (%)
Emirates became producers of primary
aluminum. U.S.A. 32.4 U.S.A. 26.3
U.S.S.R. 11.9 Japan 11.7
Japan 10.8 P.R. China 7.1
Consumption of Primary Aluminum Germany (West) 6.2 CIS. 6.4
France 3.4 Germany 6.3
In comparison to the production of pri- P.R. China 3.3 France 3.6
mary aluminum the consumption shows Italy 2.6 Korea 3.0
smaller variations in the list of the top ten U.K. 2.6 Italy 3.0
Canada 2.2 Canada 2.7
consumers in 1978 and 1993 (Table 0-4).
Belgium/ 1.7 U.K. 2.6
The changes which occurred between 1988
Luxembourg
and 1993 are more clearly visible in the
77.1 72.7
yearly consumption of primary aluminum
(Fig. 0-6). This yields two main features: Total world
(100%): 15 348 18 541
- a drastic decrease in consumption in the (103 tonnes)
Eastern states although the consump-
tion in P.R. China increased;
- an increase in consumption in Asia over-
Japan's consumption decreased. Other
all.
countries increased their consumption
A detailed consideration of the con- considerably. The percentage of the con-
sumption of primary aluminum in Asia sumption of the main consumer in Asia
(Table 0-5) shows that the proportion of (Japan) decreased from 71% in 1978 to
7000 r
America
6000 L
\
,o—-o—o'
5000 -Europe
\/
* Asiaflncl.
4000
—e—e—e—* Japan)
Eastern states\
3000
(incl. P.R. China) ®
g 2000\- Figure 0-6. Consumption of
Oo Q~~Q P.R. China primary aluminum since 1978 in
different regions of the world. The
•®—®~~® Australia consumptions in Japan and
Africa P.R. China are plotted separately
(Metallgesellschaft 1989, 1994).
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
8 0 Introduction: Some Economic Aspects of Nonferrous Metals
Table 0-5. Consumption of primary aluminum (in stopped production of primary aluminum
thousand tonnes) in Asia (excluding Eastern states). has increased secondary production.
1978 1983 1988 1993
Total Consumption of Aluminum
Japan 1656.1 1722.0 2123.2 2174.8
Comparison of the total consumption of
India 205.4 218.5 327.0 475.3
aluminum in the world (Fig. 0-3) with the
Korea 105.8 120.0 268.0 557.9
Taiwan 89.9 136.5 175.7 299.1 consumption in the different regions
Iran 53.4 105.0 100.7 110a (Fig. 0-8) shows that variations of the total
Turkey 45.0 89.2 109.7 128.6a consumption are mainly determined by the
Thailand 33.7 64.9 71.7 177.4
consumption of the Western countries in
Bahrain 7.1 21.3 81.0 124.7 a
Asia, America and Europe. Consumption
Total Asia 2327.6 2682.8 3533.4 4554.6
in Africa and Australia has been nearly
constant since 1978, while consumption in
1992.
the Eastern states, having increased
slightly until 1990, dropped in 1991. Con-
48% in 1993, indicating an increase in con- sumption in the Western world increased
sumption in other Asian countries. after the period from 1979 to 1982. In the
The gap in the consumption between following years (1983-1989) consumption
Europe and Asia was (Fig. 0-6) nearly con- showed a steady growth, especially in Eu-
stant between 1978 and 1986. It became ropa, whereas large growing rates are ob-
smaller after 1986, and in 1993 the con- served in Asia from 1986 to 1991. This led
sumption of primary aluminum in Asia to a smaller difference in consumption be-
and Europe was nearly equal. tween Europe and Asia. Although Japan
In America as a whole large variations has remained the main producer in Asia, it
of the consumption are visible. It should can be seen that other Asian countries in-
be noted that the consumption in 1993 was creased their consumption of aluminum.
nearly the same as in 1979, whereas in the In Korea consumption increased by a fac-
intervening period the consumption was tor of eight from 1980 to 1993. As a conse-
less. In Africa and Australia only small quence Korea has become one of the main
amounts of aluminum were consumed. consumers of aluminum.
Scrap Recovery of Aluminum
0.3.2 Copper
(Secondary Aluminum)
Smelter Production from Ores
Only data for the Western countries are
available (Fig. 0-7). They show, in com- According to Fig. 0-2 the total smelter
parison to Fig. 0-4, that the total increase production of copper has shown a nearly
of the production of secondary aluminum continuous increase since 1978. Neverthe-
is very largely due entirely to the United less, there have been exceptional changes
States. It should further be noted that in in production in different regions of the
Europe since 1989 and in Japan since 1991 world (Fig. 0-9). These occurred from ap-
the production of secondary material has proximately 1986 and can be characterized
decreased. Japan is the major producer of by a decreasing production in Africa and
secondary aluminum in Asia but during growing productions in Asia and America,
the last few years Taiwan, which has while production in the Eastern countries
0.3 Detailed Consideration of Selected Metals
America (incl. U.S.A.K®
3000 ? U.S.A.
2500
-ST2000
0
e
y
D—(D Asia
0
©—
8 1000 Q
Japan
Figure 0-7. Scrap recovery of alu-
o
CO minum (secondary aluminum) in
500f the Western countries since 1978.
Scrap recovery in the United
States is plotted separately
(Metallgesellschaft 1989, 1994).
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
-—7
9000
U.S.A.
8000
/
s—
y
7000
"«» «'
V s-~
Europe
g 6000
—(D—(D
Asia (incl. Japan)
6 5000
Eastern states
Japan
3000-
—©—©—9'
2000 Figure 0-8. Total consumption of
aluminum since 1978 in the differ-
ent regions of the world. The con-
1000 Australia sumptions in the United States
/ Africa
and Japan are plotted separately
(Metallgesellschaft 1989, 1994).
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
10 0 Introduction: Some Economic Aspects of Nonferrous Metals
4000
Figure 0-9. Smelter production of
copper from ores since 1978 in the
500G—e different regions of the world. The
I
productions in the United States
^Australia and in Japan are plotted separately
(Metallgesellschaft 1989, 1994).
1978 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 1993
Year
decreased from 1988 to 1991 and increased Table 0-6. Copper: Smelter production from ores.
after 1991 due to the fact that more copper Main producer countries and their contributions (%)
to the total production in 1978 and 1993.
was produced in P.R. China and Poland
(Table 0-6).
1978 (%) 1993 (%)
In Africa all copper-producing countries
reduced production after 1986/1987. This
U.S.A. 16.7 Chile 15.1
reduction was pronounced for Zaire, U.S.S.R. 14.6 U.S.A. 13.7
where in 1993 only 10% of the 1983 pro- Chile 12.0 Japan 11.8
duction - when Zaire was number six in Japan 11.0 CI.S. 9.8
Zambia 8.5 Canada 5.8
the list of the top ten producers - was
Canada 5.4 Zambia 4.9
achieved.
Zaire 5.1 P.R. China 4.8
The production of copper from ores was Poland 4.1 Poland 4.5
nearly the same in 1978 and 1993 in the Peru 4.1 Australia 3.5
United States; the growing production in South Africa 2.7 Peru 3.4
America results from the growing produc- 84.2 77.3
tion in the other countries (see Table 0-7).
In Asia, Japan is the largest producer of Total world
(100%): 7735 9213
copper from ores, but other countries, e.g.
(103 tonnes)
Iran, Oman, Korea and the Philippines,