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The South African aluminium
industry is growing rapidly. Adding value to primary aluminium
requires the addition of various additives: master alloys,
hardeners and modifiers. The purpose of this project is to develop
the scientific and technological capabilities of South African
additive manufacturers to make them competitive with international
manufacturers.
The main manufacturing route to
be developed is the aluminothermic reduction of the purified
oxides of the additive elements (manganese, chromium, titanium,
zirconium, silicon and boron), in some cases utilising MINTEK’s
DC-arc furnace technology. The product of this route would be
aluminium-based alloys of high purity, suitable for the local and
international aluminium industries.
In support of this, optimum
beneficiation processes for the oxides, most of which can be
locally sourced, will be selected, and an additive quality
assessment facility will be installed at MINTEK. The final phase
of the project will involve an industrial scale test of the
aluminothermic production of the most promising alloy, which
subsequently will be tested by an appropriate customer. |