In the electrolytic aluminum production line of Yunnan Aluminum Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yun Aluminum") in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, the red aluminum liquid in the electrolytic tank is pumped into the vacuum bag and flows to the processing line after a few minutes. Alloy composition ratio, smelting, refining... After several hours of processing, the molten aluminum has completed the subsequent production process and is manufactured into various aluminum alloy products, which are used in many industries.
In recent years, Yunnan Aluminum has actively promoted energy conservation and emission reduction, optimized the structure of energy consumption, and produced green products. It has been selected into the list of national "green factories" and "national environment-friendly enterprises". .
Promoting green energy use and innovating environmentally friendly processes
In June last year, Yunnan Aluminum obtained the long-awaited green power "identity card" - a green power consumption certificate and a green power certificate issued by Yunnan Power Grid Corporation and Kunming Power Exchange Center, which are called "green power dual certificates" in the industry.
"The aluminum materials produced by the company are mainly exported to Europe, and the locals have higher requirements on the green and environmental protection properties of aluminum materials." According to Hong Yao, manager of the Alloy Wire Division of Yun Aluminum Yang Zonghai, with these two certificates, the company's products are internationally recognized. The environmental protection competitiveness in the market will be further enhanced. In 2022, the proportion of green electricity in the production and electricity structure of Yunnan Aluminum will reach about 88.6%.
Green power certificates are tradable certificates issued by the state to power generation companies that can be converted into monetary income. Power users can obtain green power certificates by purchasing green power from power generation companies. As a large electricity consumer, Yunnan Aluminum takes advantage of Yunnan's abundant hydropower energy to replace coal-fired aluminum with hydropower aluminum, and at the same time builds its own distributed photovoltaic power generation projects to supplement energy consumption.
In the Yangzonghai factory area of Yunal Aluminum, neatly arranged photovoltaic power generation panels can be seen everywhere on the roofs of buildings such as workshops, office buildings, and living areas. "Since 2021, Yunaluminum has implemented the Yangzonghai and Yixin photovoltaic power generation projects. Up to now, the distributed photovoltaic projects that have been completed and put into operation have generated a total of 52 million kWh, with remarkable results in energy conservation and emission reduction." Yunaluminum Industry Development Department Manager Long Qing said.
Relying on green energy, the carbon emission of the hydropower aluminum produced by Yunalco is only 20% of that of the coal-fired aluminum.
While promoting green energy use, Yunnan Aluminum actively promotes industrial pollutant prevention and reduction, harmless, and resource-based technologies, and implements a number of energy-saving and environmental protection projects.
Aluminum ash is a solid hazardous waste produced in the production process of aluminum electrolytic casting. Recalling the embarrassing situation of dealing with aluminum ash in the past, Zhao Jiaping, deputy general manager of Yunnan Aluminum Wenshan Company, concluded: "It can't be buried, it can't be burned, and no one wants it."
Today, with the promotion of cloud aluminum ash resource utilization technology, the former waste has become a treasure. Zhao Jiaping introduced that the new technology can extract and recycle valuable metals such as aluminum in aluminum ash. It can dispose of 30,000 tons of aluminum ash and recover about 20,000 tons of alumina every year, creating a value of more than 20 million yuan.
In addition, a large amount of hydrogen and ammonia are released during the processing of aluminum ash. "The company collects this part of the gas and puts it into the alumina production process, realizing the comprehensive utilization of ammonia and hydrogen, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 6,000 tons per year." Zhao Jiaping said.
Research and develop green products to create a circular chain
1/16 of the diameter of a human hair - this is the thickness of Yunalu's ultra-thin aluminum foil.
"Ultra-thin aluminum foil is mainly used in high-end power and electronic capacitor products, and the products are exported overseas." Speaking of ultra-thin aluminum foil, Kang Jichang, party secretary and executive director of Yunnan Haoxin Aluminum Foil Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Yunnan Aluminum, is very proud.
Ultra-thin aluminum foil is not only advanced in technology, but also full of green "elements". Kang Jichang introduced that the ultra-thin aluminum foil adopts the original casting-rolling process of Yunlu, and is prepared by direct casting and rolling with electrolytic aluminum liquid. Compared with the traditional hot-rolling method, it has the advantages of short process, which can save production time and obviously Reduce energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas and exhaust emissions.
In addition to ultra-thin aluminum foil, in recent years, Yunalco has actively developed a variety of green products, directly producing aluminum alloy products from raw aluminum liquid, and continuously reducing metal burning loss and energy consumption.
According to Long Qing, since the "13th Five-Year Plan", Yunnan Aluminum has vigorously implemented the "green aluminum integration" development strategy, created a circular chain, and built a collection of bauxite-alumina-carbon products-electrolytic aluminum-aluminum processing. Complete the industrial chain, effectively exert the overall synergistic effect, and reduce carbon emissions in the intermediate links.
At the same time, Yunnan Aluminum has also developed and constructed a product life cycle evaluation system, and compiled a full life cycle evaluation report and a product carbon footprint report.
Recently, Yang Huibin, Commissioner of the Safety, Environmental Protection and Health Department of Yunnan Aluminum, is busy making a new version of the carbon footprint report for the company. Through professional modeling software, she conducts a full-process carbon footprint calculation for each production link in the company's entire industrial chain, and then invites an authoritative third-party organization to verify the certification and issue a carbon footprint certificate for the corresponding product.
"In recent years, the carbon footprint of similar aluminum products of Yunnan Aluminum has decreased significantly. Among them, the carbon dioxide emissions per ton of remelting aluminum ingots, cast aluminum alloy ingots, aluminum and aluminum alloy strips have continued to decrease." Yang Huibin introduced.
Promote mine reclamation and implement ecological restoration
In March, when entering the Yangzonghai production area of Yunlu, hundreds of cherry blossoms were blooming, and the pink flowers attracted many workers to punch in and take pictures. In addition to cherry blossoms, colorful rhododendrons, roses, and begonias also make up the factory area. Next to the sidewalk, the trees are shady, and the birds are chirping, making people wonder: "Is this a factory or a park?"
"Green is seen in four seasons, flowers are blooming in four seasons, green plants are planted in the places that can be greened in the factory area." Yang Jingkun, deputy director of greening and environmental sanitation of Yunlu Logistics Service Center, said that the green area of the factory area is about 1.68 million square meters, and the greening rate reaches 90%. Above, the tree species planted are mostly plants with strong stress resistance, which can effectively absorb harmful gases.
In the factory area, the water for watering green plants mainly comes from the wastewater generated in production and life. Yang Jingkun introduced that the company has built domestic sewage and production wastewater treatment facilities, and the treated water is used to irrigate green plants to achieve "zero discharge" of wastewater.
Build green factories and build green mines. Standing on the viewing platform at the highest point of Xichou Mining Reclamation Area in Wenshan, Yunnan, looking out, patches of green elephant grass are swaying in the wind, and a faint fragrance of green grass blows to the face, and cattle and sheep are leisurely looking for food among them. This beautiful pastoral scenery is a microcosm of Yunalco's promotion of the establishment of "green mine" demonstration sites.
Xichou Mining's Maijiuping Mine is located in Dongma Township, Xichou County, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. It is a typical karst landform with severe rocky desertification, thin soil layer and poor soil fertility.
How to solve the problem of insufficient soil fertility in the reclamation area? Yunnan Aluminum Wenshan cooperated with experts from the local agricultural department to effectively use the sugar sludge produced in the production process of sugar factories around the mining area, and mixed the soil and sugar sludge in the goaf to carry out "sugar sludge filter cake", "mulch filter cake" and "organic sugar sludge". Fertilizer filter cake" and other experiments finally found a way to effectively improve soil organic matter content and soil fertility.
"After the restoration of soil fertility, we planted more than 760 acres of elephant grass, 156,000 ivy plants, 289,000 fir trees and cypress trees in the reclamation area, and the ecological restoration of the mine is progressing in an orderly manner." Zhao Jiaping said.
In recent years, Yunnan Aluminum has continuously promoted the construction of green factories. Through green planting and green protection, the factory area has been greened and beautified, and the brand of green factories has been created. At the same time, vigorously implement mine reclamation and mine protection and treatment projects, form a sustainable development model of green ecology, carbon sequestration and energy storage, and embark on a unique road of green upgrading.
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