Alumochemistry

Essence of the Alumochemistry area::

High purity aluminium oxide is used as the basis for catalysts in petrochemistry and organic synthesis. Aluminium oxychloride is applied as coagulants for water treatment and water conditioning. Aluminium hydroxide is in great demand as a fire retarding agent (it gives the property of self-extinguishing to polymers without releasing of toxic gases). Aluminium hydroxide is also used as a base filler for paint and varnish products, composites based on polyester and epoxy resins.

High-purity aluminium oxide. This compound has nothing to do with 'alumina'. A wide range of products is produced based on high-purity aluminium oxide: leucosapphire single-crystals (they are used to produce screens of premium smartphones and watches) are applied in microelectronics and optoelectronics to produce LEDs, semiconductor and solid-state lasers.

Efficient catalysts for oil refining and organic synthesis are produced based on aluminium oxide.

We cannot do without chemical products of aluminium in everyday life too. First of all, these are water treatment coagulants. They mainly include salts — aluminium sulfate and oxychloride. Due to them, we are not only able to drink clean water, but also can minimise discharges of harmful substances back into rivers and lakes.

In industry, for medical and special equipment, ceramics based on aluminium nitride and oxynitride are increasingly applied for mobile high-precision joints that do not require lubrication and have a long operating life. They can be precision bearings and artificial joints for prosthetics.

Physical and chemical properties of aluminium allow using it for high-power current sources (air & aluminium current sources) that emit pure hydrogen during generation which can be also used as fuel for engines of high-temperature burners. Besides, aluminium oxide is applied in separators of lithium-ion batteries to increase their thermal stability and prevent spontaneous ignition and explosions in case of internal circuit with metallic lithium crystallites.

The Alumochemistry Sector is intended not only to help existing producers, but also to create new market niches for high-tech products demanded in Russia and abroad.

What We Do

The main purpose of the sector is to develop aluminium consumption in the chemical industry. Our priority is high value added aluminium-containing products. First of all, they include high-purity oxide, hydroxide and aluminium salts (chloride, nitride, oxychloride and others). The Alumochemistry group leads projects to develop the production of such compounds and products on their basis in Russia.

Areas of the Aluminium Chemistry:

1. Ultra high-purity aluminium oxide to produce leucosapphires, garnets and separators for Li-Ion batteries

Russia is a leader (around 55% of the market) in the production of sapphire semifinished products. Leucosapphire is widely used as protective glasses for watches and gadgets of premium brands. However, the most part is used in microelectronics to produce LEDs for energy-saving light sources.

CJSC Monocrystal, the world's largest leucosapphire producer, is located in Stavropol, Russia. It accounts for over 50% of the global leucosapphire market. Unfortunately, Monocrystal manufactures leucosapphires of imported raw materials, as currently aluminium oxide of required quality is not produced in Russia.

The project is intended to develop the domestic production of ultra high-purity aluminium oxide the demand for which is steadily growing for the usage in high-tech products.

2. High-purity aluminium hydroxide (pseudoboehmite) for catalysts.

Recently, we hear more and more about import substitution. An important economy sector that is dependent on imports is oil refining. The vast majority of hydro processes and cracking catalysts are imported from abroad. High-purity pseudobemite is used as a catalyst carrier and it is not produced in the territory of the Russian Federation. In 2016, the project of Gazprom Neft 'Aluminium Oxide Based Catalysts for Deep Refining of Oil Raw Materials' received the status of a national project.

In 2017, the project of creating the import substitution industrial production of high-purity aluminium hydroxide powder and ball catalyst carriers for the oil refining and petrochemical industries of Russia received the status of a national project.

UC RUSAL intends to participate in the development of domestic production.

3. Finely dispersed aluminium hydroxide.

As mentioned above, the priority area of the Association is developing the production of high value added products. One of such products is highly dispersed aluminium hydroxide (HDAH). It is widely used as a refractory additive in cable plasticates, fire-retardant paints, elastomers, and other rubber products. A pilot unit to produce HDAH has already been launched on the basis of Achinsk Alumina Refinery and negotiations with potential buyers are underway.

4. Aluminium polyoxychloride.

Another important area of our work is the project relating to water treatment reagents (coagulants). Aluminium oxychloride is of particular interest here. This coagulant successfully displaces its competitor — aluminium sulfate — due to unique efficiency of water treatment at low temperatures. The raw materials to produce aluminium oxychloride are alumina and aluminium (primary and secondary). When using secondary aluminium as a raw material, the product may be contaminated with heavy metal ions. These ions can further pass into the water environment that will have a very negative impact on its quality. Our project is focused on reducing the use of secondary aluminium as a raw material for the production of oxychlorides.

AIIIBV type semiconductors

AIIIBV type semiconductors based on Al, Ga and In are increasingly used in the production of LEDs for light sources, semiconductor lasers, high-frequency chips, and high-voltage semiconductor switches.

6. Composite materials.

Composite materials with aluminium matrix and aluminium oxide based composites are not just a competitor of carbon fiber — this is a relatively new promising area of construction materials with unique properties that can not be achieved based on organic polymers.