Aluminium Conference |Shaanxi: Tongchuan Achieves Green "Rebirth" of Waste Aluminum
On the automated production line of Shaanxi Damei Hub Co., Ltd., blocks of aluminum ingots undergo processes such as smelting, processing, and spraying. However, there are few workers to be seen on the assembly line as the production process is almost entirely carried out by machines. "We prioritize the use of advanced, mature domestic equipment and employ advanced intelligent manufacturing systems to monitor and manage the entire process, achieving an advanced domestic level in overall manufacturing technology, product quality, and production efficiency," said a staff member. Full automation transforms machines into "workers" and workers into "supervisors". At each production stage a product undergoes a corresponding quality inspection process. To ensure stable product quality, the team performs quality checks on heat-treated formed hubs at every shift handover.
Inside the Shimao Cast Aluminum factory, discarded aluminum foil, cans, and some scraps from aluminum material processing quietly "lie" in the yard, waiting to be sorted, crushed, and other processes by workers, completing their "comeback".
In the smelting workshop, a crane slowly lifts a huge "hot water" kettle. With the cooperation of several workers, the aluminum water, heated up to 700°C, is accurately poured into two melting furnaces, giving the waste aluminum a "rebirth". The "reborn" aluminum, after automatic hydraulic processing and cutting, is divided into equal amounts of aluminum ingots, to facilitate sales. The fully automated production line significantly reduces labor and error costs, directly improving product quality and making the production process safer. Forklifts shuttle back and forth at the production site, transporting bundles of silver-white aluminum rods. The shimmering aluminum rods are neatly arranged after being transferred, marked, and weighed, and will then be transported to various parts of the country.
Currently, the park relies on 300,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum, extending two industrial chains of aluminum deep processing and automobile parts manufacturing. There are 55 companies in the park, including 32 large-scale industrial enterprises, with an annual output value of nearly 15 billion yuan. The products cover coal, electricity, aluminum, aluminum profiles, hubs, axles, brake pads, etc., initially forming an advanced manufacturing industrial cluster mainly based on aluminum deep processing and automobile parts manufacturing.
According to the Aluminium Conference, the Tongchuan aluminum industry has developed from single electrolytic aluminum to include diversified products such as aluminum and aluminum alloy sheets, ingots, rods, and profiles, extending to deep processing fields such as green building materials, rail transit, and automobile hubs. Tongchuan accelerates the construction of major projects, continuously promoting the extension, supplementation, and strengthening of the aluminum industry chain, and fostering deep integration of the industrial chain, innovation chain, and talent chain. The development of the aluminum industry continues to grow, transforming "small aluminum ingots" into "new patterns", and ushering the old aluminum industry into a new "aluminum journey".