M-Z

Material flow analysis
Analysis of how a material passes from extraction to recycling or waste disposal.

PAH
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is a common term for a group of tar compounds. Some of them are carcinogenic.

Paste plant
Plant where petroleum coke and pitch are mixed together to form anode paste.

Petroleum coke
Coke used in the production of anodes. Made from crude oil, i.e. a petroleum product.

Pitch
Pitch made from coal tar is used as an anode paste and "green" anodes binder.

Point feeders
Closed, mechanical feeding equipment for adding alumina more or less continuously to a prebake electrolytic reduction cell.

Prebake cell
Electrolytic reduction cell with prebaked anodes. These anodes have to be replaced regularly during the production process.

Pressure die casting
Most widely used casting process for the production of aluminum castings; a near-net-shape casting process in which molten aluminum or aluminum alloy is forced into a steel mould at pressures of between several hundredths to several thousands bar.

Primary aluminum
Aluminum which is produced from alumina using the electrolytic reduction process is called "Primary Aluminum." "Primary" means that it is pure aluminum made directly from raw materials, for the first time (Latin "primum", first).

Primary casting alloys
Alloys based on primary aluminum which are particularly suitable for casting.

Rolling
To roll aluminum ingots and plate down to thin strip, sheet and foil; the classical processes are hot rolling and cold rolling. During the rolling process, the rolling stock is pushed between two rotating steel rolls whose gap is slightly smaller than the thickness of the rolling stock. The rolls draw in the strip by means of friction and press the metal through the gap to "form" the metal.

Rolling ingots
Aluminum ingots in rectangular form which are the starting material for the rolling of sheet, strip and foil.

Rotacast® Casting Process
A sand and chill casting process with a special filling technique developed by VAW aluminum AG in co-operation with the inventor, which is suitable for volume production. During the filling operation, the system - consisting of a filling device and a mould - is rotated through 180 degrees. The angular velocity of rotation determines the filling speed of the mould. This filling technique results in almost turbulent-free mould filling. The Rotacast® Casting Process is used for the casting of aluminum cylinder heads.

Secondary aluminum
Also known as "recycled" aluminum; aluminum which comes from melting down production scrap (new scrap) or post-consumer aluminum products (old scrap). Up to 95% of the energy originally used to produce the primary aluminum is saved during recycling.

Semi-finished product
Intermediate product between raw material and end product. Before becoming an end product, a semi-finished product has to pass through several fabrication steps. In the aluminum industry, strip, sheet, wire, extruded profiles and tubes are classified as semi-finished products or "semis".

Smelter metal
(see Primary aluminum)
Coming immediately from the electrolytic reduction process, unalloyed aluminum with a purity of 99.5 per cent; used in the mechanical engineering, motor vehicle and engine making industries, in building and construction as well as in the packaging sector.

Søderberg cell
Electrolytic reduction cell with a continuous anode. Anode paste has to be regularly added to the anode during the production process.

Strip
Rolled down aluminum material, ranging in thickness from 0.06 to 5 millimeters, in long lengths for coiling. Aluminum strip is a semi-finished product that is produced in high volume from pure aluminum and aluminum alloys by rolling at high speeds of up to 600 metros per minute. Strip is subsequently processed into sheet and foil.