Project Intro.
For this project I had to choose an object or thing that is recyclable and find the lifecycle of the object. This sentence will help introduce the lifecycle of aluminum cans project. This project will explain the stages aluminum cans have to go through in their life.
Timeline
Raise and Extract- To begin the life cycle of aluminum cans, an ore has to be mined and the ore is called bauxite. Bauxite occurs mainly in tropical and sub-tropical areas. To mine bauxite the area must be prepared. Once that is done, the bauxite can be mined, crushed, and set on conveyer belts transporting the ore. Finally the area mined must be returned to how it was before it was mined.
Process- The bauxite ore has to be converted to alumina now. Bauxite is finely grounded, then mixed with a recycled caustic soda solution and steam in digester vessels working at high temperature and pressure. This dissolves the alumina out of the bauxite. It is cooled in flash tanks. After several washings to recover the caustic soda, the residue is pumped to storage dams. Alumina crystals are recovered from the caustic solution by stirring the solution in open-top tanks. The precipitated material (called hydrate) is washed and dried at temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Celsius. This forms the dry white alumina which is cooled and taken to storage. Inside a pot, alumina is dissolved in a “bath” of molten sodium aluminium fluoride and other materials. Anodes are used to conduct electricity into the smelting cells/pots in the pot room. A high electric current is passed through pots via the anode. Electricity maintains the temperature of the process at about 950°C and enables the alumina to split into aluminium and oxygen. At regular intervals the molten aluminium is tapped from the pots and transported to the cast house. The molten aluminium is cast at a temperature of just over 700°C to form ingots, slabs, billots and T-bars.
Use- The aluminum is then fabricated into aluminum coils. The aluminum coils arrive at the can manufacturing plant and are loaded one at a time onto an "uncoiler" - a machine that unrolls the strip of aluminum, then a machine called a cupping press starts the can shaping process. The press cuts circular discs from the aluminum sheet and forms them into shallow cups. From the cupping press, the cups are drawn up into higher cups through a series of iron rings. The tops are trimmed off (this is done to each can to be even). A washer cleans and dries the can bodies so they can be decorated. The cans then proceed to a printer where it spins around the printer till the label is applied. The can is then sent to the oven to bake the label on. The can's inside is then coated with a spray to keep what is in the can from touching
or reacting with the metal. The can is then baked again so the spray will stay coated. The top of the can is narrowed so sealing the lid is easier and the bottom is also changed to a dome shape to reinforce the can. The can body is lastly tested for any leaks with lights. The lids of the cans are made last and shipped separately from the can body. The lids are made basically the same as the body except for the tab that is made so the can be easily opened. Finally the can is filled with the beverage the company decides to fill it with.
Disposal- The aluminum cans are the collected from recycling bins, and/or sold by people or scrap merchants. The cans are then sorted out from one another and shredded into pieces of aluminum. The shredded pieces of aluminum are then heated to remove paint and excess things.
Recycling- The shredded pieces of aluminum are then melted into melted metal and poured into castings again. The castings are then used to start the whole process over again.
Sources- http://www.ameribev.org/minisites/recycling/a-day-in-the-life/
http://aluminium.org.au/flowchart/bauxite-mining.html
http://www.alcoa.com/rigid_packaging/en/info_page/making_cans.asp
http://aluminium.org.au/flowchart/bauxite-mining.html
http://www.alcoa.com/rigid_packaging/en/info_page/making_cans.asp
Conclusion Questions
a. The products lifecycle is the stages the products goes through to be reused over and over again.
b. So they can see how much money they can expect to save by using the same metal used to make the old cans.
c. I really wouldn't change anything except maybe the amount of aluminum used in the thickness of the can because then you wouldn't spend as much money already spent in each can. Also the thinner the coil is the longer the length of each coil,. which means more cans in each coil, which means more money gained and less money spent.
d. I think eventually aluminum cans will become obsolete because in the future we could find another material to replace aluminum that is cheaper and maybe stronger. Look what happened to glass soda bottles, they became obsolete to plastic bottles.
e. The trade-off was probably the amount of air pollution we put in the air when smelting down the metal to be reused again.
f. Burning fuel to melt the aluminum.
g. It is important to recycle because we won't be contaminating the Earth's soil and water with trash that could potentially kill many organisms and make them go extinct.
h. Product designers have to make the product eye catching and also make sure the consumer knows it is recyclable and that they should recycle it. Product designers also need to set an example of what to do with their product.
I. Society are the consumers and it is the consumer's job to be aware that they consume the product, so they are responsible for what happens to the product.
j. I can drink more soda and recycle more cans.
b. So they can see how much money they can expect to save by using the same metal used to make the old cans.
c. I really wouldn't change anything except maybe the amount of aluminum used in the thickness of the can because then you wouldn't spend as much money already spent in each can. Also the thinner the coil is the longer the length of each coil,. which means more cans in each coil, which means more money gained and less money spent.
d. I think eventually aluminum cans will become obsolete because in the future we could find another material to replace aluminum that is cheaper and maybe stronger. Look what happened to glass soda bottles, they became obsolete to plastic bottles.
e. The trade-off was probably the amount of air pollution we put in the air when smelting down the metal to be reused again.
f. Burning fuel to melt the aluminum.
g. It is important to recycle because we won't be contaminating the Earth's soil and water with trash that could potentially kill many organisms and make them go extinct.
h. Product designers have to make the product eye catching and also make sure the consumer knows it is recyclable and that they should recycle it. Product designers also need to set an example of what to do with their product.
I. Society are the consumers and it is the consumer's job to be aware that they consume the product, so they are responsible for what happens to the product.
j. I can drink more soda and recycle more cans.