Rusal starts producing aluminium-scandium master alloys at its Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter

According to a report on Wednesday, February 1, Rusal has started producing aluminium-scandium master alloys, the most technologically complex among melted master alloys, at its Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter. Master alloy is a base metal consisting of a relatively high percentage of one or two other elements and is used to make alloys.

The project, with a production capacity of over 5,000 tonnes of melted master alloys per year, needed an investment of US$7.5 million. Employees of the Rusal Engineering and Technology Centre worked hard on the project for several years.

The main consumer of the product will be Rusal itself, while some will be supplied to external customers, which are major metal producers in Russia.

Rusal is the largest consumer of master alloys in Russia. Earlier, the company used to secure alloying components from Europe and China.

Master alloy, an alloy of two or more components, is designed for adding high melting elements to liquid metal. It is used in alloy production with an accurate chemical composition to achieve desired properties. For instance, aluminium-scandium master alloy is used to produce premium alloys used in shipbuilding.

Rusal has developed a unique technology to produce the master alloy, which has already obtained Russian and international patents. The next target is to develop technologies for producing other types of master alloys with strontium, manganese, titanium, nickel, iron, cobalt, and rare earth metals. 

Victor Mann, Technical Director at RUSAL, said: “The start of our own master alloy production will allow us to release innovative types of alloys, reduce our carbon footprint by using secondary aluminium in the production of master alloys, as well as to mitigate supply risks. Due to the new site, RUSAL can produce types of master alloys that no one else in the world makes — with rare-earth and rare elements, for example, with cerium, erbium, yttrium, ytterbium. Such master alloys are used to produce high-tech alloys.”