Electrics, Engineering Industry
Any vocabulary or encyclopedia definition of aluminium highlights its ability to conduct electricity. This property, combined with its lightness and resistance to corrosion, makes it an important material for the production of electrical equipment. Over 25% of aluminium produced in Russia is used in electrical equipment.
The first aluminium power line was made in the USA at the end of the 19th century, and after that aluminium slowly started to replace cuprum. Aluminium weighs less than cuprum, and one kilogram of aluminium can conduct twice as much electricity as one kilogram of cuprum. As aluminium is immediately covered with an oxide film on contact with air, aluminium wires can serve without any insulation. Since the 1940s, aluminium has almost replaced cuprum in high-voltage power lines and today it is the most efficient way of transmitting electric power.
Wires for high-voltage power lines and cables are made of aluminium. Entire substations, where the voltage is reduced and electricity is distributed through different channels, are frequently made of aluminium. It is now impossible to imagine power systems and power equipment without aluminium wires as it is also applied for the wiring of engines and transformers.
Take an electric lamp. Its base is made of this universal metal, a role that aluminium seized from brass in the 1950s.
Another area where aluminium is applied is in the engineering industry. Irrigation systems, elements of propulsion plants of manufacturing equipment, conveyor belts and automated control systems, stairs, scaffolds and fittings are all made of aluminium.
However, in terms of aluminium consumption the engineering industry is still behind transport manufacturing, but with the development of this highly technological sector, aluminium consumption share is expected to rise. This is because the metal is light and saves fuel, is corrosion resistant and thus durable, is easily recyclable and therefore reduces its impact on the environment. For the engineering sector, it is a real metal of the future!