In both its aluminium smelters in Essen and Hamburg, Trimet Aluminium AG operates 630 electrolytic furnaces and produces about 300,000 tonnes of liquid aluminium per year. Additionally, another 80,000 tonnes of liquid aluminium gets recycled at the sites in Gelsenkirchen and Harzgerode.

Liquid aluminium – smart, efficient and just in time

According to customer specifications, aluminium is cast into solid shape, for example an ingot, cooled down and delivered to the customer or even transported in liquid form to the customer. The immediate transport of liquid aluminium offers several advantages both to the customer and Trimet:

1. Optimisation of value creation chains: The aluminium must neither be stored at Trimet’s nor at customer’s site to be withdrawn later from storage. Perfectly synchronized logistics results in a just-in-time delivery.

2. Increase of productivity: The period for further processing gets shortened since the metal does not need to be remelted.

3. Material efficiency: Generally, the remelting of aluminium ingots for further processing leads to loss in material. The delivery of liquid aluminium is an exception. The remelting and therefore the immanent loss of material become obsolete.

4. Energy efficiency: The energy which is used for the production of aluminium remains in the material also during the transport to the customer: The energy put into it once gets used twice.

Trimet has been supplying internal and external customers with liquid aluminium for 17 years. The amount has risen continuously: From an annual 4,000 tonnes to currently 70,000 tonnes. The liquid delivery saves half a MWh per tonne compared to an ingot delivery. This results in a saving of 35,000 to 70,000 MWh and a related CO2 reduction of 7,300 to 14,500 tonnes per year.