54 



"With regard to the consumption of electric energy in the pro- 

 duction of aluminium, Faraday's law requires 2,969 ampere-hours per 

 kilogramme [1 . 347 amp. -hours per pound] of aluminium, and this result 

 is very nearly (95 per cent to 90 per cent) reached in actual produc- 

 tion ".* In practice, " in order to produce 1 kg. of aluminium as 

 little as t24 k.w.h. [11 k.w.h. per pound] has been employed, but 33 

 k.w.h. to J35 k.w.h. per kilogramme [15 k.w.h. per pound] is con- 

 sidered a satisfactory result ". 



The Norwegian Hoyang Falls Company is erecting an aluminium 

 factory in the Sognefjord of 20,000 h.p. for an annual production of 

 4,000 tons; their calculations are based on a cost of production of 1 

 kroner per kilogramme (11.7 cents per pound) of aluminium, a normal 

 selling price of 1 .45 kroner (17 cents per pound) being reckoned upon, 

 which should provide a dividend on the share capital of some 15 per 

 cent, the various items in the way of expenses, etc., having been 

 provided for. The share capital is 15,000.000 kroner (about S3, 900,- 

 000). 



The transportation of raw materials very materially affects the 

 cost of production of aluminium. For instance, the factories in 

 Salindres, France, which have an annual production of some 12,000 

 tons of oxide of aluminium, require 30,000 tons of bauxite, 6,500 tons 

 of lime and 50,000 tons of coal. 



Mr. J. T. Pattison, sometime in charge of the chemical laboratory 

 of the Aluminium Corporation, Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tyne, states in his 

 The Manufacture of Aluminium, p. 12, that the Aluminium Com- 

 pany's furnaces yield 1 • 75 pounds of aluminium per horse-power day. 



Although it is impossible, at the present moment, to forecast the 

 effect of the war upon many industries, it is clear that the shortage 

 of copper has greatly extended the use of aluminium, and that not 

 merely temporarily. The production has, in consequence, increased, 

 and a number of important aluminium works have been, and are 

 being, started in different countries. 



The annual production, in metric tons, of aluminium was distri- 

 uted amongst the different countries as under: 



'Engineering, p. 219, August 30, 1918. 



t This would be equivalent to about 600 lb. of aluminium per horse-power year 

 X 33 k.w.h. per kg. is equivalent to 4.^6 lbs. of aluminium per horse-power year, 

 or 35 k.w.h. per kg. is equivalent to 411 lbs. Mr. A. V. Davis, President of the 

 Aluminum Company of America, has stated that one horse-power year will produce 

 450 lbs., demonstrating that, in their practice, a slightly higher efficiency has been 

 obtained. 



