Chapter 899 East African Aluminum Industry
In early 1895, a Tete municipal government delegation arrived in Beira, focusing on the Mbeya Steel Research Institute and the Aluminum Materials Research Institute.
This time they came mainly for "electrolytic aluminum technology". Although the aluminum smelter has been established in Xinde, before Mozambique was divided into provinces, Xinde was still under the jurisdiction of Tete City, so the negotiations were also handled by the Tete City Government.
Since the aluminum smelter cannot be built, the city of Tete can only focus on steel. Therefore, the Iron and Steel Research Institute and several steel mills in Mbeya were the focus of the inspection team's visit.
Representatives from the towns of Shinde and Tete went together to the Aluminium Research Institute in Mbeya.
"Currently, the countries that have mastered the cutting-edge technology of electrolytic aluminum in the world are the United States, Austria-Hungary, France and East Africa. Our institute is the most authoritative institution in the field of aluminum materials in East Africa. We are currently promoting the research of aluminum alloy products. We already have three finished aluminum alloy products that are worth large-scale promotion." Director Eubicio introduced to the few people.
East Africa's emphasis on basic materials science can be traced back to the 1980s. After higher education had improved slightly and under the leadership of some returning talents, several materials research institutes were established in East Africa at one time in 1883, covering common metals, rare metals, precious metals and other fields.
Among them, the Mbeya Aluminium Materials Research Institute is one of the earliest national key research institutes established in East Africa, and it was given special attention by Ernst.
After all, in the 21st century, aluminum is the most important metal after steel. The reason for this is just considering the output alone. Aluminum is the second largest metal mineral in terms of future usage after iron.
According to this idea, the main metal materials research in East Africa at that time were iron, aluminum, chromium, copper, manganese, lead and zinc. Corresponding research institutes were established for these seven metals. At the same time, East Africa also established some comprehensive materials research institutes and a number of niche materials research institutes.
The above seven major metal material research institutes are also consistent with the national conditions of mineral resources in East Africa. East Africa is not short of common metal mineral resources such as iron, aluminum, and copper.
As for the reserves of chromite and manganese ore, East Africa leads the world by far. Resources such as lead and zinc are also relatively common. For example, the city of Kabwe is an industrial and mining city that developed based on these two metal elements.
In fact, East Africa is not short of any of the top ten metals in global production. The last three of the top ten, titanium, nickel and zirconium, are also widely distributed in East Africa. African minerals are especially well-known for non-ferrous metals and rare metals. If we add the world's largest gold mine in East Africa, East Africa also occupies an important position in the field of precious metals.
However, due to the times and technological reasons, many mineral resources have not become mainstream minerals today, such as aluminum, the world's second largest metal element in terms of production.
Aluminum's low production volume keeps its price high, so for that reason alone, research on the material is very profitable.
Of course, the reason why Ernst attaches great importance to breakthroughs in aluminum technology is that emerging industries such as automobiles, aviation, aerospace, and electricity in the future cannot do without aluminum products.
In traditional industries, such as shipbuilding, machinery and equipment manufacturing, rail transportation, etc., aluminum has broad market prospects in various fields.
Taking automobiles as an example, the automobile bodies in the 21st century have begun to use aluminum alloys as the main carrier, which has the advantages of excellent ductility, light weight, and strength. Of course, the main advantage is the low price and large output.
Aluminum is also widely used as the fuselage material for aircraft. If it is a typical aircraft like the MiG-25 that uses stainless steel as the main material, just pretend that Ernst didn't say anything.
If titanium is the metal of the future for the 21st century, then aluminum was the metal of the future for the 19th century, and the late 19th century was a critical period for breakthroughs in aluminum manufacturing technology.
Historically, in 1886, Hall of the United States and Elliot of France obtained patents for producing metallic aluminum using cryolite-alumina molten salt electrolysis almost at the same time.
In this time and space, four countries, namely Austria-Hungary, East Africa, the United States and France, achieved technological breakthroughs almost at the same time.
In fact, the breakthrough achieved by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in this field was closely related to East Africa, as it was a cooperative project between the two countries.
Eubicio, director of the Aluminium Materials Research Institute in Mbeya, East Africa, was an East African student sent to study in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the early stages of setting up his laboratory, he had a close relationship with the Joseph Institute of Technology in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Josef Institute of Technology is located in Hungary and was later renamed Royal Josef Institute of Technology. The institute later became an important historical source of Budapest University of Technology. Eubicio was a student majoring in chemistry at Josef Institute of Technology.
In fact, as one of the earliest batch of government-funded overseas students, Eubicio graduated from the Joseph Institute of Technology in 1873. After graduation, due to his excellent academic performance, he taught at the school and engaged in related research.
Even in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he was a top talent, so after returning to his country, the East African government arranged for him to serve as the director of the newly established Mbeya Aluminum Materials Research Institute.
In the early days, East Africa was completely in the dark in this field, so with the help of Eubicio, East Africa cooperated with Eubicio’s alma mater, Joseph Institute of Technology, and finally the laboratory of the Aluminium Materials Research Institute in Mbeya was successfully put into operation.
However, it is gratifying that three years after the establishment of the institute, in 1886, it finally made a breakthrough in the latest electrolytic aluminum technology, so the results of the project are jointly owned by the Aluminum Materials Research Institute in Mbeya, East Africa and the Joseph Institute of Technology of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
There is a reason for this result. Hungary is currently one of the important bauxite producing areas in Europe, and the other is France. During World War II, Germany's aluminum resources were mainly obtained through these two countries.
The aluminum ore resources in East Africa are also widely distributed, including Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Madagascar and other territories in the past.
Of course, the most noteworthy aluminum ore resources in Africa are still Guinea in West Africa. In the past, this place was one of the world's largest bauxite producing areas. However, Guinea is too far away from East Africa and it is a French colony. It is not easy to intervene in East Africa. If it were Portugal, Ernst might have sent troops long ago. After all, in addition to aluminum ore, Guinea also has the largest iron ore reserves in Africa.
Basic materials science is one of the most important subjects. Of course, according to later generations, the sooner this basic subject is established, the better.
Because basic materials science is not an easy subject to achieve results, it may take decades or even generations, with high investment, high time consumption, and slow results. Currently, the companies in East Africa that can support this investment cycle are basically state-owned enterprises and scientific research institutions supported by state funds.
So Eubicio said: "It took us three years to master the latest electrolytic aluminum technology, and we also had the help of the Austro-Hungarian University. Your idea of setting up an aluminum smelter is technically mature. At the same time, aluminum alloy materials also have a large application scenario. Therefore, the aluminum industry will have a huge market in East Africa and the world in the future, and it can become one of the pillar industries of some cities in East Africa."
"Of course, our institute is mainly for research purposes. In fact, the first factory in East Africa that uses this technology is in Bagamoyo, so you will have to go to Bagamoyo to investigate the specific situation, especially the introduction of equipment. Only Bagamoyo has a mature aluminum industry."
"At the same time, aluminum ore smelting requires a lot of electricity, which is also an important issue that you need to solve in advance."
Of course, Eubicio was not completely helpless. He said to everyone, "Although our institute cannot help you greatly, we can still provide some small help, especially regarding the latest aluminum material technology. You can all seek help from us. We also need specific production data and market feedback to formulate research directions."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
