Comparative Economic Efficiency of Processing High-Potassium Aluminosilicate Raw Materials into Alumina and Related Products

In contrast to the sintering methodSintering method for processingProcessing high-potassium aluminosilicateAluminosilicate raw materials, the product range for theHydro-garnet method hydro-garnet methodMethod, in addition to aluminium hydroxideAluminium hydroxide and potassium sulfate, also includes mono-calcium silicate. There are also no solid industrial waste products. Following a detailed technical and economic analysis of both processes, it is concluded that capital costs for the construction of production facilities and annual production costs in the case of theHydro-garnet method hydro-garnet methodMethod are much lower than with the sintering methodSintering method. Key investment indicators such as Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization (EBITDA), Earnings Before Interest And Taxes (EBIT), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), and Profitability Index (PI) are better in the case of the hydro-chemical technology than for the sintering methodSintering method. This makes it possible to obtain a payback period for capital investments that is almost 1.7 times lower than in the case of using the sintering methodSintering method. Taking into account that with the sintering methodSintering method, direct emissions of carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide into the atmosphereAtmosphere are almost twice as high as with theHydro-garnet method hydro-garnet methodMethod, it is concluded that the sintering methodSintering method for processingProcessing high-potassium aluminosilicateAluminosilicate raw materials is economically less profitable and has more environmental hazards associated with it.