Cooling the aluminium: Choosing the right cooling system for the Middle East

Aluminium is available in the nature only as a compound with other elements, such as sulphur, oxygen and silicon. Anodising is one of the core processes that are employed to obtain pure metallic aluminium.

Dr Marcello Rossi, Technical Director at Italy-based Italenco, said that as the process of anodising generated a lot of heat, it mandated the use of cooling in order to hard-coat the metal. Explaining further, he said that the process of removing heat from the metal was done by either an air-or water-cooled chiller. Referring to the quality of the product, he said, “It’s very important for this part of the world (Middle East) to have this kind of chiller and cooling system, in order to be sure about the quality of the final product.”

Adding to this, S K Sarkar of India-headquartered Unimark International, said it was necessary to consider the region where the cooling process was to be carried out, based on the availability of resources. Speaking specifically about the GCC region, where water resources are limited, Sarkar suggested that a mix of a water-cooled and an air-cooled approach could reduce the consumption of water.