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Light metals have great potential for application in the automotive and aerospace industries, because of their excellent physical properties, but their use is limited by the relatively high costs of production, associated energy costs and large ecological footprint. Developments are reviewed in the production of Al, Ti and Mg with particular reference to research being carried out at CSIRO, Australia. Significant improvement to the Hall-Heroult process for Al is still achievable through advances in cell design, materials and process control. Alternative production processes include carbothermic reduction and low-temperature routes. The Kroll process for Ti is the only commercial production route, while processes under development include the Fray-Farthing-Chen and BHP Billiton electrolytic methods and the TiRO process for the direct production of Ti powder. Mg is mainly produced using the Pidgeon process although alternatives include large-scale continuous silicothermic reduction, Al reduction of magnesia or dolomite, and carbothermic reduction methods., Light metals have great potential for application in the automotive and aerospace industries, because of their excellent physical properties, but their use is limited by the relatively high costs of production, associated energy costs and large ecological footprint. Developments are reviewed in the production of Al, Ti and Mg with particular reference to research being carried out at CSIRO, Australia. Significant improvement to the Hall-Heroult process for Al is still achievable through advances in cell design, materials and process control. Alternative production processes include carbothermic reduction and low-temperature routes. The Kroll process for Ti is the only commercial production route, while processes under development include the Fray-Farthing-Chen and BHP Billiton electrolytic methods and the TiRO process for the direct production of Ti powder. Mg is mainly produced using the Pidgeon process although alternatives include large-scale continuous silicothermic reduction, Al reduction of magnesia or dolomite, and carbothermic reduction methods.

Light metals have great potential for application in the automotive and aerospace industries because of their excellent physical properties but the use of Al, Ti and Mg is limited by the relatively high production costs, associated energy costs and large ecological footprint. In the case of Al, significant improvements to the Hall-Heroult process are achievable through advances in cell design, materials and process control. Possible developments include sidewall and cathode materials that are resistant to cryolite, cathodes that are wettable by molten Al, continuous carbon anodes that eliminate disturbance to the cell resulting from anode replacement and non-consumable, inert anodes. Alternative production processes include carbothermic reduction and low-temperature routes. Alternatives to the Kroll process for Ti that are being developed include the use of an electrolytic cell and direct production of Ti powder. Most Mg is currently produced using the Pidgeon process. Other possibilities are large-scale continuous silicothermic reduction, Al reduction of magnesia or dolomite and carbothermic reduction processes., Light metals have great potential for application in the automotive and aerospace industries because of their excellent physical properties but the use of Al, Ti and Mg is limited by the relatively high production costs, associated energy costs and large ecological footprint. In the case of Al, significant improvements to the Hall-Heroult process are achievable through advances in cell design, materials and process control. Possible developments include sidewall and cathode materials that are resistant to cryolite, cathodes that are wettable by molten Al, continuous carbon anodes that eliminate disturbance to the cell resulting from anode replacement and non-consumable, inert anodes. Alternative production processes include carbothermic reduction and low-temperature routes. Alternatives to the Kroll process for Ti that are being developed include the use of an electrolytic cell and direct production of Ti powder. Most Mg is currently produced using the Pidgeon process. Other possibilities are large-scale continuous silicothermic reduction, Al reduction of magnesia or dolomite and carbothermic reduction processes.