Aluminium Smelter in China. Approximate location 37.71832, 120.46917.
Aluminium SmelterChinaCO₂ reported
Nanshan aluminium plant is an aluminium smelter in China with a reported capacity of 840,000 t of alumina/aluminum. It smelts alumina into primary aluminium by high-current electrolysis. It is operated by Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co Ltd. By capacity it ranks #37 of 141 aluminium smelters tracked in China. It emits about 1,785,116 tonnes of CO₂e per year (Climate TRACE) — roughly the tailpipe emissions of 416,111 cars.
Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3673018.
Con 840,000 t of alumina/aluminum, Nanshan aluminium plant está muy por encima de la mediana de aluminium smelter en China (372,000 t of alumina/aluminum). Su CO₂ por unidad de capacidad es aproximadamente 16% por encima de la mediana de aluminium smelter. Subsector: aluminum. Como aluminium smelter, requiere calor de proceso intenso (típicamente 600–900°C) para sus operaciones industriales centrales — calor que debe ser suministrado por calderas, hornos o combustión directa, y las pérdidas a través de recipientes y tuberías sin aislar representan combustible desperdiciado. El aislamiento modular desmontable puede reducir esas pérdidas en un 80–96%, enfriando superficies a ≤45°C, con amortización a menudo inferior a 2 años. Las fundiciones de aluminio utilizan grandes corrientes eléctricas para refinar alúmina en aluminio fundido por encima de 900°C, y el metal caliente debe fluir a través de crisoles y equipos de colada.
Comparación de capacidad e intensidad de CO₂ calculada a partir de datos de instalaciones industriales de Climate TRACE; papel del sector basado en referencia de ingeniería.
This facility's reported annual CO₂e in the everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:
Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.
Reported capacity (t of alumina/aluminum), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co Ltd. All facilities by this operator →
Nanshan aluminium plant sits in a monsoon hot-summer continental climate zone (Köppen Dwa), at 37.7°N in the northern hemisphere.
Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
The #37 largest of 141 aluminium smelters in China by reported capacity.
Coordinates 37.71832, 120.46917. View on OpenStreetMap.
A aluminium smelter like this runs hot equipment that sheds heat continuously: alumina calciner, casthouse furnaces, hot ducting (electrolysis itself is electric) (surface/process temperatures around 150–1,000 °C). These surfaces lose energy to the air year-round; removable modular insulation cuts that loss, brings outer surfaces to ≤45 °C, and unclips for inspection.
electrolysis is mostly electricity (Scope 2) + anode process; on-site combustion small - insulation mainly relevant to alumina refining/casthouse.
On an already-insulated site (pipes & valves in cladding / jackets), closing the remaining gaps, flanges and damaged sections and switching to removable covers indicatively recovers about 3,000 MWh/yr (≈ 610 t CO₂/yr) — scaled to this site's reported CO₂ within its sector. Bare or damaged surfaces recover several times more.
See Inzonex insulation → Estimate your site →
Indicative, not a measurement. Conservative floor for an already-insulated plant; a TIPCHECK on-site audit gives a measured figure. Industry context: EiiF TIPCHECK — industrial insulation can save ~14 Mtoe/yr in EU, payback typically <2 years.
Bare hot surfaces here exceed the touch-safe limit (EN ISO 13732-1); insulation to ≤45 °C is a worker-safety and compliance win. And before electrification, fuel-switching or CCS, eliminating surface heat loss is the cheapest, fastest, lowest-risk step — audit the bare spots first, rip-and-replace later.
Domestic energy-efficiency grants are limited here; industrial decarbonisation is mainly funded externally:
CBAM. Exporters of cement, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity to the EU face the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — cutting embedded emissions (efficiency + insulation) lowers the levy.
Routed via national development banks / accredited entities — not a direct factory grant. Verified 2026.
Nanshan aluminium plant is a aluminium smelter in China. It smelts alumina into primary aluminium by high-current electrolysis.
Nanshan aluminium plant has a reported capacity of 840,000 t of alumina/aluminum.
Nanshan aluminium plant emits about 1,785,116 tonnes of CO₂e per year (Climate TRACE) — roughly the tailpipe emissions of 416,111 cars. That ranks #405 among tracked facilities in China.
Nanshan aluminium plant is in China, near coordinates 37.71832, 120.46917.
Nanshan aluminium plant is operated by Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co Ltd.
