Alcoa Benefits from Growing Metal Demand

Alcoa (AA) is one of the world's largest producers of aluminum and aluminum related products. The company operates a large number of aluminum mines and smelters around the world and expands emerging markets where demand is rising.

Recently, the company reported its second quarter financial report. The net profit is less than the analyst's consensus, and the error is estimated at 1%. However, this quarter's revenue increased by nearly 27% from the same period last year to 6.6 billion US dollars, estimated at 6.3 billion US dollars.

The company's products are divided into four groups, alumina, primary metals, flat rolled products, engineered products and solutions. In the quarter, alumina shipments increased by 11.8% year-on-year, flat rolled products increased by 24.8% from the same period last year, and shipments of engineering products and solutions increased by 23.9% compared to the same period last year. Shipments of primary metals were flat over the same period last year.

Demand for the automotive and aerospace industries is also slowly growing. Alcoa helps the transportation industry improve efficiency and innovative solutions through its Engineering Products and Solutions division. In June this year, the company also introduced new aluminum products for use in the aerospace industry to improve fuel efficiency.

In this quarter's report, Alcoa expects sustained economic growth in all industries, including 7% for aerospace, 4-8% for automotive, and 7-12% for commercial transportation. Aluminum alloys are lightweight and efficient, and they are increasingly becoming the first choice in the construction of automobiles and airplanes. In addition, demand from countries such as China, Brazil, India, and Russia is expected to continue pushing aluminum prices to new highs.

Alcoa expects that global demand will increase at a rate of 6.5% to doubling each year by 2020. As a large global aluminum producer, Alcoa benefits from the growing demand for metals. The company's stock showed good potential and long-term stability.

Check Valves

A ball check valve is a check valve in which the closing member, the movable part to block the flow, is a spherical ball. In some ball check Valves, the ball is spring-loaded to help keep it shut. For those designs without a spring, reverse flow is required to move the ball toward the seat and create a seal. The interior surface of the main seats of ball check valves are more or less conically-tapered to guide the ball into the seat and form a positive seal when stopping reverse flow.

Ball check valves are often very small, simple, and cheap. They are commonly used in liquid or gel minipump dispenser spigots, spray devices, some rubber bulbs for pumping air, etc., manual air pumps and some other pumps, and refillable dispensing syringes. Although the balls are most often made of metal, they can be made of other materials, or in some specialized cases out of artificial ruby. High pressure HPLC pumps and similar applications commonly use small inlet and outlet ball check valves with both balls and seats made of artificial ruby, for both hardness and chemical resistance. After prolonged use, such check valves can eventually wear out or the seat can develop a crack, requiring replacement. Therefore, such valves are made to be replaceable, sometimes placed in a small plastic body tightly-fitted inside a metal fitting which can withstand high pressure and which is screwed into the pump head.

There are similar check valves where the disc is not a ball, but some other shape, such as a poppet energized by a spring. Ball check valves should not be confused with Ball Valves, which is a different type of valve in which a ball acts as a controllable rotor to stop or direct flow.

A diaphragm check valve uses a flexing rubber diaphragm positioned to create a normally-closed valve. Pressure on the upstream side must be greater than the pressure on the downstream side by a certain amount, known as the pressure differential, for the check valve to open allowing flow. Once positive pressure stops, the diaphragm automatically flexes back to its original closed position.

A swing check valve or tilting disc check valve is check valve in which the disc, the movable part to block the flow, swings on a hinge or trunnion, either onto the seat to block reverse flow or off the seat to allow forward flow. The seat opening cross-section may be perpendicular to the centerline between the two ports or at an angle. Although swing check valves can come in various sizes, large check valves are often swing check valves. The flapper valve in a flush-toilet mechanism is an example of this type of valve. Tank pressure holding it closed is overcome by manual lift of the flapper. It then remains open until the tank Drains and the flapper falls due to gravity. Another variation of this mechanism is the clapper valve, used in applications such firefighting and fire life safety systems. A hinged gate only remains open in the inflowing direction. The clapper valve often also has a spring that keeps the gate shut when there is no forward pressure. Another example is the backwater valve (for sanitary drainage system) that protects against flooding caused by return flow of sewage waters. Such risk occurs most often in sanitary drainage systems connected to combined sewerage systems and in rainwater drainage systems. It may be caused by intense rainfall, thaw or flood.

A stop-check valve is a check valve with override control to stop flow regardless of flow direction or pressure. In addition to closing in response to backflow or insufficient forward pressure (normal check-valve behavior), it can also be deliberately shut by an external mechanism, thereby preventing any flow regardless of forward pressure.

A lift-check valve is a check valve in which the disc, sometimes called a lift, can be lifted up off its seat by higher pressure of inlet or upstream fluid to allow flow to the outlet or downstream side. A guide keeps motion of the disc on a vertical line, so the valve can later reseat properly. When the pressure is no longer higher, gravity or higher downstream pressure will cause the disc to lower onto its seat, shutting the valve to stop reverse flow.

An in-line check valve is a check valve similar to the lift check valve. However, this valve generally has a spring that will 'lift' when there is pressure on the upstream side of the valve. The pressure needed on the upstream side of the valve to overcome the spring tension is called the 'cracking pressure'. When the pressure going through the valve goes below the cracking pressure, the spring will close the valve to prevent back-flow in the process.

A duckbill valve is a check valve in which flow proceeds through a soft tube that protrudes into the downstream side. Back-pressure collapses this tube, cutting off flow.

A pneumatic non-return valve.

Multiple check valves can be connected in series. For example, a double check valve is often used as a backflow prevention device to keep potentially contaminated water from siphoning back into municipal water supply lines. There are also double ball check valves in which there are two ball/seat combinations sequentially in the same body to ensure positive leak-tight shutoff when blocking reverse flow; and piston check valves, wafer check valves, and ball-and-cone check valves.

Check Valves, Water Check Valves, Brass Check Valves, Sanitary Check Valves

ZHEJIANG KINGSIR VALVE CO., LTD. , https://www.kingsir-valves.com