Alphametals

Calcium Alloys

Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It is the most abundant metallic element in the human body and the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust.

Calcium alloys such as calcium-aluminum and calcium-silicon, are employed as active material within a rechargeable negative electrode of an electrochemical cell. Such cells can use a molten salt electrolyte including calcium ions and a positive electrode having sulfur, sulfides, or oxides as active material.

The calcium alloy is selected to prevent formation of molten calcium alloys resulting from reaction with the selected molten electrolytic salt at the cell operating temperatures.

PROPERTIES AND USES OF CALCIUM ALLOYS

Calcium constitutes 3.64 percent of Earth's crust and 8 percent of the Moon's crust, and its cosmic abundance is estimated at 4.9 * 104 atoms (on a scale where the abundance of silicon is 106 atoms). As calcite (calcium carbonate), it occurs on Earth in limestone, chalk, marble, dolomite, eggshells, pearls, coral, stalactites, stalagmites, and the shells of many marine animals. Calcium carbonate deposits dissolve in water that contains carbon dioxide to form calcium bicarbonate, Ca(HCO3)2.

Calcium is essential to both plant and animal life and is broadly employed as a signal transducer, enzyme cofactor, and structural element (e.g., cell membranes, bones, and teeth). A large number of living organisms concentrate calcium in their shells or skeletons, and in higher animals calcium is the most abundant inorganic element. Many important carbonate and phosphate deposits owe their origin to living organisms.

PRODUCTION OF CALCIUM ALLOYS

A very large percentage of the global calcium alloy supply is manufactured in developing economic nations such as China and India, although a significant quantity is also produced in the USA. Calcium alloy is produced by combining calcium with one of several secondary materials, which include magnesium, lead, tin and aluminium. Typically, the alloy produced will be cast into small ingots, which can then be added to a further manufacturing process quite easily. Actual quantities sold are quite small, as only a small amount of calcium alloys are used in the manufacturing process of the primary items made from it, namely deep cycle batteries.