Special Edition Arabal 2019 Conference

UMINIUM Journal L International A

Alba to host Arabal 2019 Conference

The primary aluminium industry in the Gulf region

System optimization for emissions reductions in feeding systems for aluminium electrolysis cells

Gautschi Engineering: Technologically up to the mark with the best market participants

More efficiency in furnace tending operations

New protections

19 to 21 November 2019 2019 Conference

l in the Kingdom of Bahrain a b a Ar SPECIAL

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ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 SPECIAL A r a b al 2 0 1 9 C o n f e r ence

content

Alba the host of Arabal 2019 Conference...... 4

Arabal 2019 – the conference programme...... 5

The primary aluminium industry in the Gulf region...... 6 Successful system optimization for emissions reductions in feeding systems for aluminium electrolysis cells...... 10

Sohar Aluminium – ‘Smelter of the Future’...... 14 EGA: innovative equipment for safe 10 operation of potrooms...... 16 Hertwich supplies multi-chamber melting furnace to Exlabesa ...... 20

Innovations in charging and skimming...... 22 Rio Tinto to review future of New Zealand‘s Aluminium Smelter...... 24 Contribution of Icsoba in setting development trends in global bauxite, alumina and aluminium industry...... 25

More efficiency in furnaces tending operations...... 30 First successful cast from the Alba Potline 6 16 expansion casthouse furnaces...... 32

Primary aluminium activities in 2019...... 34 Ma’aden Aluminium implements 8Sigma MES solution for automotive sheet plant...... 40 Gautschi Engineering: Technologically up to the mark with the best market participants...... 41 New protections against potline freeze for aluminium smelters...... 44 Furnace optimization through in-house improvements...... 47 First attempt to break the 10 kWh/kg 41 aluminium barrier using a wide cell design...... 50 HHCellVolt: an improved software tool for aluminium smelting...... 55 Inserenten dieser Ausgabe List of advertisers Online magnetic optimization of a full potline...... 58 Drache GmbH, Germany 21 The Virtual Battery – a solution for Germany Fives Group, France 13 FLSmidth Hamburg GmbH, Germany 2 and a contribution to the global aluminium industry...... 60 Riedhammer GmbH, Germany 17 Tokai Cobex, Germany 15 Imprint...... 49

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

Alba the host of Arabal 2019 Conference

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) will host the Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. We look prestigious Arabal 2019 event under the forward to welcoming our peers and industry patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin experts to showcase Bahrain’s thriving alu- Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of minium sector. We look forward to hosting the Kingdom of Bahrain, from 19 to 21 Arabal 2019 at a time that Alba’s evolution to November 2019 at the Gulf Hotel in Bah- become the largest aluminium smelter is mov- rain. Held under the theme Shaping the ing ahead as planned.” Future of Aluminium in the Arab Region, Arabal 2019 is being hosted for the fifth Alba – largest aluminium time by the Kingdom of Bahrain. smelter in the world

Arabal, the Arab International Aluminium Starting as a 120,000-tpy smelter in 1971, Conference & Exhibition, which started in Alba produced more than a million tonnes 1983, has become an event of international of aluminium in 2018. The company’s prod- repute, bringing together industry leaders uct portfolio comprises high-grade aluminium from around the world to discuss current is- and value-added products including standard sues in the aluminium industry whilst also ex- and T-ingots, extrusion billets, rolling slabs, ploring investment opportunities. It comprises properzi ingots and molten aluminium. The a conference focusing on the current industry Potline 6 expansion will boost Alba’s annual

prospects and challenges, as well as an inter- production capacity to 1.5 million tonnes and © Alba national exhibition coupled with workshops, make the company the world’s largest alu- HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the a site visit and networking platforms. minium smelter. The Line 6 expansion is one Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain On this occasion, Alba’s chairman of the of the biggest brownfield developments in the board of directors, Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Middle East Region. With a capex of around site visit is free of charge for all conference Daij Al Khalifa, said: “Arabal is reputed as USD3 billion, Potline 6 will use EGA’s propri- delegates but the number of participants is one of the premium platforms for the alumin- etary DX+ Ultra Technology. limited to 75 only. Pre-registration is man- ium industry in the Arab world that brings to- datory and Alba will need to receive a copy gether the who’s who of the aluminium indus- Exclusive visit to Alba’s Line 6 of your valid ID / passport for submission to try across the globe. Being the first aluminium Alba security. Kindly note that all pre-regis- smelter in the GCC, Alba is privileged to host Alba offers to Arabal conference delegates trations for Alba smelter visit will close on the 36th edition of the prestigious Arabal un- a smelter site visit, which will take place in 5 November 2019. ■ der the patronage of the Prime Minster HRH the morning of Tuesday, 19 November. The

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 SPECIAL A r a b al 2 0 1 9 C o n f e r ence

Arabal 2019 – the conference programme Shaping the future of aluminium in the Arab region

PRE-CONFERENCE DAY TUESDAY, 19 NOV.

10:00 – 13:00 Alba plant visit (Plant visit by special registration only. Limited space.)

16:00 – 18:00 Workshops Workshop 1: Aluminium premiums – utiliz- ing independent reference prices (assessed by PRAs) and exchange-listed premiums contracts Workshop 2: Safety in the aluminium industry rent and future performance? 19:00 – 21:00 Welcome reception • Is regulation the key to increase LME prices? DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, 20 NOV. minium for innovative products and advanced 15:00 – 16:00 SESSION 4: Bahrain after applications 09:00 – 10:00 Registration Line 6 – growth of downstream and antici- • Aluminium as a substitute for other 10:00 – 11:00 Opening Ceremony pated challenges materials and vice versa • Opening Speech, Mohamed Al Naki, • Impact of Line 6 on the downstream in • Automotive – EU reduced emissions – chairman, Arabal the economy in terms of employment and laws and regulations and the need for • Alba Speech, Video to highlight the customer development lighter vehicles Prime Minister’s support to Alba • Trends and developments and the • Aluminium alloys in aerospace and its role • Award ceremony anticipated challenges in producing next generation aircraft • Official exhibition opening and ribbon • The role of technology and innovation in cutting ceremony securing success 10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break 11:00 – 12:00 SESSION 1: Arab Smelter Pan- 11:00 – 11:45 SESSION 8: Panel discussion: el – impact of current economic challenges on 16:00 – 17:00 SESSION 5: Energy efficiency environment, sustainability and recycling the aluminium industry and its impact on energy costs • Linking the current capabilities of the alu- • Arab aluminium smelters’ current position • Arab power managers to share the issues minium industry to sustainability targets versus the world (existing and potential) and how to deal • Maintaining compliance to environmental • Influencers on the value chain with it requirements and legislation • View on current LME prices and • Energy considerations and rising costs of • The role of R&D and advanced technolo- premiums and other market forces power generation gies in maintaining the bottom line and • Impacts of USA and Europe aluminium • The current use and potential of reducing waste, cost and overheads taxation renewable energy • The future of the circular economy – innovations in recycling 12:00 – 13:00 SESSION 2: Panel Discussion: 17:00 – 17:15 Closure of Day 1 Outlook for the global aluminium industry 19:00 Arabal gala dinner hosted by Alba 11:45 – 12:30 SESSION 9: Safety as a driver • Industry trends, opportunities, challenges DAY 2 – THURSDAY, 21 NOV. for growth and success and future predictions • The best practices / approaches to incor- • The forces that will impact supply / 08:30 – 09:00 Morning coffee porate industrial health and safety as an demand from a global perspective 09:00 – 09:45 SESSION 6: Investing in up- instrument for success • Raw materials – bauxite and alumina stream: opportunities and risks • Protecting individuals and tapping into the price outlook • Bauxite availability and cost and its effect discretionary energy from teams towards • Taxation challenges – Brexit, USA and on the bottom line securing more growth and success global developments • Insights on the changing landscape for 13:00 – 14:00 Networking lunch raw materials in light of the recent devel- 12:30 – 13:00 Closure of conference, sum- opments in the alumina supply chain mary and thanks 14:00 – 15:00 SESSION 3: Debate: ware- • Required steps to secure reliable upstream housing and price trends – today and tomor- channels in the Arab region as a hub for 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch row aluminium production • Warehousing rules and updates 15:30 Alba plant visit (Plant visit by special • • How indicative are LME prices for cur- 09:45 – 10:30 SESSION 7: The use of alu- registration only. Limited space.) ■

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

The primary aluminium industry in the Gulf region Rudolf P. Pawlek, Sierre

The primary aluminium producers in the have been rising for the past few years. Alu- each tonne of metal. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states minium smelters’ intense 24 / 7 power usage EGA continues to invest in developing its collectively produced more than 5.4m means high power costs are crippling their smelter technology and is at the forefront of tonnes of primary aluminium in 2018 bid to be competitive, especially when smelt- innovation in the industry. It has demon- for the local and international markets. ers in the GCC enjoy far cheaper rates. strated how growing use of technologies such This was an increase of around 230,000 as robotics, machine learning and advanced tonnes over the previous year as a result analytics can support continuous improve- of improved efficiency and completion UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ments in operating performance. of modernization projects, with Alba Operations The Jebel Ali smelter complex produces surpassing 1m tonnes production for the extrusion billets in two casthouses. Casthouse first time. The primary and downstream Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) reported I currently has two continuous homogenizing aluminium producers in the GCC con- record primary aluminium production of furnaces and five batch furnaces. A total of tinued their drive to maintain a leader- 2.66m tonnes in 2018, by operating its smelt- five ultrasonic testing stations are installed ship position on all aspects related to the ers above the rated capacity. This could drag for inspection, two of them for helical testing. environmental protection. GCC is also on growth prospects in the region during the The equipment is supplemented by four saw- considered to be one of the leading and coming years. EGA’s technology developing plants as well as the necessary equipment most dynamic regions for aluminium pro- ment has focused both on the reduction cells for handling (stacking, charging, transport- duction in the world, contributing around themselves and on the software to manage ing...), and two further batch furnaces will be 10% of the world aluminium demand, their performance, and so has reduced its installed as part of the order placed now, one and exporting 60% of its production to total GHG emissions produced per tonne of as a replacement. more than 65 countries around the world. aluminium by 10% since 2001. In Casthouse II, two continuous homogenizing furnaces and a Hertwich batch furnace are available for homogenizing. Four ultrasonic testing stations (one of them for helical testing) are used for inspection; in addition, there are five sawing plants as well as a charging machine and handling system for the batch furnaces. As part of the current order, an additional batch furnace will be installed in this casthouse. Furthermore, two existing cooling stations from other suppliers will be replaced by Hertwich stations for metallurgical reasons. The Jebel Ali paste plant manufactures the material for the anodes which are used in the aluminium smelting process. The paste plant team has worked more than 2m hours over

© EGA the past 22 years, producing over 7.8 million Changing of anodes at EGA potline anodes. During the same period they have completed 84 different major refurbishments, The US Section 232 tariffs on aluminium Among over 350 customers in total in projects and improvements on-site, boosting imports reportedly are having little effect on more than 60 countries in Asia, the Middle efficiency and bolstering production from GCC Arab member state producers’ ability East and North Africa region, Europe and 168,000 tonnes of paste in 1996 to more than to sell to the United States. Representatives the Americas, about 10% EGA’s production 505,000 tonnes in 2017. for the major producers in the GCC area said is supplied to customers in the UAE, serving EGA, Mubadala and Dubal Holding signed that their businesses are not feeling any ill the growing needs of the UAE’s downstream an agreement to develop a state-of-the-art effects from shipping prime aluminium to the fabrication sector. This included sales of hot power block and a water desalination plant US, even though none of the countries are liquid metal to customers located near EGA’s at EGA’s smelter at Jebel Ali in Dubai. The among those exempt from the 10% Section Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi. new facilities will improve the efficiency of 232 import tariff. In October 2018, EGA completed a major power for EGA’s aluminium smelting, reduc- The GCC aluminium executives are scep- project to retrofit its older production lines ing environmental emissions and natural gas tical of the US industry’s ability to take ad- at Jebel Ali with EGA technology. The new consumption. Mubadala and Dubal Holding vantage of the tariffs. High electricity costs reduction cells can each produce 20% more are to establish a joint venture to develop the have long been an issue for US smelters trying aluminium than those they replaced, with new facilities. EGA intends to buy the facil- to stay afloat, and US industrial power rates 10% less specific energy consumption to make ity’s output for 25 years following commis-

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 SPECIAL A r a b al 2 0 1 9 C o n f e r ence

sioning. The joint venture will install a com- mina refinery, where EGA began production Alumina bined cycle power facility at EGA’s Jebel Ali in April, create new revenue streams for the site to generate over 600 MW of electricity. group and secure at competitive prices the raw EGA commissioned its Al Taweelah alumina The shareholders of the joint venture have materials that the UAE’s aluminium industry refinery in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu signed an agreement with Siemens to install needs. Dhabi on 10 April. The refinery is expected to the UAE’s first combined cycle H-class gas The GAC project has been one of the larg- produce more than a million tonnes of alumi- turbine, an advanced technology in efficient est greenfield investments in Guinea in 40 na by the end of 2019. Once fully ramped up, power generation. Once the project is com- years, and cost some USD1.4bn to develop. the refinery will produce some 2m tpy, enough plete, five older, smaller and less efficient tur- The GAC project is expected to make a di- to meet 40% of EGA’s alumina needs. bines at EGA Jebel Ali will be put on standby rect, indirect and induced economic impact of The UAE previously imported all the alu- for use only in emergencies. The new, more some USD700m per year in Guinea once mina it needs. Bauxite for the refinery will be efficient power facility will reduce GHG production is fully ramped-up, a 5.5% boost imported from Compagnie des Bauxites de emissions from EGA’s power generation at to the national GDP. Guinée. Construction of the USD 3.3bn pro- Jebel Ali by some 10%. Emission reductions GAC’s operations include a mine, railway ject took 72m hours of work – the equivalent per tonne of aluminium produced at Jebel infrastructure (some shared with other opera- of one person working for more than 25,000 Ali, which includes both power generation and aluminium smelting, are expected to be up to

7%. EGA’s total CO2 equivalent emissions, from all its operations in the UAE, were 8.1 tonnes per tonne of aluminium produced in

2017, and they are currently below 8 t/tAl produced. The estimated average GHG emissions per tonne of aluminium produced globally is

12.7 tonnes CO2 equivalent. In addition, EGA’s NOx emissions at Jebel Ali are expected to reduce by 58%. NOx is amongst a group of emissions targeted for reductions under ‘UAE Vision 2021’ to improve local air quality. EGA requires much electricity for aluminium smelting and other industrial operations, and its captive power plants at its sites in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah Once fully ramped up, the Al Taweelah alumina refinery will produce some 2m tpy have a current combined generating capacity of 5,450 MW. This makes EGA the largest tors), and port facilities. Bauxite ore is trans- years. More than 20 major contracting com- power producer in the UAE, after Dewa and ported from GAC’s jetty at the port of Kam- panies worked on the project and 80% of the Adwea. EGA’s power fleet is already amongst sar by self-propelled barge to a transshipment contracts by value were awarded to UAE-reg- the most efficient fleets in the Middle East. point operated by EGA in deeper water. This istered companies enables EGA to export bauxite ore from GAC Bauxite using bulk cargo vessels that are amongst the Inventions and Innovations world’s largest, including Capesize and New- In August EGA announced the first exports castlemax ships. EGA has focused on technology innovation of bauxite ore from Guinea Alumina Corp. GAC is expected to produce 12m tpy of for over 25 years to improve the energy effi- (GAC), its mining project in the Republic of bauxite ore at full design capacity. The raw ma- ciency of the aluminium smelting process, sav- Guinea in West Africa. This marks the com- terial from GAC is sold by EGA to customers ing costs and emissions. The company’s tech- pletion of EGA’s strategic expansion up- around the world. EGA is importing bauxite nology development, and earlier work since stream in the aluminium value chain to cre- ore for processing at the Al Taweelah refinery 1980, has reduced the amount of electricity ate an integrated global aluminium giant. The from Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée un- required to produce a tonne of aluminium by GAC project together with Al Taweelah alu- der a long-term agreement, also using trans- 37.5%. shipment and Capesize vessels. EGA also saves around USD1.1m each In March EGA announced it will intensify year in energy costs by implementing energy GCC primary aluminium research partnership with the European re- conservation ideas from shop floor staff ideas production in 2018 search and technology organization, Vito NV. to reduce energy use. The partnership aims to find uses for bauxite The company has operated an employee • EGA 2.660m t residue by the UAE construction industry by suggestion scheme since 1981. In 2017, EGA • Alba 1.012m t further developing two of the potential appli- staff submitted a record 34,419 ideas, gen- • Ma’aden Aluminium 760,000 t cations identified in the first phase of the pro- erating USD9.8m in cost savings. EGA em- • Qatar Aluminium 645,000 t ject. Since 2017 EGA and Vito have been ployees share in the financial benefits of their • Sohar Aluminium 390,000 t working together on research into the large- ideas that are implemented. This is the most • Total GCC 5.467m t scale use of bauxite residue in construction savings ever generated through the sugges- materials. tion scheme in a single year. ➝

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

Environment and waste management EGA delivered 2,000 tonnes of SPL to Gulf of waste, up from 96,000 tonnes in 2017. Cement Company in 2018. In 2019, the vol- Emissions of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) from umes will increase to 10,000 tonnes, followed BAHRAIN EGA were a record low in 2017, and the by 15,000 tonnes in 2020. EGA also signed company signed an agreement with the Uni- an agreement with Arkan, a building materi- Operations versity of New South Wales to research fur- als company, to supply Arkan with SPL. ther reductions. PFCs are greenhouse gases In February EGA announced that it is to Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) achieved a record which cause thousands of times more global supply almost all of its production of carbon production of 1,011,101 tonnes in 2018, up warming than the same quantity of carbon dust, a by-product of aluminium smelting, for 3% on the previous year. This is the seventh dioxide. Reducing PFC emissions is an im- use as an alternative fuel by the UAE cement year in a row that the company has increased portant environmental goal of the global alu- industry. Carbon dust is generated during the its annual production. minium industry. process of producing anodes, large carbon Alba launched the Titan Phase IV cost

EGA’s emissions of PFCs were 22 g/tAl blocks that are consumed during aluminium saving project with the objective to reduce produced in 2017 compared to a global aver- smelting. High carbon content makes carbon cash costs of USD100m by the end of 2020. age of 380 g/tAl in 2016, the most recent year dust suitable for use as an alternative fuel. Through the Phase I to III, five-year Titan for which figures are available from the IAI. Over the next two years, EGA will increase programme, Alba achieved cost savings of At EGA’s newer Al Taweelah smelter, PFC its supply of carbon dust to the UAE cement USD281m. emissions in 2017 were 7 g/tAl. industry to some 78,000 tonnes. The use of Technology partner Fives was awarded a Through technology development and op- EGA’s carbon dust will reduce UAE cement contract to supply the Continuous Emission erational improvements, EGA has reduced the companies’ requirements for other fuels, in- Monitoring System (CEMS) of Potlines 4 and frequency of anode effects in its operations cluding in some cases coal imported from 5. The CEMS will monitor the emissions (hy- from an average of one every three days in as far as South Africa. Reducing mining and drogen fluoride and dusts) inside the pot room each reduction cell in 2009 to less than one long-distance transport of coal is expected to and at GTC inlet / outlet. The scope of supply every 12 days in each reduction cell in 2017. save some 36,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions includes general engineering, equipment de- The average duration of each anode effect has over the next two years, the equivalent of livery as well as installation and commission- similarly decreased, from 44 seconds in 2009 removing 7,800 cars from the roads. EGA ing of the system. to below 21 seconds in 2017. will supply the cement industry with freshly Alba commissioned the batch homogeniz- The new research aims to reduce what the industry terms ‘background’ PFC emissions – those that are from variations in reduction cell conditions that are too small to be detected and remedied by the control technology available today. Since 2010, the company has invested almost USD1bn in environmental technologies and facilities to reduce and manage emissions and waste. EGA signed an agreement with Gulf Ce- ment Company to supply spent pot lining (SPL), which is a by-product from aluminium smelting, over the next three years for use in cement manufacturing. Although EGA has been supplying SPL to the cement industry since 2010, the agreement is the first directly between EGA and a cement company, rather than via specialist third party pre-processors.

EGA is building facilities at its Al Taweel- © Alba ah site to process SPL into a form ready to Handover of the remaining pots for the safe start-up of Potline 6 be used by cement companies as an alternative fuel and raw material. SPL is the used in- produced carbon dust together with dust er from Hertwich Engineering in Casthouse ner lining of aluminium smelting pots, which stockpiled in earlier years while the company 3 for special billet requirements. This new is worn out and replaced every four to five was working to find a viable, large-scale in- batch homogenizer is the best-suited technol- years. It contains both carbon, which is an dustrial use. Freshly produced carbon dust will ogy for the heat treatment of various 6xxx, alternative fuel, and refractory materials that be supplied directly to the cement industry. 1xxx and 3xxx billet alloys for special appli- survive the firing process and become part of For stockpiled carbon dust, EGA has signed a cations such as automotive and precision tub- the finished cement. In 2017, EGA supplied contract with Heavy Machinery Viqa for ing. The advanced technology of reverse air more SPL to the UAE’s cement industry than processing and re-use. Heavy Machinery Viqa circulation, fully automated controls for step it produced. EGA has been supplying Gulf specializes in recovering and recycling by- heating and controlled billet cooling enhances Cement Co. with SPL via third parties for products from heavy industries in the UAE. the existing capabilities of Alba’s Casthouse testing since 2010. Under the new agreement, In 2018 EGA recycled over 102,000 tonnes 3 to achieve outstanding metallurgical as-

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 SPECIAL A r a b al 2 0 1 9 C o n f e r ence

pects in its products as well as improved pro- the team produced the first anode at the Alba The rolling mill produced 153,000 tonnes of ductivity of billets. Potline 6 green anode plant. Teams are al- flat rolled products in 2017, well below its Alba secured a long-term agreement with ready engaged to reach the contractual mile- production capacity of 430,000 tpy. Fluorsid SpA for the supply of smelter grade stone of 5,000 good green anodes. In June Alcoa Corp. announced that the

aluminium fluoride (AlF3). The agreement company is to divest its minority interest in comes as part of the Line 6 expansion. A large OMAN Ma’aden’s rolling mill. Alcoa will transfer its producers of aluminium fluoride and synthet- 25.1% stake to Ma’aden and make a contri- ic cryolite, Fluorsid meets the bulk of Alba’s Sohar Aluminium was formed in September bution to MRC in the amount of USD100m.

yearly AlF3 requirements for its annual metal 2004 to undertake a landmark greenfield The parties will maintain their commercial production. aluminium smelter project in the Sultanate of relationship, which includes Alcoa providing In line with the relationship between Alba Oman. It is jointly owned by Oman Oil Com- sales, logistics and customer technical serv- and Fluorsid, Simplis Logistics’ dedicated pany, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company ices support for MRC products for the North warehouse and logistics operations have been PJSC – TAQA, and Rio Tinto. In 2018 Sohar American can sheet market. The company set up in the Bahrain Logistic Zone to ensure Aluminium produced around 390,000 tonnes will retain its 25.1% minority interest in a proximate, reliable and uninterrupted supply of primary aluminium. MBAC and MAC, and Ma’aden will continue of raw materials to Alba, as well as to other In August 2018 Sohar Aluminium part- to own a 74.9% interest. aluminium smelters in the Gulf region. nered with Synergies Castings, a leading man- ufacturer of aluminium alloy wheels in India. Final remarks Potline 6 expansion project Synergies Castings is building a USD100m alloy wheel manufacturing plant situated in Alba’s huge Potline 6 expansion will increase Alba officially commissioned its Line 6 with the Sohar Industrial Estate adjacent to Sohar the smelter’s capacity from 1m tpy in 2018 to the first pot energization on 13 December Aluminium premises. Production is expected 1.350m tonnes at the end of this year. With 2018. This achievement not only marks the to start in 2020. At full capacity, Sohar Alu- cheap fossil energy, all the Middle East smelt- beginning of a new era for the company but minium will supply more than 24,000 tpy ers are confident in their continued growth. also a new record as the First Hot Metal from of aluminium to Synergies’ wheel plant. The They are investing greatly in efficiency, proc- Line 6 was produced ahead of its scheduled wheels will be supplied directly to car manu- ess development, working practice and main- date on 1 January 2019 – making it the fastest facturers around the world. Once fully opera- tenance. They also stress safety, reducing construction ever delivered in the aluminium tional, the plant will produce around 2.5m emissions and environmental pollution, pro- industry. First Hot Metal from Line 6 took wheels annually with an estimated 500 direct moting ideas from all employees and building place six months earlier than the industry jobs created. strong maintenance services which are inde- standard, says EPCM contractor Bechtel. This In December 2018 the company appointed pendent of OEM suppliers. All of these invest- milestone precedes the gradual ramp-up of Agnello Borim as chief operating officer. In ment areas are logically related to regulations 424 pots in Line 6 which on completion will his new role, he heads the Reduction Opera- and to financial results. Besides this, several make Alba the largest smelter in the world. tions, Services and Maintenance, Technical companies report action beyond their own Full ramp-up is scheduled for the third quar- Department, Anode Plant, Casthouse, Port industry interests to promote recycling and ter of 2019. At year-end Alba’s total produc- and Lab Areas. environmental awareness. tion will top 1.350m tonnes. Some of these companies also emphasize Alba started the biggest furnace in its his- QATAR their activities and large investment in social tory with the First Cold Charge of Furnace 3 areas, which do not directly help the bottom in its new Casthouse 4 on 26 December 2018. Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum) produced some line. They are supporting a wide spectrum of Part of the Line 6 expansion, Casthouse 4 has 645,000 tonnes of primary aluminium in education and training, at least for their re- a total design capacity of 530,000 tpy. 2018. The smelter uses the HAL275 system, gional citizens – also for women. They encour- For the Potline 6 Anode Baking Furnace an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient age voluntary social work done by employ- (ABF), Riedhammer GmbH finished the re- technology. ees in their own time. In these Middle East fractory lining of the ABF 5 on time. From countries generally seen as very conservative, the project start to the end of the lining works, these are remarkably progressive policies, ful- about 28,000 tonnes of refractory material SAUDI ARABIA ly comparable with those of global Western were installed and over 640,000 man-hours, companies. with a peak of 485 people on site, have been Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Com- Author spent without a single LTI. Another mile- pany, established a joint venture with Alcoa stone was the start of the first fire for the in 2009 to build the world’s most efficiently Dipl.-Ing. R. P. Pawlek has been a contributing edi- dry out of the furnace; that was scheduled integrated aluminium project in Saudi Arabia. tor of the International ALUMINIUM Journal for many years. He is founder of TS+C, Technical Info for November 2018. Anode production start This USD10.8bn industrial complex includes Services and Consulting, Sierre (Switzerland), a was announced by Riedhammer for January a bauxite mine, an alumina refinery, a smelter service for the primary aluminium industry. He is 2019. and a rolling mill. also the publisher of the standard work Primary REEL Alesa announced the successful start- Ma’aden produced 760,000 tonnes of pri- Aluminium Smelters and Producers of the World. up of the first pots of its latest HDPS (High mary aluminium in 2018, which corresponds This reference work is continually updated and contains useful technical and economic information Dense Phase System) pot feeding system at to the production in 2017. The company’s on all primary aluminium smelters of the world. It Alba Line 6 smelters. 2017 annual report says that the rolling mill is available as loose-leaf files and / or CD-ROM In December 2018 Fives announced that is to go into commercial production in 2018. from Beuth-Verlag GmbH in Berlin.

ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

Successful system optimization for emissions reductions in feeding systems for aluminium electrolysis cells

Dirk Hauschildt, FLSmidth Hamburg

To optimize the gas treatment centre (GTC) of Potline 8 at the Jebel Ali smelter in Dubai, UAE, in mid-2017, FLSmidth Hamburg (FLS) was commissioned by Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) to substantially lower the dust concentration at the entrance to the GTC. The 24 vent domes of the two pneumatic conveyor systems for the transport of secondary alumina to the 44 aluminium electrolysis cells (pots) were identified as the prin- cipal source of emissions. The following report describes the requisite studies of the system as well as in the test centre and delineates the measures undertaken to reduce emissions.

System description and function of direct pot feeding for Potline 8 © EGA The structure and function of the pot feeding Fig. 1: DX electrolysis cells in the pot room of the Jebel Ali smelter, Potline 8 system will be discussed in brief here. Further information is found under [1]. goes through an fluidization bottom and pro- charge and distribution air slides is provided Potline 8 at the Jebel Ali smelter consists ceeds via a Fluidflow discharge air slide to a by a rotary piston blower. of two pot rooms. In each pot room, 22 elec- main bin along the pot room wall, which serves To avoid flow disturbances in the distribu- trolysis cells of type DX are arranged in a row as a lock bin. tion air slides, fluidization air is vented into (Fig. 1). The total length of a pot room is about On the floor of the main bin, two Fluidflow the gas duct via vent domes at regular inter- 140 metres. In 2008, two identical pot feeding distribution air slides are connected; these vals. The vent domes are wear- and mainten- systems were installed to supply 22 cells each run parallel to the pot room outer wall, in an ance-free gravity separators with the task of with a maximum alumina consumption of 9 opposite direction, and supply all cells with separating swept up alumina in the vent air in t/h. Each of the two systems is structured as alumina. The longest distribution air slide order to minimize dust emissions to the gas follows (Fig. 2). The secondary alumina from supplies 14 cells over a distance of 85 metres duct and ensure uniform bulk material qual- the gas treatment centre is stored in a shared and is installed completely horizontally due ity along the conveying line. 275-tonne day silo (Fig. 3). to the limited construction height. The air sup- The distribution air slides along the pot The bulk material discharge from the silo ply for fluidization of the alumina in the dis- room have regularly spaced outlets with down- pipes to supply two electrolysis cells each. The distribution of the alumina on the individual electrolysis cells proceeds via horizontally arranged Fluidflow pot air slides (Fig. 4). Every pot air slide is approx. 16 metres long and distributes the alumina through filling spouts into five pot bunkers with a volume of approx. 1 m3 each. The amount of air required for fluidization of the alumina is also provided by a rotary piston blower. As the amount of air for fluidization is extremely small, the venting air can escape via the filling spouts into the pot bunker; from there it goes through a connection to the gas duct. Through the self-regulating filling spouts

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out of the pot bunkers It was also possible to draw on the expe- for electrolysis, the fill rience of FLSmidth-installed pot feeding sys- level in the bunkers tems at the Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi, sinks and the opening UAE [1]. of the filling spouts is Ultimately the height and diameter of the opened to enable au- vent domes were raised and the separation tomatic re-filling of rate thus significantly increased (Fig. 6). the alumina until the filling spouts are auto- 2. Optimization of air distribution matically closed by the alumina. To transport the alumina in the Fluidflow air slide from the silo to the main bin as well as Function of the gas in the Fluidflow distribution air slides along treatment centre the pot room, it is necessary to reduce the viscosity of the alumina. To achieve this, the In the electrolysis cells, alumina is fluidized with compressed air. To

secondary alumina is © EGA prevent flow disturbances in the Fluidflow air generally converted Fig. 3: Gas treatment centre and day silo at Potline 8 slide, the fluidization air must be distributed into primary alumin- evenly along the entire conveying distance of ium. The exhaust gases generated by this are The reasons for the excessive fill level in 170 metres. To achieve this, throttle devices conveyed to large gas treatment centres via the vent domes were: were installed at regular intervals in the fluidi- gas ducts. The gas treatment centres are prin- • The design of the vent domes zation air line. Due to the low pressure level cipally bag filter systems in which primary • Non-uniform distribution of the fluidiza- at the end of the Fluidflow distribution air alumina serves as an adsorbent and is thereby tion air for and distribution air slides slide, the throttle devices in this area have to converted into secondary alumina. • Elevated fluidization air quantity for and be more strongly throttled than at the begin- Usually, venting air from other emissions distribution air slides ning in the vicinity of the main bin. sources is also sent to the gas treatment cen- • Segregation phenomena of fine and coarse Measurements on the system showed that tres. In addition to large quantities of pot ex- particles due to uniform constant operation too much air was getting into the discharge haust gases, smaller venting air quantities for of the conveyor systems. air slide and the area at the end of the dis- dedusting of conveyor and silo systems also tribution air slides. Due to the non-uniform get into the gas ducts. Solution approaches air distribution, the flowability of the alumina and system reconfiguration was reduced in some parts of the air slides. Elevated dust concentrations in the ex- To compensate for this, more fluidization air haust gas to the gas treatment centre 1. Optimization of vent domes than necessary had to be used. The uneven air distribution and increased fluidization air Over recent years, high dust concentration It was notable that the design of the exist- quantity led to a higher fill level in the vent values of up to 2,800 mg dust per m³ exhaust ing vent domes (Fig. 5) had to be modified to domes. gas have been observed at the entrance to the markedly improve the separation rate. With the aid of FLSmidth-developed de- gas treatment centre. Average values reached In addition to the high dust concentration sign software for this system type, the requi- 1,280 mg dust per m³ exhaust gas. Due to conveyed to the GTC, the alumina quality site opening diameters of the throttle devices the very small dust particle size, this led to along the conveyance path was changed such along the conveying distance could be recal- an increase in the fine particle share of the that at the beginning of the Fluidflow distribu- culated and modified. In addition to the more secondary alumina from the GTC and thus to tion air slide, the quality of the alumina was uniform air distribution, this also enabled a a compromising of the smelting process in the equivalent to that from the day silo, while the reduction of the required total air quantity. electrolysis cells. Furthermore, the deposits fine particulate amount at the end of the con- This led to lower fill levels in the vent domes of dust in the gas ducts are also problematic. veying distance Through dust concentration measurements was significantly in various operating modes, it was determined reduced [2]. that the pot feeding systems were responsible Through inves for a large amount of the emissions in the gas tigations on full- duct. It was demonstrated that an average of scale test systems approx. 850 mg dust per m³ exhaust gas (66%) at FLSmidth’s was emitted by the two pot feeding systems. technical centre Examinations of the fill level in the vent in Hamburg, the domes of the Fluidflow distribution air slides separation rate for and the main bins showed excessive levels, various vent dome which meant that the separation rate in the geometries and vent domes was too low and that a substantial operating modes

amount of alumina dust was escaping into the could be deter- © FLSmidth gas duct with the venting air. mined (Fig. 7). Fig. 4: Fluidflow cell air slides in the pot room at Potline 8

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alumina and thus the matic conveying systems. conveying capacity. To compensate, more flu- Conclusion and outlook idization air has to be added. This, in turn, FLSmidth Hamburg successfully managed to leads to higher emis- reduce significantly the dust emissions of the sions from the vent existing pot feeding systems while exceed- domes. ing the expectations of the system operator To mitigate the EGA. situation, the supply of In the future, the quality of the secondary alumina from the silo alumina will no longer be impacted by the pot is now interrupted at feeding systems and will thereby support the least twice a day for at aim of uniform quality in the smelting pro- least two hours, while cess. the aluminium supply Through the installation of various direct to the pots remains in pot feeding systems, FLSmidth Hamburg has operation. This results a strong body of references. With the aid of in a partial draining of the design software, direct pot feeding sys- the system, in which tems can be planned for a variety of differ- fine material is purged ent conveying capacities and conveying routes from the vent domes and calculate all relevant system parameters. and deposited coarse Emissions threshold values and degrees of material on the flu- segregation can be calculated based on techni- Fig. 5: Fluidflow distribution air slide with original idization fabric is dis- cal centre tests and can be guaranteed. vent domes along the pot room at Potline 8 charged and conveyed to the electrolysis cells. and thus to an improved separation rate for Then fresh secondary alumina from the silo the vent domes. enters the conveyor system.

3. Optimization of system control Results by regular partial system draining After implementation of the aforementioned Based on operational experience from the pot measures, performance tests were issued by feeding systems at the Al Taweelah smelter in the system operator. Dust concentration meas- the UAE and the Boguchany smelter in Rus- urements from the entrance of the gas treat- sia, it was known that when the pot feeding ment centre showed values of 640 to 880 mg systems were in constant operation, segrega- dust per m³ exhaust gas. The share emitted via tion phenomena of fine and coarse material the pot feeding systems then only amounted occurred. This worsens the flowability of the to 64 mg dust per m³ exhaust gas, which corresponds to an average share of 7 to 10%. A comparison of the proportional emission values from the pot feeding systems before (850 mg dust per m³ exhaust gas)

and after (64 mg dust © FLSmidth per m³ exhaust gas) the modification shows an Fig. 7: Test setup in the technical emissions reduction of centre of FLSmidth Hamburg over 90%. Overall, only rough- Literature ly 11 g dust per m3 vent air is still emitted by [1] Dirk Hauschildt, Successful commissioning of the pot feeding sys- world’s longest pot feeding system, International tems. This is a com- ALUMINIUM Journal 1-2/2018, pp. 18-23. [2] Shane Pollé et al., The Challenge to Supply Con- paratively low value sistent Alumina Quality to All Pots on Increasingly Fig. 6: Fluidflow distribution air slide with modified for the vent air dust Longer and Higher Capacity Potlines, Light Metals vent domes along the pot room at Potline 8 concentration of pneu- 2016, pp. 499-503.

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Sohar Aluminium – ‘Smelter of the Future’

As a technology and innovation-driven minium’s investment in a modern smelter. trol at Sohar Aluminium. With a combination company, Sohar Aluminium is harness- Advanced automation technologies are a de- of ML and AI, the IT and Automation team ing the transformational potential of the fining characteristic of the company’s opera- sees the potential to automatically record, 4th Industrial Revolution (a.k.a. Industry tions. Similarly, robotics is an integral part of network and use numerous machine and sys- 4.0) in its quest to position itself as the the company’s casthouse operations, eliminat- tem parameters that can be harnessed to plan ‘Smelter of the Future’. ing human interaction with unsafe material downtimes, increase productivity and drive quality. Some ML elements are already part of So- har Aluminium’s processes. “Machine Learn- ing has been around for quite a time, under the guise of intelligent systems. It’s only now been rebranded as machine learning. Still, we are looking into the use of ML in some of our processes to better formulate our set-points,” explains Automation specialist Paul Ridgway. Data analytics proves useful in maintenance and operational processes at Sohar Alu- minium. “We use our historical data to forecast equipment failures and process devia- tions. This improves our uptime and allows us to do more proactive maintenance rather than reactive and it also enables us to achieve a high level of operational production,” says Ibrahim Al Maawali. Industry 4.0 promises to unleash a wide range of benefits for Sohar Aluminium, says

© Sohar Aluminium Paul Ridgway. “Sohar Aluminium believes Sohar Aluminium has a production capacity of around 360,000 tpy of finished products that Industry 4.0 helps in improving productivity, efficiency, safety, resource utilization, in- In its 10-year history as one of the youngest handling as far as possible, thereby reducing creasing machines uptime and reducing break- greenfield aluminium smelter in the Middle the risk of injury to operators. Robotic cranes downs by using smart sensors and such tech- East, Sohar Aluminium excels in technologi- assist in the stacking of the refined metal bun- nologies. Also, it enables self-diagnosis, reduc- cal operational excellence. From the use of dles and applying labels to them. ing turnover time, preventing breakdowns, leading-edge smelting technology with pro- A potential game-changer for Sohar Alu- reducing the human intervention which will gressive increase in amperage to the use of minium is the Internet of Things (IoT) – an reduce human errors.” efficiency and safety optimization tools, tech- system of connected machines, equipment, Abdullah, Ibrahim and Paul are part of a nological innovation has been the cornerstone devices and physical objects that can com- core team of IT and Automation experts at of Sohar Aluminium’s ambition to become a municate with each other. benchmark smelter in the region. “In our case, we use the Today, Sohar Aluminium is on the cusp of industrial IoT, which con- yet another exciting leap into the future, this nects all of our systems time supported by technologies that form part with the enterprise,” says of the 4th Industrial Revolution. From mobile Ibrahim Al Maawali, Au- connectivity, artificial intelligence and big tomation superintendent. data to robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) and “Thus, all of the data from machine learning, Industry 4.0 has the poten- the shop floor, production tial to accelerate the digital transformation units, and so on, is cap- underway at Sohar Aluminium. tured on our dashboards “Sohar Aluminium has embraced some in real time. Right now, we elements of Industry 4.0 ever since we came are evaluating various IoT on stream, and we continue to evaluate new solutions that add value to technologies and innovations as they material- our business.” ize. This is a continuous journey of improve- Equally promising is the ment which we don’t foresee an end to,” says deployment of machine IT manager Abdullah Al Maamari. learning (ML) and artificial Automation, a key facet of Industry 4.0, intelligence (AI) solutions has long been the hallmark of Sohar Alu- to improve process con- Industrial robots assist in the stacking of the metal bundles

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Sohar Aluminium with the mission to imple- ing. Before Industry 4.0, there were three tainable operation of Sohar Aluminium well ment Industry 4.0 within the company. “We different waves that also evolved over dec- into the future. ■ are a young, dynamic group of professionals ades. Our responsibility is to look with the requisite skill set to unlock the po- at technologies and trends, as and tential of the 4th Industrial Revolution for the when they come on the market. That benefit of our operations. Our management, will help us enhance our productiv- recognizing the immense potential of Industry ity, cost-efficiency and competitive- 4.0, is eager for the comprehensive roll-out of ness. Industry 4.0 is just another leg these solutions across all facets of our opera- on this continuous journey in our tions and indeed the wider value chain.” quest for business and operational The adoption of Industry 4.0 tools picked excellence. Besides, as some of these up speed last year with members of the Core technologies represent expensive IT Team evaluating the applicability of these investments, we need to suitably technologies and their use in key departments evaluate them to ensure there are within the organization. At the same time, returns for the company.” the IT team begun to engage with vendors of Since the roll-out of Industry 4.0 technologies and solutions with a view to 4.0 is no small feat, Sohar Alumin- ascertain their efficacy within Sohar Alumin- ium has embarked on a plant-wide ium. Furthermore, as talented professionals awareness programme in order to in their own right, members of the IT and Au- ensure that the company’s sizable tomation team have come up with their own technical staff are fully on board in in-house solutions as cost-effective alterna- the delivery of this ambitious pro- tives to vendor-promoted offerings. ject. At the same time, the company As for a timeline to have Industry 4.0 tech- is also engaging with key stake- nologies up and running within the company, holders and local communities on there is none! Abdullah explained: “Tech- the importance of this initiative in Sohar Aluminium puts great emphasis on the nologies, by their very nature, keep evolv- ensuring the safe, successful and sus- implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies

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EGA: innovative equipment for safe operation of potrooms M. Reverdy, A. B. Rahal, M. Abdulmalik and J. Pradhan; EGA

Over the last years, Emirates Global Aluminium has developed new items of equipment to improve safety in the operation of potrooms. They include the smart mobile earthing trolley (SET), the hydraulic wedge puller, emergency bypass busbars for all EGA cell technologies, and a crane for the maintenance of potroom tending machine (PTM) rails. © EGA

Fig. 1: SET front view with low and high voltage panels (left); and a view inside the high voltage panel (right) [1]

Smart Mobile Earthing Trolley (SET) [1] mid-point so as to limit the potential of all the and safety for potline workers [1]. SET with pots, with respect to earth, to a maximum of half some features is shown in Fig. 1. Modern aluminium smelters are operated at of the total potline voltage. Even though the SET has various protections to alert the high DC currents and potline voltages up to potroom aisles and the basement are designed potroom basement working crew in case of ex- 2,000 V. These potlines are usually earthed at to be at floating or earth-free potential, some cess current leakages or of sudden high voltage activities, such as pot shell at the earthing point, so that they can quickly replacement and basement stop their activity and leave the area. Through cleaning, require moving the a wireless connexion, SET activates a visual earthed point to the worksite and audio alarm unit which can be up to 60 m to ensure an additional safe- away. SET continuously monitors current flow guard for the personnel. This through the ground connection using a high is usually done with a Mobile accuracy and fast response bi-directional cur- Earthing Trolley (MET) which rent transducer which is connected to the PLC connects a specific pot busbar analogue input. SET also monitors pot voltage to a nearby earthing post on to ground through a high voltage transducer the potline earthing circuit. which is connected to the PLC analogue input. EGA has developed an Thus the current and voltage signals are both advanced Smart Mobile processed in the PLC for continuous monitor- Earthing Trolley, using a Pro- ing and protection, and these values are dis- grammable Logic Controller played on the HMI, as well as on potline Scada, (PLC), a standard high-speed through a wireless communication network DC circuit breaker, and a high installed across the potroom basement. These speed fuse, as well as other values are recorded in the form of historical standard electrical and elec- trend for further analysis. Continuous opera- Fig. 2: Wedge positions for cutting out a DX+ cell (one half tronic components. All these tion of the SET during power shutdown and of the cell is shown). A total of ten wedges are used per cell [2] features increase its reliability loss of main power is assured by a built-in UPS,

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Fig. 3: Wedge extraction system. Left: wedge extractor (A-frame). Right: wedge puller hydraulic unit (front view) and wedge extractor installed for action. On the reels are the hoses that connect the two units and supply hydraulic oil to the extraction jacks [2]

which gives more than three hours autonomy plays a very important role to help end users Hydraulic wedge puller to SET. to take immediate and appropriate action as device ‘Quick Start’ [2] Another significant feature includes SMS and when any alarm / fault appears on SET notification. Any alarm / fault will be sent as while they are working in the basement. SET When aluminium electrolysis cells suffer seri- SMS notification to the programmed mobile has been tested in the potline, and it is now ous deterioration from old age, they need to phones of SET end users. This safety feature available for technology transfer. be stopped for relining of the cathodes. The

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shutdown and restart of these cells is a very oil to activate the jacks. example, by cell tap-out, by metal tapping important and extremely critical part of the The features, functions and improvements of errors, by low bath during prolonged power process. In EGA cell technologies, wedges are the Quick Start wedge puller system are: failure, by raising the anodes out of bath, by installed between the busbars of a pot to be • Using spring retractable reels without re- multiple anode clad failures, or by failure of shut down and the busbars of an adjacent up- moving hydraulic jacks. The operator can pull cell shut-down devices. Cell fires occur by stream pot, so as to by-pass the electrical cur- the hose with jacks, lock at that position and tap-out of the liquid aluminium on the base- rent and to disconnect the affected pot (Fig. 2). pull again to automatically retract ment floor and its subsequent exothermic re- The wedges are later extracted to restart the • All hydraulic pumps were installed into a action with concrete if this contains limestone re-lined cell. The extraction of these wedges common tank with common outlet header to [4]. should be quick and simultaneous in order to have interchangeability of the pump operation EGA has many cell technologies, and for prevent arcing on the conductor contact faces, without disconnecting any hose each technology there is one or more emer-

Fig. 4: Emergency bypass installation in D18+ (left) and DX (right) technology [3] and to avoid possible overheating / fusing of • High pressure ball valves to control (open / gency bypass design. Different designs were the last wedge left in the process. close) oil flow to respective hydraulic jacks; developed and tested for different technol- Carrying out wedge extraction is a labo- the valve can be opened or closed with one ogies, and they use different options: one-cell, rious task involving a lot of manpower and stroke two-cell or three cell pot bypass, and upstream movement. The operators must cope with heat • An oil return pump, pneumatically driven and downstream bypass. Design concepts are fumes in a hazardous area congested with with interlocks to the pressure pumps based on pot busbar design and site conditions other equipment. The hydraulic wedge puller • Oil lines are standardized to 22 metres to so as to allow the operators freedom to act is part of a wedge extraction device (Fig. 3). It assure interchangeability between lines flexibly in an emergency. is a jacking system designed to remove up to • An incorporated lubrication system for air The EGA preferred method of installa- ten inserted wedges together. It uses a single motors driving the hydraulic pump and oil re- tion is by clamping on the potroom floor or hydraulic tank unit coupled with three pneu- turn pump ensures extended equipment life from the basement, because this requires less matically operated, high-pressure hydraulic and reduced maintenance cost time than welding. The design is based on en- pumps. Two of these pumps are operated at a • Two spare emergency hose lines are ready suring the minimum sustainable current for time, and a standby is always pump ready for for connection in case of unforeseen scenari- potline operation, and on keeping the maxi- action in case of any failure. os. mum busbar temperature below 250 °C, in A new hydraulic unit has been invented, With this development, the old manual order to reduce bypass weight and to make designed and tested by EGA Reduction Main- operated wedge puller unit was transformed the bypass installation easier. Modelling is tenance. It has the following components: into a semi-automatic pneumatic controlled used to evaluate these parameters. • Ten hydraulic jacks in a power pack unit unit. The Quick Start wedge puller has been Fig. 4 shows examples of design and instal- • Three pneumatically operated high tested in the potline and is now available for lation of emergency bypass busbars in D18+ pressure pump systems technology transfer. and DX Technology. EGA’s Technology de- • Three directional control valves for velopment is capable of designing any by- each pump EGA emergency bypass pass system for any cell technology, provided • One common high pressure oil receiver / busbar design and experience [3] that all design information is available to the distributor design team. • Retractable hose reels Emergency bypass busbars are used to close • Two sets of pneumatic control boards for the current path for one or more cells in case Crane for maintenance of activating each pump of major damage to busbars or to the cells, potroom building PTM rails [5] • Pressure monitoring gauges for instance due to potline open circuit or cell • High pressure ball valves directing the fire. An open circuit can occur in a cell, for In aluminium smelters, Pot Tending Machines

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line with fixed null point, Proceedings of 36th Intl (PTMs) are used for many tasks, such as cath- in maintenance jobs Icsoba Conf., Belem, Brazil, 29 Oct. to 1 Nov. 2018, ode replacement, superstructure removal, • Vacuum machine on the rail inspection Travaux 47, Paper AL12, 719-730. anode beam raising, anode setting and metal crane to remove the alumina / dust from [2] L. Ecuacion et al., Hydraulic wedge puller device tapping. These PTMs run on potroom building the rails ‘Quick Start’ for removing wedges when energizing rails which are fixed to the potroom building • Air-conditioning unit installed, with an electrolysis cell in aluminium smelter, Proceed- th structure by clamps and bolts. Due to con- cooling ducts to the man-carrying basket ings of 36 Intl Icsoba Conf., Belem, Brazil, 29 Oct. to 1 Nov. 2018, Travaux 47, Paper AL26, 893-900. tinuous operation and movement of PTMs on • Rail cleaning brushes installed on the crane these rails, the clamps and bolts eventually • Emergency stop push button installed in [3] M. Abdulmalik, Emergency bypass busbar design requirements and EGA experience, become loose or wear out, and then the rail each man-carrying basket GAC Electrolysis Seminar, 7 Nov. 2018, Muscat, track requires maintenance or replacement. • Audio alarm installed for communication Oman.

Fig. 5: New PTM rail inspection crane being used for rail inspection and repair [5]

Traditionally, two forklifts, one on each between an operator on the floor and [4] A. Tabereaux, The high risk of electrical power side of the potroom, were used to inspect and people on the crane interruptions to the continuous production of alu- maintain the building rails. This work required • Separate audio alarm to indicate crane minum smelters, Light Metal Age, 76 (2018) 5, 24- 30. eight people working simultaneously, and the movement work was dangerous due to working at heights • Variable frequency drive installed for [5] J. Pradhan and K.S. Kumar, Crane for Main- tenance of Potroom Building Rails, Proceedings of and the risk of bridging cell potential to earth. smooth acceleration and deceleration of 36th Intl Icsoba Conf., Belem, Brazil, 29 Oct. to 1 Recently, a new method was invented: A the crane. Nov. 2018, Travaux 47, Paper AL28, 913-918. potline construction crane was modified and The new crane and work methods were de- dedicated to this potroom crane rail mainten- veloped specifically to carry out building rail ance work. Fig. 5 shows the modified crane. inspection and repair. They not only reduce The features of the new rail inspection the maintenance time but also improve safety Authors crane are: at work, and they reduce the associated elec- • Four-sided man-carrying baskets with trical hazards. safety harness hook points Michel Reverdy is senior manager Technology • Tool box and storing boxes for clamps Transfer. Ali Bin Rahal is senior manager Reduc- References tion Maintenance. Mahmood Abdulmalik is senior and bolts manager Technology Engineering. Jasbant Pradhan • Anti-collision sensors [1] A. B. Rahal, P. Gunjal et al., Smart mobile earth- is supervisor Crane Maintenance. All four are at • Air compressor for pneumatic tools used ing trolley (SET) to operate aluminium smelter pot- Emirates Global Aluminium.

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Hertwich Engineering supplies multi- chamber melting furnace to Exlabesa

Exlabesa, Europe’s largest independent programme, which commenced two years cludes a smart start-stop function turning off extruder and a world leader in the sup- ago, has seen a number of multi-million euro all hydraulic pumps which are not required ply of aluminium extrusions is expanding investments across the group resulting in Ex- during extrusion. Thereby energy savings of its aluminium remelt capabilities at the labesa being at the forefront when it comes to 10 percent on average are achieved. One of Padron plant. meeting today’s market demands. the extrusion presses has been been commis- Last year the casthouse in La Coruña was sioned at the beginning of 2019 in Doncaster In close partnership with Hertwich Engineer- modernized by replacing several old batch (UK). ing, Exlabesa put into operation a Hertwich homogenizing furnaces with a modern con- Next year Exlabesa will expand its remelt continuous homogenizing plant at its Padron tinuous homogenizing plant including billet capacity in La Coruña by installing a Ecomelt facility in Spain in the second half of 2018. saw and stacking unit from Hertwich. The PR130 multi-chamber melting furnace includ- Following this investment Exlabesa has now gas-heated continuous homogenizing plant is ing charging unit. This investment will in- ordered a Hertwich Ecomelt PR130 multi- designed for a throughput capacity of 32.000 crease the extrusion billet capacity of the chamber melting furnace (complete with tpy. group to 60.000 tpy. charging unit) which will increase the annual Billets in a diameter range between 178 capacity of the Padron casthouse to 60,000 and 406 mm and at a length of 6,500 mm are Recycling material in trend tonnes. uniformly heated over the entire length in the Exlabesa is a global company that covers heating zone of the furnace. The cooling rate Exlabesa has selected the Ecomelt PR130 the complete aluminium extrusion cycle in- in the air cooling station can be adjusted to furnace type as the recycling rate of extru- cluding coating, anodizing, machining, bend- the metallurgical requirements. The billet saw, sion material is increasingly growing. Today’s ing and recycling for a wide range of indus- which is installed downstream of the cooling scrap return rises in the same degree as the trial sectors and fields of application. With a station, cuts off the head and butt ends and use of aluminium has increased in the past. total of 22 extrusion lines (press capacities divides the billets into processing lengths. The This development improves the environmen- from 13 to 65 Meganewton) across seven billets are automatically stacked, semi-auto tal footprint of aluminium, since the energy global locations with factories located in the matically strapped and weighed. All these for remelting amounts to just five percent of United States, UK, Spain, Germany, Poland processes are integrated into the automated the energy which is required for reclamation and Morocco, Exlabesa now has the capacity process, along with the necessary transports. of primary aluminium. to produce up to 176,000 tonnes of profile Two years ago, Exlabesa placed an order This trend has inspired Hertwich Engin- per year. with SMS group for the supply of two mod- eering to be one of the first equipment sup- ern 35-MN extrusion presses to expand the pliers which have intensively focussed on the Investment and expansion programme processing capacity. Each of the presses has remelt technology. Due to its extensive ex- been designed for an annual production cap- periences Hertwich has developed a furnace With its ongoing investment and expansion acity of 10.000 tonnes of aluminium profiles. range under the name of Ecomelt, which is programme Exlabesa has overseen a high The presses are equipped with the ecoDrau- able to provide the best suited furnace type volume of key upgrades and installations lic system and a self-regulating, movable for all different kinds of contaminated scrap. across a number of its facilities. The ongoing press rest shear. The eco-Draulic system in- Today, Ecomelt melting furnaces have become well established within the industry. In practice, Hertwich Ecomelt furnaces using suitable scrap achieve energy consumption values which are even lower than the reference value of five percent.

Multi-chamber melting furnace with preheat ramp

The new furnace with a melting capacity of 130 tonnes per day is designed for a relatively wide range of scrap: production scrap, clean profiles with a length of up to seven metres, sawing chips, clean and lacquered scrap (shredded or in pieces), ingots and market scrap are processed. To remelt this loose and moderately contaminated scrap, the Ecomelt- PR furnace with preheat ramp, melting cham-

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years ago. Since then it has already proved itself in many casthouses. The scrap to be melted is transferred onto a ramp in the preheat chamber by an automatic charging unit. The environment is protected from the furnace atmosphere during the charging process. In the preheat / melting chamber material is heated to approx. 500 °C, whereby adhering organic compounds are combusted. Based on an extensive operational experience this chamber has been designed to optimize heat transfer and reduce preheat time. For a furnace with a daily capacity of 130 tonnes, Hert- wich specifies two charging cycles per hour (each with three tonnes of scrap). The preheated and decoated material is pushed from the ramp into the melt bath. An Multi-chamber melting furnace with preheat ramp (Ecomelt PR) from Hertwich (stock photo) electromagnetic liquid metal pump provides the melt transfer between both furnace chamber from which the melt is tapped for casting Outlook bers. Furthermore, it ensures the availability is about 1 000 °C. Hot enough to burn all of the required energy for melting in the melt- pyrolysis gases generated during preheat- The installation of the new melting furnace ing chamber. The melt level in the melting ing of the scrap. The heating system uses the will not interfere the ongoing casting opera- chamber and the melting rate can be adjusted energy content of the flue gases for heating tion. Commissioning is scheduled for mid- by the metal pump. During melting scrap re- the combustion air. In this way, energy con- 2020. Once this investment is completed, mains submerged at all time in order to avoid sumption values of 450 to 500 kWh/tonne Exlabesa will have state-of-the-art melting, oxidation losses. are achieved when melting moderately con- homogenizing and extrusion equipment. ■ The temperature level in the main cham- taminated scrap.

Filterboxes · Ceramic Foam Filters

www.drache-gmbh.de · [email protected] 20 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

Innovations in charging and skimming

Efficient furnace practices with low cost production standards start with automated charging and skimming. Using the right technology allows for significant reduction of energy consumption, minimum cycle times, lower furnace maintenance cost and a safer environment for the operators. RIA Cast House Engineering has been focusing on the development and manufacturing of charging and skimming equipment since 1997. The company is now focused on the development of innovative automation and process optimization solutions. Its newest charging and skimming systems utilize full artificial intelligence (AI) to make charging and skimming cutting-edge technology. The RIA systems achieve the lowest possible operational cost and the safest operating environment for this important part of the process.

Established as a local maintenance service and Skimming machines Fioscope air-cooled camera system that uses special equipment supplier for the German digital image processing, helps to automate aluminium industry, RIA over the past thirty Leaving dross on top of the furnace causes the skimming process. The cameras are in- years became an important international part- more dross to generate in the next cycle, thus stalled to overview the bath area at all stages ner for aluminium billet cast houses. Mean- increasing operational melt losses. Quickly of the skimming process. The video images while, nearly 50 charging and skimming ma- removing all the dross is the object of the RIA will be processed in real-time and distributed chines have been supplied to major alumin- automated skimming process. The standard to the machines PLC. This data is compiled in ium companies around the globe. Building on automated machines are laser-guided and the movement commands to allow a full autono- © RIA Cast House Engineering © RIA Cast

RIA skimming machines are rail guided high quality standards and continuously im- charging machine is programmed with the mous skimming process without an operator. proving those has helped to design the most exact furnace geometry for quick movement Removing the dross only where it lies on the reliable, robust, maintenance friendly and across the bath to remove the dross. Typi- bath and knowing the precise metal depth custom-made furnace tending equipment on cal cycle times are 8 to 12 minutes. The next so that the skim tool is placed optimally into the market. RIA’s goal moving forward in generation of RIA AI skimming machines the bath reduces metal splashes and take out. 2019 is to expand to sheet ingot and primary achieve the goal to fully automate the skim- Typical cycle times are between 5 to 8 min- aluminium casting facilities. ming machine and improve the process at utes. the same time. This unit, equipped with a RIA skimming machines are rail guided.

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The robust base frame is equipped with wheel pared to traditional technologies. Most im- to travel in multiple directions. This frame is blocks for travelling. Furthermore, the base portant is the reduction of metal loss at its oc- equipped with two laser systems: one, for pre- frame accommodates the operator cabin currence. Up to 80% of the liquid metal con- cise placement of the unit in relationship to when manual furnace floor or wall cleaning tained in the dross flows back into the furnace the furnace door and the second looking for is required. The electric cabinet and the hy- and does not need to be processed or re- obstacles or personnel in the way of the mov- draulic unit are mounted on electrically driven melted. Further, the dross will be cooled im- ing frame. The intermediated frame is con- carriage. This carriage runs in guide profiles mediately during pressing. This reduces ad- nected to the travelling frame by load cells. the skim boom into the furnace. The boom ditional metal losses. The skimming cycle is The integrated load cells record charge weights

Fully automatic charging ensures maximum utilization of the melting furnace and maximum safety at work

is pivoted on the carriage. The pivot is done minimally extended by pressing dross in the and cumulate the charging cycle to a furnace by a hydraulic cylinder. This simple, but sol- furnace. weight. This allows for immediate recovery id design assures continuously good results The precise machine movements and the information for process monitoring. and builds the base for the In-Furnace Dross programmed refractory contour as well as Furthermore, the intermediate frame is Pressing (IFDP). Multiple tools are available the adjusted plate pressure to the refractory equipped with support, guiding and drive with quick change capabilities. eliminated collisions with and damage to the elements for the upper carriage. The upper RIA’s next innovation in the skimming area refractory lining. This reduces maintenance carriage performs the actual charging cycle. is a ‘game changer’ regarding dross process- on the refractory significantly. Using a RIA The forward section is built as a container to ing. The IFDP process is a joint development skimming machine increases the occupational accommodate up to 50 m³ of scrap or sows, with David Roth, GPS Global Solutions. The safety in all modes of operation, because even weighting up to 20 tonnes. The actual dimen- concept behind the IFDP is to press the dross in manual mode the operator is protected by sions will vary with the furnace size. The up- before it leaves the furnace and gets too cold an insulated operator cabin. per carriage can be designed to swivel to allow or too hot to effectively removal all the con- The AI and IFDP features in combination scrap charging from various directions to the tained aluminium. The mechanical unit to with the known advantages of the RIA skim- machine. The drive for the pusher is located press dross is a horizontal and vertical moving ming machine make this the best technology in the back of the unit. During charging the press plate. The In-Furnace Dross Pressing is for furnace skimming. container enters the open furnace. As soon achieved in harmony with the skimming cy- as the container is fully extended, the pusher cle. The dross will be dragged on the furnace Charging machines starts to drop the material into the furnace. At sill and pressed against the lifted press plate. the same time the retraction of the container The liquid aluminium flows back into the fur- The melting process efficiency begins with starts to distribute the aluminium even over nace through openings in the skim plate. Af- good charging practices. Automated charging the bath area. This procedure assures highest ter pressing is finished the remaining dross gives consistent reliable practices that mini- melt rates and lowest metal losses. will be moved into specially designed cooling mizes cycle times and fuel usage, and maxi- The next generation of cutting-edge tech- dross pan in front of the furnace. The press mizes aluminium recoveries. nology now being provided by RIA relies on plate is used for a precise positioning of the The RIA automated charging machine is artificial intelligence (AI) jointly developed dross cake. The procedure will be repeated composed of three solid steel frame sections. with the German company, Fioscope. The until the furnace is completely de-drossed. The base of the rail guided car is the travelling charging machine in combination with the The IFDP gives a lot of advantages com- frame with wheel blocks. It can be designed use of the Fioscope in-furnace camera system

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reliably determines the ideal point to charge the furnace and starts the automatic cycle. The autonomous charging is independent of any operator and ensures maximum output and highest safety standards. Furthermore, this feature ensures that the furnace temperature loss is reduced to a minimum due to a maximum charge cycle time of 120 s. This minimized temperature drop af- fects not only the furnace atmosphere, but also the refractory material. During the loading with a RIA charging machine there is nearly no furnace refractory temperature loss. This results in improved energy consumption and increased furnace productivity. Some customers have noted as much as 20% improvement in furnace throughput over standard charging units. This continuous and automated furnace process reduces stress to the refractory lining significantly. An important additional advantage of us- The task of the In-Furnace Dross Pressing is to press out ing this full AI system on the RIA charging the aluminium dross in the furnace before it cools down machine is occupational safety. Operators are no longer required in this very dangerous being charged into the furnace. houses. The design and development of all area of the melting process. The dangers of machines is taking account of reliability, du- charging wet scrap are eliminated from the Summary rability, maintenance and occupational safe- operators concerns. RIA’s next step is to use ty. Adding the innovative features of full AI AI to monitor scarp safety and determine RIA Cast House Engineering provides tailor- camera-based charging and skimming as well proper shutdown and remediation practices made rail-bound cast-house-proven charging as the In-Furnace Dross Pressing assures the when the monitoring system sees wet scrap and skimming equipment for aluminium cast best equipment for today and tomorrow. ■

Rio Tinto to review future of New Zealand‘s Aluminium Smelter

Rio Tinto will conduct a strategic review the short to medium outlook for the alumin- many aluminium providers are reviewing of its interest in New Zealand’s Alumin- ium industry to be challenging and this as- their positions.” ium Smelter (NZAS) at Tiwai Point, to set to continue to be unprofitable. Rio Tinto Rio Tinto will work with all stakeholders determine the operation’s ongoing viabil- Aluminium CEO Alf Barrios said: “The alu- including the government, suppliers, commu- ity and competitive position. minium industry is currently facing significant nities and employees in order to find a solution that will ensure a profitable future for this plant. The strategic review will consider all options, including curtailment and closure and will be complete in the first quarter in 2020. NZAS is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (79.36%) and Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited (20.64%) and employs around 1000 people. Only a few days ago, Alcoa announced a multi-year portfolio review aimed at driving lower costs and sustainable profitability with refined strategic priorities. Alcoa has placed

© Rio Tinto under review 1.5m tonnes of smelting capac- Aerial view of the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter ity and 4m tonnes of alumina refining capacity. The review will consider opportunities for Under current market conditions and in view headwinds with historically low prices due significant improvement, potential curtail- of high energy costs, the company expects to an over-supplied market. This means that ments, closures or divestitures. ■

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Contribution of Icsoba in setting development trends in global bauxite, alumina and aluminium industry C. Vanvoren, F. Feret, A. Panov, M. Reverdy, Houshang Alamdari; Icsoba

The modern aluminium industry was born with the invention of the Hall-Héroult process in 1886, and for more than 130 years the technology development has never stopped. Equipment development has been the most spectacular. However, during the second part of the 20th century, automation, PLC and computers as well as lean organizations further transformed the aluminium industry, in line with the 3rd industrial revolution. For the last few years, a new revolution, Industrie 4.0, born in manufacturing industries, has gained momentum. The aluminium industry, like most process industries, is somewhat lagging behind in this journey. However, numerous signals show the ball is now rolling. Icsoba, which was founded in 1963, has since supported technology developments by increasing the shared knowledge in the field of bauxite

and encouraging exchange of ideas and coop- © Icsoba eration between the alumina and aluminium The participants of the Hamburg Conference in 2017 professionals. Those considerations are as important today as ever, and Icsoba is transform- permanent international working community. scanning electron microscopy, mass spectrom- ing itself to support the aluminium industry in The Yugoslav Academy accepted this proposal etry, infrared spectroscopy, atomic absorption, its journey towards Industrie 4.0. and elaborated the Statute of the International Mösbauer method, RD / Rietveld method, Al, Committee for the Study of Bauxite, Alumina Si concentrations determined in situ, etc. 1. Introduction and Aluminium. Icsoba was established. • Geomathematical methods: geo-statistics, kriging, semi-variogram, fuzzy function, etc. In 2018 we celebrated Icsoba’s 55 years of 2. Icsoba contribution to resulted in reducing the errors in the resource activity. More than half a century of vocation industry development trend estimate and risks in mining for an organization such as Icsoba is quite an • New huge resources have been identified achievement by all means. Many entities creat- Since Icsoba was founded, the industry size and new mines established in Australia, China, ed around the same time no longer exist today, has increased over ten times. All the time, India (Eastern Ghats), Vietnam, Indonesia, but Icsoba is alive and doing better than ever. Icsoba has unwaveringly supported technol- Guinea and Brazil In order to understand the success of Icsoba ogy developments by increasing the shared • Bauxite beneficiation at Weipa (Austral- over the years, one has to look at the reasons knowledge in the fields of bauxite, alumina ia), Bao Lok (Vietnam), Zhengzhou (China), and motivation behind bringing it to life1. The and aluminium and encouraging the exchange Trombetas and Paragominas (Brazil) became first Icsoba symposium was organized by the of ideas and cooperation between the profes- a common, routine procedure Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in sionals in these fields, and in this way more • Conveyor belt system (Australia, India) Zagreb in October 1963. The Academy took often than not set the development trend of and slurry pipeline (Brazil) are applied for the the leadership role by realigning its scientific our industry. first time in bauxite supply to refineries. activity for solving economic and technical a. Bauxite resources and mining b. Alumina refining problems. By giving scientists and scientific Icsoba’s role is significant in knowledge shar- In the last 40 to 45 years, a very intensive institutions of various countries an opportun- ing in the field of geological research, analy- development of the Bayer process took place ity to remain in direct contact, the Academy ses, data interpretation and exploration of alu- with the support of Icsoba, whose publications contributed to establishing solid links for in- mina bearing raw materials in the last 55 captured the following most important ten- ternational collaboration in the interest of years – mainly bauxites but also non-bauxitic dencies3: progress in science. After the Congress, a very ores2: • The conversion from batch to continuous successful visit was arranged to the bauxite • Exploration techniques developed: double / tank reactors in the early days. The devel- deposits of Dalmatia. During the concluding triple walled bits, air-core drillings, bucket au- opment of the tube digestion technology in- session, the Hungarian and French participants ger, etc. creased the production capacity of a single line made the proposal that the Yugoslav Academy • Development in material testing and new and reduced operation cost4 contemplate the possibility of establishing a methods introduced: DTG, X-ray diffraction, • Red mud thickening and washing technol-

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ogy and equipment have been significantly These examples of the development of pro- ing a direct increase in productivity. They use improved, resulting in low soda loss with resi- cess technology and equipment illustrate the pre-defined GPS courses to automatically due and high throughput of the units5 huge progress our industry made in the second navigate haul roads and intersections and to • The transition from pond-type bauxite resi- half of the 20th century. However, during the know actual locations, speeds and directions due storage areas to dry stacking after paste same period, automation, PLC and computers of other vehicles at all times. thickeners and then after press filters allowed as well as lean organizations further trans- Unmanned vehicles are also making their to significantly reduce the required surface formed the aluminium industry in line with way into aluminium smelters as anode and / area and capital cost. The development and the 3rd industrial revolution. or metal hauler22,23. Those vehicles are aimed proposal of best practices of bauxite residue to be associated with autonomous devices for 6 7,8 disposal and utilization was explored as 3. New industry tapping, measurements and sampling. well development trends Automation has also progressed in the • The change from floury to sandy alumina smelter area. As an example, mechanized re- quality is a significant tendency taken by the Most refineries and smelters have reached a duction cell hood handling24,25 has been de- industry. On equipment side, using of larger competitiveness plateau today and future ployed as an intermediate step on the journey units, better mechanical performances, higher gains cannot come from a new wave of head- towards automated anode change, for which liquor productivities at precipitation allowed count and cost reduction but from a significant several tests have already been made during to save electrical energy and steam, and to re- improvement in process performance. In re- the last decade. duce capital cost for building new lines/plants9. cent years, new solutions that have emerged Other examples are automated equipment • The shift from rotary to stationary alumina in the manufacturing industry have gained aimed at supplying additional information calcination units was overwhelming. Continu- momentum: automation and digitalization in for quality control and process enhancement. ous evolvement of Fluid Bed10 and Cas Sus- the overall framework of Industrie 4.0. The There are numerous illustrations around the pension11 calciners equipment allowed not aluminium industry, like most processing in- concept of predictive anode quality: online only to improve product quality in terms of dustries, is somewhat lagging behind in this electrical resistivity measurement (Fives ECL alpha phase content and particle size distribu- journey to 4.0. However, numerous signals Mirea)26, automated butt characterization tion but also to achieve energy consumption show that the ball is now rolling. (Stas Abis)27, etc. This type of equipment, used close to theoretically possible level. a. Automation as ‘soft sensors’, is integrated in an overall end- Along with the Bayer process, the details of Driverless trucks in bauxite mining, developed to-end anode tracking system, which perfectly alternative technologies to process low grade by the major mining companies (20% of Rio illustrates the transition to our next point: fac- bauxite, nepheline, alunite and clays includ- Tinto’s existing fleet of almost 400 trucks in tory digitalization. ing sintering, Bayer-Sintering, acidic processes the Pilbara, Australia, drive autonomously to- One cannot forget about a tremendous have been presented and discussed giving in- progress in chemical characterization of the sights on development and industrial imple- aluminium industry materials. Automatic mentation of those technologies12,13. bauxite sample preparation and analysis sys- c. Aluminium smelting tems, on-line crushing, grinding, pressing and Icsoba accompanied the rapid development of briquette handling of electrolytic bath speci- the aluminium reduction technology in the last men or fully automatic metal analysers – all 30 years, most notably: aided by LIMS (Laboratory Information and 1. The fast cell amperage increase in many Management System) have deeply trans- existing potlines by as much as 20 to 40%14. formed current laboratory operations. At the same time new potlines increased the b. Digitalization current from 300 kA to more than 600 kA. Considerations regarding ‘Refinery of the Fu- The fastest development of new cell technol- ture’ and ‘Smelter of the Future’ have been ogy took place in China15. around for some years now28,29. Industrial im- 2. The development of the pneumatic trans- plementations of the digitalization approach, port of alumina to the cells16, the development as illustrated by such ‘predictive anode qual- of cell point feeding technology and control to ity’, based on processing (advanced analyt- operate the cells without sludge and anode ef- ics) large numbers of real time and historical fects, which enabled very low PFC emissions. process data, are rapidly spreading. Machine 3. The increasing anode quality in spite of de- learning has been recently presented in the teriorating raw materials17 and the introduc- field of anode quality interaction with reduction of slotted anodes, which resulted in better tion cell performance30. Digitalization is mov- cell performance by decreasing bubble voltage ing a step further with experimentation of drop18. cell process control via ‘digital twin’ as pio- 31 4. The development of potroom service equip- The Icsoba Congress in 1978 neered by Aluminium of Greece . ment such as pot tending machines (PTMs), Many digitalization examples are also found allowing easy anode changing and cavity day)20, are currently contemplated for new in the upstream part of our industry. An il- cleaning as well as laser marking for accurate projects, for example at the new Rio Tinto Am- lustration is the approach taken by Emirates anode positioning. The safety of crane opera- run bauxite mine in Cape York, Australia21. Global Aluminium (EGA) when preparing the tions increased by the automatic monitoring Driverless trucks mean that more material start-up of the first Middle East alumina refin- of crane insulation resistance19. can be moved efficiently and safely, creat- ery at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi. Taking the

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opportunity of being a greenfield project, the Icsoba is presently facing and aiming to meet more than 1,000 pages in recent years. authors claimed to have developed “one of successfully! iii. Travelling around the world the most modern Process Information Man- a. Build on Icsoba DNA which proved so Icsoba’s international success is based on the agement Systems (PIMS), applying the latest successful during the last 55 years practice of rotating the venue of international of the Industrie 4.0 elements as a first step i. Multiculturalism of its board of directors conferences to countries that play an import- towards the Smart Refinery”32. The concept of Icsoba is an international association of mem- ant role in the global aluminium industry. the whole refinery digital transformation has bers, which elect the board of directors. The Unlike many other organizations that are been also discussed by Honeywell: it includes board is responsible for managing and super- stationary, Icsoba moves from place to place elements of big data analysis, the connected vising the activities and affairs of the corpora- around the globe and the delegates attending worker and the connected plant. It is rightly tion and is accountable to the members. The the annual conference travel with it. Visitors said that it takes a big step to implement the directors have legal responsibility for Icsoba often bring expertise and solutions that emerging and most challenging technologies and are registered with Canadian authorities. locals may not have, and the opposite is also in the field including smart sensors and auto The present composition of the board con- true. Icsoba provides a unique forum for dis- nomous machines33. firms not only its international status but also cussions and plant visits, allowing its mem- Other illustrations are given, for exam- reflects its multicultural character. Among the bers to see the aluminium world, to learn and ple, with the development of a digital twin to board directors are two Canadians (with Polish share know-how from research and current achieve predictive analysis of wear mecha- and Iranian backgrounds), two French, a Swiss, practices. nisms in the refinery digestion plant facility, a Russian and an Indian. Such board compo- Over the years Icsoba has been trav- supplementing the non- elling the world visit- destructive monitoring major bauxite and ing34. On the white side, aluminium produc- the construction of pro- tion centres: Goa cess simulation models (India, 2011), Be- and detailed equipment lem (Brazil, 2012), model allowed further Krasnoyarsk (Russia, significant optimization 2013), Zhengzhou of the alumina calcina- (China, 2014), Dubai tion plant35. It is worth (UAE, 2015), Que- mentioning a conclud- bec (Canada, 2016), ing remark from the au- Hamburg (Germany, thors: “A comprehen- 2017) and Belem sive digital system will again in 2018. In the not be able to achieve Location map of Icsoba Conferences since 2010 last two decades the desired level of China, Middle East performance without the inclusion of process sition promotes universal understanding and and India had an extraordinary growth of ac- understanding.” vastly facilitates global communication. tivity in alumina and aluminium production Finally, we should also mention the ap- ii. High quality of publication thanks to available energy. To put emphasis plication of 4.0 quality concepts of digitaliza- and scientific content on these countries, Icsoba has plans to stage tion, data acquisition, scalability, analytics A key element of Icsoba’s reputation is the conferences there again in the near future. and connectivity to elevate traditional man- high quality of publications and scientific iv. Proposing field trips agement system tools to the Industrie 4.0 content. The Technical Committee oversees associated with each conference standard in the context of bauxite mining36. maintaining and enhancing the reputation Field trips (plant visits) organized at the end of Icsoba publications through the rigorous of each Icsoba conference are highly instruc- 4. Icsoba evolution to support selection of high-quality papers and of the tive and appreciated by the delegates. For industry transformation practical organization / running of the sessions example, at the end of the 2018 conference during the annual conference. The Techni- in Belem, the delegates enjoyed visiting three As shown above, multiple examples demon- cal Committee (TC) is composed of the pro- different Hydro plants: the Albras aluminium strate that the aluminium industry has entered gramme director (a member of the board of smelter, the Alunorte alumina refinery and the era of digitalization. This transformation is directors) as its chairperson and of 3-5 subject the Paragominas bauxite mine. A year before unlocking new opportunities along the whole organizers. The TC members jointly represent (in Hamburg) visits were organized to the value chain and all the players have either the technical areas: bauxite, alumina, bauxite DadCo alumina refinery and the Trimet alu- started or are about to start the journey. residue, carbon and aluminium. minium smelter. The field trips offer the del- Transforming our industry is requiring and The author guidelines and template for Ic- egates a unique opportunity to see the pro- will require for several years to look at our soba abstracts, papers and presentations production facilities, meet local personnel and processes with different lenses from different vide a uniform standard and appearance of discuss selected technical issues. angles. It will require different skills, know- each contribution. Approximately 100 papers v. Offering grants to students ledge and probably people whilst, at the same and corresponding presentations are selected The student grants originate from the Icsoba time, the fundamentals principles will remain. each year for the conference and the papers funds and mark our presence in a specific How can a technology conference support are included in the Travaux volume of the country. The grants are offered to two to three such a transformation? This is the challenge conference proceedings, which have reached students who present papers at the conference

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and who are nominated as grant recipients by iii. Partnering with other ket, environment, etc. Dissemination of such a local academia representative. Two student conference organizers a broad spectrum of keynote talks enhances grants were offered in 2018 to the students As already discussed, digitalization implies the development of all facets of the industry. from the Universidade Federal do Este do different knowledge. As a consequence, dif- • Icsoba has an agreement with MDPI to pub- Para, Brazil. In addition, the elected students ferent players, namely automation and IT lish some selected papers in the open-source obtain free access to the conference. companies, are taking up more space in the journal ‘Metals’ to further disseminate the b. Enhancing collaboration process industry landscape. However, as the knowledge to a broader audience. within the aluminium industry fundamental principles remain, it is of prime • The Icsoba Platform for Industry-Univer- i. Integrating industry input: the importance to ensure a close connection be- sity Collaboration for Innovation is another Icsoba Corporate Members Council tween the data and cooperation among sys- example where our members share their valu- The vision of Icsoba to become ‘The Technol- tems experts and process experts. The mission able knowledge about the R&D infrastructure ogy Conference of the Aluminium Industry, for of ‘The Technology Conference of Alumin- and available resources worldwide. the Aluminium Industry’ translates our view ium Industry, for the Aluminium Industry’ is • Several thousand technical papers have that the future of our organization lies in the to provide a platform for such connection. been published in the Travaux volumes over high engagement of the aluminium industry. This is why Icsoba signed an MoU with more than half a century. All submitted papers The industry engagement requires partici- Quartz Business Media to organize an Icsoba are subject to a rigorous peer-review and edi- pation from companies to orient Icsoba con- session within the framework of the next ‘Fu- tion process, performed by experienced Icsoba ferences to industry issues and challenges, ture Aluminium Forum’37, which was held on members from industry and academia. The pragmatically. To this aim, Icsoba revisited its 22 and 23 May 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. The value of this documentation for building a col- corporate membership status and set up a Cor- Icsoba session dealt with ‘Aluminium 4.0: lective knowledge is better understood if one porate Members Council in order to get direct when process approach meets data-driven ap- assumes that each paper addresses a hurdle feedback on industry needs and to ensure proach in mining, refining and smelting’ and of the industry, which is usually determined that all industry players from major produ- saw representatives from aluminium compa- by the industry. All published documents have cers, engineering firms, equipment suppliers to nies willing to share their developments and been electronically scanned and Icsoba will service providers get the opportunity to influ- success in their journey toward Industrie 4.0. soon launch a user-friendly interface for ac- ence the Icsoba strategy and its deployment. With this initiative, Icsoba aims to encour- cess to this documentation. The Corporate Member Council meets age and facilitate cross fertilization between once a year, during the annual conference. process and data approach of our industry. 5. Conclusion Icsoba’s activity report is presented as well as c. Enhancing knowledge dissemination the progress report on developments associ- Dissemination of knowledge is the key factor Icsoba, who celebrates 55 years of activity, has ated with the current strategic plan. The Cor- to promote the collective effort of people act- unwaveringly supported the aluminium indus- porate Members input is collected and further ing in the whole aluminium value chain, from try and, in many respects, contributed to set discussed during the board meeting for inte- mine to metal. Therefore, beyond the organi- its development trends. This resulted in the gration in its development plan. zation of its annual conference and exhibition, impressive developments experienced during ii. Partnering with aluminium associations which enhances the generation and exchange the decades of Icsoba history in the bauxite, Icsoba undertakes to play the role of the in- of ideas during the four-day event, Icsoba has alumina and aluminium industries that have dustry’s leading voice, providing global a proactive strategy for knowledge dissemina- grown 10-fold and reached what it is today. standards, business intelligence, sustainabil- tion and deploys all efforts to maximize the Now, the aluminium industry is starting its ity research and industry technical expertise impact of the knowledge and know-how de- journey towards digitalization. Icsoba consid- to member companies, policymakers and the veloped and shared by its members: ers that sharing knowledge and encouraging general public. In the spirit of equality, mu- • A particular attention is made to invite exchange of ideas and cooperation between tual benefit and friendly co-operation, Icsoba influential keynote speakers with different the alumina and aluminium professionals is has identified a framework within the alu- backgrounds; i.e. technology, science, mar- as important as ever. Icsoba is therefore act- minium sector. The objectives of this framework are to contribute to the industrial knowledge base and to stimulate economic activities along the aluminium value chain. Several organizations have signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for cooperation with Icsoba, which is ben- eficial for both sides. For example, over the years the MoUs were signed with the Alumi- num Association of Canada, China Nonfer- rous Metals Industry Association, The Alu- minium Association of India and Associação Brasiliera do Alumínio (Abal). Icsoba highly values these partnerships and intends to further extend their number in the coming years. Travaux books with conference proceedings

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ing to transform itself to support this new de- plication of the Alusuisse precipitation process, in UAE, 29 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2015, Paper AL09, Travaux velopment trend. This transformation is based Proceedings of the 7th Intl Congress of Icsoba (Part 44, 573-577 (2015) on three pillars, namely: II), Balatonalmádi, Hungary, June 22-26, 1992, 26. G. Leonard, A. Bernard, Y. El Ghaoui, M. Ga- Travaux 25, 95-108 (1992) gnon, P. Coulombe, G. Bourque and S. Gourmaud, • Building on Icsoba DNA which proved suc- 10. Michael Missalla, Andreas Koschnick, Linus MIREA – An On-line Real Time Solution to Check cessful for the last 55 years (multi-culturalism Perande, Hans Werner Schmidt, Energy efficiency the Electrical Quality of Anodes, in Proceedings of its board members, high quality of publica- in alumina refineries – Combining hydrate filtra- of 33rd Intl Icsoba Conference, Dubai, UAE, 29 tions, travelling around the globe, proposing tion with alumina calciner, in Proceedings of 33rd Nov. - 1 Dec. 2015, Paper CB06, Travaux 44, 455- field trips and grants to students) Icsoba Conference, Dubai, UAE, 29 Nov. – 1 Dec. 466 (2015) 2015, Travaux 44, 88-92, (2015) 27. www.stas.com/en/products/carbon/abis- • Enhancing collaboration within the alumin- 11. Benny Erik Raahauge, Thermal Energy Con- anode-butt-inspection-system/ ium industry (widen its corporate members sumption in Gas Suspension Calciners, in Proceed- 28. C. Vanvoren, Towards the Smelter of the base and integrating their input through the ings of 36th Icsoba Conference, Hamburg, Germany, Future, in Proceedings of 33rd Icsoba Conference, Corporate Members Council, partner with 2-5 Oct. 2017, Travaux 46, 333-346, (2017) Dubai, UAE, 29 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2015, Presentation aluminium associations and other conference 12. M. N. Smirnov, Physical-Chemical Fundamen- KN03, Travaux 44, 45 (2015) tals of Alumina Production from Nepheline, in Pro- 29. R. Costa, Mining and Refining 4.0, in Proceed- organizers) ceedings of the 2nd Intl Congress of Icsoba (Vol III), ings of 36th Intl Icsoba Conference, Hamburg, Ger- • Enhancing knowledge dissemination (invit- Budapest, Hungary, October 6-10, 1969, Travaux many, 2-5 Oct. 2017, Presentation KN04, Travaux ing influential keynote speakers, proposing a 28, 337-348 (1969) 46, 35 (2017) platform for industry-university cooperation 13. Alexander Senyuta, Andrey Panov, Alexander 30. P. Côté and S. Guérard, A Machine Learning and a user-friendly interface to access to the Suss, Yuri Layner, Comparison of acidic and alka- Approach to Early Detection of Incorrect Anode line technologies for producing alumina from low Positioning in an Aluminium Electrolysis Cell, in 2,000 technical papers of the Icsoba library). grade ores, in Proceedings of the 19th Intl Sym- Proceedings of 37th Intl Icsoba Conference, Belem, With those actions in place, and with an posium of Icsoba, Belem, Brazil, Oct. 29 – Dec. 2, Brazil, 29 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2018, Paper AL02, Travaux open mind regarding input and suggestions 2012, Travaux 41, (2012) 47, 607-618 (2018) from all of its members and partners, Icsoba 14. Vinod Nair et al, Amperage Increase from 340 31. www.genewsroom.com/press-releases/ aims at its vision of being ‘The Technology kA to 425 kA in EGA DX Technology, in Proceed- aluminium-greece-collaborates-ge-drive-efficiency- ings of the 36th Intl Icsoba Conference, Belem, using-predix-based-first-their-kind Conference of the Aluminium Industry, for Brazil, 29 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2018, Paper AL07, Travaux 32. J. Rüster, E Pai, K. Sitaraman and R. Farzanah, the Aluminium Industry’. 47, 663-674 (2018) Development of the Technical Operating Strategy 15. Bingliang Gao et al., History and Recent De- at Al Taweelah Alumina Refinery: Application of velopments in Aluminum Smelting in China, in Pro- Industry 4.0, 11th Alumina Quality Workshop, 6. References ceedings of 35th Intl Icsoba Conference, Hamburg, Gladstone, Australia, pp. 21-27 (2018) Germany, 2 – 5 October 2017, Paper KN05, Travaux 33. R. K. Johas, Digital Transformation in Alumina 1. F.R. Feret, 50 Years of Icsoba, – in Proceedings of 46, 53-68 (2017) Refining , 147th TMS annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, the 31st Intl Icsoba Conference, Krasnoyarsk, Rus- 16. Jens Garbe, Arne Hilck and Andreas Wolf, March 11-15, pp. 79-87 (2018). sia, Sept. 4-6, 2013, Travaux 42, 49-54 (2013) Pneumatic Conveying of Alumina – Comparison 34. M. Barnes, D. Koffler and C. Bowels, Digital 2. György Komlossy, History of the Icsoba. 50 of Technologies, in Proceedings of 33rd Intl Icsoba Maturity in Alumina Refining, in Proceedings of years activity in the field of bauxite geology and Conference, Dubai, UAE, 29 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2015, 37th Intl Icsoba Conference, Belem, Brazil, 29 Oct. mining (from localism to globalism), in Proceedings Paper AL08, Travaux 44, 567-572 (2015) – 1 Nov. 2018, Paper AA04, Travaux 47, 241-254 of the 31st Intl Icsoba Conference, Krasnoyarsk, 17. Tapan K. Sahu et al., Strategy for Sustaining (2018) Russia, Sept. 4-6, 2013, Travaux 42, 61-94. (2013) Anode Quality Amidst Deteriorating Coke Qual- 35. S. Haus, T. Hensler, C. Binder, A. Scarsella and 3. György Bánvölgyi, Fifty years history of Icsoba: ity, in Proceedings of 33rd Intl Icsoba Conference, M. Missalla, Outotec Pretium Calciner Optimizer the alumina production, in Proceedings of the 31st Dubai, UAE, 29 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2015, Paper CB03, – Integrating Process Know-How into Daily Opera- Intl Icsoba Conference, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Sept. Travaux 44, 425-434 (2015) tion, in Proceedings of 37th Intl Icsoba Conference, 4-6, 2013, Travaux 42, 96-115 (2013) 18. E. Jensen, The Effects of Slotted Anodes on Belem, Brazil, 29 Oct. – 1 Nov. 2018, Paper AA17, 4. Brady Haneman, Evolution of Tube Digestion Aluminium Reduction Cell Performance, in 18th Travaux 47, 369-380, (2018) for Alumina Refining, in Proceedings of the 34th Intl Symposium Icsoba, Zhengzhou, China, Novem- 36. J.S. de Sousa, I.O. Rocha and R.M. de Castro, Intl Icsoba Conference, Quebec, Canada, Oct. 3-6, ber 2010, Travaux 39, 531–538 (2010). Digital transformation Applied to Bauxite and Alu- 2016, Travaux 45, 73-82 (2016) 19. Etienne Tezenas du Montcel, Crane Electrical mina Business System – BABS 4.0, in Proceedings 5. R.D. Paradis, Application of Alcan’s deep bed Insulation Monitoring in Potlines: New CANDITM of 37th Intl Icsoba Conference, Belem, Brazil, 29 thickener technology in the Bayer process, in Pro- 4.0 Performance, in Proceedings of 35th Intl Icsoba Oct. – 1 Nov., 2018, Paper BX09, Travaux 47, 119- ceedings of the 8th Intl Congress of Icsoba Energy Conference, Hamburg, Germany, 2 – 5 Oct. 2017, 132, (2018) and Environment in Aluminium Industry (Part I), Paper AL16, Travaux 46, 939-944 (2017) 37. https://futurealuminiumforum.com/ Milan, Italy, April 16-18 1997, Travaux 28, 230- 20. www.mining.com/rio-tinto-autonomous- 234 (1997) trucks-now-hauling-quarter-pilbara-material/ Authors 6. Roelof Den Hond and Marja Brouwer, Design 21. www.alcircle.com/news/bauxite/detail/ Aspects of Bauxite Residue Storage Areas, in Pro- 29639/rio-tintos-amrun-bauxite-project-expected- ceedings of the Intl Icsoba Seminar on Bauxite to-support-further-capacity-expansion-and- Claude Vanvoren, Icsoba Chairman – C2V Consult- Residue (Red Mud), Goa, India, Oct. 17-19, 2011, technological-innovation ing, President, France, Email: claude.vanvoren@ Travaux 40, 66-74 (2011) 22. https://informeaffaires.com/regional/ icsoba.org; 7. Craig Klauber, Markus Grafe, Greg Power, aluminium/mecfor-realise-une-premiere-en- Frank Feret, Icsoba CEO – Feret Analytical Con- Bauxite Residue Utilization and the Lack Thereof, amerique-du-nord sulting, Quebec, Canada, Email: frank.feret@icsoba. in Proceedings of the Intl Icsoba Seminar on Baux- 23. www.ecagroup.com/en/business/eca-group- org; ite Residue (Red Mud), Goa, India, October 17-19, provide-unmanned-logistic-vehicles-rio-tinto- Andrey Panov, Icsoba Secretary General – Rusal, 2011, Travaux 40, 188-195 (2011) aluminium Russia, Email: [email protected]; 8. Andrey Panov and Gennadiy Klimentenok, Di- 24. www.qatalum.com/Media/News/Pages/ Michel Reverdy, Icsoba Program Director – Emir- rections for Large Scale Utilization of Bauxite Resi- Innovations-in-Pot-Tending-at-the-Qatalum- ates Global Aluminium, UAE, Email: michel. due, in Proceedings of the Intl Icsoba Seminar on Smelter.aspx [email protected]; Bauxite Residue (Red Mud), Goa, India, Oct. 17-19, 25. M. Trideau, Embedded Service Robot: Towards Houshang Alamdari, Icsoba Director – Laval 2011, Travaux 40, 297-311 (2011) an Automated, Efficient and Green Smelter, in University, Quebec, Canada, Email: houshang. 9. J-L. Theron, Latest plant experiences in the ap- Proceedings of 33rd Intl Icsoba Conference, Dubai, [email protected]

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More efficiency in furnace tending operations G. Magarotto, T.T. Tomorrow Technology

T.T. Tomorrow Technology SpA is ap- Effective skimming and furnace cleaning temperature (reduction of metal oxidation) proaching 20 years of producing ma- are therefore important factors in achieving and a shorter melting cycle. These are all fac- chines for casthouses and anode plants. efficient production in addition to quality and tors that lead to cost savings and higher prod- The board of directors responsible for cost-effectiveness. These are also the main uctivity. this joint stock company and all its staff advantages that customers have achieved by Dross adhering to the furnace walls and are well prepared for the new challenges using the latest generation of T.T.’s special fur- corners and the presence of solid deposits of in the aluminium industry. The high abil- nace tending vehicles and automatic or semi- dross and heavy metals on the furnace bottom ity to understand the customers’ needs automatic de-drossing and furnace cleaning reduce bath capacity. There is also a reduc- for innovative solution, the flexibility in equipment. tion in metal quality due to the presence of adapting the products, the perfect design Over the past 19 years, the company’s de- uncontrolled alloy constituents and composi- and high-quality components character- velopment and production of equipment and tion-polluting elements (especially iron) that ize the company. This article describes vehicles designed to skim and clean furnaces can easily dissolve in aluminium. the advantages of the current range of has been driven not only by productivity and Again, the ability to easily and effectively equipment for dross removal and furnace quality issues, but also by health and safety remove deposits from the furnace bottom cleaning. regulations that require operators to be pro- leads to higher productivity and quality im- tected from injury, heat and other hazards provement. T.T. Tomorrow Technology, which is located near furnace doors. The automation (both in terms of the fre- in Due Carrare near Padua, Italy, has always Different customer requirements led to quency and the operation itself) of these rou- been focused on providing the best solution the design and manufacture of various ma- tine furnace tending procedures significantly to the installed melting capacity of the melting chine concepts, such as rubber-tyred, driver- improves all aspects of the melting process. It furnaces in order to prevent the negative ef- controlled diesel vehicles and rail-bound or also ensures that these often unpleasant and fects of dross on aluminium production. High stationary machines that can be operated strenuous operations are routinely carried out on night shifts during unattended periods.

Advantages of skimming and furnace cleaning equipment

Skimming and furnace cleaning equipment from T.T. Tomorrow Technology provide the following advantages: • Increased furnace utilization and lower gas consumption by reducing the time it takes to de-dross and clean the furnace effectively and accurately; • Clearly better heat transfer by easily and accurately removing the dross that acts as thermal insulation on the molten metal; • The amount of aluminium removed with the dross during skimming operations is reduced to an absolute minimum; • Prevention of dross sludge and metal build- up that will gradually reduce furnace capacity and adversely affect metal composition; de-

© T.T. Tomorrow Technology Tomorrow © T.T. posits also require unplanned downtime to Different customer requirements led to the design... clean the cold furnace with hammers, excava- tors, etc.; oxidation rate, poor thermal efficiency and manually or fully or semi-automatically under • An increase in the speed of the cold charge reduction of furnace melting efficiency are wifi control. melting cycle through the ability to mix scrap generally recognized negative factors caused It is well known that the dross acts as a and submerge it into the melt; by the presence of dross. The contaminated thermal insulator on the surface of the molten • Service life extension of refractory mate- scrap available on the market today often bath and reduces the efficiency of heat trans- rial by avoiding thermal stress due to lengthy leads to excessive dross formation, despite the fer from the flame to the metal. The ability scraping processes with associated tempera- low oxidation target of the latest generation to easily and quickly remove dross from the ture drops in the furnace and mechanical of melting furnaces installed and operated in furnace results in a higher heat exchange ef- stress due to the use of percussion tools during many casthouses today. ficiency and thus in a reduction in chamber cleaning operations;

30 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 31 SPECIAL A r a b al 2 0 1 9 C o n f e r ence

• Reduced need for personnel to carry out furnace tending operations; • Greater safety in the casthouse by keeping the operator away from the furnace door during de-drossing operations; • No forklift trucks required to work in front of the furnace. The tool is moved back and forth parallel to the liquid bath with precise and controlled movements during the de-drossing operation. This optimum control standard eliminates the oscillations that often occur with conventional de-drossing systems. The tool movements can be precisely controlled by the operator via the joystick on the remote control or fully automatically (without operator intervention). The precision of this furnace tending operation offers a number of economic and production advantages as it minimizes the unintentional removal of aluminium while maximizing the cleanliness of the melt. While controlling the skimming procedure, the operator sits in a safe cabin. Alternatively, he can operate the remote con- ... and manufacture of various machine concepts trol console at the safest location to avoid the potential risk of metal splashes from the ium industry from inferior and low-cost prod- casthouse products includes various types of furnace. ucts that flood the market at the expense of furnace-charging systems (rubber-tyred diesel good quality. vehicles and electric rail-bound or stationary Entire range of furnace Customers around the world who use machines, fully or semi-automatic), material tending vehicles updated T.T.’s furnace tending machines point to a handling systems (scrap, liquid, metal, coils, number of advantages: billets, slab and rolling mill roll transporters), During the last three years, TT Tomorrow • High economic return; dross treatment and other downstream equip- Technology has updated its entire range of • Ease of use; ment. furnace tending vehicles and tending robots, offering the aluminium industry a new model with all-wheel steering and telescopic boom up to a length of 12 metres. The high flexibility of the rubber-tyred, diesel-powered vehicles is not subject to any restrictions so that they can also be used for scrap feeding and thus become multi-purpose furnace tending vehicles. The new generation of skimming robots has been delivered with full wifi control to many customers in Europe, North America and several countries. A great advantage of the skimming robot on rails is that no special foundations or complex construction work are required for its installation. Mostly, these robots are already assembled and delivered ready to be placed on the rail prepared in front of the furnaces, which allows quick operation after operator training. As a result, a single operator in a multi- furnace casthouse can perform all tending work including charging, skimming, alloying • High reliability and minimal maintenance; Author and furnace cleaning. • Flexibility; T.T.’s production policy and market strat- • Easily implemented in existing casthouses. Giovanni Magarotto is managing partner of egy are aimed at providing high-efficient ve- In addition to skimming and furnace clean- T.T. Tomorrow Technology SpA in Due Carrare, hicles and equipment to protect the alumin- ing systems, T.T. Tomorrow Technology’s Italy.

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First successful cast from the Alba Potline 6 expansion casthouse furnaces

In March 2017 Mechatherm was awarded the contract from Bechtel on behalf of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) for the turnkey supply of the melting / holding furnaces and launder systems for their Potline 6 expansion. This prestigious contract award for Mechatherm affirms the company’s position as a leading supplier of casthouse furnaces, in particular to the Middle East and Gulf countries. To date Mechatherm has installed over 70 melting and holding furnace references across the Middle East region, commencing from the late 1980s.

The Alba contract to Mechatherm was for the supply of casthouse equipment, including the integration of the hot metal treatment systems which feed various casting processes. The Mechatherm equipment includes three 165- tonne capacity tilting melting / holding furnac-

es, three 85-tonne melting / holding furnaces, © Mechatherm and two under hearth electromagnetic stirring Mechatherm 165-tonne tilting melting / holding furnace during first cast systems (EMS). One other supplied feature of the casthouse scope and overall layout is a stalled ‘third party’ in-line degassing, refining been vindicated, as over the last two years fully integrated and interconnecting hot metal and filtration systems. Mechatherm has been successfully adding to delivery system. This system allows alumin- The Line 6 Expansion Casthouse Furnaces its references, particularly in the USA, and ium to be delivered from each furnace to any contract was awarded to Mechatherm on a recently won its biggest ever single-value or- one of the newly installed casting machines full turnkey basis by the project nominated der at JW Aluminum in Goose Creek, South supplied by other OEMs as part of the same EPCM, Bechtel Co. Ltd – USA (Bahrain Carolina. project. Branch). Mechatherm has worked closely This order is for the supply of four 140- The furnace design scope was such that the with Bechtel throughout the design engineer- tonne multi-chamber contaminated scrap de- furnaces should supply liquid aluminium to ing phase, right through to the on-site instal- coating / melting furnaces to feed two 155- three different casting machines via a common lation execution, which is scheduled to be tonne tilting holding furnaces, as part of JW launder system. The casting machines include fully complete by September 2019. Aluminium’s new continuous sheet produc- a 165-tonne slab casting machine, an 85- Mechatherm reported that in January tion expansion. The supplied melting furnace tonne VDC billet casting machine and a con- 2019, the first liquid aluminium was delivered technology will receive the contaminated tinuous 10-kg ingot caster. from one of the 165-tonne tilting melting / scrap and utilize energy from pyrolyzed vola- Under normal circumstances the supplied holding furnaces to allow the first continuous tile organic compounds (VOCs) by destroying 165-tonne capacity tilting melting / holding cast of 10-kg ingots. Thanks to this prestig- them by incineration. This technology increas- furnaces will be predominantly used to serve ious contract award from Alba / Bechtel, Me- es the overall furnace efficiency by reducing the 165-tonne VDC rolling ingot casting ma- chatherm has seen recent business growth not gas consumption and minimizing toxic emis- chine. However, there is enough design cap- only in turnover, but also in the number of sions sent to the fume treatment plans for final acity and cycle time built in for one of these employees working now at their UK head- clean-up. furnaces to feed the continuous 10-kg ingot quarters. Working on a large and engineering- As part of Mechatherm’s continued growth caster. Likewise, the 85-tonne furnaces are intensive project such as the Potline 6 cast- and brand-building efforts, the company’s dedicated to feed the 85-tonne VDC capacity house, Mechatherm has recruited and built first satellite office for sales and services has billet casting machine in the same way, but up its professional workforce, after previous- recently been established in Dubai, UAE. also having cycle capacity to feed the 10-kg ly experiencing a slow period of business ac- The intention is for this dedicated branch ingot caster. tivity, mostly blamed on the drop-in price of office to offer maximum support to Me- This overall casthouse layout gives Alba world aluminium during 2015–2017. chatherm’s customers in the Middle East and optimum casting flexibility, dependent upon Mechatherm is well positioned to tender GCC countries, as this region has provided a their production and cast product needs. In for other large-scale casthouse contracts on large proportion of Mechatherm’s business addition, Mechatherm also supplied and in- a global scale. This perception has already over the years. ■

32 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 SPECIAL

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Primary aluminium activities in 2019 Rudolf P. Pawlek, Sierre

During the first half of 2019 some 31.5m 51% of Albras, the remaining 49% is owned The Elysis JV of Rio Tinto and Alcoa is tonnes of primary aluminium have been by Nippon Amazon Aluminium. working to commercialize by 2024 a break- produced. Of this volume some 18.9m Fives has started the refurbishment of 39 through technology that eliminates all direct tonnes were produced in China. Even casting trolleys on the old ECL pot tending greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the tradition- though some Chinese primary aluminium machines at Albras. The installation is under al aluminium smelting process, instead pro- smelters are shut down, there still seems execution through a 21-month supervision ducing pure oxygen. The Elysis process has to be enough capacity to increase total contract managed by Fives’ local team. the potential to reduce the environmental production, and more new, state-of-the- CANADA: Alcoa on 2 July released that footprint of the aluminium industry on a glo- art technology smelters are waiting to be the Aluminerie de Bécancour (ABI) smelter bal scale. taken into operation. plans to restart curtailed capacity after mem- In May equipment supplier Stas Inc. ac- However, as in the first of 2019 the bers of the United Steelworkers union in quired Sermas Industrie. A global leader in LME cash price for primary aluminium Québec approved a 6-year labour agreement. the sawing of large materials for the alumin- has stayed under USD1,900/t – the aver- In December 2018, Alcoa cut half of the sole ium industry, Sermas Industrie develops a age is at USD1,827/t and the average operating potline at the ABI smelter, bringing complete range of equipment for the manu- of June is USD1,754/t – the question its capacity to a sixth of the nameplate capaci facture of cast aluminium products. More than remains: for how long can companies ity, or less than 70,000 tpy. 500 Sermas units are in operation around the produce aluminium when most of them ABI, owned by Alcoa (74.95%) and Rio world. Through this acquisition and the im- cannot cover their production costs? And Tinto Alcan (25.05%), has a total production plementation of broad synergies, Stas real- this low price level looks set to continue capacity of 413,000 tpy. The restart was an- izes its vision of becoming a key player for into the near future. nounced to begin on 26 July 2019 and is ex- the aluminium industry by offering turnkey, Therefore, only companies with their pected to be complete in the second quarter reliable and robust solutions to its customers: own energy sources of hydropower or of 2020. Salaried employees had operated aluminium smelters, rolling mills, extrusion natural gas can persist and produce prof- one of three potlines during the lockout, until and forging plants, recyclers, distribution cen- itably. These companies are located in the Alcoa released an additional curtailment of tres and the carbon industry. With over 1,500 Middle East, Iceland, Canada and Russia. one half of that potline in December 2018. equipment units in operation and thousands In April Elysis announced the site for its of tailord solutions, Stas is recognized for its THE AMERICAS new R&D facility in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint- innovative qualities and engineering exper- Jean region, which will directly employ over tise adapted to the aluminium sector. BRAZIL: Albras’ board of directors decided 25 experts when it is fully operational. The Also in May Mecfor confirmed that its first in May to restart aluminium production at its new Elysis R&D Centre will be located at electrical automatic guided vehicle (AGV) is plant in Brazil. The smelter is expected to be Rio Tinto’s Complexe Jonquière, the site of in operation in a Quebec smelter. The Govern-

Period Reported primary aluminium production (Thousands of metric tonnes)

North South West East & Cen GCC Gulf Asia China Unreported Oceania Africa Total America America Europe tral Europe Region (ex China) (estimate) (estimate)

Year 2013 4,918 1,906 3,616 3,995 3,887 2,439 26,534 2,104 1,812 1,080 52,291 Year 2014 4,585 1,543 3,596 3,764 4,832 2,429 28,317 2,035 1,746 1,080 53,927 Year 2015 4,469 1,325 3,745 3,829 5,104 3,001 31,518 1,978 1,687 1,080 57,736 Year 2016 4,027 1,361 3,779 3,981 5,197 3,442 32,641 1,971 1,691 1,800 59,890 Year 2017 3,950 1,378 3,776 3,999 5,149 3,951 35,905 1,817 1,679 1,800 63,404 Year 2018 3,774 1,164 3,732 4,049 5,334 4,415 36,488 1,917 1,668 1,800 64,341 Jan-Sept 18 2,804 890 2,795 3,030 4,002 3,296 27,177 1,432 1,247 1,350 48,023 Jan-Sept 19 2,858 787 2,587 3,099 4,109 3,302 26,788 1,436 1,233 1,350 47,549 Source: IAI Source: producing at full capacity in the second half the Arvida smelter and Vaudreuil refinery. ment of Quebec has granted financial aid of of 2019. The decision to restart Albras came It will be fully operational in the second half USD350,000 to test the AGV Team prototype after the decisions by the federal court in Be- of 2020. The new research centre is located in real operational conditions. Mecfor invested lem, Brazil, to lift the production embargoes in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean because of USD1.5m in this R&D project. The govern- on Alunorte, allowing Alunorte to ramp up the region’s notable expertise in the alumin- ment added financial aid of USD1.1m for the towards normal production. Albras curtailed ium sector and financial backing from both project. The Government of Quebec invested half its 460,000-tpy primary aluminium pro- the Quebec and Canadian governments. The a total of USD810,000, of which USD350,000 duction in mid-April 2018, following Alu- construction work on the R&D Centre has of- is dedicated to setting up the technological norte’s forced production cut. Hydro owns ficially started in August. showcase, promoting the potential of compa-

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Primary aluminium smelters in Africa and America: Nameplate capacities and shutdown capacities on a temporary basis Compiled by R. P. Pawlek, July 2019

Grande Baie 230,000 Nameplate Shutdown Country Location Kitimat 436,000 capacity capacity (tpy) (tpy) Laterrière 260,000 AFRICA Bécancour 455,000 379,000 Cameroon Edéa 100,000 50,000 Sept-Îles 630,000 Egypt Nag Hammadi 320,000 Deschambault 280,000 Ghana Tema 200,000 120,000 Baie Comeau 300,000 Mozambique Maputo 575,000 USA Sebree, KY 210,000 Nigeria Ikot Abasi 200,000 200,000 Mount Holly, SC 231,000 70,000 South Africa Richards Bay, Hillside 720,000 Evansville 161,000 50,000 AMERICA Massena, NY 135,000 Argentina Puerto Madryn 465,000 55,000 Wenatchee, WA 144,000 144,000 Brazil Belem 460,000 230,000 Ferndale, WA 279,000 49,000 São Louis 465,000 465,000 Hawesville, KY 252,000 100,00 Sorocaba 455,000 55,000 New Madrid, MO 280,000 93,000 Canada Arvida 240,000 Venezuela Puerto Ordaz 170,000 170,000 Alma 470,000 Mantanzas 448,000 448,000

nies like Mecfor in designing products like an all three curtailed potlines at Hawesville were ium products. Most Venezuelan aluminium electrical AGV for heavy industrial sectors. again in full operation. The teams are now producers export material to the US, Japan The showcase will demonstrate Mecfor’s turning their attention to rebuilding and in- and Europe, the companies said. AGV Team technology to potential custom- stalling new technology on the two lines that Output has been under pressure for years ers from around the world over the next six have been continuously producing; the first of now. BMO Capital Markets, for example, pre- months. Currently, the AGV Team prototype these lines was taken out of service in March viously estimated Venalum’s production in transports molten metal crucibles in a smelt- 2019 and is currently being rebuilt. The new 2019 at 100,000 tonnes, down from full cap- er. The technological showcase aims the AGV technology continues to perform above ex- acity usage a decade before. “After a country- Team to be operating in real 24/7 conditions, pectations in efficiency and process stability. wide blackout following a failure at the Guri executing metal flow orders coming from the All operations are stable, and safety perform- Dam hydroelectric plant, the remaining pots aluminium smelter. The AGV conditions fits ance has been excellent. at the facility were turned off and are unlikely into the spirit of Industry 4.0. These vehicles On 17 May the United States reached an to restart in the near future,” BMO analysts also handle the issue of shortage of skilled la- agreement to remove Section 232 tariffs from wrote in a note on 12 March. bour in industrial operations. Canada and Mexico. The deal is expected to Venezuela is in the midst of a deep politi- USA: In March the US Department of pave the way for the passage of the US-Mex- cal and economic crisis. The Venalum smelter Energy (DOE) in partnership with Lawrence ico-Canada agreement, the replacement for was operating with 59 cells while Alcasa was Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was the North American Free Trade Agreement. operating with only 14. Both companies were providing nearly USD1.2m for four projects US President Trump implemented the tariffs already at their minimum operational capaci- to support American aluminium manufactur- – 25% on steel imports and 10% on alumin- ties, and they stopped entirely on 8 March. Ve- ers in improving energy efficiency, increasing ium imports – in March 2018. Those tariffs nalum has an installed capacity of 905 cells; productivity and accelerating manufacturing were applied to Canada and Mexico, along Alcasa, whose technology is more outdated, innovation. Among the projects to be funded with the European Union, on 1 June 2018, has 596. Venalum’s fifth potline alone con- is Alcoa’s ‘Large eddy simulation to improve causing a major disruption in the US steel and sumed 4.5m kWh, equivalent to the monthly cell design’. This is one of the projects se- aluminium markets, as well as markets around consumption of 90,000 homes, with a ratio lected from the sixth solicitation for the High the world. of 1,500 kWh per month. The collapse of the Performance Computing for Manufacturing Venezuela: A power outage in Venezuela aluminium sector inflicted another blow to (HPC4Mfg) program. The program, support- has forced local aluminium producers Vena- Venezuela’s already battered economy and ed by DOE, facilitates technical support from lum and Alcasa to temporarily stop opera- industrial productivity. national laboratories, including access to su- tions at their smelters, the state-owned par- The closure will also impact the operations percomputing capabilities, high-end modelling ent group of both companies, CVG, said on 9 in CVG Bauxilum and CVG Carbonorca: the and simulation software, and subject matter March. Venezuela’s hydro power plant, Guri, first is focused on mining bauxite to turn it in- experts. Alcoa in Kensington, Pennsylvania, was out of commission for most of the day to alumina; the second, on producing carbon will receive USD300,000 for its project to on March 7, and many parts of the country anodes for cells. This will also lead to a job develop a novel hybrid advanced smelting were left with no electricity for over 24 hours. loss of about 5,000 employees. The blackout process. This aims to increase productivity Venalum is a primary aluminium smelter with brought down the curtain to these historical and cell performance while minimizing GHG capacity for 430,000 tpy of ingots and extru- smelters causing a final shutdown to the Ven- emission. sion billets. Alcasa can produce 185,000 tpy ezuelan aluminium sector. ➝ In May Century Aluminum reported that of ingots and 16,700 tpy of finished alumin-

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Primary aluminium smelters in Asia and Oceania: Nameplate capacities and shutdown capacities on a temporary basis

Nameplate Shutdown Indonesia Kuala Tanjung 300,000 Country Location capacity capacity Kazakhstan Pavlodar 250,000 (tpy) (tpy) Malaysia Mukah 120,000 ASIA Samalaju 323,000 Azerbaijan Ganja 50,000 Tajikistan Regar 450,000 200,000 India Jharsuguda 1,725,000 900,000 Turkey Seydisehir 75,000 Korba 575,000 165,000 OCEANIA Renukoot 345,000 Australia Portland 358,000 126,000 Hirakud 213,000 21,000 Boyne Island 585,000 88,000 Lapanga 360,000 Tomago 591,000 Mahan 360,000 Bell Bay 190,000 Angul 475,000 70,000 New Zealand Tiwai Point 370,000

GULF REGION & ASIA vesting USD10bn. The potential project may • Improving the tapping hoist by replacing take place in three phases over 15 years. In the current motors and mounting frames of 3 ABU DHABI: In May Emirates Global Alu- Phase 1, there could be the development of PTMs of Line 4 in order to facilitate mainten- minium (EGA) said that its Al Taweelah site an aluminium facility, while in Phase 2 and ance and improve safety. has received certification from the Aluminium 3, there could be a red mud research centre, • Performing a structural, mechanical and Stewardship Initiative (ASI) for its sustain- a recycling project, and large-scale upstream electrical Life Expectancy Audit of a 25-year ability practices and performance. EGA is the and downstream non-ferrous metal process- ECL cathode transport crane, which Alba uses first company in the Middle East to achieve a ing facilities. Kizad will support East Hope on the Lines 4 and 5. Engineering was ex- certification to ASI standards. Group in acquiring land for the project, creat- ecuted by Fives in France, while project man- In May EGA announced the start-up of a ing a masterplan, and handling the import of agement and supervision were executed by new AED15m (USD4.1m) pre-treatment and raw materials through Khalifa Port. In addi- its Service entity located in the Gulf area. Site crusher facility for spent pot lining (SPL) in tion, Kizad is also in charge for exploring op- inspection was jointly performed by both com- a step forward for the recycling of industrial tions for the sustainable generation of energy panies. waste. The new facility can pre-treat 60,000 and a sustainability programme to preserve Already in January Fives signed a 5-year tpy of SPL to be used by cement companies the environment, including the research centre. maintenance contract for the Line 6 PTMs. in the UAE as an alternative feedstock. EGA BAHRAIN: In January Alba launched CHINA: In May it was reported that new has worked with UAE cement firms since 2010 Phase IV of Project Titan, with the objective Chinese aluminium projects are planned in to develop the potential of SPL to replace to reduce cash-cost of USD100m by the end 2019. The Chinese spot alumina price could some fuel and refractory materials required of 2020, and announced that it has achieved rise in the course of 2019, despite new capac- in cement manufacturing. USD102m savings in Phase III of Project Ti- ity planned in 2019, due to new downstream In 2018, EGA supplied over 41,000 tonnes tan. Alba’s Project Titan – Phase IV is a 24- aluminium projects which outpace the raw of SPL to UAE cement companies, reducing month programme and aims to achieve USD material’s capacity expansion. China is pro- stockpiles from previous years and making 40m in 2019 and USD60m in 2020. Through jected to add 5.4m tonnes of new alumina EGA a global leader in the re-use of this in- Project Titan, Alba achieved benefits of USD capacity this year, a y/y rise of 69% from dustrial waste. Worldwide, the aluminium in- 281m over the five years during which Phase 3.2m tonnes of new capacity the year before. dustry produces over 1m tonnes of spent pot I to III had been executed. New aluminium projects, including capac lining every year. The new pre-treatment and In May Alba successfully started another ity swap and capacity replacement, have been crusher facility is located at EGA’s Al Tawee- 106 pots in Line 6, bringing 212 pots into life under construction since the beginning of the lah site, and is the largest in the Gulf region. by 18 April, which is equivalent to 50% of year. Chinese aluminium capacity is forecast EGA is also supplying most of its carbon Line 6 capacity. Potline 6 was commissioned to rise by 8.6% or 3.45m of tonnes to 43.05m dust, another by-product, to the UAE cement on 13 December 2018 with the delivery of the tonnes this year from total capacity of 39.6m industry for use as a fuel. In addition, EGA First Hot Metal. Since then, there has been a tonnes at the end of 2018. This means alu- sends some dross for processing to recover gradual ramp-up of Line 6. Full ramp-up of minium smelters may need an extra 8.63m aluminium. A new dross processing facility Line 6 is scheduled for the end of July. tonnes of alumina to secure their production to enable all this waste to be re-used is cur- In May Fives announced that it had com- expansion schedule, based on the typical alu- rently under construction by a third party pleted four improvement projects on ECL minium production formula of 2.5 tonnes of near EGA’s Al Taweelah site. EGA’s waste equipment at the Alba smelter, namely: alumina required for a tonne of aluminium generation, excluding SPL, reduced by 15% • Replacing the compressor control system of produced. in 2018 compared with 2017. the ten ECL Pot Tending Machines (PTMs) The recent better performance of the alu- At the end of May, China’s manufacturing of Potline 5. The aim was to facilitate the ma- minium price on the Shanghai Futures Ex- firm East Hope Group reportedly entered into chine maintenance by reducing breakdowns change is also expected to encourage more an agreement with Khalifa Industrial Zone and making the system more accessible. production to return, which may further draw Abu Dhabi (Kizad) to explore the feasibility • Modernizing the hydraulic drive of the on alumina supplies. of setting up a project in that region by in- same PTMs. Zhongwang Group, a leading aluminium

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Primary aluminium smelters in China: Nameplate capacities and shutdown capacities on a temporary basis

Jingxi Xian Guangxi 320,000 Tianyuan 130,000 40,000 Nameplate Shutdown Ke’ao 135,000 Tongliao Inner Mongolia 173,000 Location capacity capacity Laibin Yunhai 250,000 (tpy) (tpy) Tongshuan Xinguang 110,000 Lanzhou Shi 718,000 Tongshuan Shanxi 600,000 Aba 200,000 Lanzhou Liancheng 520,000 Wanji Henan 530,000 Baise Yinhai 200,000 Liaocheng Shandong 1,150,00 Weiqiao 900,000 250,000 Baotou Shi 1,350,000 Liaoning Zhongwang 840,000 Wujiaqu 1,350,000 Baotou Inner Mongolia 860,000 Linzhou Henan 350,000 Xibu Shuidian 250,000 Chiping Xinfa 1,350,000 Longquan Aluminium 400,000 Xichuan 100,000 Chongqing Guofeng 100,000 Meishan Qimingxing 250,000 Xiezhou 330,000 Chongqing Sichuan 372,000 Mianchi Aluminium 125,000 Xinfa 175,000 Chongqing Tiantai 372,000 Minhe Xian Qinghai 450,000 Xinjiang Jiarum 453,000 Chuangyuan 100,000 Nanping Fujian 100,000 Xinjiang Qiya 900,000 Datong Xian Qinghai 436,000 Nanshan 840,000 Xinjiang Shenhuo 820,000 Neimeng Jinlian 800,000 Dongfang Xiwang 780,000 Xinjang Yihe 400,000 Emeishan 355,000 Ningdong 300,000 Xinjiang 370,000 Fukang 100,000 Ningxia 370,000 Xinjiang 1,714,000 Fushun Shi 355,000 355,000 Nongbashi 1,020,000 Xinjiang Easthope 954,000 200,000 Gansu Dongxing Jiujia 1,359,000 Nongliushi Xinjiang 1,900,000 Yangquan Shanxi 220,000 Gansu Lonxi 250,000 Pingguo Xian 140,000 Yichuan Aluminium 620,000 60,000 Guangxi Baise 320,000 Qiaotou 350,000 Yingchuan Ningxia 570,000 Guangxi Baise Xinghe 200,000 Qinao 160,000 Yingkou Zhongwang 430,000 Guangxi Suyuan 200,000 Qinghai 900,000 Yinhai Aluminium 100,000 Guangyuan Qimingxing 114,000 Qinghai Xining 400,000 Yongcheng Henan 460,000 Guanlu (old) 110,000 Qinghai Xinheng 675,000 Yugang Longquan 600,000 Guanlu (new) 220,000 220,000 Qinghai Xinye 550,000 Yulian Power 120,000 Guanyuan Aostar 120,000 Qingtongxia Maike 312,000 Yulin Shanxi 630,000 Guiyang Shi 240,000 Qingtongxia Ningxia 685,000 Guizhou 410,000 175,000 Qinyang 500,000 70,000 Yuncheng Shi 220,000 Guizhou Xingrenxian 100,000 Sanmenxia Shi 120,000 20,000 Yunnan Gejiu 300,000 Hejin Xian 120,000 Shandong Donghai 200,000 Yunnan Yangzonghai 305,000 Henan Xi‘an 212,000 Shangdian 125,000 Yunnan Dongyuan 380,000 Houlinghe Inner Mongolia 806,000 Shanxian He‘nan 240,000 Yunnan Yongxin 300,000 Honglu Aluminium 150,000 Shanxi-Huaze 651,000 Yunnan Zexin 250,000 Huanghe 500,000 Shanxi-Non-Ferrous 630,000 Zhengxing Aluminium 120,000 70,000 Huasheng Jiangquan 270,000 270,000 Shenhuo (new) 420,000 110,000 Zhonghe Xinjiang 180,000 Huayu 200,000 200,000 Shihezi Xinjiang 1,100,000 Zhongfu Henan 520,000 Inner Mongolia Datang 163,000 Sichuan Emei 350,000 Zhongning Aluminium 300,000 Jiamusi Xinjiang 842,000 Sichuan Qiya 200,000 Zibo Shi 555,000 Jiaozuo Henan 440,000 Taiyuan Shi 100,000 Zouping Shandong 6,400,000 Jinning 350,000 Tianshuan 400,000 Zunyi Xian Guizhou 260,000

products producers in China, received ap- new bauxite mines in certain regions where duced at Jebel Ali, which includes both power proval in 2018 for an aluminium smelter with accessible farm land is reserved for farmers. generation and aluminium smelting, are ex- over 300,000 tpy of new capacity. The project In August China’s Ministry of Finance pected to be up to 7% lower. is now under construction. A second 200,000- published a list of retaliatory tariffs including The project is expected to reduce EGA’s tpy smelter is in the final stage of approval, an extra 5% tariff on imports of copper and NOx emissions at Jebel Ali by 58%. NOx is although there is no set date for construction. aluminium scrap from the US as from mid- amongst a group of emissions targeted for re- The difficulty in finding a stable domes- December. Beijing had already levied a 25% ductions under UAE Vision 2021 to improve tic bauxite supply for producing alumina has tariff on US aluminium scrap in 2018. The local air quality. EGA needs electricity for tightened alumina availability. Xinfa Group’s tariffs saw China’s aluminium scrap imports aluminium smelting and other industrial op- alumina plant in southwest China has report- from the US fall by 16% to 229,837 tonnes. erations, and has captive power plants at both edly stopped two of five lines due to shortage DUBAI: In April EGA, Mubadala and Du- Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah. EGA’s electricity of bauxite supply in that region, totalling 1,2m bal Holding officially broke ground on a new generation capacity is 5,450 MW. In 2018, tonnes of alumina capacity. China started its AED1bn (USD272m) power block at EGA’s EGA produced 2.64m tonnes of aluminium. supply reform policy in the mining industry in Jebel Ali smelter in Dubai. The new power INDIA: In April Vedanta Ltd reported an 2017, requiring a stricter approval process for plant should reduce GHG emissions from aluminium production of 1.959m in FY2019, new mine projects. One result of the reform EGA’s power generation at Jebel Ali by some an increase of 17% year-on-year, mostly driv- policy is that it is almost impossible to open 10%. Emission per tonne of aluminium pro- en by stabilized production increase after the

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Primary aluminium smelters in Europe, Russia and the Gulf region: Nameplate capacities and shutdown capacities on a temporary basis

Nameplate Shutdown Spain Aviles 93,000 93,000 Country Location capacity capacity La Coruña 87,000 87,000 (tpy) (tpy) San Ciprian 250,000 22,000 EuropE Sweden Sundsvall 130,000 Bosnia Mostar 130,000 130,000 Ukraine Zaporozhye 120,000 120,000 France Dunkerque 285,000 United Kingdom Fort William 50,000 St. Jean de Maurienne 145,000 Russia Bratsk 1,020,000 Germany Hamburg 135,000 Boguchany 600,000 300,000 Voerde 96,000 Shelekhovo 420,000 Essen 170,000 Kandalaksha 72,000 Neuss 230,000 80,000 Krasnoyarsk 1,025,000 Greece St. Nicolas 170,000 Nadvoitsy 24,000 24,000 Iceland Straumsvik 212,000 Novokuznetsk 215,000 Fjardaal 346,000 Sayanogorsk 545,000 Grundartangi 317,000 Khakass 300,000 Montenegro Podgorica 75,000 Volgograd 66,000 The Netherlands Delfzijl 170,000 120,000 GULF REGION Norway Lista 127,500 33,000 Abu Dhabi Taweelah 1,500,000 Mosjoen 221,500 33,000 Bahrain Askar 1,110,000 Aardal 204,000 Iran Arak 60,000 Hoyanger 65,000 Arak (2) 120,000 15,000 Karmoy 270,000 Bandar Abbas 110,000 50,000 Sunndalsora 400,000 64,000 Bandar Abbas (2) 147,000 43,000 Husnes 185,000 95,000 Oman Sohar 390,000 Romania Slatina 282,000 Qatar Mesaieed 650,000 Slovenia Kidricevo 85,000 Saudi Arabia Ras Al Khair 763,000 Slovakia Ziar nad Hronom 175,000 UAE Jebel Ali 1,160,000 complete ramp up of Jharsuguda smelters. HZHB stopped the supply of electricity and about 2,000 MWh of electricity storage for use This has made Vedanta the largest aluminium disconnected the smelter from the power in the energy revolution. producer in India, as the company contrib- grid. EP HZHB terminated the power supply With the use of this virtual battery, Tri- uted 53% of the total aluminium production contract with Aluminij in mid-June due to met is trying to shift away from the conven- of about 3.68m tonnes in FY19. While Nalco accumulated debts and unpaid electricity bills tional smelter process to make the energy- produced 440,000 tonnes of aluminium, Hin- over a long period. The debt to the electricity intensive electrolysis process more flex- dalco is expected to produce about 1.29m supplier amounted to 280m Bosnian marks ible. Trimet worked with Bergische Universi- tonnes of aluminium in FY19. (€141m) by the end of June, with total debts tät Wuppertal to develop a controllable heat Production from Jharsuguda-I stood at piled up to nearly €200m. 168 of 256 pot exchanger for the virtual battery. This keeps 545,000 tonnes and Jharsuguda-II recorded cells were in operation when the electricity the temperature in the pot constant despite a production of 843,000 tonnes in FY19. Ve- supply was cut. As the metal within the pots the change in energy supply, and provides danta’s Lanjigarh alumina refinery produced solidified, these 168 cells are permanently flexible control of the process. 1.5m tonnes in FY19, up 24% year-on-year, damaged. The future of Aluminij Mostar is MONTENEGRO: Uniprom released plans thanks to plant debottlenecking supporting completely uncertain. to invest €26m (USD29.3m) for upgrading the its alumina needs to a certain extent. GERMANY: In May Trimet Aluminium KAP aluminium smelter. Uniprom KAP or OMAN: In April Sohar Aluminium (SA) started trial operation of its ‘virtual battery’, Aluminium Plant Podgorica is located on the celebrated ten years of excellence. As Sohar which would control the energy supply for southern outskirts of Montenegro. Uniprom Aluminium has strived successfully to help di- aluminium production at its Essen plant. This plans to open a 30,000-tpy production unit versify the Sultanate’s growing economy, it has is expected to simulate a power storage facil- for its Silumin alloys, investing €11m (USD also streamlined the import of raw products ity that will make it easier to integrate the 12.4m). €15m will be invested in the con- and made huge strides in the past ten years. discontinuously generated electricity from re- struction of an aluminium billet production The smelter has produced more than 3.7m newable energy sources into the power grid. unit with a capacity of 70,000 tpy, which will tonnes of finished product since it started op- About €36m (USD 40m) were invested in the start operation by the end of 2019. Uniprom erations. project. After the conversion of 120 furnaces had installed an LNG facility in the plant to at the Essen aluminium plant, 25% more or replace petroleum fuel. EUROPE less electricity can be consumed for up to 48 Uniprom bought the KAP smelter from hours with uninterrupted production. The the Government of Montenegro in 2014 for Bosnia: Aluminij Mostar had to stop pro- energy requirement can also be reduced to €28m. KAP went bankrupt in 2013 after years duction on 10 July after Elektroprivreda zero for up to an hour if necessary, simulating of financial difficulties, with a debt of €383m,

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which was more than double of its €180m ing the total resource consumption rates and as Big Data. The system is expected to detect worth. KAP was owned by Salomon Enter- its impact on the environment. the causes of any reduced reduction cell per- prises, later renamed CEAC – Central Euro- One of the group’s main objectives re- formance, to recognize the optimum condi- pean Aluminum Company. The Government garding its production facilities is to achieve tions depending on the status of equipment, of Montenegro bought a large stake in the near-zero waste and emissions. The first steps and most importantly, to predict malfunctions. formerly privatized company from CEAC to in this direction have already been taken: in Several Rusal smelters in Siberia are imple- save it from bankruptcy. Later it was bought 2018 Alro signed an agreement with Alumin- menting the pilot project. If successful the by Uniprom. ium Pechiney (Rio Tinto Aluminium) to im- system, which is currently being designed, is THE NETHERLANDS: In January Al- plement a technology at its plant in Slatina due to be rolled out to other Rusal plants. del, located in Delfzijl, reopened its Potline that will allow further reduction in electricity The implementation of the new system 1 following the purchase of the business by consumption. will increase the company’s aluminium pro- York Capital in 2017. This is part of the on- RUSSIA: At the end of March Rusal and duction efficiency two-fold; by decreasing going capital investment in both equipment PJSC RusHydro announced that they have the abnormalities throughout the process and people as the plant moves towards full launched the construction of Potline 2 at the and by improving the reduction cell control production by the end of 2019. Aldel’s return to the European aluminium industry has been very well received, and this is reflect- ed by the strong support the business has received from customers and suppliers alike. NORWAY: In March Hydro became vic- tim of a cyber-attack, impacting operations in several of the company’s business areas. IT- systems in most business areas were impacted and Hydro switched to manual operations as far as possible. It took Hydro several weeks to neutralize the attack. In April one of Hydro Karmøy’s two production lines, with a capacity of 195,000 tpy of primary aluminium, suffered a power failure. Power at the affected facility was re- stored at a lower amperage. The affected line has 288 production cells, of which 45 were

taken out of production to enable stable op- © Hydro erations. This represents 10% of the total pro- Hydro’s technology pilot in Karmøy duction capacity at the Karmøy plant. In April Hydro also said that casting op- Boguchansky smelter (BoAZ), part of the quality. At the end of 2019, the project in- erations at the Husnes plant will be upgraded Boguchany Energy and Metals Complex vestment will amount to around RUB20m with new technology to produce more ad- (Bemo). The Bemo project was completed at (USD311,000). vanced products for the growing automotive a record pace: in 2012 the first hydro-electric Spain: At the end of July Alcoa com- aluminium forging market. Hydro will invest units went into operation; three years later pleted the deal with Parter Capital Group in NOK150m (USD17.6m) with the aim of start- the station reached the design capacity of Switzerland, for that firm to acquire Alcoa’s ing operations in 2020. 2,997 MW. The capacity of the first potline of Avilés and La Coruña aluminium plants. The The in-house developed casting technology BoAZ is 298,000 tpy of aluminium. acquisition includes the casthouses at both ‘Low Pressure Casting’ (LPC) enables Hydro The US treasury lifted the sanctions on plants and the paste plant at La Coruña, to provide materials with enhanced proper- Rusal in January. Novelis is one of the key which are currently in operation, and the cur- ties for various extruded and forged products, customers that Rusal lost in 2018. The com- tailed smelters at both plants. Parter Capital where Hydro is already a major material sup- pany is partially resuming deliveries to them, has proposed reindustrialization projects for plier. After the upgrade, the Husnes plant will but hopes to get back more old customers by both sites and a potential restart of the plants’ also be able to offer materials for forging. The September. The 2019 volumes for most of its smelting capacity. Hydro-developed technology enables a shift US and Japanese customers are already con- TAJIKISTAN: In April Tajik Aluminium from traditional extruded forge stock to cast tracted. Rusal is negotiating with Glencore for Co. (Talco) announced it will get a facelift forge stock, eliminating costly steps in the pro- renewal of a contract which expired in late by China’s state-owned engineering company duction process, while also improving quality. 2018. Rusal plans to keep its 2019 production CMEC. The refurbishment cost will be some The as-cast surface is ready for forging and and investments unchanged at 3.8m tonnes USD545m. The contract between CMEC (Chi- does not need homogenizing. and USD900m, respectively. na Machinery Engineering Corp.) and Talco ROMANIA: In June Alro reported in its In June Rusal announced the launch of a was signed in April. Details on how Talco new sustainability report, that it invested in potroom control system to improve produc- would finance the deal were not revealed. R&D and state-of-the-art equipment and tech- tion efficiency. The control system will use Over the past years, the smelter’s annual pro- nology, with the purpose of improving the advanced scientific and methodological ap- duction dwindled significantly. ■ products’ quality and quantity, while reduc- proaches based on forecast analytics known

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Ma’aden Aluminium implements 8Sigma MES solution for automotive sheet plant

Ma’aden Aluminium, one of the largest plexes in the world is an additional proof of aluminium groups in the Middle East, the quality of 8Sigma. On the occasion of decided to digitalize its automotive sheet signing the agreement, Marko Šatrak, director plant by implementing a Manufacturing and co-founder of 8Sigma, said: “It is a great Execution System (MES) from 8Sigma. honour to be a partner of a leading company Ma’aden decided in favour of the 8Sigma in aluminium production and to support them MES because the company has already in their further development. The implemen- proved its expertise in the metals indus- tation of 8Sigma MES is a confirmation of tries.

The cooperation is an integral part of Ma’aden Aluminium’s plan to digitalize the complete production processes in its rolling mill, which produces aluminium coils for the automotive industry. The cooperation agreement, which was signed in July 2019, re- fers to the first phase of

www.alu-web.de/en the implementation of the 8Sigma MES solu-

tion in the factory in Ras © 8Sigma Al Khair Industrial City Marko Satrak, director and Co-Founder at 8Sigma, and Mohammed and will be put into op- Al-Ahmari, engineering manager at Ma‘aden Rolling Company eration during 2020. According to this agreement, the imple- Ma’aden’s tendency to be a state-of-the-art mented MES will enable the factory’s staff company focused on reaching the highest and management to have a quick and real- product quality and achieving the most chal- time overview on all production steps. It will lenging business goals.” provide them with the capability to track the As a supplier of primary aluminium and product from the very moment when it en- rolled products, the Saudi Arabian company ters the plant as a raw material to the mo- includes the development, design, construc- ment when it is ready for delivery to the end tion and operation of two sites integrated in customer. Some of the most important ben- a mine-to-metal network. Since 2009, it has efits of implementing the MES solution will been a joint venture company with Alcoa. be the increase in product quality and pro- Only recently, in June, Alcoa announced that cess optimization, as well as the possibility to it will divest its 25.1% minority interest in compare employees’ performance and control Ma’aden Rolling Company (MRC). machine efficiency. 8Sigma is a premium MES supplier based in “We expect a quick and efficient imple- the EU and established by software experts with mentation of the MES solution by 8Sigma valuable experience gained in developing MES that will bring Industry 4.0 to the automotive solutions in the factories on five continents. part of our complex and support us in further Their 8Sigma MES is adjustable to all types of digitalization activities that we have been im- manufacturing industries and various plant plementing from the very beginning of our sizes, as it is very configurable and at the same plant. It will help us to increase quality con- time user-friendly solution. It also provides cli- trol and also to strengthen our leading posi- ents with a wide range of benefits and features, tion on the market,” said Ma’aden Rolling’s such as immediate factory visibility, automatic Aluminium - the material of choice. of material the - Aluminium Visit our website and find out about the latest developments in the developments about the latest and find out our website Visit aluminium industry. international operation director, Abdulaziz Al-Ruwaily. comparison or results and targets, proactive Signing the cooperation agreement with maintenance, downtime analysis, standard- one of the largest integrated aluminium com- ization of production and better planning. ■

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Gautschi Engineering: Technologically up to the mark with the best market participants

With its product range, which covers in the recent past are large-capacity round The round melting furnaces are equipped melting and holding furnaces, casting ma- top furnaces charged from above by charg- with high energy-efficient regenerative burn- chines and heat treatment units, Gautschi ing buckets. The charging buckets can hold ers, developed by Gautschi and marketed Engineering GmbH in Berg, Switzerland, up to 35 tonnes of charge material consisting under the name Varega. “Besides their high has established itself as a comprehensive of clean scrap, for example ingots, head and energy efficiency, our Varega burners are equipment supplier for aluminium cast- foot discards cut from rolling bars, edge trim noted for comparatively long service life, so houses. ALUMINIUM spoke with Robert scrap or complete coils. that the worn heat-store components need to Schmidt, managing director Operations & These furnaces make an excellent fit for be replaced less often,” explains Schmidt. “At Sales at Gautschi Engineering, about the new, large plants like rolling mills. China present the burner head is being modified so company’s product range, technological above all has been an important sales re- that even strictest emission values planned for further development and new products gion for such furnaces in recent years. China the future will be complied with.” – and about collaboration with its sister- Zhongwang, one of the largest aluminium The regenerator is also being developed companies within the Ebner group. rolling plants in the world, has bought about further by Gautschi. “We want to use our 50 Gautschi round furnaces of various sizes, burners not only in large round melting fur- Gautschi offers melting furnaces of various ranging from 45 to 120 tonnes, over the past naces, but also in smaller melting aggregates designs – round and rectangular, stationary or years. with capacities up to 20 tonnes, and to be able tilting, up to a furnace capacity of 140 tonnes. Currently, Gautschi is engineering the to deliver different types of regenerators.” The focus is on large round top furnaces, for complete casthouse for the new rolling mill On the burner development work Gautschi is which the company holds a strong market for Braidy Industries, planned in Kentucky, collaborating with the Gas Technology Insti- position and has numerous references. USA, including round melting furnaces and tute of Freiberg (DBI) and the R&D depart- A majority of the melting aggregates sold casting lines for rolling bars. ment of Ebner. © Gautschi Gautschi offers round top melting furnaces charged from above up to furnace capacity of 140 tonnes

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Gautschi offers both oval and rectangular are conveyed to a closed side-well, in which main aluminium rolling companies, is a fine holding furnaces with a bath capacity of 20 a mechanical stirrer produces a vortex which example,” says Schmidt. to 140 tonnes. The oval variant has less free draws the chips down into the bath. An elec- The request from Aleris for a 100% hands- volume in the furnace chamber and has ad- tromagnetic stirrer under the furnace leads free casting guarantee and a lower butt curl vantages in relation to temperature control, the molten chips out of the chip box into the with hardly any butt swell enhanced the al- with Gautschi cold-air burners, giving very main bath. A 20-tonne furnace of this type ready start of Gautschi’s mould development tight temperature tolerances. has recently been installed for a Chinese cus- programme. At the Aleris plant in Belgium the For Novelis Pindamonhangaba in Brazil, tomer. moulds have been successfully tested and are which is currently increasing its capacity, Since June 2019 the Canadian company now used in normal operations. Next year an- Gautschi is supplying two 85-tonne round top GNA in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, is also part of other casting machine will be turned over to melting furnaces, a holding furnace and the the Ebner group. GNA also supplies melting the Gautschi mould system. “Here, we have casting frame for the casting machine. and holding furnaces as well as heat treatment achieved outstanding results with our new Gautschi supplied a rectangular 35-tonne units to the aluminium industry. Schmidt ex- moulds,” stresses Schmidt. “We have also already been able to demonstrate this to other noted aluminium product manufacturers.” In the meantime, HPI and Gautschi have started building a Casting Technology Centre in Ranshofen, Austria, which will be operational at the beginning of 2020. Not only vertical and horizontal casting machines will be installed but in future also continuous casting of sheet and plate will be possible. Schmidt points out that for work safety reasons many older casthouses will have to upgrade to hands-free casting in the foreseeable future. For hands-free casting both a mould which does not need any human interference during casting and 100% reliable automatic operation are necessary. “Nowadays that is technically not a problem. The Gautschi offers melting furnaces of various designs – round and rectangular, stationary or tilting control of the molten metal in the moulds can be carried melting furnace with some special features to plains that GNA is very well suited for the out fully automatically. This not only ensures Neuman Aluminium in Austria in 2019. With group. They add specific know-how on recyc- safety at work, but also improves the repro- this furnace Neuman is able to melt internal ling contaminated scrap furnaces, both multi- ducibility and therefore the quality of the scrap still containing small proportion of paint, chamber furnaces and rotary furnaces. They product,” says Schmidt. Such an automatic chips and extra-long profile scrap. An extra- have a strong position in the USA for both control system is a standard feature in Gaut- wide ramp for vaporizing organics, oxygen smaller rectangular furnaces and homogeni- schi’s sales programme. lances and a side box for chip melting are zation box furnaces. “The combination GNA, Together with HPI, which offers a broad Gautschi features making this possible. HPI and Gautschi is in every aspect a full so- range of casting equipment (e. g. charging lution provider for the aluminium casthouse,” machines, casting launders, horizontal con- Cooperation with HPI and GNA says Schmidt. tinuous-casting units, ultrasonic testing equipment), Gautschi can supply complete cast- The special chip melting side box has also been The Gautschi casting mould house equipment. installed at complete casthouses installed by A further important step is that of bring- Gautschi and its Ebner group sister company Vertical D.C. casting machines for billets and ing existing casthouses up to the latest state of HPI, which is the number one supplier of rolling slabs are a core product for Gautschi. the art. Gautschi also offers that possibility. In horizontal casting units for forging billets. The “The Gautschi mould, developed together times to come such refurbishments will attract chips, produced at peeling the casted billets, with specialists from the industry including more and more attention.

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indoor crane, therefore a charging machine needed for an overhead furnace is not necessary. Being a single-coil furnace, the annealing process can be started directly after charging and the next CCF is charged. Further- more, the furnace can be operated fully automatically, which makes sense particularly when several furnaces are being used. When several CCFs are being used the customer can also combine them optimally for different coil widths. “And during its lifetime: the coil width can be changed, by replacing the central portion and the CCF chamber enlarged with just a few additional adapta- tions,” he says.

Customer service: the face to the customer

Besides the sale of new equipment, Gautschi also offers the option of customer services. “In that way we can support the customers in a “We have achieved outstanding results with our new mould,” stresses Schmidt targeted manner,” says Schmidt. Particularly in new projects the casting test facility in Ran- Heat treatment: advantages demonstrated in trial annealing operations. shofen will enable Gautschi in future to carry of the Compact Coil Furnace The furnace is equipped with highly efficient out casting tests and special casting training recuperative burners, and circulation fans directly in a functioning plant. “This is a very For heat treatment equipment Gautschi is in fitted on the end walls on both sides ensure important step for being able to introduce competition with its parent company Ebner, uniform, all-round heat distribution,” explains the customer to the whole field of casting in as far as pusher-type furnaces and chamber Schmidt. the best possible way,” he remarks. furnaces for coils are concerned. Chamber A further advantage of the furnace is the These are exciting times for Gautschi, in furnaces for billets are supplied by GNA. low weight of only around 25 tonnes; there- which the company will score highly with its Gautschi concentrates on pusher-type fur- fore it does not need any special foundation. new developments. ■ naces, soaking pit furnaces and the Compact The furnace can be charged with a normal Coil Furnace (CCF). For the new automotive line of Novelis in Guthrie, Kentucky, which will begin operating in 2020, Ebner will supply the floater furnace while Gautschi has been awarded the contract for a batch-type annealing furnace for aluminium sheet, including a charging machine. The Compact Coil Furnace is a relatively new Gautschi product, designed as an alternative to both a multi-coil chamber furnace and the single-coil overhead furnace. Where- as a chamber furnace is charged with several coils, the CCF is a single-coil furnace which in its structure and mode of operation “offers economic advantages both when purchasing it and in operation,” says Schmidt. “The Compact Coil Furnace is noted for its great flexibility. Coils of different sizes can be annealed, whereas in a chamber furnace the coils charged must all be of the same size in order to ensure uniform heat transfer. Due to the fact that its space utilization is optimally adapted to the coil, temperature control is improved. Energy savings of 75% in holding operations can be achieved, as has been The Compact Coil Furnace is noted for its great flexibility and economic advantages

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New protections against potline freeze for aluminium smelters M. Wiestner and W. M. Lauwrens, ABB

During the past years, many smelters installing backup systems with automatic Potline protection have experienced incidents leading to changeover on all levels from utility over- damage to their potrooms or worse, total head line, power generation, and high voltage The potlines, historically and traditionally, shutdown of the potrooms, leading to switchgear, all the way down to 220 VAC dis- have been protected by conventional voltage very high financial loss and insurance tribution redundant systems. State-of-the-art and current measurements, such as increasing claims. To protect such costly assets, the power systems even have an N-2 design for voltage indicating anode events, increased installed and available protection systems critical areas. N-2 operation means that two impedance in the potroom, but also any signs have proven to be inadequate: smelters circuits or subsystems can fail, but there is still of open circuit. In line with the increasing need independent redundant, state-of- sufficient power for 100% production of the voltage, the reduced potline current confirms the-art and standalone systems, meeting potline. an open circuit. The conversion station will try the highest standards of protection in to maintain current and voltage, which can order to safeguard their multibillion as- Standard protection design result in arcing and high power density in a sets. ABB has developed new protection for smelter power systems single pot, or arcing to bus bars on a leaking systems which can prevent such incidents, pot. and can lift up the protection concepts to Following on of the concept of N-1 or N-2 ABB’s new protection detects changes of state-of-the-art with Industry 4.0 expan- backups in power circuits and power conver- the potroom resistance within milliseconds, sion capability. sion rectiformer, their sub systems, again have and it detects the different potroom distur- redundant protections circuits and overlap- bances like anode effect, tapping error, leak- Events leading to potline shutdowns ping protections. As an example, if the con- ing pot and others. Potlines need redundant verter over-current fails to see the overcur- open circuit protections (OCP). Combining There are several different categories of rent, then the transformer protection would the OCP protection with the potroom ground events, which can lead to a potline shutdown. take care to clear the fault. But should both fault supervision (PERMS, see below) allows • Loss of power generation or power protections fail to operate, then the switch- the automatic differentiation of even more supply from the utility for more gear protection is set up to disconnect the possible potroom disturbances. than about five hours unit from the substation. • Short-term power disturbance, leading to In a utility grid, it is now standard to have Weaknesses in the design and limitation potline trip and to restart issues redundant protection systems from different of existing potline protections • Potline operation issues leading to open suppliers. Even when the input parameters circuit in the potroom and function description are the same, the A thorough review is called for if the current • Auxiliary power failure supplying medium purpose is to ensure that although one sys- potline protection relies on any of the follow- and low voltage to potline services tem may be disabled or hacked, the other will ing situations: • Power conversion station failure. more likely survive. • Only one protection system, no backup (HV switchgear or rectiformers). Another example would be that if one has • Dual system only looking at the same The power supply, distribution and conver- an voice-activated house door in the Artic, parameter sion area must be designed to provide unin- then one should still carry a key to open the • Limited performance during potline terrupted power to the potline. This requires door in case the voice activation has failed. restart. (This is the most important time

Fig. 1: Power conversion station redundant protection design

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Fig. 3: High speed PLC with five microsecond sampling rate and Industry 4.0 capabilities

• Leaking pot with ground connection distinguishes the different potroom distur-

© ABB • Leaking pot without ground connection bances. To be able to recognize and differ- Fig. 2: FOCS High-accuracy potline • Tapping error by human entiate between the disturbances, the OCP current measuring device • Pot control error needs to receive high quality input signals: • Pot busbar connection failure potline voltage, potline current and ground when they should work!) • Multiple anode disconnect resistance need to be available on the same • Slow sampling rates, limited of data • Other. time base and with a very high sampling rate analyses and trending The OCP needs to be able to detect any po- per second. ABB’s potline DC measurement • Limited ability to distinguish different troom disturbance, or the trend to one, as early with Fibre Optic Current Sensor (FOCS) tech- operation and failure modes as possible. At the same time no false alarms nology allows such high accuracy, same-time • No standalone, independent protection or even pot line trip shall be allowed, as op- measurements. These signals then connect the • OCP protection systems and ground fault eration staff then will not trust the protection. I/O cards of the OCP high speed processor. detection not available or not optimized. As most disturbances happen during restart Here again, the I/O cards are capable of the or start-up of the potrooms the OCP needs same high speed, same-time sampling rate. Design requirement for to be active and reliable during this phase of The processor then uses these signals to deter- open circuit protection (OCP) potroom operation. mine the current state of the potroom operation and differentiates the different distur- Many different potroom disturbances are pos- New open circuit protection design bances. High speed and real-time data ac- sible, and one disturbance may lead to an- quisition is required to predict risks of these other. Industry feedback sums them up in fol- ABB’s new protection detects changes of the anomalies, well before they develop into seri- lowing categories: potroom resistance within milliseconds, and ous potroom disturbances. ➝

Fig. 4: Potline simulator with real event comparison

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Potline simulation and event management OCP

The OCP has a built-in potline simulator which allows testing during normal operation as well as simulation of new operation points or of operation modes of the potline before these are implemented. The new protection system detects changes of the potroom resistance within milliseconds. The graphs in the upper part of Fig. 4 show OCP reaction to the potline simulator input signals, with the master regulation Fig. 5: PERMS overview set points and return loop signals already compensated. The graphs in the lower part of Fig. monitoring device to protect personnel and components (AC part of the rectiformers) 4 show the tap up and tap down response to potroom equipment such as cranes. • High speed location of the leaking pot or different step inputs. The dynamic functions To detect earth fault currents, it is neces- of the busbar to ground connection. of the OCP will override or complement / sup- sary to measure the impedance between the plement the traditional potline current and DC voltage system and earth. The continuous Conclusions voltage trip set points if they are seen as not monitoring also helps to plan for predictive compatible with the detected potline operation maintenance of the potroom insulation sys- Potline open circuit and pot-to-ground moni- status. After the installation, the OCP will be tem. toring is crucial to prevent potline damage or run in the voltage and current mode, with The resistance to earth depends on the dirt, shutdowns ending up in outrageous financial the addition of a dynamic (potline operation) dust and moisture between the DC process cost. Smelters need to install redundant moni- learning mode. The learning mode will send and earth. Leaking of hot metal (‘run out’) toring and protection systems to supervise all a trip signal to the data logger but will not can cause low resistance paths to earth. The aspects of the process. This electric power se- activate a trip of the potline. insulation between high current carrying bus- curity has not been supervised in the past to Tuning: After the learning period and tem- bars (‘collector busbars’) and earth is critical the level which has been standard for years plating has been completed, our commission- for the safe operation of the smelter. The re- in other systems at the smelters. Almost all ing expert will return to the plant (after 3-6 sistance values are recorded in the OCP his- other areas within the smelters have been months). He will analyze the trip initiations torical memory. given a redundant and back-up system design. and operation modes with the customer’s ex- However in the potrooms such redundancy pert team and then implement the trip matrix Metering design and multiple monitoring and protection has selection. not so far been implemented. Independent, The metering principle of PERMS is based on redundant and standalone potroom protec- OCP addition with ground protection a modulated AC voltage. This measuring volt- tions and monitoring systems with industry age is generated with help of the AC 800PEC 4.0 capabilities will help to prevent or reduce The Process Earth Resistance Monitoring Sys- controller, and it is applied between the pro- pot line shutdowns. tem (PERMS) is a unique monitoring system cess and plant earth without making an earth to measure the earth impedance of a floating connection for the DC process. There is a very Authors potroom system. With PERMS it is possible low and safe current flowing through the pro- to continuously monitor the resistance be- cess, to earth and back to the measurement Max Wiestner has been working with ABB since tween the process and earth. The system will system. 1979. He has a degree in electro mechanics and project management from state college Switzerland give a warning if the resistance value drops The measured impedance and the phase and ABB Fläkt University. His current position is below a defined level, and it interfaces with shift allow PERMS to calculate the real resist- industry manager Aluminium. Previous positions the OCP to identify which potroom distur- ance and capacitance. included: global product group manager Alumin- bances may develop. ium, industry manager Primary Aluminium with In addition to the OCP protection inputs, ABB Switzerland, manager Rectifier Plants for the Design parameter of America’s, sales and product manager rectifier sys- the PERMS can be used as a safe working area the PERMS monitoring tems for steel plants, and sales manager HV substa- tions ABB Zimbabwe. • Monitors resistance and capacitance to Wynand Lauwrens has been working with ABB earth in the potroom, with signal exchange since 1994 and as High Power Rectifier specialist to the OCP for detection and trending of since 2002. He has a degree in electrical engineering Latest News any potroom distortion evaluation from the University of Pretoria. His current position is senior HPR engineer with ABB Switzerland. In • Can be used for process voltages up to this position he developed the potline grounding www.alu-web.de 2000 V DC monitoring system PERMS and the potline simula- • Can detect an earth fault behind the active tor, based on open circuit protection OCP.

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Furnace optimization through they are heavy-handed and clumsy when charging the furnace. Although true in some in-house improvements cases, it is not typically the mentality of the operator to cause undue damage to equipment. T. Phenix, GNA Rather, they are simply trying to do the best with the tools and the conditions they have Irrespective of the process, whether continuous casting, direct available. Using a fork truck to operate a boom that may be as long as 6 metres, with the asso- chill casting, foundry casting or back yard sand casting, the one ciated flex and bounce, in order to try and common thread that connects them all is the furnace. Furnaces skim or clean a furnace: that already takes a skilled operator to master it. Add a potential- are the workhorse in every casthouse. Because of the nature of ly uneven floor, with scrap and debris on it, the process, the furnace is also typically treated the most ag- and a tool that maybe only a few centimetres gressively, and it receives the least attention compared to the less high than the door opening, and it be- comes clear how damage can occur. Charge rest of the systems in the operation. The result is that the per- cars, custom charging machines and automat- formance, efficiency and overall condition of the furnaces often ed skimming machines can minimize or even eliminate this form of mechanical damage. deteriorate over years in service. However, these machines are expensive, and the layout of the furnace bay may not give When casthouse optimization is considered, closing on metal-covered sills: all of these lead enough space to install automated machines. most companies will look at the bottleneck in to deterioration of the furnace refractory, es- In these cases, re-evaluation of the exist- the process, and so will focus their attention pecially around door sills, lintels and jambs. ing furnace tending practices and developing on improving the performance of that criti- It is not uncommon, when walking into any in-house solutions can provide an effective cal path system. When the bottleneck is the casthouse, to see gaps between doors and alternative. A furnace bay floor that is regu- furnace, it is not uncommon for producers to their seating damaged refractory and emis- larly maintained and kept clean of scrap and focus on upgrades or modernization of the sions or even flames pushing out around the debris minimizes tool bumping. Tools that are furnace, rather than on considering the drop door. Typically this situation does not receive correctly designed can also minimize bounce in performance since the furnace was first in- attention until there is a planned shutdown, and flex. Typically, the channels on the tools stalled. Many furnaces in operation today are so the furnace may operate for many months that mate with the truck forks are oversized decades old, but with the correct utilization in a bad, or typically, a gradually worsening to ease engagement. However, this loose fit and practices, they can still operate efficiently, state of repair. Not only does this bad condi- also loosens control of the tool when in op- even without investing in enhancing devices tion lead to a less efficient furnace, lengthened eration, so it is important to consider whether like stirrers and state-of-the-art burner sys- cycle times and increased melt losses, but fur- tool engagement or its use is most important. © GNA Platform for inspection and maintenance access to Removable grating panels for easy the combustion air fan and valve train on a furnace roof access to inspect roof refractory anchors

tems. thermore, the hot spots around the door can The correct geometry of the tool head can also Mechanical abuse is one of the major fac- cause localized deformation of the door and improve the simplicity of the furnace tending tors causing a premature drop in furnace per- of the furnace structure itself, leading to poor process, and can minimize the risk of uninten- formance, especially in melting furnaces. sealing, even after a repair of the refractories. tional impact on refractories. Dropping of heavy charges on the hearth, Many plants will attribute the blame for A common argument heard recently is that impact with furnace tending tools, and doors mechanical abuse on the operators, saying natural gas prices are at a historical low, so

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producers are not concerned about burner ef- wide range of products and services are avail- temperature, and to enhance safety through ficiency, as this is considered to have a mini- able today to recover a good percentage of the flame detection and associated monitoring mal impact on the operation’s bottom line. This aluminium trapped in the dross. But typically capabilities. Linked to an inline pressure and may be a valid argument when considering to little attention and time is spent focusing temperature compensated gas meter and to a fuel cost alone, but it fails to take into account on reducing the amount of dross generated Scada system, the historian capability of the the indirect costs and the lost opportunities as- in the first place, compared with the effort to PLC system can determine whether changes in sociated with poor burner operation, control recover metal from the dross sent to recyclers. furnace performance are operator-influenced and maintenance. Reduced burner power can Irrespective of the type of furnace charge, the or result from maintenance or burner-related often increase furnace cycle times and so re- amount of dross generated in a furnace can be situations. duce the number of production cycles on the directly associated with the overall combus- Standard operating practices tend to change downstream equipment. Today it is surpris- tion system efficiency and with the operating over the years; some of these changes are ingly common to hear experienced operators practice. This efficiency itself is a combination good, but often they have more of a negative say that in the past they used to be able to get of the burner air-fuel ratio control, the damper than positive impact on furnace performance. system for furnace pressure con- Despite changes in casthouse management, trol, the furnace sealing, burner and the need to best adapt charging methods condition, control strategy and to scrap types, nevertheless production re- refractory condition. All of quirements and numerous other reasons can these parameters are readily freeze furnace operation practices into the controllable by operating crews, “well this is the way we have done this for maintenance crews and burner years” category. Similar to safety training, service technicians. there should be refresher courses and train- Metal quality is anoth- ing / retraining adopted for furnace opera- er factor impacted by poor tors explaining the latest techniques and best burner efficiency. In addition practices. The benefits are seen not only in to increased melt losses, the furnace efficiency. Also the safety aspects and quality of the molten alumin- potential hazards of furnace operation justify ium is directly influenced by conducting regular, scheduled training of op- Working area for media bed inspection and access to burner performance. In one erators and crews. the bath thermocouple located between the burners GNA installation using regen- As identified in the opening paragraph of erative burners and producing this article, any casthouse operation depends more cycles from their furnace than they do. high quality products, the quality control entirely on the availability of the furnace. If The blame is typically placed on the furnace department noticed that the hydrogen con- the furnace is out of operation for any reason, crews now operating the equipment. Gain- tent in the metal as it left the furnace could this directly impacts production. The melting ing an extra cast, or even a portion of a cast be used as a reliable indicator of the condi- furnace is exposed to the most arduous duty a day, equates to a considerable production tion of the media beds, and indicated when and toughest environment, there is a significant increase over the entire year, and for mini- the beds needed cleaning / changing. As with probability that failures (whether mechanical, mal expense. This is possible simply through all in-line degassing systems, the hydrogen re- electrical or otherwise) will occur. Preventa- burner maintenance and proper practice in a moval efficiency is influenced by the amount tive maintenance is a critical need with pro- 24/7 operation. of hydrogen entrapped in the incoming metal. longed furnace operation. Failures with the Less easy to calculate, but still a critical Therefore, if the incoming levels can be mini- furnace are often the result of hot spots on factor in any casting operation’s profitability, mized by optimized furnace operation, then the furnace, where refractory construction has is the effect of burner tuning on melt loss. A the final product will have a lower hydrogen been compromised through wear, damage or content, which can be a signifi- movement. These hotspots can burn control or cant factor in critical end-use power cables, or hydraulic lines, or they can products. even cause catastrophic failure of the overall Existing, older furnaces can furnace integrity, resulting in metal leaks and significantly benefit from an up- representing a potential explosion risk. Regu- grade to a modern PLC control lar inspection of the furnace casing to detect system. A PLC-based control hot spots is a practice that takes only a few system can improve all aspects minutes. In the same way that a commercial of the furnace operation, includ- pilot inspects the exterior of the aircraft prior ing operation, efficiency, main- to flight, in many ways this furnace inspection tenance, safety and monitoring. is equally critical. The modern PLC can monitor Despite inspections and a robust preventa- and control the air-fuel ratios tive maintenance program, there is still a risk and the burner control param- of downtime from mechanical damage, re- eters to automatically regulate fractory failure or hydraulic, fan or electrical Furnace hearth thermocouples, one on the exterior steel surface and burner operation, to change failure. It is essential to have an inventory pro- the other embedded in the refractory lining. The temperature data is control modes as required, to gram with critical spare parts, so as to prevent displayed on the HMI screen in the Operator Panel and used for eval uation of the refractory condition and maintenance planning. prevent furnace or bath over- lengthy downtime. The furnace supplier, the

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refractory installer and the plant’s own main- best practice for your tenance and operating crews can readily de- operation velop a list of recommended spare parts, and • Execution of the best it is then the role of management, purchasing practice, so instilling and warehousing to ensure a sufficient stock self-discipline and moti- and the correct storage of these parts, espe- vation in the operators cially temperature-critical refractory parts. • Review thermocou- In conclusion, the furnace-enhancing de- ple choice and location vices available on the market today are well for bath, roof, flue sys- proven and valuable tools to improve cast- tem and hearth refrac- house efficiency. In many cases, it is advisable tory temperature con- to review existing furnace practices before trol and monitoring investing in new systems. In many cases con- • Review of tools, strat- siderable improvements can be made without egies and frequency for major investment, so these improvements furnace charging, skim- should be benchmarked and used as a basis ming and cleaning to implement further improvements. Without • In-house support and this preliminary step, the advantages of new planned maintenance Boom-mounted furnace tending tool used to clean the systems may not be fully realized, and they activities, with check refractory hearth. This should be part of the daily routine in furnace operation and preventive maintenance. may not achieve the expected return on in- that critical spare parts vestment. are on hand Here is a list of ideas and activities that • Re-profiling the furnace refractory lining; can bring to the casthouse have proven to give positive results, and they this can readily increase the furnace capacity, • Monthly BBQ for the casthouse staff. should be considered in the operation of for example upgrading a 55-tonne melt- melting and holding furnaces: ing / holding furnaces to 60 tonnes Author • Regular casthouse review for operator and • Challenges for management – how to face maintenance personnel safety and comfort them and how to convince the operating and Ted Phenix is CEO of GNA alutech inc, based in • Self-evaluation process to determine the maintenance staff of the benefits that changes St.-Laurent, Quebec, Canada.

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48 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 49 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

First attempt to break the 10 kWh/kg aluminium barrier using a wide cell design M. Dupuis, GeniSim Inc.

In his last year ALUMINIUM article [1], On the other hand, there is definitively a sign a cell operating at the lowest possible the author selected breaking the 11 limit on the lowest possible cell superheat a energy consumption, and even before that, kWh/kg cell energy consumption barrier cell can be operated at. Not surprisingly, it the author relied on four different modelling as short-term design goal, as a step to- turned out that this cell operation parameter tools: HHCellvolt, Dyna/Marc, MHD-Valdis ward ultimately breaking the 10 kWh/kg is one of the key parameters limiting the re- and 3D ANSYS based thermo-electric anode cell energy consumption barrier. In the duction of the cell energy consumption. In and cathode models to perform his studies. study presented in that article last year, that context, the wide cell is the better of the HHCellVolt developed and commercial- the lowest value of 10.85 kWh/kg Al was two cell design options to attempt to break the ized by Peter Entner [6] is the best model- obtained using the 100% downstream 10 kWh/kg cell energy consumption barrier. ling tool available to very quickly produce a side current extraction cell design. In cell layout, such as the one presented in Fig. 1 his upcoming TMS 2019 paper [2], the Modelling and design methodology for the current wide cell design. HHCellVolt author continues working exclusively on is also the perfect tool to calculate directly that 100% downstream side current Since the very beginning of this effort to de- from enthalpy data how much more energy is extraction cell design, and this time he reached 10.44 kWh/kg Al. In the present study, the author this time shift- ed to working exclusively on the wide cell design, as presented in an ALU- MINIUM article two years ago [3], in this first attempt to break the 10 kWh/ kg cell energy consumption barrier.

The modeling and design work presented in this article is part of a continuing effort to design a cell operating at the lowest possible cell energy consumption. The initial results were first reported in a TMS 2017 paper [4] and were then reported in [1], [5] and soon in [2]. As discussed in the section Comparison of the two very low energy consumption cell design options in [5], at the same ACD Fig. 1 and anode current density, the 100% © GeniSim downstream side current extraction cell will operate at a lower cell voltage than the wide cell. That could be considered as an advantage to produce the lowest possible cell energy consumption cell design. Yet, as first reported in [3], the wide cell reduced the heat loss per unit production. So at a given cell ACD, anodic current density and corresponding cell internal heat per unit production, the wide cell design will systematically produce a cell operating at the highest cell superheat for the same lining design. Technically, there is nothing preventing the reduction of the anode current density that would correspond on a cell operating at 10 kWh/kg. Using the 100% downstream side current extraction cell presented in [4], that anode current density was calcu- Fig. 2 lated to be about 0.64 A/cm2.

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required to operate the cell compared with the minimum energy re- the anode and cathode voltage drop and the anode and cathode heat quired to produce the metal. That subject was recently covered in losses. The 3D ANSYS-based thermo-electric cathode model also [7], and will be discussed again in [2]. HHCellVolt is also the most calculates more accurately than the Dyna/Marc the cell ledge profile up-to-date tool to compute the cell voltage, based on inputs for the using the user-defined cell superheat. anode, cathode and busbar ohmic resistances, and on the choice of Finally, MHD-Valdis, the MHD cell stability solver (developed by ACD, bath chemistry, bubble model and cell amperage. HHCellVolt Valdis Bojarevics from Greenwich University and commercially finally computes the cell internal heat, based on the calculated cell available through the author) is used to design the cell busbar and voltage and energy requirement to operate the cell. It reports this to analyze the corresponding cell stability. MHD-Valdis will directly numerically and graphically, generating a Haupin Diagram such as compute the busbar voltage drop, but the busbar network gener- the one presented in Fig. 2 for the initial wide cell design operating ated by MHD-Valdis can also be converted into an ANSYS model to at 762.5 kA [3]. compute the busbar voltage drop. The next tool required is the steady state part of the Dyna/Marc cell simulator, developed and commercialized by the author [8]. Reducing the metal pad thickness from 20 to 10 cm Dyna/Marc is for solving the cell heat balance. It is based on additional inputs including: the anode panel heat loss, the cathode bottom It is quite well known that reducing the metal pad thickness is a very heat loss, the bath and metal level, some lining material thickness efficient way to reduce the cell heat loss at a constant cell superheat. and thermal conductivity. From these, Dyna/Marc will calculate the Because the initial wide cell design was operating at a quite high cell superheat as well as the bath and the metal ledge thickness. anode current density, a typical value of 20 cm was selected for the 3D ANSYS-based thermo-electric anode and cathode models de- metal pad thickness. All the 3D ANSYS-based thermo-electric runs veloped and commercialized by the author [9] are used to compute and MHD-Valdis cell stability runs up to now were done using that metal pad thickness value. It is also well known that reducing the metal pad thickness reduces the cell stability because it increases the metal pad horizontal current. Yet, since there is a need to reduce that cathode side wall heat loss without further reducing the cell superheat, we decided to investigate the effect of reducing the metal pad thickness from 20 to 10 cm. By using huge copper collector bars there is essentially no horizontal current in the metal pad, and so there is a minimum risk of destabilizing the cell by reducing the metal pad thickness, but this of course must be confirmed by an MHD-Valdis cell stability analysis. Fig. 3

MHD-Valdis cell stability analysis at 570 kA and 10 cm ofmetal pad thickness

At 762.5 kA, the amperage selected for the initial wide cell design two years ago, the anode current density is 0.93 A/cm2. At 650 kA, the amperage selected last year, the anode current density is 0.81 A/cm2 and the cell energy consumption is at 11.0 kWh/kg Al. It is clear that further decreasing the cell energy consumption requires further decreasing the cell amperage. To run the MHD-Valdis cell stability with 10 cm of metal pad thickness, we selected a cell am- Fig. 4 perage of 570 kA which corresponds to an anode current density of 0.71 A/cm2. The resulting metal pad horizontal currents are presented in Fig. 3, and the corresponding metal pad flow field in Fig. 4. The busbar drop is calculated to be 112 mV.

3D ANSYS-based thermo-electric results at 570 kA

On the anode side, the only change to the design was a refinement that limits the anode stubs heat loss. This feature will be revealed in the author’s TMS 2019 paper [2] but not in this article. Using that anode design at 570 kA, together with the new boundary of the cell described in [2], the model predicts an internal anode drop of 207 mV and an external anode drop of 78 mV. The heat loss of the internal part of the anode is predicted to be 221 kW. On the cathode side, three changes were made: the metal pad thickness was decreased to 10 cm; the ramming slope was decreased Fig. 5 accordingly; and the design feature that is limiting the collector bars

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heat loss was also refined. Using that cathode design at 570 kA, and dicted to be 72 mV. The internal anode heat loss is 218 kW, which in- with the new boundary of the cell, the model predicts an internal cludes only the heat loss of the crust surface by convection and ra- cathode drop of 97 mV and an external cathode drop of 49 mV. The diation, and the heat loss of the studs by conduction where they exit heat loss of the internal part of the cathode, at 7 °C of cell superheat, the crust. is predicted to be 417 kW.

Dyna/Marc global analysis of the wide cell design at 570 kA

Using many of the above results as inputs, Dyna/Marc is used to calculate the steady-state cell conditions at 570 kA and 2.8 cm ACD. Table I presents the Dyna/Marc results summary. This predicts the cell voltage to be 3.36 V, the cell internal heat (using Haupin’s equation to calculate the equivalent voltage to make the metal) is 613 kW at the calculated current efficiency of 94.4%, and the cell superheat is predicted to be 7.5 °C. Finally, the cell power consumption is calculated to be 10.61 kWh/kg, still quite far from 10 kWh/kg!

MHD-Valdis cell stability analysis at 530 kA and 10 cm ofmetal pad thickness

Fig. 6 The good news is that, when compared with the solution at 650 kA presented in [1], the reduction of the metal pad thickness decreased the cell internal heat from 804 to 613 kW, while maintaining about the same cell superheat around 7.5 °C. Assuming that it is possible to operate the cell at 5.0 °C of cell superheat, the next step is to simply reduce the cell amperage until we reach that value of cell superheat. That cell amperage turned out to be about 530 kA, which corresponds to 0.66 A/cm2 of anode current density. Fig. 5 shows that the busbar drop at 530 kA is calculated to be 104 mV. There is no need to report the rest of the MHD-Valdis cell stability results, as an operation at 530 kA would be more stable that an operation at 570 kA, unless the ledge toe growth gets problematic, which is not the case.

3D ANSYS-based thermo-electric results at 530 kA

Using exactly the same anode design at 530 kA, the internal anode drop is predicted to be 191 mV and the external anode drop, which Fig. 7 includes the studs outside the crust, the yoke and the rod is pre-

Table 1 Table 2

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The cathode design also remained the same. Fig. 6 shows the cathode side slice model mesh with the converged ledge profile at 5 °C of cell superheat, while Fig. 7 shows the corresponding temperature solution. The model predicts an internal cathode drop of 90 mV and an external cathode drop of 45 mV. The heat loss of the internal part of the cathode at 5 °C of cell superheat is 311 kW. About 40% of that cathode heat loss is going through the ledge, 35% escapes by conduction in the collector bars and the remaining 25% is going out down thought the cell lining.

HHCellVolt model results at 530 kA

At that stage, HHCellvolt can be used to calculate the cell voltage and the cell internal heat, assuming a value for the cell current ef- Fig. 8 ficiency. Fig. 8 shows HHCellvolt busbar panel where the user enters the anode, cathode and busbar voltage drop. That figure illustrates clearly the new boundary between the internal voltage drop and the external voltage drop. The external section goes from the site where the collector bars exit the cell to the site where the stubs enter into the anode cover material. Fig. 9 shows the HHCellVolt bath voltage drop results, these employ user inputs for the ACD, the bubble model, and the anodic current density, which is calculated from the anode layout presented in Fig. 1 at 530 kA cell amperage. Finally, the main HH- CellVolt panel presented in Fig. 10 shows the global results corresponding to that user-assumed current efficiency.

Dyna/Marc global analysis of the wide cell design at 530 kA Fig. 9

Finally, using the same inputs (except for the cell current efficiency that is part of the solution), Dyna/Marc calculates the steady-state cell conditions at 530 kA and 2.8 cm ACD. Table II summarizes the Dyna/Marc results: it predicts the cell voltage to be 3.24 V, the cell internal heat (using Haupin’s equation to calculate the equivalent voltage to make the metal) to be 516 kW at the calculated current efficiency of 94.3%, and the cell superheat to be 5.0 °C. Finally, the cell power consumption is calculated to be 10.23 kWh/kg, not quite 10 kWh/kg unfortunately!

Discussion and future work

Table III summarizes the results of the four wide-cell designs presented so far, all using the same wide potshell platform. The cell Fig. 10 operating at 530 kA, 0.66 A/cm2 and 10.23

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kWh/kg dissipates only 39% of the heat dis- cathode block, and now new semi-insulating anode cover thickness, which may not be the sipated by the cell operating at 762.5 kA, 0.94 lining materials which resist sodium vapour thickest possible, but must be quite close to A/cm2 and 12.85 kWh/kg. Both HHCellVolt have also become available. This combination it. Despite these steps, and together with re- and Dyna/Marc can easily predict the cell represents an opportunity to design a more fined design features to limit the studs and amperage needed to operate at 10.0 kWh/kg, insulating cathode lining, and hence to reduce collector bars heat loss (more details on this assuming no other changes: the answer is 505 the cathode heat loss at constant cell super- will be presented in [2]), in the current study kA, 0.63 A/cm2 and 436 kW of cell internal heat, with no risk of degrading the cathode it was not possible to design a cell operating heat. This 436 kW represents only 33% of the lining by exposing it to high temperature and at 10.0 kWh/kg Al. Yet this milestone goal is heat dissipated by the cell operating at 762.5 sodium vapour. getting more and more accessible, and should kA and 12.85 kWh/kg, and only 84% of the be reached quite soon now, still using the heat dissipated by the cell operating at 530 kA Conclusions wide cell design option. and 10.23 kWh/kg. This 15% extra reduction of the cell heat Two extra steps towards the design of a cell References loss must be achieved without further reduc- operating at 10.0 kWh/kg Al have been pre- ing the cell superheat. It is also fair to assume sented in this article. The last step is the de- [1] M. Dupuis, Breaking the 11 kWh/kg Al barrier, that it would not be safe to further reduce the sign of a wide cell operating at 530 kA, 0.66 ALUMINIUM, 94 (1/2), 2018, 48-52. metal pad thickness. Yet, as can be seen in A/cm2 and 10.23 kWh/kg Al. That cell oper- [2] M. Dupuis, How to limit the heat loss of anode Fig. 6, after the reduction of that metal pad ates at the assumed lowest ACD of 2.8 cm, stubs and cathode collector bars in order to reduce thickness there is now plenty of spare cell the lowest assumed metal pad thickness of cell energy consumption, TMS Light Metals, 2019, to be published. cavity. This cavity provides space to increase 10 cm, and the lowest assumed cell superheat [3] M. Dupuis and B. Welch, Designing cells for the thickness of the cell lining below the of 5 °C. That cell also operates at 25 cm of the future – wider and/or even higher amperage?, Table 3 ALUMINIUM, 93 (1/2), 2017, 45-49. [4] M. Dupuis, Low energy consumption cell design involving copper inserts and innovative busbar network layout, TMS Light Metals, 2017, 693-703. [5] M. Dupuis, Very low energy consumption cell designs: the cell heat balance challenge, TMS Light Metals, 2018, 689-687. [6] P. Entner, HHCellVolt AlWeb application: http://peter entner.com/ug/windows/ hhcellvolt/toc.aspx [7] P. Entner and M. Dupuis, Extended energy balance for Hall-Héroult electrolysis cells, 12th Australasian Aluminium Smelt- ing Technology Conference, 2018, to be published. [8] M. Dupuis and H. Côté, Dyna/Marc 14.0 user’s guide, GeniSim, 2012. [9] M. Dupuis, Computation of Aluminum reduction Cell Energy Balance Using AN- SYS® Finite Element Models, TMS Light Metals, 1998, 409-417.

Author

Dr Marc Dupuis is a consultant specialized in the applications of mathematical modelling for the aluminium industry since 1994, the year when he founded his own consulting company GeniSim Inc (www.genisim. com). Before that, he graduated with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Laval University in Quebec City in 1984, and then Operating temperature (D/M) worked ten years as a research engineer for Alcan International. His main research interests are the development of mathematical models of the Hall-Héroult cell dealing with the thermo-electric, thermo-mechanic, electro-magnetic and hydrodynamic aspects of the problem. He was also involved in the design of experimental high amperage cells and with the retrofit of many existing cell A = ANSYS; D/M = Dyna/Marc; T = Total; B = Busbar; I = Internal; E = External technologies.

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HHCellVolt: an improved software tool for aluminium smelting P. M. Entner, Naters

The classical Hall-Héroult process pro- Some of them [6-8] examine especially the ex- stance) are considered to be insignificant for duces aluminium by electrolysis using car- tended energy balance of an electrolysis cell. the energy balance (Fig. 2). bon block anodes and a liquid aluminium HHCellVolt separates the chemical re- Warren Haupin was the first to published cathode. For several years MS Windows actions and events that are relevant for the diagrams [12] that showed the components PC programs (ElysePrg [1], AlPrg [2]) energy balance into the following categories: of cell voltage and their relation to energy were used to investigate the essential pa- alumina, anode carbon and other processes. consumption. He used these diagrams [13] to rameters to operate such an electrolysis The contribution of processes at the cathode study the influence of replacing the consum- cell, including the cell voltage, cell layout (aluminium carbide formation or reaction of able carbon anodes of an electrolysis cell by (dimensions of anode table, target current sodium with the bottom carbon blocks, for in- inert non-consumable anodes. intensity), operational factors (electrolyte composition and mass) and electrolyte properties (temperature, gas bubbles under the anode). These programs let you optimize these parameters, for instance, concerning energy consumption or heat loss. HHCellVolt is an enhanced version of this software that contains new features. This publication describes these extensions and improvements.

Electrolysis cells with four anode rows

Recent publications [3, 4] consider the construction of electrolysis cells with four anode rows. With HHCellVolt you can investigate the design options and corresponding cell voltage of such an electrolysis cell. HHCellVolt contains adapted panels and diagrams to handle this extended anode table layout. Also the algorithms, calculating the Fig. 1: Electrolysis cell with four anode rows: the figure shows the adapted panels and diagrams anodic fanning factors or bubble voltage, for to handle a cell layout with four anode rows. The anodes contain two transversal slots. instance, are adapted to include this new anode panel layout.

Extended energy balance

The Basic Energy Balance considers the electrolysis reactions, the heating of alumina as well as of the anodes, and the heat produced by the internal resistance of the busbars. ElysePrg and AlPrg used this type of balance to investigate the effects of replacing the consumable carbon anodes by inert non-consumable anodes. The Extended Energy Balance considers in addition to the Basic Energy Balance more events and chemical reactions that happen in the electrolysis cell. These processes produce either energy (exothermic reactions, heat sources) or consume energy (endothermic reaction, heat sinks). In the literature and on the Internet, you can find several publications that describe ap- Fig. 2: Diagram of energy sources and sinks. HHCellVolt shows the plications and programs that treat the behav- processes and their values that take part in the extended energy balance. The difference of the extended minus basic energy balance is indicated. iour of a Hall-Héroult electrolysis cell [5-11].

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HHCellVolt draws similar diagrams (Fig. 3). value either by conventional keyboard input HHCellVolt draws a Haupin diagram showing On the left side you see the main panel with into the field or by dragging the thumb of the the components of the cell voltage and of the input fields and value sliders. You change the corresponding value slider. On the right side, energy balance. To make the determination of the extended energy balance transpar- ent as possible, HHCellVolt shows on the Theoretical Background slid- ing page which reactions take place and how they determine the components of the energy balance (Fig. 4). The user finds on the panel ‘The Relations for the Energy Balance’ and the details of how HHCellVolt determines the thermodynamic values. Linear interpolation or Shom- ate relations are applied using the JANAF tables. The user of HHCellVolt can adjust parmeters on the Electrolysis Data Page of HHCellVolt to define the extent of these processes, for instance, to see how much the entire air burn of the carbon anodes con- tributes to the energy balance.

Fig. 3: The main page of HHCellVolt with Haupin Diagram. On the left you see the main input panel. The panel contains an input field with sliders to adjust the variables. You can change the values with Saved data sets the keyboard, or the mouse wheel, or by dragging the thumb of the value slider. This figure also shows the components of the extended balance, as well as the difference between the two balances. The user may save the state of HH-

Fig. 4: Theoretical background, alumina panel. This panel shows the details of the alumina reaction concerning the energy balance: these include among others the γ to α phase transformation and the reaction of impurities like sodium oxide, for instance.

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Fig. 5: Saved data sets in the internal memory of HHCellVolt. The user can easily transfer a saved data set back into the active memory, and can study different cell layouts with modified parameters like target current intensities.

las-Kazaros (2012), Modeling the Mass and Energy CellVolt’s active memory as a data set in the Acknowledgement Balance of Different Aluminium Smelting Cell internal memory of HHCellVolt. Technologies, Light Metals, ed. C. E. Suarez (Hobo- Finally, the user can save the collection of The author would like to thank Dr. Jacques ken, N.J. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., The Minerals, data sets as an xml-file on his computer. Antille for reviewing and verifying very care- Metals & Material Society) 929-934. fully the relations and values that HHCellVolt [8] B. Welch (2012) Cell Energy Input – Part 2: Its is using. The author is especially thankful to Utilization, TMS 2012 Course Industrial Aluminum HHCellVolt on Microsoft Store Electrolysis, Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada, 84-97. Dr. Marc Dupuis [15]: Marc has contributed [9] S. W. Jessen (2008) Mathematical Modeling of a The user will find HHCellVolt on Microsoft essential aspects to the new layout and per- Hall-Héroult Reduction Cell, (Ph.D. thesis, Electri- Store, and from there can easily download formance of HHCellVolt through his com- cal Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, and install a Microsoft certified version of ments, ideas and propositions. Marc also Lyngby, Denmark, 2008). HHCellVolt. In this way the user can be sure performed the very complex, extensive and [10] J. N. Bruggeman (1998), Pot Heat Balance Fun- that HHCellVolt does not contain any harm- tedious task of testing HHCellVolt in a very damentals, Proceedings 6th Australasian Alumin- ful procedures (viruses, for instance) and does careful and systematic way. ium Smelting Technology Conference and Work- shop. ed. G. J. James, M. Skyllas-Kazacos, B. J. not collect any sensitive data on the user’s PC. Welch (Queenstown New Zealand), 167-190. Please see the download page [14] of the au- References [11] I. Tabsh, M. Dupuis, A. Gomes (1996), Process thor’s website. Simulation of Aluminum Reduction Cells, Light Metals, ed. W. Hale (Warrendale, Pa, The Minerals, Conclusions [1] P. M. Entner (1999) New Feature of ElyseSem / Metals & Materials Society), 451-457. ElysePrg, ALUMINIUM 75 (12), 1064-1072. [12] W. Haupin (1998), Interpreting the Compon- HHCellVolt contains the following new fea- [2] P. M. Entner (2007) AlPrg: a software tool for ents of Cell Voltage, Light Metals, ed. B. Welch (Warrendale, Pa, The Minerals, Metals & Materials tures: aluminium smelting, ALUMINIUM 83 (1/2), 32-35. Society), 531-537. • HHCellVolt is able to study the perform- [3] M. Dupuis, B. Welch (2017) Designing cells for the future – Wider and/or even higher amperage?, [13] W. Haupin, H. Kvande (2000) Thermodynam- ance of electrolysis cells with four anode ALUMINIUM 93 (1/2), 45-49. ics of Electrochemical Reduction of Alumina, Light rows. [4] M. Sun, B. Li, L. Li, J. Peng (2018) Effect of Metals, ed. R. D. Peterson (Warrendale, Pa, The • HHCellVolt determines the values of the Steel Multi-Collector Bars on Current Density and Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) 379-384. Extended Energy Balance in a very transpar- Magnetohydrodynamic Stability in an Aluminum [14] Download Page on the author’s website: http:// ent way concerning the relations and values it Reduction Cell, Light Metals, ed. O. Martin (Cham, www.peter-entner.com/E/Downloads/DownLoads. aspx is using. The user adapts the extended energy Switzerland, Springer International Publishing AG, The Minerals, Metals & Material Series), 565-572. [15] P. M. Entner, M. Dupuis (2018), Extended En- balance to his needs and ideas by changing [5] J. Antille, R. von Kaenel, L. Bugnion (2016), ergy Balance for Hall-Héroult Electrolysis Cells, the input values. th Hall-Héroult Cell Simulator: a Tool for the Opera- submitted to 12 Australasian Aluminium Smelt- • HHCellVolt stores and easily recalls differ- tion and Process Control, Light Metals, ed. E. Wil- ing Techonolgy Conference, 2-7 December 2018, ent cell layouts and parameters from HHCell liams (Hoboken, N.J. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., The Queenstown, New Zealand Volt internal memory, and saves these data Minerals, Metals & Material Society), 617-622. sets also as an xml-file. [6] A. Al Zarouni, L. Mishra, N. Ahli, M. Bastaki, A. Author • The user who has installed HHCellVolt Al Jasmi, A. Arkhopov, V. Potocnik (2013), Energy and Mass Balance in DX+ Cells during Ampere In- Peter M. Entner has worked on R&D projects in from Microsoft Store can be sure that the th crease, Proceedings of 31 Intl Conference Icsoba, aluminium smelting with Alusuisse, which later be- software is not harmful to his computer con- th 19 Intl Conference Aluminium of Siberia, ed. P. V. came Rio Tinto Alcan. Though he is now retired, cerning viruses or other harmful routines, Polyakov, A. V. Panov (Non-Ferrous Metals, Kras- Peter’s passion for bytes and pixels keeps him busy and is not collecting any sensitive personal noyarsk, Russia, 2013), 494-499. working on software that might be useful to the data. [7] V. Gusberti, D. D. Severo, B. J. Welch, M. Skyl- members of the aluminium smelting community.

56 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 57 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

Online magnetic optimization of a full potline L. Bugnion, Kannak; R. Düssel, Trimet

Busbars modifications were realized online over a full potline in less than six months. The MHD stability margin of the cells was enhanced in order to facilitate power modulation. The magnetic optimization at Trimet Aluminium in Essen, Germany, is the result of a 4-year project including measurements, numerical modelling and trials on a group of

boosted cells before extension to the full potline. © Kannak Fig. 2.1: 3D model of existing cell The Trimet Essen smelter has been pursuing In the following the magnet- the objective of flexible power consumption. ic compensation implemented The capability of large electricity consumers, online over a full potline at Trimet such as aluminium smelters, to modulate their Essen is presented. power consumption on a short timescale represents a value for the power grid, in particular Magnetic compensation in view of the growing proportion of renewa- bles in the energy mix. Electrolysis cells at Trimet Essen are Power modulation is already a reality for end-to-end cells with risers at both a number of smelters in Europe; however, the upstream and downstream ends power variations take the form of either small and with an asymmetrical busbars current fluctuations (centred around nominal system. The main constraints for current) or short power outages (usually less the busbars modifications were Fig. 2.2: Optimized busbars with existing than 1 hr). In the case of Trimet Essen, the the following: 1) keep the actual busbars in violet, new busbars in green, modified busbars in blue and disconnected busbars or busbars used for shortcut in red objective is to be able to vary the current and risers and 2) do not perturb the the cell voltage rapidly and operate for some passing of vehicles in the potroom (pot opera- current distribution could be selected. The hours or days at power levels ranging from tions) or below the cells (transport of cells). main changes are an increased current in the 75-125% of the nominal power. In April 2014, a number of cells were meas- downstream riser and a T busbar below the During power modulation (upwards or ured and a 3D model of the existing cell was cell. The maximum growth factor for the ex- downwards), the goal is to minimize specific built based on the operating parameters and on isting and optimized busbars is shown in Fig. energy consumption and to keep a thermal the lining and busbars drawings (see Fig. 2.1). 2.3 as a function of line current. The maxi- balance that ensures a good ledge protection. The existing cell TE and MHD stationary state mum growth factor at 185 kA with the opti- The smelter will face two types of constraints: was computed using MONA software [1]. mized busbars is lower than at 162 kA with • Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) constraints: A number of alternative busbars topologies the existing busbars. when the line current is increased, magnetic and current distributions were modelled and By performing thermal-electric analyses forces increase as well, affecting cell stabil- computed. The models included a 3D model of with MONA software, a basic engineering ity and further deforming the bath-metal in- the studied cell and of the neighbouring cells solution was found (see Fig. 2.2). Additional terface. Likewise, when the line current is in- and a 3D filiform mod- creased, the ACD is generally squeezed and el of the neighbouring cells become unstable due to less uniform an- lines. For each scenar- ode current distribution. io, the MHD stationary • Thermal constraints: if the internal heat state and the MHD sta- generation changes but the heat removal at the bility were computed. cell boundaries or the cell thermal insulation The objective was to are unchanged, the thermal balance (i.e. the minimize the growing temperature field and ledge shape) will shift. factor of the oscillation The approach of Trimet Essen is to tackle modes of the metal pad both types of constraints: 1) the MHD con- at 162 kA and 185 kA straints by modifying the busbars in order to (at constant internal compensate the cells better magnetically and heat generation) i. e. 2) the thermal constraints by installing heat to make the cell more exchangers on the shell sides, working as ther- robust against MHD mal insulators during downwards modulation instabilities. Using that and enhancing heat removal during upwards approach, an optimized Fig. 2.3: Maximum growth factor for the existing and optimized modulation. busbars topology and busbars as a function of line current (at constant internal heat generation)

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Existing busbars at 162 kA, vmax = 15.8 cm/s Optimized busbars at 185 kA, vmax = 7.1 cm/s

Existing busbars at 162 kA, upheaval = 8.9 cm Optimized busbars at 185 kA, upheaval = 6.3 cm

Fig. 2.4: Metal velocity field and metal-bath interface

busbars amount to five tonnes of metal to In April 2018, the modification of the rest Authors be compared to the 20 tonnes of the exist- of the cells started with some modifications ing busbars. With the optimized busbars, the to the detail engineering and to the online Dr. Louis Bugnion obtained a master in Physics at external resistance is decreased from 2.22 to installation procedure and was completed by the Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne in 2007 1.95 µΩ which represents an immediate spe- August 2018. Only short power outages were and his PhD at the Swiss Institute of Technology cific energy saving of 0.15 kWh/kg Al. The needed to weld some of the busbars connec- Zurich in 2012. He joined Kan-nak SA in 2013, calculations also predict an impact of the opti- tions. However due to the repetition of the a consulting company with special know-how in mized busbars on the metal velocity field and power outages, a heat recovery procedure was numerical modelling of electrolysis cells. He has on the shape of the metal-bath interface as implemented. been involved in the retrofit of several reduction technologies. His present position is manager Sales shown in Fig. 2.4. The maximum metal veloc- and Projects and head of modelling. Contact: louis. ity is reduced from 15.8 to 5.8 cm/s at 162 Conclusions [email protected] kA and to 7.1 cm/s at 185 kA. The metal up- Dr. Roman Düssel, started his career at Trimet Alu- heaval is decreased from 8.9 to 4.7 cm at 162 Magnetic optimization can reduce the cell ex- minium SE in 2005. After his education as an indus- kA and to 6.3 cm at 185 kA. Low metal up- ternal resistance and helps at making the cell trial mechanic and mechanical engineer, he worked heaval variations are of interest in the pros- more stable from a MHD point of view. As a as a trainee in the electrolysis department in Essen. pect of fast current changes in the line since result, metal velocity field and metal upheaval Following his Trainee period, Roman attended the the anode shape needs time to adjust to the are decreased allowing for current creep and/ Technical University of Berlin to complete a master new metal-bath interface. or ACD squeeze without affecting the cell per- of science. He returned to Trimet in 2010, and from then to 2014 was in charge of the Process Control formance. The full process of a magnetic op- Department of the aluminium smelter in Essen. In Installation timization implemented online was described 2011 he successfully acquired the Postgraduate from numerical modelling to the routine re- Certificate in Aluminium Reduction Technology at The detail engineering and the installation of quired to modify more than hundred cells. the University of Auckland. Contemporaneously the optimized busbars were done in two steps. he started the ‘Virtual Battery’ project, an integra- Between June 2015 and March 2016, 16 cells tion of heat exchangers and magnetic field compen- were installed online with optimized busbars sation to allow aluminium electrolysis cells to oper- References ate with variable energy input and output. In 2015 and shell heat exchangers out of which 12 are Roman became production manager. In 2016 he fin- in a booster section. Power modulation trials [1] J. Antille and R. von Kaenel, Busbar Optimiza- ished his PhD at the University of Wuppertal. He is were performed to validate the operational tion Using Cell Stability Criteria and its Impact on presently department manager, Reduction Area at range predicted by the calculations. Cell Performance, Light Metals (1999), 165-170. Trimet Essen. Contact: [email protected]

58 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 ALUMINIUM · Special Edition 2019 59 A l u mini u m J o u r nal e - pape r SPECIAL

The Virtual Battery – a solution for Germany and a contribution to the global aluminium industry A. Lützerath, Trimet Aluminium

After several years of continuous and minium, together with some 250,000 tpy of several far-reaching blackouts in Germany in dynamic growth, the aluminium industry recycled aluminium. This may not seem like recent years. In order to stabilize the grids, currently finds itself in a very challeng- much compared to the leading global players, electricity-intensive companies such as Trimet ing situation. Trade conflicts, sanctions but with a capacity of 635,000 tpy, we are are briefly taken off the grid dozens of times against the owners of key raw material the largest aluminium producer in Germany. a year. As an energy-intensive company that suppliers, and – especially in Europe Thanks to our proverbial and literal proxim- continuously uses more than one percent of – unexpected production adjustments in ity to customers, and to solid, long-term plan- all available electricity in Germany, this poses the automotive industry have increased market volatility, so disturbing the bal- Model of ance between production costs and sales the Virtual prices. As challenging as these problems Battery concept are, they will not affect the aluminium industry’s long-term prospects. Experts around the world agree that demand for our light metal will continue to rise worldwide in the coming years. Its specific properties make aluminium the ideal material for the electrical and mechanical applications that will be used in future

technologies: electromobility needs © Trimet lightweight construction. The spread of decentralized renewable energy sources ning, we have developed into a highly valued enormous challenges. requires expanded energy networks, and tier 1 supplier to the world’s leading automo- The German public’s perception of energy- digitalization is transforming production bile manufacturers and to other partners. intensive industries is also particularly im- methods and processes. Traditionally, electricity costs in Germany portant when compared internationally. The are relatively high by international standards. country is proud of its successful and globally However, this positive view on the prospects We did not build the Trimet aluminium smelt- respected industry. Local companies meet of the global aluminium industry must recog- ers, but instead took them over from competi- emission, environmental and safety stand- nize the longer term challenges that alumin- tors – following their closure in some cases. ards that are among the strictest in the world. ium producers will face in individual markets The previous owners did not see any strategy Nevertheless, industrial production and, in and regions. Even if the global market disre- to achieve their targets with German produc- particular, the most energy-intensive proc- gards national borders when setting prices for tion for the respective markets. Since 2011, esses are generally criticized by large sections aluminium, its physical production will still be this situation has worsened considerably. In of the public and by relevant interest groups. carried out in aluminium smelters. After the the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident Trimet sees itself as a constructive part- immense investments to set up a smelter at a following a tsunami in Japan, the German ner for the energy transition. The company particular location, the producer must take government decided to phase out nuclear is showing politics and society that domes- account of the local conditions, and must also energy completely within just a few years. tic aluminium producers are not part of the adapt as a local situation changes. This applies The government’s adherence to the ambitious problem but are part of the solution. They especially to medium-sized family businesses goals of also gradually phasing out coal-fired can make a decisive contribution to solving such as Trimet, which are firmly rooted in their power generation, and of reducing national problems that a business location faces – ir- region and which form a stable value chain CO2 emissions, also remain in place. The goal respective of the existence of energy-intensive with their clients and business partners there. has been to fill the resulting electricity supply industries. At first glance, the issue seems to Aluminium production costs are deter- vacuum through renewable energy sources – be efficiency. If electricity consumption is the mined by three key factors: the cost of anodes, pinning hopes mainly on wind and solar en- problem, this must be reduced as much as of alumina, and of energy. The costs of anodes ergy. Germany is in the midst of what is known possible. The global aluminium industry has and alumina are mainly decided by the world as the ‘energy turnaround’ and is completely made great progress in this area in recent dec- market and they are similar for all market par- changing its electricity market. The base load ades. Even though the Hall-Héroult process ticipants. Local advantages and disadvantages supply is at risk. Only thanks to German inte- has not changed much over the past 130 years, result mainly from local energy prices. gration into the European electricity grid, and today’s energy consumption can hardly be Three of Trimet’s four aluminium smelters to the resulting continuous availability of elec- compared with that of previous eras. The costs are located in Germany. Together, they pro- tricity from base load-capable power plants in of marginally reducing electricity consumption duce around 385,000 tpy of electrolysis alu- our neighbouring countries, have we escaped are constantly increasing. In view of the in-

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creasing demand for aluminium in the future, We have overcome major technical hur- success of the energy turnaround. It is import- we are continuously working to optimize ef- dles in the Virtual Battery project. With newly ant to avoid misunderstandings: Trimet is not ficiency. However, at least in Germany’s spe- developed heat exchangers, we dissipate heat a research institution; the family-owned busi- cific situation, pure electricity consumption is from the electrolysis cells when the energy ness naturally pursues entrepreneurial inter- not the decisive criterion. supply increases. Conversely, in the event of ests. We compete at an international level, and In Germany, the quantity of electricity is lower energy supplies, we insulate them from we strive for global success. To ensure that not the biggest problem. There is regularly a temperature loss. Modified busbars enable us our project is implemented in regular opera- risk of blackouts on windy summer days be- to stabilize the magnetic fields in the cells even tion, and that we recoup our high investments, cause too much electricity is fed into the grid. with fluctuating power consumption. We are we must also be reasonably compensated for In addition to solar plants and wind farms, using a completely new process control con- the offers we develop. To this end we are in a also base-load power plants are then taken off cept with innovative measurement and control constant dialogue with politicians and society. the grid, or, in the event of short-term fluctua- technology, as well as with extensive process The specific situation in Germany strong- tions, sometimes even our aluminium smelt- models to optimize the electrolysis perform- ly motivates our efforts to make aluminium ers. On the other hand, when the sun does not ance. These systems ensure that all this takes production more flexible. We have identified shine and there is no wind, the quantities of place smoothly and without disturbances flexible load management as a decisive success available electricity are often insufficient, so during production, even under conditions of criterion that we will pursue. Manufacturers Germany imports electricity from neighbour- rapid load shifts. This complete package brings in other countries, on the other hand, face the ing countries. An independent base load sup- nothing less than a revolution in fused-salt major challenges of further improving their ply cannot be steadily guaranteed at present. electrolysis for aluminium production. At the efficiency in their use of energy and of raw We as aluminium producers can greatly Essen aluminium smelter alone, this series of materials, and of mastering a range of other contribute to the success of the energy turn tests offers a capacity of around 1,120 mega- issues. Although we all operate on a global around. Not by further reducing our energy watt hours as a buffer for the power grid. This market, each producer makes a range of con- requirements, but instead, by making our buffer is comparable to that of a medium- tributions to develop the aluminium industry production significantly more flexible. There sized pumped storage power plant. step by step, finding clever and sustainable is enormous potential in flexible demand-side In addition to the Virtual Battery, we are answers to a large number of issues. This is management, which quickly adapts to the also using other projects to adapt to conditions an evolutionary process that is making the quantities of electricity available from vola- in Germany. Together with local partners, we entire industry more resilient and robust.

Trimet aluminium smelter in Essen, Germany

tile energy sources such as wind and sunlight. offer surplus thermal energy from anode and Despite the intense competition that pre- Within certain limits, this flexibility is already aluminium production as district heat, e.g., to vails between us, our fascination for alumin- possible today in many aluminium smelters. run cold storage facilities in the food logistics ium and our belief in its great potential unites However, we are currently pushing these ap- sector. In addition, we take part in balancing us. Forums like the TMS meeting provide us proaches even further. With our Virtual Bat- the energy market with our existing load man- with an outstanding opportunity to exchange tery project, we would like to be able to agement capabilities, so contributing to grid new ideas and concepts that will bring benefits increase or decrease production by up to stabilization with the option of completely to the entire industry. 25% for a period of up to 48 hours, while shutting down our electrolysis plants at short still maintaining a current efficiency level of notice. Author 95%. After successful smaller tests, we are With our various projects to make alumin- Dr.-Ing. Andreas Lützerath has been board member currently reconfiguring one of our production ium production more flexible, we are demon- of Trimet Aluminium SE since November 2018. He lines with 120 electrolysis cells to test and strating to policymakers and to society that previously held positions as chief technical officer refine the process on an industrial level. the aluminium industry can be a partner in the and plant manager of Trimet in Essen, Germany.

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