Special: The global alu- minium smelting industry

Outotec: "The developing countries are calling the tune"

Retrofit of a 500 kA into a 600 kA cell design

Market report on alu-minium production, consumption and prices

Volume 87 · January / February 2011International Journal for Industry, Research and Application 1/2

Outo

tec

Special: The global alu- minium smelting industry

Outotec: "The developing countries are calling the tune"

Retrofit of a 500 kA into a 600 kA cell design

Market report on alu-minium production, consumption and prices

Volume 87 · January / February 2011International Journal for Industry, Research and Application 1/2

Outo

tec

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Leading technology in the aluminum casthouse.

MEETING your EXPECTATIONS

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

E d i t o r i a l

Nach der großen Rezession 2009 hat sich die Weltwirtschaft im vergangenen Jahr erstaun-lich schnell erholt: Die Weltproduktion legte 2010 voraussichtlich um 4,8 Prozent zu und auch für das vor uns liegende Jahr stehen die Zeichen auf eine weitere Erholung. Allerdings hat die weltwirtschaftliche Ex­pansion im Jah-resverlauf an Schwung verloren, der Welthan-del ist in der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2010 kaum mehr gestiegen. Viele volkswirtschaftlichen Analysten erwarten für dieses Jahr eine Pha-se moderaten globalen Wachstums unter vier Prozent.

Wie in den vergangenen Jahren sind es die großen Schwellenländer der BRIC-Gruppe, die die Weltwirtschaft auf Touren halten. Ihr Anteil an der Weltproduktion liegt inzwischen bei fast einem Fünftel. Das reicht zwar noch nicht an die globale Wirtschaftskraft der USA heran, aber die Wachablösung ist am Horizont erkennbar. Der Wirtschaftsblock Europa wird sich 2011 sehr unterschiedlich entwickeln: Deutschland hat sich zu einer starken Kon-junkturlokomotive entwickelt, während an-dere große EU-Staaten eher an der Nulllinie verharren. Von Japans Wirtschaft sind kaum nachhaltige Impulse zu erwarten.

Auch die Aluminiummärkte haben sich im Zuge der allgemeinen wirtschaftlichen Gesundung erholt. Die Notierungen an der Londoner Metallbörse LME sind seit Mitte 2010 um rund ein Viertel gestiegen, die Mar-ke von 2.500 US-Dollar wird voraussichtlich in diesen Tagen geknackt. Viele Hütten haben die Wiederinbetriebnahme stillgelegter Kapa-zitäten angekündigt oder fahren sie derzeit schon hoch. Andere Hütten nehmen Moderni-sierungs- und Erweiterungsinvestitionen vor, wieder andere prüfen die Errichtung neuer Kapazitäten.

Neue Hütten oder Erweiterungen werden nur an Standorten mit langfristig günstigen Energiekosten durchgeführt: an erster Stelle im Mittlerer Osten, aber auch wasserreiche Regionen wie Kanada sind prädestiniert für die Aluminiumproduktion. In Europa wird sich die Metallerzeugung bzw. die Gewich-tung von Primär- und Sekundärproduktion in Zukunft stärker zugunsten des Recyclings verschieben. Als eine Region mit besonders hohem Pro-Kopf-Verbrauch an Aluminium und einem gut funktionierenden System der Sammlung, Sortierung und Wiederverwertung des Leichtmetalls fließen hier mittel- und lang-fristig immer größere Mengen des Metalls zu-rück in den Wirtschaftskreislauf. Auch wenn Aluminium nicht zu den Seltenen Erden ge-hört – diese „heimische“ Metallfraktion ist auch ein Stück Rohstoffsicherheit für die me-tallverarbeitenden Unternehmen in Europa.

After the major recession of 2009, last year the world economy recovered astonishingly quickly: in 2010 worldwide production was up by 4.8 percent (provisional figure) and for the year ahead of us the signs point to continuing recovery. However, the worldwide economic ex­pansion over the year lost some momentum and world trade barely increased at all in the second half of 2010. Many eco-nomic analysts predict for this year a phase of moderate global growth, amounting to less than four percent.

As in previous years the major developing countries of the BRIC group – especially Bra-zil, India and China – are providing the driv-ing force for the world economy. Their share of world production is now almost one-fifth. Although that is still not up to the level of the USA’s global economic power, a change of leadership is now almost in view. The Eu-ropean economic block will develop very differently this year: Germany has become a powerful driving force for trade, whereas other major EU states are rather lingering at the zero line. Japan’s economy too can hardly be ex­pected to show sustained impetus.

Along with the rest of the economic re-covery the aluminium markets too have ben-efited. Quotations on the London Metal Ex­-change (LME) have risen by roughly a quarter since the middle of 2010 and the milestone of 2,500 US-dollars will probably soon be left behind. Many aluminium smelters have announced the reactivation of idle capacities or are now already operating them. Other companies have reported the modernisation and ex­pansion of smelters, and yet others are considering the creation of new production capacities.

New smelter or ex­pansion projects are only implemented at locations where energy costs will remain favourable in the long term: most of all in the Middle East, but water-rich regions such as Canada are also predestined for aluminium production. In Europe metal production, or the weighting between prima-ry and secondary production, will move even farther toward recycling in the coming years. As a region with particularly high per-capita consumption of aluminium and efficient col-lection, sorting and recovery systems for the light metal, in the medium- and long-term in-creasingly large quantities of aluminium will flow back into the economic cycle of produc-tion, use and recovery. Even though alumin-ium is not a rare-earth metal, this ‘domestic’ metal fraction also provides a degree of raw material security for metal-processing busi-nesses in Europe.

Volker Karow

Chefredakteur

Editor in Chief

auf

Erholungskurs

on the way

to recovery

4 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/20114 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

i N H a l t

Ed i tor ial

Auf Erholungskurs • On the way to recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

aKtUEllES • NEWS iN Br i E F

Recyc l ing von Aluminium erre icht Spi tzenwerte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Aluminium-Oberf lächen im authent ischen Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Rio announces modernisat ion and expans ion of Canadian smelters . . . . . . . 7

Cal l for papers announcement for EAC Congress 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Deutsche Aluminiumindustr ie st rotzt vor Kraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

TMS opens regist rat ion for 2011 Annual Meet ing & Exhib i t ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Meed‘s Middle East Aluminium Conference 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

W irtSCHaFt • ECoNoMiCS

Aluminiumpreise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Produkt ionsdaten der deutschen Aluminiumindustr ie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Rusal gets c loser to China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Market report on a luminium product ion, consumption and pr ices: Await ing a luminium ETFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Signi f icance of increased greenf ie ld a lumina ref inery des ign capaci ty . .20

alUMiN iUM SMElt iNG iNdUStrY

Dubal DX pot technology: Successfu l path f rom prototypes to industr ia l projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

FLSmidth – One source for advanced solut ions for a lumina in ref iner ies and smelters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Pyrotek mechanica l f lue end baff les boost performance in carbon bake furnaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Outotec – Des ign and engineer ing f rom specia l machines to turnkey green anode plants: “The developing countr ies are ca l l ing the tune” . . .4

Storv ik AS: Mult i funct ional Cruc ib le C leaning Machine – Proven technology with low investment cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

A new generat ion of Almeq cathode block preheaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Thermo F isher Sc ient i f ic: Improved analys is of inc lus ions in a luminium with the ARL 4460 Spark-DAT.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Sol ios: L iquid pi tch storage at port fac i l i ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

14

2828

44

4646

Der Aluminium-Branchentreffdes Giesel Verlags: www.alu-web.de

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 5

C O N T E N T S

Inserenten dieser Ausgabe

List of advertisers

ABB Schweiz AG, Switzerland 25

Almeq Norway AS, Norway 23

Alu Menziken Extrusion AG, Switzerland 44

ARP GmbH & Co. KG 7

Befesa Salt Slags Ltd., UK 41

Buss ChemTech AG, Switzerland 13

Coiltec Maschinenvertriebs GmbH 75

Drache Umwelttechnik GmbH 69

Dubai Aluminium Company Ltd., UAE 100

ECL, France 15

FLSmidth Hamburg GmbH 47

Glama Maschinenbau GmbH 37

Hertwich Engineering GmbH, Austria 2

Innovatherm Prof. Dr. LeisenbergGmbH & Co. KG 17

Inotherm Industrieofen-und Wärmetechnik GmbH 32, 64

MEED, UAE 33

MFW Maschinenbau GmbH 76

R&D Carbon Ltd., Switzerland 51

Reed Exhibitions China Head Office, PRC 11

Shanghai Jieru, PRC 19

SMS Logistiksysteme GmbH 99

Storvik AS, Norway 21

Advanced Dynamics: Automat ion of extrus ion bi l let batch homogenis ing systems for increased bi l let product ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Grinding plants for petcoke for anodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Retrof i t of a 500 kA cel l des ign into a 600 kA cel l des ign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

GAP Engineer ing: GAPCast control makes a luminium vert ica l cast ing safer and more ef f ic ient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

New cathode des ign saves energy in a luminium smelt ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Pot vol tage noise analys is us ing the Lomb algor i thm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

TECHNOLOG I E • T ECHNOLOGY

TU Fre iberg und MgF nehmen neuart iges Magnes ium-Warmwalzwerk in Betr ieb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Modern und innovat iv – Die neue 33-MN-Strangpress l in ie bei Schletter, Te i l I I • Modern and innovat ive – The new 33 MN extrus ion l ine at Schletter, Part I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

COMPANY NEWS WORLDWIDE

Aluminium smelt ing industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Bauxi te and a lumina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Recyc l ing and secondary smelt ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

On the move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Aluminium semis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Suppl iers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

New rol l ing mi l l orders for SMS Siemag from Middle East , China and Braz i l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

RESEARCH

Inert anodes – an update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

DOCUMENTAT ION

Patente . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Impressum • Impr int . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97

Vorschau • Prev iew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

BEZUGSQUELLENVERZE I CHN I SSOURCE OF SUPPLY L I ST ING ................................................... 84

4848

6666

A k t u e l l e s

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Aluminiumverpackungen werden in Deutsch-land immer stärker im Kreislauf geführt. Bei Getränkedosen nähert sich die Branche inzwi-schen Werten, die kaum mehr zu übertreffen sind. Von den 2009 in Verpackungen einge-setzten 91.000 Tonnen Aluminium wurden 74.900 Tonnen stofflich verwertet. Dies ent-spricht einer Recyclingrate von 82,3 Prozent,

wie die GVM Gesellschaft für Verpackungs-marktforschung in einer aktuellen Studie er-mittelt hat. Bei Alu-Getränkedosen im Pfand-system liegt der Rücklauf sogar bei 96 Pro- zent. Dies ist der höchste Recyclingwert in Europa. „Die stetig steigenden Recyclingraten für Aluminiumverpackungen in Deutschland zeigen, dass die Aluminiumindustrie sehr er-folgreich daran arbeitet, Wertstoffkreisläufe

immer weiter zu schließen. Bei der Getränke-dose haben wir inzwischen ein Niveau erreicht, das vergleichbar ist mit den Recyclingraten im Automobil- und Bausektor“, kommentiert Hans-Jürgen Schmidt, Geschäftsführer der DAVR Deutsche Aluminium Verpackung Re-cycling GmbH die hervorragenden Verwer-tungszahlen.

Die GVM ermittelt jährlich das Aufkom-men und die Verwertung von Verpackungs-abfällen. Die Verwertungsmengen der verschiedenen dualen Systeme sowie die Rückführung gebrauchter Verpackungen über sonstige Organisationen und Erfas-sungswege sind berücksichtigt. „Die jüngs-ten Zahlen der GVM sind ein Beleg dafür, dass es richtig ist, sich auf die Schließung von Materialkreisläufen zu konzentrieren statt darauf, den Anteil von Recyclingma-terial in Aluminiumprodukten zu erhö-hen. Dies trägt nicht zu mehr Nachhaltig-keit oder einer besseren Umwelt bei, denn

ein höherer Recyclinganteil in ausgewählten Produkten verändert nicht die Gesamtmenge des zur Verfügung stehenden Recyclingma-terials. Genau darauf kommt es aber an: Die Rücklaufmenge von Wertstoffen insgesamt zu erhöhen, um Ressourcen zu schonen und Energie einzusparen“, erklärt Stefan Glimm, Geschäftsführer des Gesamtverbandes der Aluminiumindustrie (GDA).

Recycling von Aluminiumverpackungen erreicht spitzenwerte

Das Recycling von Aluminium spart nicht nur bis zu 95 Prozent der zur Ersterzeugung des Metalls notwendigen Energie, sondern ist auch ein wichtiger Beitrag zum Klimaschutz. Basierend auf den 2009 erreichten Verwer-tungsmengen betragen die jährlichen Einspa-rungen von Klimagasen laut DAVR etwa 370.000 Tonnen sog. CO2-Äquivalente; die Aufwendungen für Sammlung, Aufbereitung und Recycling sowie auftretende Materialver-luste sind dabei berücksichtigt. Das entspricht dem kompletten Treibstoffverbrauch von etwa 150.000 Autos auf Deutschlands Straßen.

Die Recyclingrate bei Alu-Getränkedosen beträgt inzwi-schen 96 Prozent. Foto: FotografiaBasica

Auf der BAU 2011 in München präsentiert Alcoa Architectural Products, Merxheim/ Frankreich, erstmals seine neue Designlinie mit insgesamt 43 Oberflächen. Sie verbindet die natürliche Ästhetik von Holz und die Tex-

dige und flexible Lösung, die der Gebäude-architektur eine natürliche Eleganz und Le-bendigkeit verleiht. Da die Platten nur 4 mm dick sind, lassen sie sich ohne kreative Einschränkungen einfach und vielseitig ver-

den. So weist die Oberfläche „Wood-Design“ die Strukturen und warme Ausstrahlung von echtem Holz auf, kann aber weder verfärben, verwittern oder sich verformen. Hinzu kommt die Resistenz gegen Feuchtigkeit und Schäd-linge. Insgesamt 22 verschiedene Holzdekore umfasst die Palette von „Wood Design“, dar-unter beliebte Farben wie das klassisch-ele-gante Colonial Red, das warme Walnut Brown oder das traditionell-stilvolle Dark Oak. Auch die erweiterte Serie von „Natural Fi-nish“ bietet Architekten eine noch größere Auswahl an natürlichen Oberflächen. Mit 21 Farben reicht das Spektrum von vier Granit-varianten über verschiedene Mineralfarbtöne bis hin zu warmen Sandstein- sowie moder- nen Zink- und Kupferdekoren.

Neue, große Farbkarten, die in Farbgebung und Musterung nahezu identisch mit dem Original sind, können unter www.Reynobond- Design-Collection.eu angefordert werden.

Aluminiumoberflächen im authentischen look

Sehr geehrter Abonnent,aufgrund gestiegener Produktionskosten lässt sich eine leichte Anpassung des Abo-Preises dieser Zeitschrift leider nicht vermeiden. Die ak-tuellen Preise finden Sie in unserem Impressum auf Seite 97. Wir bitten um Ihr Verständnis.

Dear subscriber,Due to increased production costs, Giesel Verlag has unfortunately been forced to slightly adjust the subscription rate of this journal. You will find details of the new rate in the imprint on page 97. We would kindly ask for your under-standing for this step.

Foto: Alcoa

turen und Muster mineralischer und metalli- scher Oberflächen mit den Verarbeitungsmög-lichkeiten, der Langlebigkeit und Wartungs- freiheit einer Aluminiumfassade. Mit Alumi-nium-Verbundplatten im „Wood Design“ und „Natural Finish“ bietet Reynobond Architec-ture eine wirtschaftliche, witterungsbestän-

arbeiten. So sind beispielsweise Kurven und Winkel umsetzbar, die das Originalmaterial nicht zulässt.

Mit seinen natürlichen Oberflächen schafft es Reynobond Architecture, technologische und kreative Anforderungen, Optisches und Funktionales perfekt miteinander zu verbin-

n e w s i n b R i e f

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Rio Tinto is to invest in its Canadian alumin-ium smelters to improve production efficiency through modernisation and expansion. The bulk of this new investment – USD758m – will be spent on completing the first phase of the AP60 plant in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Que-bec. Rio Tinto will also spend an additional USD300m for further construction in prepara-tion for the USD2.5bn modernisation of the Kitimat smelter in British Columbia.

The AP technology is designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs of alu-

minium production. Metal output per pot at the plant will be 40% higher than at existing smelters.

The Kitimat modernisation project will in-crease the smelter’s current production capac-ity by more than 48% to 420,000 tpy. The modernised aluminium smelter will be pow-ered exclusively by hydroelectricity and use Rio Tinto Alcan’s AP technology to reduce its emissions intensity by more than 50% per year. Jacynthe Côté, chief executive of Rio Tinto Alcan, said: “The modernisation of our Kitimat smelter is truly a transformational

project. Once completed, Kitimat will be one of the lowest-cost smelters in the world.”

The first phase of the AP60 plant will have 38 pots and an annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of aluminium by 2013. This initial step will also include the infrastructure required for the subsequent phases, which would bring the total production capacity to 460,000 tonnes, powered by clean, renewable hydroelectricity. Rio Tinto is expected to have spent USD371m on the AP60 project by the end of 2010. The company is also expected

to have spent USD350m on the Kitimat moderni-sation project, for which final ap-proval is expected in 2011.

Rio’s contin-ued investment in these projects is consistent with the modernisation strategy that was set out following

the acquisition of Alcan and is in-keeping with the group’s 2007 commitments to the govern-ments of Canada and Quebec.

About AP0 technology

AP60 technology was first developed at Rio Tinto Alcan’s R&D facilities in the Rhône- Alpes region of France. When the first phase of the plant becomes operational, the Arvida R&D Centre in Jonquière, Quebec, will lead ongoing activities towards commercialising AP60 technology. AP60 is the next step in

Rio Tinto Alcan’s suite of industry benchmark smelt-ing technologies. It will operate at an exceptional 600 kilo amperes (kA), which represents a 100 kilo ampere step change from AP50 tech-nology. Like all AP series technologies, AP60 is focussed on productivity and reduction of full economic cost of production.

Rio tinto announces modernisation and expansion of Canadian aluminium smelters

AP50 in 2009. The latest AP50 version consumes less than 13.4 kWh/kg alumin-ium. Photo: Rio Tinto Alcan

‘Call for Papers’ an-nouncement for the eAC european Alumin-ium Congress 2011 the German Aluminium Association GDA is organising the eAC european Aluminium Congress 2011, taking place on 22/23 november in Düsseldorf. this year’s motto is ‘technologies for the Aluminium industry’. GDA is now invit-ing suggestions for topics to be covered and presentations. the deadline for sub-mission is 1 March 2011.

Growing aluminium demand will lead to greater demands being placed on the alu-minium industry’s technology partners and equipment suppliers. Besides the supply of plant and machinery, the industry demands an understanding of the complete process as well as comprehensive systems expertise for all steps in aluminium’s value chain.

The international congress offers suppliers and technology partners to the aluminium producing and processing industries an ideal platform to present and discuss new tech-niques, processes or developments relating to aluminium as a material. The focus will be on all steps in aluminium’s value chain, from the production of the metal to the processing (such as rolling, extrusion, drawing, casting, forging and downstream processing) and its recycling. The congress language is English.

The congress is especially aimed at the following topics alongside the production chain:• Machinery and plant engineering• Measuring and control equipment, sensors• Heat treatment plants• Software and simulation• Recycling and melting technology• Technologies relating to resource efficiency and energy saving• Application-oriented process technologies, such as forming, joining, surface treat- ment, machining.The congress is aimed at representatives from primary smelters and remelters, semis producers, foundries, processing plants, metal traders and semis stockholders, and research facilities.

For suggestions for topics and presentations please contact: Wolfgang Heidrich, Tel. +49 211 4796 271, wolfgang.heidrich@aluinfo.de

A k t u e l l e s

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Werke weiterhin optimistisch, das gute Niveau zu halten, so Bell. Für den gesamten europä-ischen Markt erwartet er einen Zuwachs der Walzproduktion von vier Prozent und auf-grund der dynamischen Wirtschaftsentwick-lung der Schwellenländer weltweit gesehen sogar ein Wachstum von sieben Prozent.

Auch die Strangpresser sind mit dem Ge-schäftsverlauf in den ersten drei Quartalen 2010 zufrieden. In Deutschland produzieren derzeit 85 Strangpressen – im Wesentlichen Profile, Stangen und Rohre. Viele Presswerke sind zurzeit voll ausgelastet.

Die Hersteller von Press- und Ziehpro-dukten legten gegenüber den Herstellern von Walzhalbzeug prozentual sogar deutlich stär-ker zu, allerdings hatten sie 2009 auch einen noch heftigeren Einbruch erlitten. Auf das Gesamtjahr hochgerechnet, dürfte die Profil-produktion 2010 wieder die Marke von 550.000 Tonnen erreicht haben. „Bei den Strangpressern ist die gute Konjunktur in der Hauptsache auf die hohe Nachfrage aus dem Automotive-Sektor mit Nutzfahrzeugen, dem Maschinenbau und der Solarwirtschaft zu-rückzuführen. Auch der Bausektor hat leicht angezogen“, sagte Friedrich W. Brökelmann, Präsident des GDA. Die überwiegend mit-telständisch geprägte Branche habe durch gezielte Modernisierungs- und Rationalisie-rungsmaßnahmen ihre Wettbewerbsfähigkeit über die Jahre gesehen weiter erhöht. Im Wettbewerb mit Anbietern, die an Standorten mit deutlich niedrigeren Arbeitskosten pro-duzieren konnten, haben die hiesigen Werke durch einen höheren Automatisierungsgrad ihre Kosten weiter gesenkt.

Deutsche Aluminiumindustrie strotzt vor kraftDie deutsche Aluminiumindustrie hat sich 2010 schneller und stärker von der Wirt-schaftskrise erholt als erwartet. In Teilberei-chen der Aluminiumverarbeitung reicht man bereits wieder an das Vorkrisenniveau heran. Auch für das erste Halbjahr 2011 erwartet die Branche einen guten Konjunkturverlauf. Dies machten Vertreter des Gesamtverbandes der Aluminiumindustrie (GDA) vor Journalisten in Düsseldorf im Dezember deutlich.

Getragen wird die bessere Aluminium-konjunktur von der Erholung der heimischen Automobil- und Investitionsgüterindustrie. Hinzu kommt die stabile Geschäftsentwick-lung der Bauwirtschaft und die Belebung des privaten Konsums. Auch die weiterhin boo-mende Solarindustrie hat der Branche zu einer besseren Auslastung verholfen.

Das Auftragsniveau der Walzer, Strang-presser und Gießer erreichte im 2. Halbjahr 2010 teilweise Rekordmarken. Das Expan-sionstempo verlangsamte sich zwar gegen Ende des Jahres. Die hohe Auslastung der Kapazitäten und die guten Auftragseingän-ge verheißen den meisten Unternehmen der Branche jedoch gute Geschäfte bis weit ins zweite Quartal 2011, so Oliver Bell, stell-vertretender Vorsitzender des GDA-Fachver-bandes Aluminiumhalbzeug. 2010 sei der Bedarf wieder nahe an das hohe Niveau von 2008 herangekommen. Wichtigster Zielmarkt für die deutsche Aluminiumindustrie ist der Verkehrssektor mit 37 Prozent Anteil am Gesamtabsatz. Weitere Hauptmärkte sind der Bausektor (18%), die Verpackungsindustrie (12%) und der Maschinenbau (12%).

„Unsere Unternehmen zeichnen sich durch ein hohes Maß an Flexibilität, Kreativität und hohes Innovationspotenzial aus“, sagte GDA-Geschäftsführer Christian Wellner. Deshalb werde der Aluminiumverbrauch in Deutsch-land weiterhin kontinuierlich wachsen. Stärks-ter Wachstumsträger bleibe die Automobilin-dustrie. Weitere Zuwächse seien in der Luft-fahrt, bei Schienenfahrzeugen, im Schiffbau und im Verpackungsmarkt zu erwarten.

Die einzelnen branchensegmente

Die Metallproduktion der vier deutschen Alu-minium- sowie der Sekundärhütten und auch die Halbzeugproduktion ist in den ersten neun Monaten des vergangenen Jahres zum Teil sprunghaft angestiegen (siehe Tabelle). Trotz der Erholung bei der Aluminiumerzeugung blieb das Volumen jedoch deutlich hinter der im Jahr 2008 produzierten Menge zurück.

Die Produktion der 34 deutschen Halbzeug­unternehmen hat in den ersten drei Quartalen 2010 um mehr als ein Viertel auf 1,88 Mio. Tonnen zugelegt. Damit wurde der Mengen-verlust in der Krise 2008/09 bereits in die-sem Zeitraum nahezu vollständig aufgeholt. „Hierin zeigt sich die herausragende Wettbe-werbsposition des deutschen Aluminiumhalb-zeugsektors in Europa, der rund ein Drittel des europäischen Gesamtbedarfs liefert“, so Wellner. Die Halbzeugunternehmen sind an 47 Standorten in Deutschland tätig und be-schäftigen etwa 16.000 Mitarbeiter. Sie produ-zieren Walz- und Strangpressprodukte sowie Drähte und Schmiedeteile.

Den höchsten Anteil an der deutschen Halbzeugproduktion haben die Walzwerke, die wiederum knapp die Hälfte der europä-ischen Walzproduktion tragen. Die Walz-werke steigerten ihre Produktion von Januar bis September um 23,8 Prozent auf 1,43 Mio. Tonnen. „Insgesamt ist die Kapazitätsaus-lastung derzeit sehr zufriedenstellend. Die Lieferzeiten haben sich entsprechend verlän-gert“, sagte Bell.

Die Walzwerke haben in den vergangenen Monaten aufgrund der guten Auftragslage vielfach Preiserhöhungen für ihre Produkte eingeleitet, zum Teil auch weitere Preiserhö-hungen für das zweite Quartal 2011 angekün-digt. Getragen wird die gute Nachfrage nach Walzhalbzeug durch die konjunkturelle Er-holung in den wichtigsten Anwendungsmärk-ten wie Verpackung und Automotive. Die schnelle konjunkturelle Belebung zeigt, dass dieser Branchenzweig wettbewerblich gut auf-gestellt ist. Für das erste Halbjahr 2011 sind die

2008 2009 2009 /2008

Jan.­Sept. 2009

Jan.­Sept. 2010

Jan.­Sept. 2010/09

Primäraluminium in t in t in % in t in t in %

Produktion 605.900 291.700 -51,9 216.900 292.300 +34,8

Einfuhr 1.562.200 1.181.900 -24,3 791.300 1.345.400 +70,0

Ausfuhr 216.900 182.700 -15,8 125.300 210.100 +67,7

Sekundäraluminium

Produktion 720.900 560.800 -22,2 408.400 464.900 +13,8

Einfuhr 534.600 484.600 -9,4 361.100 464.600 +28,7

Ausfuhr 218.200 172.700 -20,9 127.400 144.900 +13,7

Al­Halbzeugproduktion

Walzprodukte 1.816.800 1.560.100 -14,1 1.158.000 1.433.400 +23,8

Press- und Ziehprodukte 592.200 455.000 -23,2 334.000 437.600 +31,0

Leitmaterial 3.200 3.600 +12,5 2.700 3.000 +11,1

Aluminiumhalbzeug insgesamt 2.412.200 2.018.700 -16,3 1.494.600 1.874.100 +25,4

Quellen: GDA, VAR, Statist. Bundesamt

Für das Gesamtjahr 2010 erwartet der GDA eine Produktion von 400.000 Tonnen Hüttenaluminium, 630.000 bis 650.000 Tonnen Sekundäraluminium und 2,45 Mio. Tonnen Aluminiumhalbzeug

n e w s i n b R i e f

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

By 2012, the Middle East will account for about 10% of the world’s primary alu­minium production, compared with just 4% in 2007. MEED, the region’s leading economic publication, is again holding the Middle East Aluminium Conference on 15/16 March 2011 in Dubai.

With easy access to cheap gas resources and close proximity to the major aluminium mar-kets of Europe, the United States and the Far East, the region is actively exploring its po-tential to become a leading export market for primary and downstream aluminium products. MEED’s event will look at key industry de-velopments and discuss in an open and frank environment how they will affect the industry in the coming years. Some of these include:• Qatalum’s plans to move to its next phase of aluminium production in 2011 after meeting its capacity of 585,000 tpy in 2010• Emal continuing expansion to become the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter complex with a capacity of 1.4 million tpy on completion in 2013/14• Alcoa and Ma’aden’s joint venture to devel-op a USD10.8 billion, fully integrated alumina and aluminium complex in Saudi Arabia.

Benefits of attending include:

• Understand the upcoming economic condi-tions, the supply and demand dynamics and the forward-pricing for aluminium• Achieve better estimates of your produc-tion costs through understanding the supply availability and costs of raw materials• Gain first-hand project updates from the region’s top producers and the on-stream production capacity• Evaluate the international de-mand for aluminium products and the progress of the downstream de-velopments across the Middle East• Discover the new markets and uses for aluminium• Network with leading industry stakeholders across the full value chain, including top producers, fab-ricators, traders, end-users, energy providers, raw materials producers, financiers and consultants from across the re-gion and beyond.

Over 30 senior representatives from the Middle East and North Africa will unlock the secrets to successful projects. Well-known speakers are, among others: Laurent Schmitt, CEO of Alba; Henk Pauw, CEO of Sohar Alu-minium; Jan Arve Haugan, CEO of Qatalum; Hamid R Al Zayani, chairman of Alzayani

MeeD’s Middle east Aluminium Conference 2011working towards becoming the leading hub for the global aluminium market

Investment Group and managing director of Midal Cables; Adel Hamad, CEO of Garmco; Modar Al Mekdad, general manager of Gulf Extrusions; Jassim Mohamed Seyadi, CEO of Bahrain Aluminium Extrusion Company; Bo-Inge Stensson, senior vice president, group de-

mand chain, of SKF Group; Michael Widmer, metals strategist of the Bank of America-Mer-rill Lynch.

MEED will also be presenting their Mid-dle East Aluminium Leadership Award to Abdallah E. Dabbagh, president and CEO of Ma’aden at the event. To learn more about this exciting event, please visit www.meed.com/events/aluminium.

Geographical split 2010, taken from past delegate analysis

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) has opened registration for its 140th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, tak­ing place from 27 February to 3 March in San Diego, California. TMS 2011 will feature four full days of technical pro­gramming and events for the first time in conference history.

“The past successes of TMS’s annual meeting have served as a catalyst for this milestone of growth. For the first time, the conference will include four full days of technical ses-sions, symposia and meetings, which reflects the materials community’s enthusiasm for the programming themes, as well as the ex-citement of the San Diego venue,” said TMS president George T. ‘Rusty’ Gray. Attendees who register for TMS 2011 before 4 Febru-ary will receive a discount off the onsite rate, which has not increased over last year’s fee

scale for general registrants. Accommodations discounts at the TMS 2011 headquarters hotel, the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, will be offered through 28 January 2011.

TMS 2011 will feature 3,500 technical presentations, more than 70 unique symposia and 400 posters. The conference will focus on these varied technical themes: • Aluminium and Magnesium • Advanced Characterisation, Modelling and Materials Performance • High Performance Materials • Materials and Society: Energy and Sustain- able Production • Materials Processing and Production • Nanoscale and Amorphous Materials • Professional Development.The conference also offers a host of related activities for materials science and engineer-ing professionals hailing from all sectors of industry, government and academia. Among

the planned events are technical networking receptions, the TMS awards banquet, continu-ing education, and student activities such as the Materials Bowl competition and poster contest.

TMS 2011 will include a robust three-day exhibition, which will bring together indus-try leaders, buyers, engineers, scientists and researchers from more than 68 countries. Companies will showcase their products and services at the exhibition, which will be held 28 February to 2 March. Now in its 25th year, the exhibition is known for drawing together an extensive aluminium technical audience and spotlighting the latest developments in the emerging materials and materials charac-terisation areas.

For more information on TMS 2011 reg-istration and accommodations as well as the schedule of programming and events, visit www.tms.org/tms2011.

tMs opens registration for expanded 2011 Annual Meeting & exhibition

10 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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Aluminium im MonatsrückblickEin Service der TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG

Im Dezember kehrte Schuldenkrise in Europa wieder in den Blickpunkt des Interesses zurück. Ins Visier gerieten ne-ben Irland jetzt auch Spanien, Portugal und Belgien.Dessen ungeachtet setzten die Me-tallmärkte ihren Höhenflug fort. An-fang Dezember handelte Aluminium bei rund USD 2.290,00 pro Tonne, am

Deutschland bleibt die Konjunkturloko-motive in Europa. Das Wirtschaftsjahr 2010 verabschiedet sich mit hervorragenden Aussichten für 2011. Zum Jahresausklang ist die Stim-mung bestens, die deutsche Wirtschaft befindet sich in absoluter Hochstim-mung.

31.12.2010 lag die Schlussnotierung bei USD 2.488,00 pro Tonne, Tendenz stei-gend. Die Verbrauchernachfrage hielt unvermindert an und die Prämien stabili-sierten sich auf hohem Niveau. Vom Tief des Jahres 2009 hat sich die Nachfrage deutlich erholt und auch die globalen Wachstumserwartungen verbesserten sich in den letzten Monaten merklich.

Dezember 2010 1.776,99 Euro November 2010 1.707,35 Euro Oktober 2010 1.688,55 Euro September 2010 1.654,05 Euro August 2010 1.640,28 Euro Juli 2010 1.556,92 Euro

Aluminium High Grade, Kasseletzten 6 Durchschnittswerte LME 2.500

2.000

1.500

1.0002002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Dezember 2010 4.277.050 To. November 2010 4.288.125 To. Oktober 2010 4.306.350 To. September 2010 4.355.650 To. August 2010 4.442.475 To. Juli 2010 4.385.300 To.

Aluminium Lagerbeständeletzten 6 Monatsendwerte LME

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Dezember 2010 21,90 Euro November 2010 28,07 Euro Oktober 2010 31,39 Euro September 2010 33,10 Euro August 2010 11,61 Euro Juli 2010 23,35 Euro

Auf- bzw. Abschlag für 3-Monatsterminletzten 6 Durchschnittswerte LME

50

0

–50

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Alle Angaben auf dieser Seite sind unverbindlich. Quelle: TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG – aktuelle LME-Werte unter www.trimet.de

http://www.aluminiumchina.com

12 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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Primäraluminium Sekundäraluminium Walzprodukte > 0,2 mm Press- & Ziehprodukte**

Produktion(in 1.000 t)

+/-in % *

Produktion(in 1.000 t)

+/- in % *

Produktion(in 1.000 t)

+/-in % *

Produktion(in 1.000 t)

+/-in % *

Okt 24,2 -52,6 55,0 -4,9 143,8 -5,8 45,7 -9,3

Nov 24,5 -48,1 55,0 14,2 149,1 20,8 45,5 12,6

Dez 26,1 -41,6 42,4 47,3 109,3 20,5 26,6 14,9

Jan 10 26,9 -33,6 45,9 14,0 138,4 27,5 37,9 10,3

Feb 25,5 -24,7 50,9 38,6 147,5 26,0 42,6 34,0

Mrz 30,4 10,3 57,5 26,1 172,3 29,4 51,1 54,7

Apr 31,0 77,4 51,0 26,5 160,4 32,2 44,1 33,2

Mai 34,4 96,8 53,5 16,7 162,4 35,3 47,4 41,2

Jun 34,7 91,1 56,7 16,4 165,5 21,9 53,7 43,2

Jul 36,5 83,0 49,7 -4,2 158,3 6,2 50,5 23,6

Aug 36,9 79,9 46,0 6,4 167,6 27,0 48,4 27,1

Sep 36,0 69,4 53,6 -3,8 161,0 14,2 50,9 17,3

Okt 37,1 53,2 52,0 -5,4 161,8 12,5 50,7 11,0* gegenüber dem Vorjahresmonat, ** Stangen, Profile, Rohre; Mitteilung des Gesamtverbandes der Aluminiumindustrie (GDA), Düsseldorf

Produktionsdaten der deutschen Aluminiumindustrie

Press- und Ziehproduktewalzprodukte > 0,2 mm

sekundäraluminiumPrimäraluminium

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14 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

UC Rusal has made another strategic step to strengthen its position in China. In No-vember it announced the acquisition of a stake in the Shenzhen North Investments sales company and the establishment of an alloy producing joint venture with state-owned Norinco.

China has become one of Russia’s key trad-ing partners. The trade turnover between the two countries has grown 56 percent in 2010 to USD42 billion. Experts believe there is still room for further growth. During the recently held the 5th Sino-Russian Business Summit Forum, the partners made 13 deals worth USD8 billion. The contracts include an agree-ment that specifies the key terms and condi-tions for UC Rusal’s acquisition of a stake in the share capital of Shenzhen North Invest-ments, a subsidiary of Norinco; and a declara-tion of intent for the creation of a joint venture between Rusal and Norinco to produce and sell aluminium alloys.

Rusal’s history of relations with Norinco, one of China’s largest state-owned diversified holdings, began in 2009, when the companies signed a long-term contract for the supply of 1.68 million tonnes of aluminium to the Chi-nese market until 2016. The new agreement

significantly expands the sales opportunities for Rusal in China, the world’s largest alu-minium consumer. The Norinco brand is used in a variety of product categories in China, including cars and trucks, optic and electronic products, military and civilian weapons, and oil field equipment, to name a few. Shenzhen North Investments focuses on sales of primary aluminium, and now it goes from being a busi-ness partner to a part of Rusal.

Understanding the preferences and require-ments of one’s customers is a key to successful sales. The Russian aluminium giant will own 33 percent in the share capital of its new as-set, whose 15 years in the Chinese market will provide the company with access to unique expertise. Rusal and Norinco plan to create a joint venture, which will produce and sell aluminium alloy products including ingots for beverage cans, billets and slabs for aluminium extrusions and alloys for car wheels. Under the project, Rusal will install new casting equip-ment at its production facilities, while Norinco will supply the necessary equipment and pro-vide financing for the design and installation stages. The Chinese partner will also allocate the working capital required to launch pro-duction, supply liquid metal and will be re-sponsible for production process management.

The Russian share in the JV will make at least 51 percent. Rusal will play an active role in the operational and strategic management of Shenzhen North Investments to protect its own interests and to learn the secrets of doing business in the mysterious Heavenly Empire.

The venture’s products will be delivered to various regions including Russia and China. The project will enable Rusal to significantly increase the output of value-added products and expand its casting capabilities.

According to the forecasts published by Standard Chartered, in 2020 China will sur-pass the USA and will account for 24 percent of the global GDP by 2030. That means that every fourth product will be produced by China. Today, China generates nine percent of the world GDP. Its aspirations to become the world’s leader are supported by a high and stable economic growth rate and a 25 percent appreciation of the yuan. China will thus be the driver of the global economy for several decades to come. The country’s demand for aluminium is practically unlimited, and it is al-ready several times higher than the capacities of its domestic aluminium producers. At the same time, China is a relatively closed country, which is very reluctant to let strangers in its backyard, and so Rusal’s expansion in China

Rusal gets closer to china

Irkutsk aluminium smelter (IrkAZ), Potline 5

UC

Rusa

l

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 15

e c o n o m i c s

as an equal business partner is an opportunity of securing the Chinese market as a trading floor for Rusal’s products.

“By 2020, Metal Bulletin Research expects Asian aluminium demand to be testing the 50 million tpy level in our base case forecast, with Chinese demand of around 35 million tpy. This will be an approximate doubling of demand from 2010,” said Metal Bulletin managing director Raju Daswani at the 2010 Arabal conference. Rusal is well-prepared to meet the growing Asian demand. According to company estimates in 2010 its sales to China may double year-on-year. “The geographical proximity of UC Rusal’s smelters to China enables us to give the most favourable coop-eration options to our partners in Asia,” com-mented Oleg Deripaska, CEO of UC Rusal. “This is best proved by the launch of high-tech, environmentally friendly and Asia-oriented facilities in Siberia.”

For instance, in 2010 it completed a large-scale development programme for the Irkutsk aluminium smelter (IrkAZ), which consisted of launching Potline 5, constructing and com-missioning two casthouses and implementing

several environmental measures. Out of the total output, 99 percent of IrkAZ products are high grades. In parallel, the smelter is broaden-ing its product range in general. Though it was difficult to launch the first complex of Potline 5 because of the outbreak of the global econom-ic crisis, it was successfully commissioned in February 2008. Rusal made a decision to shut down two of the oldest potrooms and keep commissioning the new potline gradually.

On 1 April 2010 the last of 200 pots was put into operation. Meanwhile Potline 5 oper-ates completely meeting the design parameters and even exceeding some of them. Specific power consumption and anode effect frequen-cy achieved here have become benchmarks for other facilities of the company. IrkAZ is also implementing a project to increase its amper-age up to 330 kA which will make it possible to produce extra 16,400 tonnes of primary aluminium a year.

IrkAZ is located close to the city. That is why the capacity expansion project has been discussed and approved in public hearings. The project designers with figures at hand man-aged to prove that the equipment modernisa-

tion would do no harm to the environment. Two dry gas scrubbers in Potline 5 operate meeting the design parameters with efficiency of up to 99.5 percent.

Green projects of IrkAZ are part of the regional programme ‘Environment Protection in the Irkutsk Region in 2006-2010’. The fa-cilities of the project ‘Remediation and expan-sion of the existing waste and household dis-posal area’ are completed for commissioning. Production sites from the entire Shelekhov re-gion utilise the solid waste disposal area. Waste disposal area 3 that is designed to store spent liquid fluorides and gas turbine substances is now under construction.

Annually, apart from the projects embraced by the regional programme, the smelter over-hauls gas scrubbing equipment. It has a closed water recycling system. IrkAZ new Potline 5 generated the construction of a new casthouse (no. 3) with a capacity of 165,000 tpy. In the first half of 2010, the new casthouse enabled the smelter to increase alloy production 3.5 times against the period one year earlier, and the range of produced alloys widened from ten to 18.

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“The commissioned casthouse capacities mean state-of-the-art technology and leading edge metal quality. The metal goes through several refining stages that guarantee its homogene-ity and high quality; therefore the demand for it is stable. Besides, the installed equipment enables us to meet promptly our customers’ re-quirements and deliver the products currently

most in demand,” said Igor Grinberg, the gen-eral director of the plant, about the casthouse modernisation.

The ever-increasing number of customers proves the high quality of products. In 2010 IrkAZ started shipping its wire rod to some countries in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Chile, South African Republic and Mexi-

co. The smelter has more than 16 customers abroad and over 60 domestic ones. IrkAZ has a trade mark registered with the LME and in October it has shipped the fist lot of small in-gots to the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the largest in Asia. If the brand is registered, new promising markets will open for IrkAZ in Asia: China, Singapore and Vietnam.

Base metals prices are again near their record high values from summer 2008, or have already reached new records, as in the case of copper, currently at over USD9,000 per tonne at the LME. The aluminium price, however, is some USD1,000 per tonne below the 2008 record high and will average around USD2,170 per tonne (cash) in 2010. Even in spite of a 14% rise in global demand in 2010, compared with 2009 when demand fell by about 7% y-o-y, the aluminium market is in significant surplus and large stocks prevent the price from rising. Apart from 4.3m tonnes of aluminium stored at LME warehouses around the world, some industry experts estimate there are at least an equal amount of unregistered or even hidden stocks at producers’ warehouses and ports. The main motivation for these unregistered stocks is seen in high premiums for alu-minium, in Europe surpassing USD200 per tonne above LME cash price in some regions, and awaiting the introduction of aluminium Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to supply them. Above all, there are some 2.2m tonnes of registered stocks in other warehouses and ports, mostly in China and Japan. This amounts to a total of 10 to 11m tonnes of aluminium stored worldwide, which corresponds to about one quarter of global annual production.

There was much talk in recent months about establishing Exchange Traded Funds for base metals. The impression was that base metals were traded under the shadow of upcoming ETFs in recent months. There was substantial optimism among traders and an expectation that ETFs will lift prices even higher. As much as USD10bn may flow into industrial-metals ETFs, according to the German Commerzbank

AG. It has been reported that a trader has bought more than half of the copper that was traded at LME in recent months, preparing to launch an ETF. The USD1.5bn (£1bn) trade was described in the LME’s daily update as between 50 and 80% of the 350,000 tonnes in reserves.

Moreover, there is an artificially created atmosphere as some 2 to 3m tonnes of alu-minium would be withdrawn from the market for the creation of ETFs and the price would thus inevitably rise. The main point is to make a rush for metals before ETFs are launched and to make profits on speculative trade re-sulting in rising prices. What will happen after the creation of ETFs and whether or not prices will really continue to rise seems to be less important to those who participate in it. There is no firm reason and explanation for why base metals ETFs would be successful at all. There is great uncertainty about what they would bring, especially for metals in large surpluses, as are aluminium, lead and zinc. It is more likely that once the euphoria about copper ETFs stalls, there will be fading enthusiasm for other base metal ETFs too.

However, UK-based ETF Securities said in December that its aluminium, zinc and lead physical exchange-traded products will be listed in the first quarter of 2011. Credit Su-isse is also seeking to list an ETP backed by aluminium in London. There were rumours that Glencore, the world’s largest commodities trader, is preparing to launch an aluminium-backed ETF in the coming months too.

As for the global economy in general, which will dominantly influence base metals prices, there are three main issues to determine its growth in 2011: firstly, the announced crea-tion of a euro zone bond market in reaction to a further possible spread of debt crisis among euro zone members; secondly, downgraded risks in the US for its debt pile and thirdly,

continued monetary tightening in China. This means that major world economies may all experience a certain temptation in 2011 which will inevitably be reflected in the euro / dollar exchange ratio and very possibly repeat the volatility of last year, oscillating in about the 1.2 to 1.5 range. The strengthening of the US dollar, especially when below 1.2 per euro, will put significant downside pressure on met-al prices, while the opposite, a strong euro, may push metals prices to new records. Many analysts and other forecasters already see the copper price reaching USD10,000 per tonne in 2011, no matter how the euro / dollar ratio will turn out and regardless on the outcome of economic issues in three major economic regions of the world.

Manufacturing activities in Europe, the United States and China increased in Novem-ber, signalling that leading economies are on the course to full recovery.

In Europe, manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in four months in November, led by Germany, the region’s largest economy.

Market report on aluminium production, consumption and prices

Awaiting aluminium eTFsG. Djukanovic, Podgorica

Aluminium market analyst Goran Djukanovic

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Visit us at TMS 2011, San Diego, Booth 429

18 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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18 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

German industrial output rose 2.9% in No-vember on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, indicating strong growth in the fourth quarter. Since 1991, the business climate in German improved to its strongest level in December, according to the Ifo business cli-mate index, which is based on a monthly sur-vey of some 7,000 firms.

Manufacturing in the US expanded for the 16th consecutive month in November, the In-stitute for Supply Management reported. The ISM’s factory index was 56.6 in November, hardly changed from the five-month high of 56.9 in October. Readings greater than 50 sig-nal growth.

China’s manufacturing grew at a faster pace for a fourth consecutive month in November. The Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 55.2 from 54.7. Rising inflation remains the main threat to China’s economy in 2011.

In contrast, Japanese Industrial production has weakened steadily in recent months. After a peak in May, it fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in November from the previous month, bringing the industrial output index down to 91.1, the lowest since December 2009. The trend is downwards.

Global aluminium production and consumption rising

Primary aluminium production in Europe ex-cluding Russia was around 340,000 tonnes in November and will be some 4m tonnes for the whole of 2010, which is a 2% increase y-o-y. Consumption for the year will amount to 6.1m tonnes, a 9% growth y-o-y. Demand for foundry alloys, extruded and rolled products is steady and is reflected in higher premiums on primary aluminium in Europe and increased demand and prices for secondary aluminium. Order levels for the automobile and construc-tion industry improved significantly com-pared to the previous year, nearing the levels reached in 2008. The market is dominated by short term transactions while some long term

deals involved flat rolled products. US primary aluminium production in No-

vember was 144,457 tonnes (+8.4% y-o-y), but lower than the 148,331 tonnes produced in October. Production for the first eleven months of 2010 was 1,58m tonnes (1.59m t a year earlier). Expected production for 2010 as a whole is 1.76m tonnes, about the same

as in 2009. US metals service centres’ shipments in November were 110,300 tonnes, 5% down m-o-m, but 38.8% up y-o-y. However, December marks the third consecutive month of de-clining aluminium shipments for US centres. Their year-to-date aluminium shipments stand at 1.21m tonnes, 25.7% more than during January to November 2009. US centres’ aluminium inventories are reported to be 347,800 tonnes, 35.9% above

the inventory level in November 2009, and equal to a 3.2-month supply at their current shipping rate. As in Europe, most orders come from the automobile and aerospace industry, followed by construction and engineering. US Midwest spot premiums were lower in No-vember from the previous month on slower demand, traded around 6.2¢/lb.

In Japan, shipments of aluminium products rose in October for the 11th consecutive month of y-o-y gains, as high tempera-tures boosted demand for cans and exports contin-ued to grow. Shipments rose 5.8% in October from a year earlier, to 175,091 tonnes, and also increased 2.7% m-o-m, as data from the Japan Aluminium As-sociation show. The uncer-tain outlook for domestic demand resulted in lower premiums for primary alu-minium shipments to Japan in January to March, with some deals agreed at USD112-113, down from USD116-118 for the current quarter. The trading house Marubeni, which collects data from the key ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka, reported that aluminium stocks amounted to 210,000 tonnes at the end of November, down 15,800 tonnes from the end of October. Exports stood at 18,955 tonnes in November, up 9.5% from a year earlier and not far from the October level two years ago. Automobile sales decreased since the govern-

ment terminated subsidies for purchases of en-vironmental-friendly cars in September, and aluminium demand from the automobile in-dustry fell for the first time in a year, although the decline was limited. Japan imports about 2m tonnes of primary aluminium a year, al-most all its needs. Industry officials said stocks around 10% of total imports represented a healthy level.

Global consumption is expected to rise 14% y-o-y in 2010, to 40.7m tonnes, while production growth is seen around 10% y-o-y, to 41.2m tonnes.

While Chinese production has been falling, production in the rest of the world has been rising in recent months. The pace of growth accelerated in October, when annualised out-put rose by over 200,000 tonnes, mostly due to the new capacity being brought on in the Persian Gulf.

Production in china to rise after fall

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China produced 14.36m tonnes of primary aluminium in the year to November, up 23% from the same period a year earlier. The coun-try’s smelters have cut production by an annu-alised 2.1m tonnes since July due to electric-ity restrictions, so that October’s annualised

output of 15.2m tonnes was the lowest since August 2009. In November, China produced 1.18m tonnes, while total production in 2010 is expected to be 15.65m tonnes.

In order to limit the rise in aluminium prices and reduce inflationary pressure, the authorities eased the power limits for smelt-ers introduced last summer, resulting in the gradual restart of idle smelter capacity. It seems that Chinese policy towards the alu-minium industry still aims to be self-sufficient

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 19

e c o n o m i c s

to the local demand.The growth rate of electricity generation was 13.5% y-o-y for the

first nine months of 2010. This figure would be consistent with the economic growth of above 10% seen in China during the same period. However, in October electricity generation increased 6.6% y-o-y, and in November the growth rate was 6.7% y-o-y, both indicating lower economic activity.

As a reaction to lower availability of electricity for primary alu-minium producers, there was a clear rise in the aluminium products output: China’s production of aluminium products surged 23% y-o-y to 2.17m tonnes in November and increased 25% in the first eleven months of the year to 20m tonnes.

The State Bureau of Material Reserves sold by auction, on two ten-ders held in November, 213,400 tonnes of aluminium ingots, bought in 2009 (total 590,000 t). The metal was sold at a discount of around 5% from the spot price. China has already sold zinc, lead, and mag-nesium from state inventories this year in an effort to ease shortages and curb price gains.

Aluminium smelters restarting capacities

There have been several announcements related to capacity restarts in recent months, encouraged by an optimistic aluminium outlook for 2011. Actually, no one so far has predicted a lower aluminium price in 2011 compared to the previous year, leaving very low risk for producers.

Ghana plans to restart its 200,000 tpy Valco smelter in 2011 as a prelude to build an integrated aluminium industry as world metal prices and its own energy resources improve, the government says. The smelter has been shut since March 2007, mostly due to power short-ages caused by low water levels in the vast Volta hydropower dam.

In the US, Ormet Corp., an independent producer of aluminium, announced its intention to restart the two idle potlines at its Hanni-bal / Ohio smelting facility. The restart preparations have started and the process is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2011, bringing the smelter to full production capacity. “We plan to produce about 80,000 tonnes of additional metal next year with this restart,” said Mike Tanchuk, Ormet’s president and CEO.

Century Aluminium of Kentucky plans to restart its idle potline at the Hawesville smelter immediately, the company announced in December. Its smelter capacity is about 250,000 tpy of primary alu-minium from five potlines. The company expects to complete the pot-line restart during the first quarter of 2011.

In general, most producers who decreased production during the crisis will return production to the pre-crisis levels or close to them. Additional greenfield capacity will begin production in the next two years in China, the Middle East, India, Canada, Iceland and the CIS, bringing over 10m tonnes more aluminium to the market compared to 2008 before the crisis.

economies weighing on prices

Most forecasts for the aluminium price in 2011 range between USD2,200-2400 per tonne, with support of about USD2,070 per tonne on the bottom side due to the production costs and USD2,550 per tonne capped at the upper, due to huge stocks and economic issues. Though short term temporary price peaks above this range cannot be excluded, prices should return to the range after market disturbances and euphoria calm down. Expectations that prices will continue to rise in the fourth quarter of 2010, awaiting the launch of an ETF, turned out

to be wrong. It seems that investors prefer metals tending to deficits, such as copper and tin, to those in vast surplus and with high stocks, as aluminium or zinc, causing the ETF euphoria to fade away for now.

Under such circumstances any substantial price increase may trig- ger heavy selling of all base metals, since there are many market par-ticipants waiting for the right moment to sell.

Several global economic issues that dominated in 2010 may con-tinue to influence markets in 2011, though expectedly to a lesser extent. Those are, above all: disappointing employment data in the USA and low new home sale figures, possible further spreading of the debt crisis in European countries and, last but not least, the already mentioned monetary tightening in China to prevent growing inflation. It is not re-alistic to expect these issues to improve much before 2012. Reasonable caution remains an option for the medium term outlook until stockpiles get depleted, while the long term perspective for the aluminium market after 2015 remains bright.

In 2011 growth in demand will continue but at a slower pace com-pared to the previous year, while production growth will remain strong, at the level seen in 2010, with the market remaining in surplus. The main support for the aluminium price may come from an expected further rise of the copper price and eventually from a rise of the euro. ETFs may bring only temporary benefits for the price in 2011.

Author

Goran Djukanovic is an aluminium market analyst, located in Podgorica, Montenegro. Email contact: gordju@t-com.me

20 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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20 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

1. Greenfield alumina refinery capacity evolution

An alumina refinery consists of a number of unit operations such as grinding, digestion, evaporation, etc. A unit operation generally comprises a string of equipment which togeth-er performs the desired process step, for ex-ample digestion with tanks, heat exchangers, pumps, vessels, etc. Such a string of equipment is often referred to as a ‘train’, ‘unit’ or ‘circuit’ (e. g. digestion unit, precipitation train, mill circuit). Alumina refinery design generally takes digestion as plant bottleneck.

As Fig. 1 illustrates, the design / initial alu-mina refinery production capacity of green-field projects outside China has evolved over time from about 0.5-1.0m tpy alumina 25 to 30 years ago (e. g. Alumar, Worsley) to 1.4-3.3m tpy alumina for more recently construct-ed and future planned projects (e. g. Lanjigarh, Yarwun, Utkal, GAC).

Note that the actual production capacities of the projects indicated in Fig. 1 have sig-nificantly increased as a result of brownfield expansions (not shown in Fig. 1), capacity de- bottlenecking, and improved process efficien-cies and operations performance.

The rationale for the trend in Fig. 1 is the economy of scale: an increased design pro-duction capacity is required to improve the economics of greenfield bauxite and alumina projects1 to meet corporate economic criteria. The question arises what this means with re-spect to project capital cost2.

With economics as the driving force, im-portant elements to consider are therefore the development over the same time period of the alumina price (covered in section 2) and oper-ating cost (section 3).

2. Alumina price

The development of the alumina contract price (LME-linked) over this period is shown in Fig. 2 (black line – left axis, in money of the day), which also includes the greenfield projects from Fig. 1 as black diamonds on the price line.In the early 1980s many greenfield alumina re-

finery projects were constructed and started up (the four black diamonds in Fig. 2 between 1980 and 1984 in fact represent seven green-field projects). However, the aluminium (and with it the alumina) market growth did not follow expectations. In addition, these green-field projects had huge brownfield expansion and de-bottlenecking poten-tial built into their design: in the 1980s and 1990s refinery capacity increases within ~10 years of start-up ranged from 30-140% (San Cyprian, Puer-to Ordaz, Alumar, Wagerup, Worsley, etc). An important aspect in this regard was that the capital cost in US dollar per annual tA installed capac-ity for brownfield projects was only ~50% of that of green-field capex3. The result was that only limited greenfield capacity was required for a long period of time.

Worldwide aluminium’s main end uses include trans-portation (25-35%), building and construction (20-25%), packaging (12-15%) and en-gineering (15-20%, includ-ing electrical and machinery equipment). In other words the usage of aluminium permeates the global economy, and with it the demand for alumina. To better interpret the fluc-tuations in the alumina price, Fig. 2 therefore also includes the World GDP/capita growth rate (dashed line – right axis), as criterion for the growth of the global economy, bearing in mind that the number of people worldwide is growing continuously. Comparison of the two lines shows a good correlation: the alumina price has followed the World GDP/capita growth rate, with a time lag of one year or less for at least the last 15 years.

Noticeable in Fig. 2 is the significant and consistent in-

crease in the alumina price in the period from about 2003 until 2008 (when the banking/eco-nomic crisis occurred), which does only partly seem to be supported by an equivalent trend in the World GDP/capita growth rate. However, as shown in Fig. 3, this alumina price increase seems to correspond with China’s significantly

significance of increased greenfield alumina refinery design capacityP.-H. ter Weer, TWs services & Advice BV

1 Reference [1] provides an overview of bauxite and alumina project economics 2 Reference [2] provides an overview of capital cost 3 See reference 1 Fig. 3

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 21

e c o n o m i c s

increasing alumina imports over part of that period (dashed line – right axis). Fig. 3 also illustrates the average alumina prices between 1980 and 2004 (~182 USD/tA), when the Chinese alumina imports reached a level of close to 6 million tonnes and kept increasing, and between 2006 and 2010 (~315 USD/tA). For project evaluation purposes be-yond 2010 an alumina price of 315 USD/tA has been assumed in this paper. Although not shown here, the alumina (LME-linked contract) price as expected closely followed changes in the aluminium 3-month LME price, with a time lag of typically a year in the period before.

3. operating cost4 and margin

A next key element is operating cost (opex). In the context of this paper opex refers to the total cash cost in USD/tA. The total cash opex differs for each individual greenfield project; however, in al- most all cases the total cash opex of a greenfield project ends up in the first quarter of the industry cash operating cost curve of the year in which it starts operations. For the purpose of the current analysis the average of the first quarter of the annual alumina industry’s cash cost curve has been used as greenfield cash operating cost. Fig. 4 compares alumina price with cash opex. This figure indicates a good correlation between cash opex (dashed line – right axis) and alumina price (black line – left axis), with the alumina price following opex changes with a time lag of about a year.

In summary the following correlations have emerged from the above for the period 1980 to 2010:• The 3-month LME aluminium price has followed changes in the global economy as expressed by the World GDP/Capita growth rate with a time lag of a year or less• The (LME-linked contract) alumina price has closely followed changes in the aluminium price for the last 16 years or so, with a time lag of typically a year in the period before• The significant increase in China’s alumina imports in the peri-od 2000 to 2010 was followed by an increase in the alumina price resulting in an average alumina price in the period 2006 to 2010 which was about 130 USD/tA above the average alumina price in the period 1980 to 2004.• The alumina price has followed opex changes with a time lag of about a year.

As both alumina price and operating cost have now been assessed, the margin between the two can now be calculated. The result is shown in Fig. 5, which also illustrates the average margins in the periods 1986 to 2004 (~80 USD/tA) and 2006 to 2010 (~174 USD/tA). In other words, the average cash margin between these periods has more than doubled. With the results from sections 2 and 3 we now return to the original question what the significance is for project capital cost of the increased greenfield alumina design capacity noted for the period 1980 to 2015.

4. economics and capital cost

To assess the effect of the developments discussed above on the capital cost of greenfield alumina projects, it has been assumed in the cur-rent analysis that a greenfield project should deliver an IRR5 of 8%, a target typically used in the alumina industry as economic criterion.

An Excel spreadsheet has been used to calculate project economics. Other evaluation assumptions include the following:• Project evaluation period: construction time +30 years• Greenfield / brownfield construction time: 3 / 2 years (capital cost spread equally)• Tax depreciation period on capex: 20 years• Corporate tax rate: 32%• Full production from operating year 1 onwards• Numbers in ‘real terms’ (i. e. inflation not included).Historical greenfield project: To illustrate a typical historical greenfield alumina project the following assumptions have been used:• First operating year: 1985• Greenfield (initial / design) production capacity (refer Fig. 1): 1m tpy• Brownfield expansion capacity (refer section 2): 1m tpy, coming on line in operating year 10• Brownfield expansion capital cost (refer section 2): 50% of greenfield capex• Alumina price (refer Fig. 3): 1985 to 2004: 182 USD/tA; 2005: 245 USD /tA; 2006 to 2014: 315 USD /tA• Operating cost (refer Fig. 5): 1985 to 2004: 102 USD /tA; 2005: 130 USD /tA; 2006 to 2014: 141 USD /tA.Applying the above assumptions, the capital cost found to arrive at an IRR of 8% for a 1m tpy greenfield alumina project is about 1,000 USD per annual tA. With a brownfield expansion capacity of the same

4 Reference [3] provides an overview of operating cost 5 Internal Rate of Return: the discount percentage at which NPV equals zero. NPV: Net Present Value: the sum of a project’s annual cash flows at a chosen interest / dis- count percentage per year, which often includes the cost of capital and a country risk element.

22 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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size, the final capex of the expanded project ends up at 750 USD per annual tA. Note that the numbers quoted here are averages and that actuals will vary for an individual project (the target IRR of 8% may also differ per project). It is estimated that a capital cost range applies of about 800 to 1,200 USD per annual tA for greenfield projects in this period.

Future greenfield project (outside China): For a future greenfield alumina project, two sub-options have been considered (refer Fig. 1): • 1.5m tpy refinery capacity, increased by a brownfield expansion to 3m tpy in the 6th operating year (current greenfield projects include a faster implementation of a brownfield expansion)• 3m tpy refinery capacity from the 1st operating year onwards.Other assumptions:• First operating year: 2011• Brownfield expansion capital cost: 60% of greenfield capex• Alumina price (refer Fig. 3): 315 USD/tA• Operating cost (refer Fig. 4 and 5): 141 USD/tA.Applying the above assumptions, the capital cost found to arrive at an IRR of 8% for a 1.5, respectively 3m tpy greenfield alumina project is about 1,940, respectively 1,440 USD per annual tA. With a brownfield expansion ca-

pacity of the same size for the first sub-option, the final capex of the expanded project (which by that time will also be at 3m tpy) ends up at 1,550 USD per annual tA, i.e. about 100 USD per annual tA higher than the 3m tpy greenfield project.

At the UBS Australian Resources Confer-ence, held in Sydney on 3 June 2010, Alumina Ltd gave a paper which included an estimate of capital costs of greenfield alumina projects. The range quoted for projects outside China was 1,230 to 1,890 USD per annual tA, con-sistent with the numbers found in the current analysis. The increase in capital cost from an average of 1,000 to 1,600 to 1,700 USD per annual tA between the early 1980s and 2010 is in line with the increase in the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) over the same period (from about 317 in 1983 to 535 in 2010).

5. conclusions and consequences

Despite a significant increase of the average margin (delta between alumina price and op-erating cost) from about 80 USD per annual tA between the first half 1980s and 2004, to 174 USD per annual tA since about 2006, green-field alumina project economics have not struc-turally improved. This is caused by an increase

of the average capital cost for a greenfield alumina project in this period from about 1,000 to 1,700 USD per annual tA capacity, and occurred despite a large increase in the scale of greenfield alumina refinery projects outside China from about 0.5-1.0m tpy alumina in the early 1980s to 1.4-3.3m tpy alumina in 2010.

The increase in the design /initial capacity of greenfield (bauxite mine and) alumina refinery projects outside China over the past decades has had major consequences:• Project complexity am-plified, especially in terms of project planning and manage-ment. Significant infrastructur-al works are often required, in-volving extensive government involvement, further adding to project complexity.• Project capital cost has grown to several billion USD, and owners reduce risk through project financing and the formation of multi-party Fig. 5

joint ventures. Although perfectly reasonable, this complicates project implementation (e. g. with respect to decision making processes).• Due to the financial commitments involved, globally only a limited number of (very) large companies have the financial and human re-sources to develop greenfield projects.• For the same reasons (project scope, com-plexity), only a limited number of engineering firms have the required skills and experience to successfully implement these projects.• Typically a project life of 30+ years is (im-plicitly) applied to justify the significant in-vestment of a greenfield bauxite and alumina project. The reason: an alumina refinery can operate effectively for decades. For greenfield projects with a captive refinery this means that the bauxite deposit on which they are based should be able to sustain refining operations for such a period of time. Therefore only (very) large bauxite deposits are developed, indicatively 200 to 300 Mt and more.

Solving the dilemma that a large (dispro-portionate) increase in project scale is required to achieve acceptable economics, requires a concerted effort by the industry players (alu-mina companies, equipment manufacturers, engineering firms, R&D, etc.) to find improve-ments and innovations in areas such as project development, technologies, etc. Steps in this direction have been made, see reference [4] and [5], but have not yet resulted in a signifi-cant improvement.

6. References

1. P. J. C. ter Weer, Greenfield Dilemma – Innova-tion Challenges (paper presented at Light Metals 2005, San Francisco, California), pp 17-222. P. J. C. ter Weer, Capital Cost: To Be or Not To Be (paper presented at Light Metals 2007, Orlando, Florida), pp 43-483. P. J. C. ter Weer, Operating Cost – Issues and Op-portunities (paper presented at Light Metals 2006, San Antonio, Texas), pp 109-1144. R. Valenti and P. Ho, Rio Tinto Alcan Gove G3 Experience on Pre-Assembled Modules (paper pre-sented at the Alumina Quality Workshop 2008, Darwin), pp 1-55. A. Kjar, A Case for Replication of Alumina Plants (paper presented at Light Metals 2010, Seattle, Washington), pp 183-190

Author

Peter-Hans ter Weer, TWS Services & Advice BV, Bauxite Alumina Consultancy. Mr ter Weer has worked 28 years in the bauxite and alumina indus-try, 25 years with BHP Billiton and since Dec. 2003 as independent technical and economic advisor to the industry. He has presented several papers at the TMS Light Metals Conference in the USA. Contact: twsservices@tiscali.nl or visit www.twsservices.eu.

Fig. 4

24 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

A L U m i n i U m s m e L T i n G i n D U s T R Y

Dubal DX pot technology

successful path from prototypes to industrial projectsm. de Zelicourt, Dubal

Since the early 1990s, Dubal’s growth has been based on the use of in-house technology. From the development of the first D18 to the DX and DX+ (see Fig. 1), Dubal has acquired a strong expertise and experience in development and industrial implementation of new technologies.

While the DX+, the latest development of Dubal technology, is now operating very suc-cessfully at 420 kA on a demonstration scale, on an industrial scale the DX technology is the latest and shining example of Dubal tech-nologies implemented:

1. Very fast track from development to industrial deployment: the first five test pots were started at 320 kA in the fourth quarter of 2005. Potline 8 of Dubal, a demonstration line of 40 DX pots, was commissioned at 340 kA at the Jebel Ali smelter in February 2008. Phase 1 of the Emal smelter in Abu Dhabi, comprising 756 DX pots, was started at 350 kA on 1 December 2009, four months ahead of schedule.

2. A development programme that went beyond expectations: started at 320 kA, the five test pots reached 355 kA, the maximum amperage that the booster groups could de-liver. In 25 months, potline 8 amperage was brought from 340 to 375 kA, achieving world class performances. Emal, whose potline 2 is fully commissioned and whose potline 1 has 238 pots in operation, has achieved excellent technical performances since the very begin-ning of commissioning.

3. A technology deployment that is fully supported by a set of adequate services: to-tally documented technology in a comprehen-sive technology package; pot control system and potline management system included; full scale training programmes for all personnel; technical support in engineering, construction and operation; and other supports tailor-made to each specific project.

The DX pot technology was modelled and validated for optimum electrical, thermal and magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) balance using in-house developed models, using the ANSYS platform.

Process information

Embracing ever changing technological solu-tions, Dubal keeps its process information

system at the forefront. The Dubal Cell Control Unit (DCCU) was

developed in 2005 and since then has been further enhanced to allow additional function-alities. It has four basic functions: to monitor and to control pot parameters, to record data and to transmit data to the host computer. Each DCCU can control two cells. The DCCU has proved to be operationally stable even

through the very hot and humid summer months. It is user-friendly, can be upgraded and is easy to replace, if necessary. This has helped in reducing Dubal’s operating cost.

DCCU’s are already installed on 1,185 pots at Dubal and at Dubal licensed smelters. A phased programme will eventually see all of the 1,573 pots of Dubal being controlled by DCCU’s.

Fig. 1: Evolution of Dubal technology Diagrams: Dubal

Parameter

Period

Jun 08 to Sep 08

Oct 08 to Feb 09

Mar 09 to Jul 09

Aug 09 to Feb 10

Mar 10 to Sep 10

2010 YTD

Amperage (kA) 352.8 360.3 365.2 370.0 375.0 373.9

Production (kg / pd)

2745 2779 2797 2837 2861 2858

Real current efficiency (%)

96.6 95.8 95.1 95.2 94.7 94.9

Specific energy (kWh / kg Al)

12.97 12.94 13.01 13.05 13.19 13.15

Volts per cell (V) 4.20 4.16 4.15 4.17 4.19 4.19

Metal purity (% Al)

99.91 99.93 99.93 99.94 99.93 99.93

Anode Effect Freq. (AE / pd)

0.037 0.020 0.015 0.018 0.015 0.016

Total Fluorides (roof + stack)

0.34 0.36 0.23 0.21 0.19 0.19

PFC Emis-sions CO2 Eq

(mt / mtAl) (computed)

0.020 0.013 0.023 0.012 0.009 0.009

Table 1: Potline performance

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26 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

A L U m i n i U m s m e L T i n G i n D U s T R Y

26 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Web-based Potline Online Terminal System (iPOTS): iPOTS is a web based Graphical User Interface (GUI) programme, developed with point-and-click interface for ease of use. It pro-vides a graphical picture of the different activi-ties and status of the pots and of the statistics of the entire potline. Parameter can be changed either for a single pot, for multiple pots, for a section of pots or for the complete potline. iPOTS provides historical data and real time graphical trend of key control parameters and makes these available on a cell basis.

Web-based Reduction Plant Monitoring System (iRPMS): iRPMS was conceived and set up in-house in 1995, and since then it has progressed to be the well-developed, stable system it currently is. iRPMS is a web based online data collection, processing, reporting and archival system, developed on the Ora-cle platform. It meets the online, day-to-day, weekly, monthly and long-term data reporting requirements of potlines.

The system is flexible and any new re-quirement is easily programmed. The iRPMS interfaces with the DCCU’s, iPots, CPMS (Carbon Plant Monitoring System) as well as other support services like laboratory, hot metal weighbridge, sales order processing system, power station, etc. Over 150 custom-ised reports, graphs and data entry forms are available in iRPMS. The information serves to fine-tune cell operation. Tools like the Oracle browser enable the users to extract archived data for a detailed statistical analysis.

DX potline 8 performance

The DX potline (potline 8) commenced op-erations in February 2008 at an amperage of 340 kA. The last cell was started in May 2008. Potline amperage has been stepped up from 340 to 380 kA (Oct 2010), that is 40 kA more in quite a short period. Simultaneous efforts adopted the process to ensure a good energy efficiency as well as low environmental impact. To achieve the increase of 40 kA in amperage required only the following changes: increase in anode size (2% increase in cross-sectional area), thinner anode top cover and increase in off-gas suction rate.

Potline 8 has so far exceeded all expecta-tions: it is presently operating at an amperage of 380 kA and is achieving excellent operating efficiencies. Low investment cost per tonne of aluminium produced makes it even more at-tractive.

Table 1 summarises the Key Performance Indices (KPIs) of the potline for the period June 2008 to May 2009. November 2008 data have been excluded from the performance

Parameter

Period

Jun 08 to Sep 08

Oct 08 to Feb 09

Mar 09 to May 09

Sep 09 to Feb 10

Wk 30 to 38 - 2010

Amperage (kA) 352.8 360.3 364.5 370.0 375.1

Production (kg / pd) 2730 2776 2807 2840 2876

Real current efficiency (%) 96.1 95.7 95.6 95.3 95.2

Specific energy (kWh / kg Al) 13.04 12.95 12.92 13.04 13.14

Volts per cell (V) 4.20 4.16 4.15 4.17 4.20

Metal purity (%Al) 99.91 99.93 99.93 99.94 99.93

Anode effect freq. (AE / pd) 0.037 0.020 0.017 0.018 0.016

Total fluorides (roof + stack) 0.34 0.36 0.22 0.20 0.19

PFC emissions CO2 Eq (mt / mtAl) (computed)

0.020 0.013 0.013 0.011 0.007

Table 2: Potline performances excluding periods of disturbed power supply

Fig. 2: Current efficiency (%)

Fig. 3: Specific energy consumption (kWh/kg Al)

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evaluation due to the impact of an important power outage incident during the early part of the month. The performance data has been split into five periods based on amperage lev-els (350 to 355 kA, 360 kA, 365 kA, 370 kA and 375 kA).

Table 1 shows potline 8 performance from June 2008 to September 2010. It must be noted that important works on the substation which generates major power supplies have disturbed the performance in 2010, especially in the later part. Even under these conditions, current efficiency, energy consumption, metal quality and pot emissions remained at a first-in-class level. These KPIs and the conditions under which they were achieved show the ro-bustness of the DX technology, and they prove its capability to operate over a very wide span of amperage

Table 2 shows the very high performance of the DX with stable amperage supply, when the current efficiency never went below 95%.

Current efficiency has been kept above 95% during all stabilised periods (Fig. 2). Al-though amperage has increased drastically, specific energy has always stayed at excellent levels since October 2008 (Fig. 3). Except for the initial period, anode effect frequency has been below 0.020 per day from October 2008 onwards; average anode effect duration has always been less than 60 seconds and usually less than 25 seconds, so delivering very low PFCs emissions (Fig. 4). This, combined with the fluoride emissions, makes the DX a very environment-friendly technology.

emal and Dubal support to emal

Emal (Emirates Aluminium) is a 50/50 joint venture between Mubadala of Abu Dhabi and Dubal. Emal owns a smelter at Al Taweelah in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

With a nominal capacity of 740,000 tpy for the project phase 1, it is so far the largest greenfield smelter project ever. The smelter aims to become one of the largest smelters in the world after completion of phase 2, which should bring its capacity up to 1.4m tpy.

Phase 1 comprises 2 potlines of 378 DX pots each, that is a total of 756 DX pots. It is already being commissioned and in Novem- ber 2010 140 pots were yet to be commis-sioned before reaching full capacity.

The project has been executed following a fast track schedule. The notice to proceed was given in December 2007. One month later the first pile was set. Nine months later, in October 2008, the first structural steel was installed in the potroom. The first pot was then started 13

months later on the 1 December 2009.The first potline to start was potline 2.

Table 3, which shows the KPIs of the pots of line 2 that are older than 56 days, proves that the smelter reached excellent technical per-formances very soon. It is to be noted that the substation design at present limits the amper-age of Emal to 350 kA.

As industrial partner of Emal, Dubal has developed a comprehensive set of services and has dedicated tremendous efforts to support of Emal, acting both as a partner and as a service provider. The services supplied cover almost all the smelter activities and are very precious in the early days of any company: supply services and marketing services agree-ment, secondment agreement, technology license agreement (license, comprehensive technology package, training, support mis-sions) and technical service agreement (any service not covered by the other agreements and agreed by both parties).

Staff training receives special emphasis. A total of 700 employees have been trained at Dubal in all fields of smelter operations. Many of these staff have trained and worked as op-

erators for about a year at Dubal so that they could gain adequate experience before taking their position at Emal.

conclusion

Developments in the past few years have witnessed Dubal capacity growing to 1m tpy with in-house developed technologies. The DX technology is presently operating at 380 kA. The performances of the technology place it at the very best level of commercially avail-able technologies today. It stays at the fore-front of greenfield expansion projects, such as Emal in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The DX technology is supported by a full set of services. Needless to say, they are backed up by a trained, dedicated and knowledgeable workforce.

Author

Marc de Zelicourt is currently the general manager of Technology Development and Transfer of Dubal. Contact: zelicourt@dubal.ae

Fig. 4: Anode effect frequency

Table 3: Emal potline 2 KPIs, with regard to pots older than 56 days

KPI Unit YTD September 2010

Amperage kA 350.2

Current efficiency % 95.8

Net voltage per pot V 4.22

Net specific energy kWh / kg Al 13.12

Anode effect frequency AE / pot / day 0.11

Metal purity % Al 99.87

Pots operating at period end Number 378

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Aluminium production begins with baux-ite, a clay-like ore with high aluminium oxide content. In the refinery caustic soda dissolves alumina out of the bauxite using the Bayer process. Based on this proc-ess, the alumina production can be split into a ‘red side’ and a ‘white side’. FLS-midth offers equipment for both process areas. This article highlights and details the equipment available from FLSmidth from classification to the electrolytic cells. This comprehensive palette of equipment ensures the complete control of alumina quality.

Digestion and clarification are the main proc-ess stages of the ‘red side’, which takes its col-our from iron oxide. Bauxite is crushed and ground before being mixed with hot caustic soda. Under pressure and heat, the available alumina dissolves from this slurry in digestion vessels. The dissolved alumina is separated from the red mud residue by clarifiers and filtered to remove remaining fine particles (security filtration). The red mud is washed caustic free in a series of thickeners and de-posited, generally as waste. FLSmidth offers equipment for the complete bauxite handling, storage, crushing and grinding, red mud clari-

fication / washing processes, and for liquor se-curity filtration.

The ‘white side’ starts with the extraction of dissolved alumina hydrate and continues through the precipitation, classification and fil-tration steps. Hydrate classification by hydro-cyclones consists of sedimentation in several particle size classes. The finer particles are recycled to seed the precipitation stage. The coarser alumina production hydrate is washed and partially dried prior to the calcination process, where final drying and calcinations takes place to produce smelter grade alumina, the feedstock for smelters. In the smelter the alumina is first conveyed to gas treatment cen-tres where it cleans the off gas, before finally recycling the emissions to the electrolytic cells which produce aluminium. FLSmidth offers equipment for calcination and alumina han-dling from refinery to the smelter site and for alumina handling in the smelter area.

Hydrate classification by hydro- cyclones and (fine seed) thickeners

Hydrocyclones use centrifugal force to sort precipitate particles into size classes and to separate these from the liquid phase. They combine high efficiency, outstanding flexibil-

ity, simple operation and low maintenance. Together with their modest space or installa-tion requirements, they are the main advan-tages and features of hydrocyclones.

The ‘gMAX’ Cyclone (Fig. 1) design of FLSmidth’s Krebs brand includes new mod-ern (and patented) inlet head as well as cone and apex designs which substantially enhance performance. FLSmidth Krebs gMAX cyclones are available in a segmented design consisting of housing sections (available in different ma-terials of construction) and liner sections, pro-viding long and economic wear life. The easily replaceable and interchangeable liner sections are one inch (25 mm) thick elastomers or ce-ramic compositions. FLSmidth Krebs gMAX cyclones are also available in moulded poly-urethane design as an option to the housed cy-clones with exchangeable liners. The hydrocy-clone inlet and the conical sections have been modified to minimise turbulence and improve separation efficiency, resulting in sharper par-ticle size separations, the possibility of operat-ing at substantial higher feed densities and at the same time providing increased wear life.Benefits are:• Possibility to operate at substantially higher feed densities and overflow densities• Finer, sharper particle separations at high capacities• Fewer hydrocyclones needed for optimal performance

FLsmidth – one source for advanced solutions for alumina in refineries and smeltersT. Letz, B. Raahauge, m. Bach and R. oberroiter, FLsmidth group

Fig. 1: FLSmidth Krebs hydrocyclones Photos: FLSmidth

Fig. 2: FLSmidth Dorr Oliver Eimco fine seed thick-eners

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• Operation at lower hydrocyclone inlet pressures, so saving energy and increasing lifetime of cyclone and pump • Replaceable liners• Easy to replace existing installations.

Fine hydrate (‘seed’) precipitate thickeners

FLSmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco fine seed thick- eners have been designed to cope with the severe duty conditions and heavy scaling properties of the feed material. ‘CableTorq’ Thickeners (Fig. 2) especially designed for this application are being used. This is a unique de-sign which combines a number of advantages to the user by way of reduced maintenance and efficient operation. The rakes have the unique ability of reacting automatically to heavy sludge conditions. Benefits are:• Requires lower torque capacity because of reduced drag• Automatically protects against overload by rising to a level of less torque• Blades keep proper raking efficiency even when the rake arms are in lifted position• As rakes clear overload, raking arm returns smoothly to original position• Minimises island formation because of the smooth pipe design of the rake arm• Tolerates temporary surges in solids input• The torque arm is clear of the heavy thickened hydrate zone, thus minimising the torque requirements for the drive• Pipe rake arm design minimises scale formation, reducing dead load on centre

mechanism• Each arm lifts independently for efficient continuous sludge discharge.

Fine and coarse seed filtration on disk filters

The FLSmidth Dorr Oliver Eimco large diam-eter, high capacity disc filter is the state-of- the-art filter to remove coarse and fine seed in the precipitation circuit. It produces a damp ‘cake’ of aluminium hydrate to seed another cycle of precipitation.Benefits are:• HiFlow hydraulic design for highest filtration capacity and lowest cake moisture• Reliable cake discharge by advanced blow back design• Large diameter discs and high rotating speed

• Multiple discs with multi-channel design• Optimum slurry agitation by discs running in multiple low volume troughs• Quick and simple disc replacement Improved sector and rim fixing system resulting in proven long-term mechanical and operational reliability• Extended cloth life time due to modern sector design and improved cloth cleaning features.

coarser hydrate (‘product’) filtration on horizontal pan filters

The FLSmidth Dorr Oliver Eimco horizontal pan filter (Fig. 3) is a continuous vacuum filter providing a circular filtration surface (‘pan’) rotating in a horizontal plane for economic filtration, including highest cake washing and drying efficiency. FLSmidth provides more than 60 years’ experience in this field, and has proven superior performance in countless installations in the alumina industry and vari-ous other applications.Benefits are:• Advanced filtration rates, combined with the most efficient counter current washing technology• Enhanced product hydrate characteristics achieved through heel cake filtration• Advanced self-control features• Lowest cake moisture achieved by vacuum steam drying technology• Cake builds up evenly through special uniform slurry distribution device• Highest filter productivity due to extended operation cycles• Friendly design for preventative maintenance.

Alumina production in gas suspension calciners

Calcining converts the coarse hydrate from the pan filters into alumina for smelters. Smelters need a coarser alu-mina particle size to filter and clean emissions from the pots, and so recycle fluorides with the alumina additions to the bath.

The gas suspen-sion calciners devel-oped by FLSmidth comprise the world’s

Fig. 3: FLSmidth Dorr Oliver Eimco pan filter

Fig. 4: FLSmidth gas suspension calciner

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largest installations (Fig. 4). The main focus has been to minimise particle breakdown and to ensure high reliability, availability, and low operational costs.Benefits are:• Operation below ambient pressure• Calcination in one furnace pass only, without recirculation of partly calcined alumina• Four direct heat recovery stages• Hot stand-by operation without alumina production• Minimum down time for maintenance• Safe on-line maintainability• Minimising particle breakdown• Low thermal energy consumption, CO2- emission, and heat lost to the cooling water• Maximum service life of refractory due to minimum thermal shock.

Alumina handling from refinery to smelter

After calcination, the alumina is generally transported via traditional trough-type belt conveyor or fully enclosed pipe conveyor to the storage silos.

FLSmidth pipe conveyors (Fig. 5), using the Koch technology, offer forward-looking conveying solutions. With their special design, they ensure high availability and low invest-ment costs as well as a perfect protection for both material and environment.Benefits are:• Dust and spillage free transportation

• Low noise emissions• Inclines up to 30°• Horizontal and vertical curves with minimum radii of up to 45 metres• Axial spacings of 8 km and more without transfer stations• Low power consumption• Simultaneous conveying of different materials in both directions• Multiple feeding and discharge points.

silos

FLSmidth storage silos with Möller technology have been installed with a capacity of up to 85,000 tonnes. Special distribution systems on top of and inside the silos ensure low sepa-ration of the finest particles (anti-segregation)

during the silo feeding processes. To minimise energy consumption the airslide systems for reclaiming / discharge are provided with dif-ferent aeration areas which are only fluidised one after the other. Reliable Möller flow con-trol valves at the silo discharge are followed by airslide or other conveying systems to the ship loader at the port area. Benefits are:• Anti-segregation filling and discharge equipment• Absolutely uniform withdrawal of alumina• Very even lowering of material level inside the silo during discharge• Easy arrangement of the silo bottom• Low air (blower) requirement.For truck or wagon transport of the alumina from the refinery to the smelter, FLSmidth also offers proven truck or wagon loading stations with Möller design and equipment.

Alumina handling in the smelter

Whether alumina is transported to the smelter by ship, truck or wagon, FLSmidth provides comprehensive solutions.

Based on the experience of FLSmidth’s Kovako and Docksider brands (Fig. 6), new standard models of ship unloader have been developed that represent common combina-tions of capacities versus ship sizes and plat-forms (e. g. trailer, gantry and skid mounted units). As a result, FLSmidth can offer stand-ard unloader models, ranging from road mo-bile units with a capacity of 170 t/h for 5,000 DWT ships, up to gantry mounted unloaders of 1,000 t/h capacity for 80,000 DWT ships.

Alumina transported by truck or wagon to smelter side can be pneumatically unloaded, or else dumped in receiving bunkers to be conveyed to the storage silos. For all these applications Möller technology is available.

For the storage of alumina at the dock area near the smelter, or directly in the smelter area as described above, FLSmidth uses Möller technology to ensure a constant alu-mina quality along the process chain.

Wherever feasi-ble, FLSmidth uses pressure vessels dense phase convey-ing systems incorpo-rating the patented Möller ‘Turbuflow’ pipe. This operates at low velocities and

Fig. 5: FLSmidth Koch pipe conveyor

Fig. 6: FLSmidth ship unloader

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high material / air rates, resulting in low energy consumption. This kind of low velocity, dense phase conveying system also means lower lev-els of wear and tear, and so avoids frequent disruptive and costly maintenance work. Tur-buflow dense phase conveying systems have been on the market for over 20 years. The principle is a conveying pipe with an inner bypass pipe. This ingenious but simple design prevents bulk and air separation during pneu-matic conveying. Benefits are:• Slow, and therefore low wear, movement of the alumina• No blockages, re-start always possible with a full pipe• Low maintenance and high reliability• Highly efficient conveying process• Reduced air requirement, therefore smaller compressors and filters• Low energy requirements• Self-regulating flow rate, no additional valves along the pipe.Of course, FLSmidth also provides pressure vessel systems with standard pipes or continu-ous working screw pump conveying systems with Möller technology. The right choice of the conveying system will always be according to the actual requirements.

Airlift

Another pneumatic conveying application of FLSmidth is the Möller airlift for vertical transportation of alumina. This airlift does not use any mechanical or drive elements, and it is therefore not subject to wear of such elements. Most common is the use of Möller airlifts in the gas treatment centres, where they convey

fresh alumina to be processed in the gas treat-ment centre respectively fluorinated alumina leaving the reduction gas treatment centre.Benefits are:• Vertical conveying up to 800 t/h• Conveying heights more than 100 metres• Maintenance-free (no rotating parts)• High reliability• Low specific energy consumption• Completely dust-free operation• Compact, space-saving design• Very low wear.The fluorinated alumina from the gas treat-ment centre is stored in silos near the pot-room. Most modern aluminium smelters now use closed pot feeding systems (instead of former crane feeding) to transport the fluori-nated alumina to the electrolytic cells. This development is an advantage both as regards cost (crane size, material loss, operation, man- power and maintenance) and environmen-tal (dust emission) aspects. FLSmidth offers two solutions of the Möller direct pot feeding system (Fig. 7). The first combines of Möller Turbuflow dense phase from the silo to inter-mediate bins at the electrolytic cells with the Möller Fluidflow pipe airslide to the electro-lytic cells. The second uses complete transport via the Fluidflow pipe airslide. Both are prov-en transport methods which ensure a smooth, constant and reliable feeding of the ore bun-kers of the electrolytic cells.Benefits are:• Self-regulating and continuous feeding of ore bunkers• Absolutely dust-free operation• No generation of fine particles• No segregation

• No scaling• Lowest possible (over) pressure• No pressure-tight sealing of the electrolytic cell• Minimised energy consumption• Minimised maintenance work.

summary

FLSmidth is able to offer a comprehensive range of equipment and systems from the wet stages in the alumina refinery to the ore bun-kers of the electrolytic cells in the smelter. The company’s ‘One Source’ strategy is based on high expertise in all the various fields of this process chain. The close co-operation of the different brands in the FLSmidth group en-sures an optimum in design for the client.

FLSmidth is already working closely with clients around the world to offer complete package solutions. This will reduce overall project costs, minimise battery limit problems and ensure a constant alumina quality level.

Authors

Timo Letz is head of the Aluminium Division – Sales & Project Department of FLSmidth Möller GmbH, based in Pinneberg, Germany. Benny Raahauge is general manager, Alumina Technology of FLSmidth A/S, based in Copenha-gen, Denmark. Manfred Bach is sales manager Alumina, FLSmidth GmbH, based in Walluf, Germany. Roland Oberroither is sales director of FLSmidth Krebs GmbH, based in Neusiedl am See, Austria.Contact: Timo.Letz@FLSmidth.com, Benny.Raa-hauge@FLSmidth.com, Manfred.Bach@FLSmidth.com, Roland.Oberroither@FLSmidth.com

Fig. 7: FLSmidth Möller direct pot feeding system installed at Dubal Photo: Dubal

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In open-top carbon bake furnaces, the flue end baffles serve to maintain the exhaust draft by sealing the flue openings at the ends of each firing section, ahead of the exhaust manifold. Their critical function is to separate the flues in the section being fired from the remainder of the furnace. Flue end seals must not only remain flexible so as to block air flow, but must also be stiff enough so that they can be installed correctly in the flue. They are inserted into the flue through an open exhaust port in front of the exhaust mani-fold. Unlike conventional flue end seals, these mechanical seals are adjustable and do not depend on the draft to hold them in place. This adjustable design provides a better seal because it adapts better to fit misaligned refractory.

Carbon bake customers can suffer disturbanc-es to their processing operations through loss of sealing. The flue openings ahead of the ex-haust manifold must be completely sealed to maintain the necessary draft. Without this seal, hot exhaust gases from the heated sections on their way to the scrubber system become di-luted with cold air. This air increases the load on the exhaust fans, which must maintain an

adequate draft for the fire.Over time, the refractory may crack and

shift, causing distortion throughout the fur-nace. Due to misaligned flues, broken brick and shifted ports, sealing this opening becomes more difficult. This gas leakage past the flue seal decreases the efficiency of the baking process. Better sealing brings various opera-tional benefits, such as:• Closer control of fuel to air ratio• Closer control of temperature and of tem-perature distribution within the flue walls• Improved combustion of pitch volatiles, leading to less pitch build-up in the ring main• Less pitch carry-over into the waste gas system• Lower opacity, reduced emissions and EPA issues• Reduced natural gas usage

• Improved flue wall life, due to better temperature control cre-ating less pitch volatiles• Reduced maintenance on scrubber, since it is not working as hard: less rpm on fans, bear-ings, etc.• Better bag life in the waste gas scrubbers• Improvements in anode densi-ty and conductivity – help reduce dusting in the electrolytic cell and

raise reduction efficiency, which in turn results in dramatic electrical energy savings.

Essentially there are two types of flue end seals available: mechanical / adjustable seals and conventional flat seals, both of which are manufactured and refurbished by Pyrotek. Commonly they employ a consumable silicon coated / impregnated fibre glass (FG) cloth at-tached to a frame.

The choice of a flue end seal depends on several parameters: • on the size and shape of the headwall opening through which the flue end seal is inserted• on the type of flue end seal specified with the furnace when new• and on the calculation of the total cost of ownership (TOC).

This calculation compares the initial cost of the flue end seal with the losses associated with air leakage from items on the list pro-vided earlier in this article.

The conventional type flue end baffle seals are made with a board or aluminium flat spine attached to a locating handle.

Silicon coated / impregnated FG cloth is at-tached to the spine, and the cloth is held in place by the suction of the draft. As an addi-tion, to counteract the shortfalls of the con-ventional flue end baffle seal, some carbon bake plants use the inflatable flue seal. This device features an inflatable bladder and My-lar material-faced aramid cloth. The joints are sewn and silicon coated. Since the bladder is not completely impervious, the inflatable seal also requires a dedicated control panel and a plant air supply regulated to maximum 25 kPa. A relief valve is incorporated to prevent over-inflation. This system achieves rapid inflation and deflation.The mechanical adjustable / bladder type flue end baffle seals incorporate an expandable aluminium frame, a steel centre rod, and a silicon coated / impregnated FG cloth.

The rod is adjusted using either a screw handle, a caulking gun actuator or a welded nut for use with a cordless drill. These features enable operators to easily adjust the width of the seal to fit any opening in the furnace. These seals can be first placed into position, then ad-justed to fit the width of the space. Their heavy duty construction employs light-weight materi-als and so they are notably easier for operators to handle and fit, which reduces overall instal-lation time. These adjustable flue end baffle seals are now replacing conventional designs due to their process advantages, including par-ticularly easy installation and effective sealing, first time, and every time. A very important practical factor is that these components will work on both old and new furnaces, and that they have been proven in extensive practical process applications.

Components of both types of flue end baf-fles are routinely refurbished by the Pyrotek team to reduce costs to the customer. A range of carbon bake customers use this service, and the typical work involved is reflected in the contract with a leading customer in Australia. Once refurbishment is complete, the baffles are delivered back to the customer site on a just-in-time, Kanban delivery basis to keep the customer supplied with a continuous stock of good parts.

Pyrotek continues to receive excellent feedback from customers regarding perform-ance of their flue end baffle seals, but the ad-justable, mechanical flue end seals have some obvious advantages that have resulted in cus-tomers adopting them as the standard.

Pyrotek mechanical flue end baffles boost performance in carbon bake furnaces

Flue end baffle Photo: Pyrotek

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34 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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Outotec is a worldwide technology leader in mineral and metal processing, provid-ing innovative and environmentally sound solutions for a wide variety of custom-ers in the mineral processing, iron and steel, aluminium and non-ferrous metals industries. The company has set up a glo-bal network of sales and service centres located in Europe and Russia, the Ameri-cas, South Africa, India, China and Aus-tralia. At its Cologne office in Germany, the Outotec team is engaged in the design and engineering of plants and equipment for carbon anode production for primary aluminium smelters, in particular green anode plants as well as anode and carbon raw materials handling systems, and car-bon scrap recycling plants. The company has supplied these plants to many custom-ers all over the world, including a green anode plant and carbon scrap crushing facility for the Emal smelter.

For the anode manufacturing plant at the Emal smelter in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Outotec was awarded the contract to design and construct the green anode manufacturing plant and car-bon scrap crushing facility on an EPC basis. “Our delivery – with a value exceeding 100 million euros – was one of the smelter’s major lump-sum turnkey packages,” says Manfred Beilstein, director sales and process at Outo-tec’s Cologne location. The order was received in July 2007, and the plant was handed over successfully in December 2010.

The anode plant produces green anode blocks from calcined petroleum coke and recycled green and baked anode scrap, with coal tar pitch added as a binder, in a fully au-

Outotec – Design and engineering from special machines to turnkey green anode plants

“The developing countries are calling the tune”

tomated process. After grading, proportioning and preheating, the carbon materials are con-tinuously mixed with binder pitch to produce a homogenous paste before being moulded into green anode blocks on vibrocompacting machines simply known as vibrocompactors. The moulded blocks are then cooled in a water cooling system.

After baking, these anode blocks, are con-sumed in the reduction lines for producing aluminium metal.

The Emal green anode plant has two anode production lines, each rated at 50 t/h capac-ity, along with a crushing plant for recycled carbon materials. Ancillary facilities, including the calcined coke and liquid pitch unloading and storage system, HTF heating system, plant operation centre and production control labo-ratory are part of the scope of the delivery. Innovative technologies, such as RTO (regen-erative thermal oxidisation) for pitch fume treatment are being employed, as the best available technology for this purpose.

The cologne site: technology centre for the green anode sector

Outotec GmbH in Cologne concentrates on the green anode sector, i. e. on the production of unbaked anodes. The subsequent produc-tion steps, namely the anode baking plant and the associated fume treatment are not included in Outotec’s production programme, but the rodding shop after them certainly is. The equipment for this is processed both in Cologne and in the sister-company in Burling-ton, Canada. Whereas Burlington is the centre for rodding shop technology, Cologne is the technology centre for the green anode sector.

The two sectors collaborate closely.As a technology partner for the primary

aluminium industry, Outotec Cologne con-centrates on the construction, engineering and design of plant and equipment. Outotec has a mechanical engineering facility of its own in Finland. The team in Cologne sometimes has recourse to this, but is also free to work with other mechanical engineering companies. Their colleagues in Burlington also carry out mechanical engineering for ingot casting ma-chines in the casthouse, including small and large ingots weighing 20 to 750 kg. In Burl-ington equipment for the treatment of spent potlining (SPL) is also produced.

Outotec’s plant manufacturing business is of course international in scope, but in Europe new aluminium smelters have no longer been built for a long time. As is known, the reason for this is the high cost of energy. However, even from North and South America and Af-rica there is hardly any impetus at present. “The developing countries are now calling the tune, particularly in the Middle East, In-dia, China, and to some extent also Russia,” stresses Mr Beilstein.

However, not all these growth regions of-fer equal chances for building complete green anode plants on a turnkey basis. In the past few years, besides the plant for Emal Outotec has delivered two such plants to India: one in each of the years 2006 and 2008 for the Vedanta smelter in Jharsuguda in the Federal State of Orissa, which has since increased the capacity for green anodes there to 4 x 35 t/h. In both cases the output corresponded to that of the green anode plant that Outotec deliv-ered in 2003 for Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd (Balco) at Korba in the State of Chattisgarh:

Green anode plant at Emal, Abu Dhabi, UAE Photos: Outotec

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machines and aggregates for coke and butts processing, two liquid pitch storage tanks, an HTM system, a ball mill system, a proportion-ing system, a preheater, paste mixing, anode forming, an anode cooling conveyor and an automation system.

In contrast, such major plant projects hard- ly ever arise in China. “The aluminium smelt-ers and associated anode factories are built by domestic plant manufacturers, and only se-lected machines are purchased abroad for rea-sons of know-how and quality,” explains Mr Beilstein. For example, this applies to Outotec vibrocompactors for green anodes, cathodes and electrodes, which account for a substantial part of day-to-day business in Cologne.

Over the past four decades the company has sold more than 100 vibrocompactors all over the world. During that period the ma-chines have been continually technically im-proved, and are noted for great operational reliability and availability. Since they are ultimately a ‘bottleneck’ in any anode fac-tory: if one such machine breaks down, the entire operation soon grinds to a halt. These machines are made customer-specific in terms of shape and dimension of anode blocks as well as production capacity: as sliding table, turntable or tandem vibrocompactors with capacities of 32 to 60 blocks per hour; the lat-ter having a capacity of up to 150 blocks per hour in the case of smaller block dimensions so that two or three anodes can be produced

simultaneously on one vibrating table. Today, Outotec is the market leader in the application of vacuum during vibrocompacting, after hav-ing pioneered this technology for vibrocom-pacting of carbon blocks more than 30 years ago. The advantages of this vacuum technol-ogy are: anodes can be formed at higher paste temperatures; there is no need for intermedi-ate paste cooling; increased apparent density and reduced binder pitch level.

The most recently delivered Outotec Vi-brocompactor for green anodes (type 3 x slid-ing table) went to China in 2010: to Yunnan Yuanxin Carbon in Jianshui. Similar units were sold in 2008 to China (Huanghe Hydro-power in Xining, Qinghai), Argentina (Aluar Aluminio, Puerto Madryn) and India (Vedanta II, Jharsuguda, Orissa).

With its vibrating compactors for cathodes and electrodes Outotec is at least as success-ful. In the past years the company supplied several such units to China, two have only recently been delivered and accepted, and the company has a number of projects in the pipeline, as mentioned by Mr Beilstein. Meanwhile the Middle Kingdom has built up a relatively large capacity of its own for cath-odes, including their graphitisation. Whereas manufacturers of cathode blocks in the West mainly use the cost-intensive process of extru-sion pressing, China has meanwhile changed completely to vibrocompacting.

Using the same Outotec Vibrocompactor various carbon block shapes can be produced: two short cathode blocks simultaneously or a single cathode block up to a length of 4,000 mm or amorphous carbon and graphite elec-trodes up to a diameter of 1,300 mm and a length of 3,300 mm. The Outotec vibrocom-

pacting technology features resilient vibrating table support with the benefit of distinctly reduced dynamic foundation loads so that no special foundation is required. In addition it also reduces noise emissions and offers an ex-tended lifetime compared to rubber or steel springs and rubber bellows which are individu-ally replaceable. However, the contract value of such equipment amounts to several million euros.

For the aluminium smelter in Mostar Ou-totec is currently working on a contract for the supply of two machines for the rodding shop. One will serve to replace an outdated thimble removal press for removing the cast iron thimbles from the stub ends of anode rods. The second machine, a stub straighten-ing press, serves to straighten the (outer) stubs, which warp in the course of time because of the different thermal expansion coefficients of steel and carbon. Until now, there has been no such machine at Aluminij, the stubs have to date been sawn off and new ones welded on again. “This machine will reduce operating costs in the rodding shop and will soon pay for themselves. Their delivery is scheduled for the first half-year of 2011,” says Mr Beilstein.

With Aluminij Outotec is consolidating a partnership collaboration that has lasted many years. When the smelter resumed operation in 1997 Outotec at first received some smaller contracts for modernising the plant. Later, it took over the role of general contractor for the reconstruction and modernisation of the anode production shop and the baking furnace – the latter, an activity which the company does not normally undertake. Outotec slipped into the role of general contractor because of its close business relationship with the cus-

Outotec Vibrocompactor for green anodes

Outotec Hydraulic Anode Crusher

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tomer and because a Hermes-covered finance scheme was required. For its part, the rebuild-ing of the baking furnace was subcontracted to the company Riedhammer, while gas puri-fication was undertaken by Innovatherm. The

value addition by Outotec consists in project management and engineering. “From that time until today a very reliable and intensive col-laboration has been maintained,” Mr Beilstein says.

Besides the thimble removal press and the stub straightening press, Outotec has in the past supplied a pot shell straightening press to

Aluminij. This press is a customised machine used for repairing used / deformed steel shells from electrolysis cells (pots). With special tools, it straightens the side and end walls of the pot shell as well as the section between

the cradles. The press frame is made from a structural plate in a hollow section design, with jaws symmetrically arranged on both ends, holding the pulling and pushing hydrau-lic cylinders. Some of the special features of the press are: six hydraulic cylinders; adjust-able centring device; option to straighten a wall also to the outside; individual straight-ening of each wall; straightening of wall sec- tions between cradles and operation with a display panel or remote control.

more anodes needed due to the output increase of electrolysis pots

In a discussion with this journal Mr Beilstein made it clear that individual orders for spe-cial machines are very important for Outotec: “Opportunities for a major plant do not come every year, so we also need orders for indi-vidual machines in order to maintain a con-tinuous basic level of business activity. Units such as the pot shell straightening press also include the need for design work, so we are kept busy in our technical office. In the context of a new order each of these plants has to be modified and adapted to suit the operational situation at the customer: local standards, lo-cal component suppliers, the anode dimen-sions are always different, even the structure of the machines varies in individual parts of buildings.”

The need for new and further developed machines is more or less ever-present in the aluminium industry – not only in greenfield projects, but even more so in the context of modernising investments. “Performance im-

provement is a central theme in every smelter. Amperage is constantly being increased in order to produce more metal; this brings a greater demand for anodes, so the anode production plant must also be extended and modernised,” explains Mr Beilstein.

This certainly applies to comprehensive capacity enlargements such as that under-taken by Aluar in Argentina. In recent years the company increased its aluminium smelt- ing capacity by more than 200,000 tpy to a current 500,000 tpy.

To meet the demands of the growing smelter, Outotec delivered a new cutting-edge butt crushing plant to Aluar in 2008. Taking into consideration the limited space available at the butt crushing area, Outotec designed a compact process building with a functional two-step crushing solution for the crushing of anode butts, all rejected scrap as well as full-size green and baked anodes. The plant’s nameplate capacity is 25 t/h producing a final product size of < 45 mm.

The heart of a butt crushing plant is the hydraulic anode crusher – a facility weighing approx. 70 tonnes in Outotec design, with a feed rate per hour of 80 to 100 anode butts or 22 to 25 entire anodes (up to 1,600 x 1,200 x 650 mm). About 95 percent of the product obtained is < 200 mm; the remaining percent-age ranges from 200 to 250 mm. The sturdy heavy-duty design ensures a long operating life of over 20 years. The Outotec anode crusher can be combined with a butt removal press so that stripped butts from the press fall directly into the crusher. A costly conveyor between the butt press and the primary crusher can be avoided. Instead, the butt press will be in-stalled on rails to be moved away for feeding reject blocks to the crusher.

Outotec’s most recent contracts from Aluar concern the modernisation of a vibrocompac-tor and the supply of an additional unit. Both machines were handed over only recently, in mid-November.

Prospects

Not even for Outotec have the past two years been easy: like other industries the alumin- ium sector was badly affected, aluminium prices halved and many companies put their investments on ice. Since then business has reverted to normal, for Outotec as well. Cus-tomer requests for new machines are increas-ing again and Outotec is confident that 2011 will bring new projects to the Cologne site: maybe not from Europe, but from the dynami-cally developing regions of China, India, the Middle East and Russia.

Anode baking furnace at Aluminij d.d. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

outotec to deliver technology to ma’aden project Outotec and Hatch, an unincorporated joint venture, have been awarded a contract by the Ma’aden Alcoa JV in Ras Az Zawr, Saudi Arabia, to provide an integrated digestion and evaporation facility to the aluminium complex. The overall contract value is approx. 50 million euros, with roughly equal share of the work between the two partners. The delivery of the facility includes a technology license, detailed engineering, procurement support and construction support services. Outotec and Hatch have jointly developed and own the tube digestion and integrated evaporation technologies to be installed at the Ras Az Zawr alumina refinery. This plant will have an initial alumina capacity of 1.8m tpy, with first production expected in 2014. The Ma’aden Alcoa project comprises a fully integrated greenfield complex with bauxite mine, alumina refinery, aluminium smelter and can sheet rolling mill.

http://www.glama.de

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Storvik is a provider of special machinery, cast products and engineering services to the aluminium industry. Their focus is dedicated to standard solutions which can be custom made to any aluminium smelter to maintain the aluminium industries de-mand for good functionality and proven technology combined with low investment cost. Storvik was formed as a mechanical company in 1952 at Sunndalsøra, Nor-way; this is also where the headquarter is located. Storvik has grown to be an inter-national supplier to the primary alumin-ium industry. The company has branch offices in several countries. Manufacturing of advanced machinery and equipment abroad is one of their capabilities. The article focuses on the company’s Crucible Cleaning Machine (CCM).

Storvik provides one of the most complete and advanced Crucible Cleaning Machines (CCM) to the primary aluminium industry worldwide. The CCM is an innovative development with electric powered drive line and hydraulically operated manipulation of crucibles. The ma-chine is highly automated and operates with a minimum of manual control and attendance. Storvik is the holder of Patent Certificate no. 322239, notified 4 September 2006.

The CCM cleans both hot and cold cruci-bles; however, hot crucibles are preferable due to lower wear on the tool bits. Cleaning of cold crucibles will result in increased cleaning cycle time, increased wear and tear of tool tips and reduced life time of refractory lining.

Cooling down and heating up reduces lifetime for lining (refractory material), and

multifunctional crucible cleaning machine – Proven technology with low investment costD. s. sæsbøe, G. e. nisja; storvik

comes into consideration as a negative factor. The professionals at the smelters express the importance of keeping stable temperature on crucible and lining while they are in opera-tion. If cold cleaning becomes necessary, the machine is designed robust to do this as well. It is recommended to do this in a special pro-gram module monitoring elapsed time and how the milling head is advancing during the milling operation.

The crucible is delivered by special vehicle, forklift or overhead crane to the initial posi-tion. The cleaning operation starts by engaging the manipulator, which picks up the crucible from the initial position. Thereafter a hydrau-lic locking mechanism locks the crucible prior to start hoisting and transporting to position for pouring of liquid aluminium and loose bath by tilting of crucible. This operation enables separtation of aluminium and bath (source separation).

Liquid aluminium is emptyed into a chill mould and loose bath and debris is dropped into a container. Separation of bath and alu-minium has great influence on efficiency and accountancy, i.e clean aluminium for remelt-ing and bath for normal processing without contamination of aluminium particles.

The operation continues by manipulating the crucible to cleaning position. The crucible is properly secured by hydraulic locks. The electric operated milling head starts rotating and clean the crucible while it is advancing towards the bottom. The drilling operation is automatically monitored by the PLC sys-tem. Excavated bath and particles is continu-ously shovelled backwards and drops into a container. After cleaning the hydraulic locks

release the crucible and manipulator tilts to 180° for emptying of loose particles. Thereaf-ter the manipulator moves the crucible back to initial position and the automatic sequenze terminates the operation in a parking position. Hot clean crucible is ready to continue the tap-ping operation without preheating due to short cycle time.

Typical work sequenze for multifunctional CCM (total cycle time 12 to 15 minutes):1. Hot (or cold) crucible delivered to initial position2. Fume suction is activated3. Manipulator picks up and secures crucible by hydraulic locks4. Crucible is manipulated to position for separation of liquid aluminium and bath5. Liquid aluminium is emptied into the chill mould controlled by operator. This results in less metal content during cleaning cycle 6. Next a complete 180° rotation of crucible which drops all loose bath into container for bath rests7. Thereafter crucible manipulated to clean-ing position and secures by hydraulic operated clamps in cleaning position8. Electric operated milling head starts rotat-ing9. Cleaning of crucible by full profile drilling and excavated bath and particles is shovelled into container10. After cleaning the hydraulic locks release the crucible and manipulator tilts to 180° for emptying of loose particles.11. Clean crucible returns to initial position, and is ready for next tapping operation with-out preheating due to short cycle time.

Maintenance: The CCM is designed with components that require low maintenance. The major maintenance is related to replacement of the cutting tools (tool bits). The surveillance is scheduled to daily control, monthly and yearly maintenance. No special tools and tackles are required for the operation / maintenance.

The CCM provides the following beneficial solutions:• Short cleaning cycle – Typical cleaning cycle time is between 12 and 15 minutes (cleaning of hot crucibles)• Hot or cold crucibles• Fully or semi-automated according to cus-tomers demands• Dual or single head (cleaning different cru-

Storvik Crucible Cleaning Machine Images: Storvik

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cible sizes by one CCM)• The machine picks up and delivers back crucibles after cleaning to a fixed start position inside machine’s operating area• The CCM can pick up the crucible directly from vechicle which minimises the need for an external crane for manipulating• Can be operated by remote control from vehicle• Meets high demands for scource separation of liquid aluminium and bath • Fume treatment system according to cus-tomers demands• Low tool cost by using tool bits with hard material available as standard parts in market• Tool bits are easy to replace, ‘push-in-solu-tion’• Cleaning operation powered by an electric motor equipped with a frequency converter.

options

The multifunctional CCM from Storvik pro-vides the customer with several options.Option 1 – Work platform: Work and mainte-nance platform, hydraulically operated swing and lift for regular maintenance and easy re-placement of tool bits.Option 2 – Remote control: Remote control for CCM by means of an infra-red unit. This allows the operator to start and control the machine from a nearby position (i.e. from tap-ping vehicle).Option 3 – Dual head crucible cleaning

ing (pouring liquid aluminium into mould).Option 5 – Cleaning of pouring spout: If

the crucible is equipped with a pouring spout, the CCM may be delivered

with a unit for cleaning.

summary

The CCM is a choice for smelters with the focus on high efficiency, low maintenance and operational cost. The Storvik CCM is avail-able in both single and dual head for cleaning of different size of crucibles (e.g. bath and metal). Crucibles can be cleaned in both hot and cold conditions.

Authors

Dag Sverre Sæsbøe, sales and marketing manager.Gunnar E. Nisja, M. S.C. project engineer

Option 1 – Work platform Option 2 – Remote control

machine: The CCM may be

equipped with an addi-tional milling head for cleaning of crucible with other dimensions. The electric drive line and hydraulics operates both milling heads. Option 4 – Back-up pouring device: The CCM can be upgraded to perform as a back up pour-

Option 3 – Dual head crucible cleaning machine

A new generation of Almeq cathode block preheatersJ. D. Hansen, Almeq

The new cathode block preheating equipment for cathode rodding at Dubal employs the latest Almeq technology. This uses the collector bars as electrical resistance heaters, ensuring far better efficiency and precision of heating than other systems. Almeq’s latest version pro-vides versatility, and it further improves productivity.

Before cathode assembly, a good electrical connection must be created between steel collector bars and carbon blocks. Usually this cathode rodding is done by pouring molten cast iron at 1,300 to 1,400°C into the gap be-tween the steel bars and the grooves in the carbon blocks. A considerable temperature shock results, with high thermal stresses.

These stresses influence the pressure between the steel and the carbon, and they affect the cathode in ways which are critical to the ef-ficiency and life of the pot. Adequate contact pressure is important so as not to waste valu-able millivolts in the cathode voltage drop. But excessive pressure from the steel can cre-ate tension cracks in the carbon which can shorten pot life. Thus preheating of the bars and the carbon blocks is important to avoid ex-cessive stresses which can crack the carbon.

Traditional heating systems use flames to heat the bars and carbon. But they suffer from poor accuracy and efficiency, and they present considerable inconvenience in opera-tion, including explosion risk, noise, fumes, carbon oxidation, and supervision costs. By using the collector bars as resistance heaters,

Almeq’s preheating system overcomes these problems.

Expansion and deflection of the steel col-lector bars during cathode rodding: The steel collector bars expand and stretch as they ab-sorb the heat of fusion from the solidifying cast iron. But this expansion only matters up to around 900°C, where the crystal structure of iron changes and its volume contracts (α-γ phase transition to austenite). These tempera-ture changes also cause the bars to bend. First the bar ends rise, as the cast iron first fills the lower part of the slot and heats the lower part of the bar. Later, during cooling, the bar middle rises as the carbon blocks cool the bar more rapidly from below.

Lengthways thermal expansion of the bars tends to cause transverse cracks, particularly

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changer to optimise the heating cycle. This also allows the system to accommodate different types and sizes of cathode blocks and bars that may be in use at the same plant.

The transformer primary is wound to ac-commodate the plant distribution voltage. The secondary windings are designed to produce less than 40 volts.

A typical graph of current, collector bar temperature and cathode block temperature is shown below. The steps in the current curve represent transformer tap changes which com-pensate for the increasing resistance of the cir-cuit, as the collector bar temperature rises.

Heating performance and heat distribution has been documented: The system collects key process data that can be stored for further analysis. Below is a chart from 39 heatings representing 234 cathode assemblies. This shows that the cathode steel bar reaches a re-producible temperature to within a couple of degrees of variation. The temperature of the cathode block shows a small variation due to the holding time after the heating cycle is complete. However, the variations are small compared to other heating methods.

Infrared photographs of the preheated components confirm the excellent uniformity of the temperature in the steel bars respec-tively in the carbon blocks. See picture below.

conclusions

Experience in seven Almeq units for electric preheating through collector bars has proven huge improvements in energy efficiency, tem-perature precision, operating safety and con-venience, and finally in costs.

References

[1] J. D. Hansen, Almeq electric preheater for cathode blocks, ALUMINIUM 83 (1-2/2007), pp. 30-31

Author

Jan D. Hansen is general manager of Almeq Nor-way AS.

in the top edges of the slots in the carbon blocks. Transverse expansion tends to cause wing cracks along the internal corners of the slots. Such cracks are weak zones for pen-etration by cryolite bath or liquid aluminium, which lead to pot failure.

Collector bars as heating elements: Collec-tor bars and cathode blocks can be preheated by using the collector bar as a heating ele-ment, as has previously been published [1]. Since the first installation at Rio Tinto Alcan

Isal in 1997, seven such preheat units are cur-rently in operation and they have preheated more than 20,000 cathode blocks.

Based on a recent survey, the system has fulfilled all requirements for modern cathode rodding and it has in addition reduced the en-ergy consumption by approx. 89% compared with oil and gas burners.

This article focuses on the latest cathode block preheating unit installed at the Dubal smelter. The system at Dubal is equipped with a multi-winding transformer with a tap

This articles focuses on the latest cathode block preheating unit installed at the Dubal smelter

For a sustainable world…we recycle industrial waste,

we generate and manage waterSpentPot Liner & Salt Slag Treatment ServicesBefesa is an international company specializing in the integral manage-ment of industrial wastes and the generation and management of water. We manage more than 2.5 Mt of industrial waste, allocating more than 1.2 Mt to the production of new materials through recycling; these activi-ties prevent the emission of more than 1 Mt of CO2 per year.

Befesa provides solutions for managing industrial wastes, and managing and generating water, while taking into account our social responsibility to contribute to creating a sustainable world. Befesa is pleased to an-nounce the in-house development of a completely sustainable Spent Pot Liner recycling process. This fully authorised process ensures that all of the materials produced by the recycling of this hazardous waste are fully utilised in other industry sectors.

Aluminium Waste RecyclingBefesa is the current European leader in aluminium waste and salt slag recycling, with an integral aluminium waste recycling model: on one hand it develops technologies to improve the management and processing of waste and, on the other, it is the only operator without solid waste in its production process. Befesa fully recycles spent pot liner, salt slags and aluminium wastes in the treatment process. The materials produced from our process are recycled into many other industry sectors. Befesa’s Spent Pot Liner and salt slag’s recycling plants are a fine example of efficiency and sustainability.

The hazardous wastes produced by the primary and secondary aluminium industry are hazardous and potentially contain inflammable gases. Using our patented Spent Pot Liner process and efficient Salt Slags process, Befesa ensures that Spent Pot Liner and Salt Slags wastes are completely valorised at the Befesa plants in Valladolid (Spain) and in Whitchurch (United Kingdom). Befesa also has three further Salt Slags treatment plants located in Germany.

Befesa is committed to working with the aluminium industry to achieve

its mid-term commitment to eliminate the need for landfill of the hazardous wastes, which the industry produces both directly and indirectly.

Befesa welcomes site and process audits by our customers and provides full technical support for the shipment of any waste to our processing plants.

For more information regarding our Spent Pot Liner, Salt Slags and other treatment services, please contact:Adrian Plattadrian.platt@befesa.abengoa.com0044 1948 780441

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Analysis of inclusions with Spark-DAT, an option of the Thermo Scientific ARL 4460 optical emission spectrometer, has become popular in the steel industry in recent years. Numerous companies now routinely use it, because its extremely short analysis time makes it useful for controlling quality during the steel pro-duction process. In the aluminium in-dustry, measurement in the melt is also important for process monitoring and control in production. However, Spark-DAT did not enjoy the same success. Among the reasons given that the spec-trometer is used for production control and so is not always available for process development or investigations, and that signals for some elements relevant for inclusion analysis were not available or were not performing well enough. This article reports on recent developments that make Spark-DAT more attractive than before for the aluminium industry. It demonstrates that Spark-DAT offers ma-jor advantages: in particular it can replace or simplify the existing techniques for as-sessing inclusions.

Principles of spark- DAT inclusion analysis

In OES (Optical Emission Spectroscopy), typi-cally 2,000 individual sparks jump in a few seconds between an electrode and the me-tallic sample to be analysed. The light from these sparks contains information about the elements present. For quantitative analysis the intensities of specific wavelengths of the emitted light are integrated, and the integrated intensities are evaluated as concentrations of elements by using a calibration curve. With Spark-DAT the single signal intensities are acquired separately and processed based on statistical principles with mathematical algo-rithms. These algorithms allow us to evaluate the number, composition and size of the inclu-sions.

The phenomena taking place behind Spark-DAT are complex [1]. A simple model to ex-plain Spark-DAT is to say that light from a spark that hits an inclusion gives rise to peaks of intensity on the optical channels of the ele-ments present in the inclusion. In first approxi-

improved analysis of inclusions in aluminium with the ARL 4460 spark-DAT K. Li, e. Halasz and J.-m. Böhlen, Thermo Fisher scientific

mation, the intensities of the peaks for theses elements depend on the size of the inclusion and the concentration of each element in the inclusion. This is illustrated in Fig. 1, which shows three individual sparks m, p and v hit-ting TiB2 inclusions in an aluminium sample, and the spark intensity diagram corresponding to Ti.

improvement of spark-DAT analysis of aluminium samples

Recent improvements make Spark-DAT more attractive for the aluminium industry, where inclusions pose similar challenges to those in the steel industry [2-4]. In aluminium alloys, inclusions affect in particular fluidity, gas po-rosity, machinability, surface quality and me-

chanical properties. Although techniques exist to remove inclusions, measurement in the melt is still important for process monitoring and control in production. Therefore there is con-siderable potential for Spark-DAT to replace, facilitate or simplify the existing techniques to assess inclusions in aluminium (e. g. LIMCA, PoDFA and Prefill-Footprinter).

The following table summarises the im-provements that were realised recently for Spark-DAT analysis in aluminium.

Spark-DAT analysis in the aluminium ma-trix is mainly based on two algorithms:• Peaks, which counts intensity peaks on single analytical channels. The algorithm es-timates the total number of inclusions con-taining a given element (e. g. all the inclusions containing Ti).

Fig. 1: Principle of Spark-DAT illustrated for an aluminium sample containing titanium boride inclusions. Three sparks m, p and v striking inclusions of different sizes give rise to Ti intensity peaks, due to the high Ti concentration in the inclusions. In first approximation, the intensity of a peak is proportional to the size of the inclusion struck by a spark. Images: Thermo Fisher Scientific

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• Composition, which counts intensity peaks coincident (or not coincident) on the channels of several elements. The algorithm estimates the number of inclusions of a particular com-position.

As indicated in the table, the new algo-rithms improve the detection of signals from inclusions. This is because they are based on more suitable statistical principles, and so dis-criminate better between normal and abnor-mal signals. Note that the two algorithms can also sort signals into intensity classes, closely related to inclusion size classes. Other algo-rithms already used for Spark-DAT analysis in iron and steel could also be of interest in

aluminium, in particular the algorithm QuIC, which allows the quantitative analysis of com-position and size of inclusions.

It takes about 7s to perform a stand-alone Spark-DAT analysis from pressing the start button to the display of the results on the screen. This analysis time is the sum of 2s ar-gon flush of the spark stand, a very short pre-burn time (less than 1s), 4s acquisition time (2,000 data values recorded in at a frequency of 500 Hz) and a processing time. This extremely short time makes Spark-DAT faster than any other inclusions analysis technique available today (e.g. scanning elec-tron microscopy, metallographic microscope

observation, ultrasonic scanning, etc.), and it explains the success of Spark-DAT in the steel industry. Furthermore, Spark-DAT can provide an even more representative analysis of the sample in 1 to 2 minutes by perform-ing several measurements instead of a single one.

The analysis time for simultaneous inclu-sion and spectrochemical analysis was reduced from 29 to 25s by merging the Spark-DAT acquisition and the pre-burn periods (Fig. 2). The time is only slightly more than the 21s necessary for the usual quantitative elemental analysis alone. This is a very important fea-ture, because the little extra time needed is acceptable for most applications, and so it will allow many aluminium plants to add inclusion analysis with Spark-DAT to their process con-trol tool box.

instrumentation

The ARL 4460 spectrometer used for analys-ing inclusions in aluminium matrix measures VUV (vacuum ultra-violet) lines in addition to the standard lines of an OES aluminium instru-ment. These extra VUV lines allow monitoring of very important elements in the inclusions matrix, namely C, N, O and Cl.

Key technical characteristics of the ARL 4460 for inclusion analysis are the arc/spark Current Controlled Source (CCS), the acqui-sition electronics to achieve Time Resolved Spectroscopy (TRS) and of course the Spark-DAT that allows the acquisition of the signal spark by spark.

Fig. 2: Old and new methods for simultaneous OES elemental and inclusion analysis in aluminium. The total analysis time was reduced from 29 to 25s by merging Spark-DAT acquisition and pre-burn period.

Fig. 3: Results of the Spark-DAT analysis of an AlSi sample with 12% Si. The presence of inclusions is dem-onstrated with the intensity diagrams of several channels and with amounts of peaks or coincident peaks counted with the aid of dedicated algorithms.

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Fig. 4: Results of the Spark-DAT analysis of a sample obtained from filtered aluminium

inclusion analysis

Inclusions of interest in aluminium alloys in-clude different types: oxides (Al2O3, MgO, CaO…), spinels (MgAl2O4), carbides (TiC, Al4C3), borides (TiB2), nitrides (AlN), salts (MgCl2, NaCl, KCl, CaCl2), intermetallic com-pounds (Cr-Mn-Fe…), refractories (SiO2) and various other compounds (AlP, Mg3P2, sulfides, aluminides…), most of them being observable with Spark-DAT.

Fig. 3 shows partial results of the Spark-DAT analysis of an AlSi sample. The presence of TiB2 and of salt inclusions is demonstrated by the spark diagrams and the corresponding numbers of peaks in signals evaluated by the algorithms Peaks (e. g. Ti peaks, B peaks, Na peaks…) and Composition (e. g. TiB2, NaCl...).

Fig. 4 shows spark intensity diagrams of a sample [5] obtained after filtering the liquid metal as described by Simensen [2]. Spark-DAT clearly shows the presence of interme-tallic compounds based on Mn, Fe, Cr and V, as well as of other compounds based on some alkali and alkaline earth metals, or elements like C, O, P, Sn and Bi.

conclusions

Among all the inclusion analysis methods available today, the ARL 4460 with Spark-DAT is probably the fastest, which makes it potentially the most suitable for controlling inclusions in the melt during the production

process. The exper imenta l method and the algorithms were recently im-proved, so mak-ing inclusion analysis with an OES spec-trometer even more attractive for the alumin-ium industry. Another major advantage of Spark-DAT is that the inclu-sion analysis is performed on the instrument used as for the elemental analy-sis already. This means that it in-volves only low investment and operation costs compared with other inclusion analysis tech-niques, which need dedicated i n s t r u m e nt s ,

and that it needs only a very simple sample preparation technique, the usual OES sample preparation being adequate.

References

[1] Halász E, Li K, Dorier J-L and Böhlen J-M, Advances in inclusion analysis in steels by Spark OES – Phenomenology and calculation of inclusions’ composition and size, proceedings of CCATM’2010, 15th CSM Conference and Exhibition on Analysis & Testing of Materials, Beijing, September 2010, p. 223-230.

[2] Simensen C J, Sampling and analysis of impuri-ties in aluminium, International Seminar on Refin-ing and Alloying of Liquid Aluminium and Ferro-Alloys, Trondheim, Norway, 1985[3] Eckert C E, Inclusions in Aluminium foundry alloys, Modern Casting, Vol. 81 (1991), p. 28-30

[4] Stanica C, Moldovan P, Aluminium melt cleanli-ness performance evaluation using PoDFA (Porous Disk Filtration Apparatus) technology, U.P.B. Sci. Bull., Series B, Vol. 71, Iss. 4, 2009

[5] By courtesy of Morito M, IMN, Light Metals Divi-sion, Skawina, Poland

Authors

Dr. Kaizhen Li holds a Master’s degree in Environ-mental Engineering and a Ph.D. in Chemistry with specialisation in determination of trace elements in the environment by mass spectroscopy. She is cur-rently application specialist for Optical Emission Spectrometers at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Edmund Halász holds a Master’s degree in Physics. He is currently manager Analytical Spectroscopy and Physics at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Dr. Jean-Marc Böhlen holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in NMR Spectroscopy. He is currently product manager in charge of the Optical Emission Spectrometers at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

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Als Schweizer Hersteller von Strangpressprodukten stellt Alu Menziken komplexeste Formen für höchste Anforderungen an Oberflächen und Toleranzen her. Wir sind nicht nur kosten-günstig, sondern auch äusserst schnell und flexibel. Kontaktieren Sie uns unter +41 62 765 21 21 oder www.alu-menziken.com

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Wir liefern auch komplexe Formen mit viel Tempo.

ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011 45

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As an industrial engineering group, Fives Solios designs and supplies process equip-ment and turnkey plants for the major primary aluminium producers worldwide.

Solios Carbone is particularly well-known in the carbon sector of aluminium smelters as a supplier of green anode plants and anode butt recycling for more than 50 years. Historically coal tar pitch, the coke binder in green anode production, was transported as solid pitch and was melted at the green anode plant, using sol-id pitch melting facilities that Solios Carbone also supplied. But in the late 1990s, for envi-ronmental reasons, most aluminium smelters started to buy liquid pitch transported by ship. Therefore, Solios Carbone decided to enlarge its scope of work to the turnkey supply of liq-uid pitch storage facilities at the port area.

Thanks to its large expertise in melting solid pitch and in using liquid pitch (LP) and heat transfer fluid (HTF) also in the green an-ode production process, Solios Carbone has become a major actor in this field. Most of the time, the liquid pitch facilities are located close to the ports where the ships deliver the raw materials (alumina, coke and liquid pitch) for the smelter.

The liquid pitch storage facility consists of several process and utility sections includ-ing ship unloading transfer pipe, two to three heated and insulated storage tanks, bunded area, HTF network, LP truck loading station, pitch vapour treatment, utilities (nitrogen and compressed air generation and storage, elec-trical substation, and control room).

The liquid pitch ship unloading rate is generally in the range from 250 to 600 tph at 210°C. This corresponds to a 15 to 30 cm diameter pipe, depending on the pressure drop of the line and on the ship unloading pump characteristics.

The capacity of the storage tanks ranges from 3,000 to 12,000 tonnes, depending on the capacity need of the anode plant and on the frequency of pitch deliveries. These tanks contain internal HTF heating coils which keep the pitch at a set temperature or to re-heat the cooled pitch after a HTF network shutdown. The tank insulation consists of lagged rock wool 250 mm thick.

Safety relief valves on the tank roof protect the tank against under-pressure or over-pres-sure inside it. A bund wall around the tanks is needed to prevent the escape of pitch spillage

Liquid pitch storage at port facilityT. Dazy and F. Virieux, solios carbone and Fives solios

in case of tank leakage.HTF keeps the pitch

at the right temperature (around 180°C) inside the tanks and pipes. HTF is heated (to approx. 300°C) either using HTF gas boil-ers or HTF electrical heat-ers.

Pitch is loaded into the truck road tanker by means of an articulated and hydraulically oper-ated loading arm. For this the truck parks on a weighing bridge to meas-ure the quantity of pitch transferred (generally 30 tonnes capacity). The loading station is also equipped with barriers and truck identification system.

A pitch vapour treatment system is required to treat the pitch vapours displaced during ship tanker unloading or by gas expansion when re-heating pitch. The method for treating pitch vapours is to pre-heat them in a heat exchang-er before they enter the reaction chamber. A temperature control acts on the gas burner to maintain the correct temperature to burn the PAH by catalytic oxidation. As the reaction is exothermic, hot air leaving the reaction cham-bers goes through the heat exchanger; one part of this hot air is then recycled, the rest is ex-hausted at the stack.

Since the first Fives Solios installation, consisting of two 7,500 tonne tanks delivered to Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) in 1998, Solios Carbone has further extended its offer and ex-pertise to challenge environmental, health and safety (EHS) aspects, while always optimising CAPEX and OPEX.

Some examples of the latest improvements developed by Solios Carbone are:• Replace the ship unloading flexible hose by an automatic pitch unloading arm (Qatalum /Qatar) also to improve safety.• Eliminate the pitch vapour return pipe to the ship. Vapours are treated directly in a RCO (Regenerative Catalytic Oxidiser), which drastically reduces the PAH emissions (Sohar Aluminium / Oman and Qatalum). This in-volves combining environmental and CAPEX considerations.• Measurement of the total pitch quantity unloaded from the ship using Coriolis mass flow meter (Qatalum) to reduce OPEX (accu-

racy of the measurement used for invoicing).• Replacement of mechanical sealed pitch pumps by magnetic coupling ones to avoid pitch leakages (Sohar Aluminium), and thus to meet environment, safety and OPEX objectives.

Whilst respecting tight time schedules, controlling costs and meeting guaranteed per-formances, Fives Solios has successfully com-missioned the following installations:• Alba in 1998 and 2003 – three storage tanks of 7,500 tonnes capacity each• Sohar Aluminium – two storage tanks of 5,000 tonnes capacity each• Qatalum – two storage tanks of 12,000 tonnes capacity each.

In July 2010, Fives Solios was awarded a contract on turnkey basis for Ma’aden Alu-minium smelter located in Ras Az Zawr (King-dom of Saudi Arabia). The two storage tanks of 6,000 tonnes each will be in operation in April 2012.

The expertise in liquid pitch storage facili-ties is complementary to Fives Solios’ supply of gas treatment centres and bath processing units for the reduction area of green anode plants, to fume treatment centres and firing and control systems of anode baking furnaces for the carbon area, and to furnaces for the casthouse. This latest addition further extends Fives Solios’ offer for primary aluminium smelters.

Authors

Thierry Diaz is proposals manager of Solios Car-bone, and Fabienne Virieux is communications manager of Fives Solios. Both are based in Givors, France.

Sohar liquid pitch storage tanks Photo: Solios

46 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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46 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Many aluminium casthouses producing ex-trusion billets use batch homogenising ovens and coolers to improve extrudability. Most of these casthouses use manual systems for per-forming the following process operations:• Pit stripping and accumulation of the billets coming from the casting machine• Load stacking operations (including billet and spacer manipulation)• Furnace loading and unloading and furnace cycle initiation• Cooler loading and unloading and cycle initiation • Load accumulation and storage• Load de-stacking and transfer of billets to downstream processing (extrusion press, shipping or cut to length operations, etc.).Depending upon the age of the plant and the technology that is used, these operations em-ploy overhead cranes and/or forklifts operated by full time production personnel. In addition, sometimes direct manual manipulation of spac-ers is also part of the process. The problems associated with these manual operations in-clude capacity bottlenecks, non-uniform loads which prevent optimal heat distribution, and safety issues when operators are performing any manual manipulation of spacers or getting to close to unstable stacks or hot billets.

An alternative to the manual manipulation of billets throughout the homogenising proc-ess is a fully automatic system.

Description of the automatic system

Extrusion billets, typically ranging in diameter from 4 to 20” (102 to 508 mm) in diameter and

Automation of extrusion billet batch homogenising systems for increased billet productionK. Williams, Advanced Dynamics

ranging in length from 160 to 315” (4,064 to 8,000 mm) long, are removed from a ver-tical DC casting ma-chine with an overhead crane. This pit strip-ping operation uses an overhead bridge crane and a specialised lift-ing bale. The casting machine operator re-moves the billets from the casting machine one row at a time and then, with the help of

a downending turn block, he lays the row of billets down onto the receiving station of a two strand accumulation chain conveyor.

After he has laid the billets down on a re-ceiving table and has released them from the crane, he pushes a button to release them to the automatic system. All downstream opera-tions are then completely un-manned and fully automatic.

The billets on the receiving table are first gathered together and ‘squared’ with a squar-ing pusher (Fig. 1). This maximises accumu-lation and assures reliable downstream han-dling and load building. The receiving table and squaring pusher are lined with UHMW to prevent product marking.

Once the row of billets is squared, they are lowered onto the tail section of the accumula-tion conveyor and then advanced forward to clear the lay-down station. This laydown se-quence is repeated until the complete casting pit has been unloaded.

The squaring and accumulation is much faster than the pit stripping so the pit stripping operator never waits for the load building system.

The accumu-lation conveyor then feeds the ingots toward a layer forming station which builds a layer on top of stainless

steel spacers per pre-programmed recipes (see example recipes shown in table 1). The layer forming machine staggers the logs such that they fill the airflow path in the homogenising furnace. This optimises the heat flow distribu-tion for a more uniform load temperature.

Once a layer is built, an automatic stacking crane picks up the layer and places it on top of the layer forming table. Complete homo loads are built (ideally one load per cast ) on the load forming table, and when they are com-plete, the homo furnace charge car is called to retrieve the load.

The charge car automatically processes the complete load through the homogenis-ing process by first placing it in a batch homo furnace and initiating the furnace cycle. After the furnace cycle is complete, the charge car transfers the load to a cooling station and then, when it has cooled, transfers it back to either the load break-down station or to a static stor-age stand.

Depending upon throughput requirements, the system can have any number of furnaces, coolers and storage stands.

The stacking crane then picks up the layers one at a time from the load breakdown table and places them onto the layer breakdown table. From there, a pick-and-place device re-moves the ingots one at a time from the layer and places them on a roller conveyor which then in turn transports them to a downstream process (sawing and/or packing line).

Spacers for the homo loads are stainless steel and they are automatically positioned and removed from the loads by the same au-tomatic crane that handles the layers. The bot-tom row of spacers are fitted with wheels to allow for the differential expansion between

Fig. 1: Ingot squaring pusher and tail end of the accumulation conveyor

Table 1: Example of homo load patterns

Ingot Diameter

Ingots per cast

Ingots per homo layer

Number of layers per homo load

Number of ingots in top row

7 84 12 7 12

8 64 10 7 4

9 50 9 6 5

10 40 8 5 8

12 32 7 5 4

14 24 5 5 4

16 20 5 4 5

Phot

os:

Adv

ance

d D

ynam

ics

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Fig. 2: Layer forming and crane Fig. 3: Fully built load on SS spacers

the load and the steel support stands in the furnaces and coolers.

The system is controlled by a PLC and includes tracking of the ingots from the lay- down area through the entire homogenising process. This tracking allows for automatic selection of recipe and batch homogenising process parameters. In addition, data can be tracked and transferred to downstream equip-ment for action or to Level 2 data acquisition, trending and reporting systems.

The automation of the batch homogenising process is a reliable and robust technology which can be provided as a greenfield installa-tion or which can be retrofitted into an existing batch homogenising process. For greenfield projects, the technology competes with con-tinuous homogenising systems. The selection of a batch or continuous technology for bil-let processing is a topic on its own, but typi-cally the batch type is preferred for frequent product changes and for larger diameter bil-

lets, whereas the continuous technol-ogy is more suitable for long production runs of the same billet diameter and alloy.

In either case, the use of an auto-mated system for processing the bil-lets through homog-enization will pro-vide the advantages of uniform loads,

longer spacer life, lower labour costs, safer operations and increased capacity.

Author

Kevin Williams is vice president of Business Devel-opment at Advanced Dynamics. He is a mechani-cal engineer with 23 years of experience in the mechanical and controls system design, in project management and in solutions architecture of heavy duty automated material handling systems for the aluminium industry. For more information, please contact kevinwilliams@advanceddynamics.com.

Through MÖLLER™ Technology, FLSmidth specializes in design, engineering, procurement,

erection and commissioning of pneumatic material handling systems for turnkey projects

and components for the alumina industry. For more than 75 years the MÖLLER brand has

stood for high quality standard systems with more than 5.000 references world wide.

MÖLLER Alumina Handling Systems - High Performance, High Efficiency.

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48 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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48 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

The history of the Claudius Peters vertical ball mill reaches back to 1906, when the com-pany started to sell Fuller-Peters ball ring mills under licence for the E-mill. Shortly thereafter Claudius Peters (CP) independently began to further develop and produce this type of mill, and has ever since sold more than 2,500 vertical such mills world-wide to grind and dry coal and minerals.

In 2002 the company, in close co-operation with the renowned Swiss company R & D Carbon, started the first joint research and development project on the grinding of calcined petcoke in the Clau-dius Peters Technical Centre in Buxtehude, Germany. Since then seven grinding plants have been sold, whose design is based on the grinding principle which will be described in the following paper.

Currently Claudius Peters is offering a pat-ented overall concept for the petcoke process-ing [6], which clearly stands out from the com-mon ‘horizontal’ ball mill concept, namely by using more of the potential of the ‘vertical’ grinding concept. The customers this way profit from reduced CAPEX/OPEX as well as from the improved anode quality.

Grinding tests with test mill, type em 17-525

Based on the experience previously gained in the grinding of difficult products, such as e.g. sewage sludge, clay, silicon, we were very opti-mistic from the outset of the tests. Historically the achievable mill capacity for coal grinding is expressed as the fineness factor (residue on a defined screen size) and the hardness of the material to be ground (measured in Hardgrove). The aluminium industry, howev-er, does not generally use these characteristics, but instead applies an evaluation based on the specific surface (Blaine) of the particles.

In different grinding tests with our test mill, type EM 17-525, we ran several test series with different product finenesses in the range Blaine 3,000 to 5,000. These values represent the typical specific surfaces for petcoke in the aluminium anode production. The Blaine value normally required for modern grinding plants runs at 4,000 cm2/g and corresponds

Grinding plants for petcoke for anodesst. Gosau, claudius Peters

to the value of 25%R74µm, see diagram 1.

Grinding principle of the cP ball ring mill

The mill shown in Fig. 1 is a modern Claudius Peters EM ball ring mill with dynamic classi-fier. The material to be ground is fed to the EM mill centrally from the top, from where it drops onto the rotating grinding yoke. The yoke and the lower grinding ring are both driv-en by the mill gear. The upper fixed grinding ring, which is pressed down by the hydraulic system, presses down the grinding balls. The calcined petcoke lying between grinding balls and grinding rings is first crushed by the balls running over the material and is then trans-ported out of the grinding track by centrifugal forces. An air flow directed upwards captures the ground petcoke and leads it to the classi-fier. The excessively large particles are sepa-

rated from the others inside the classifier and are then returned to the grinding mechanism for renewed grinding. The other particles leave the mill together with the transport gas.

The core of the Claudius Peters EM mill is the grinding mechanism. It is formed like an axial bearing. As already mentioned it consists of an upper and a lower grinding ring as well as of the grinding balls arranged in between. The EM mill thus belongs to the classical group of vertical roller mills and competes with mills whose grinding elements (e.g. grinding rollers or grinding wheels) are arranged stationarily. Due to the special construction principle the grinding balls can rotate spherically between the grinding rings. This leads to an even, round wear pattern on the balls over the complete lifetime. The balls, which gradually decrease in size due to the wear, work themselves into the grinding rings so that the grinding surface remains constant. The grinding surface deter-mines the mill capacity, which is thus constant throughout the complete lifetime of the grind-ing elements.

modern grinding cycle for the grinding of calcined petcokee

Fig. 3 shows schematically the modern grinding cycle for calcined petcoke. The raw material, usually with a grain size of 0 to 20 mm, enters the prebin of the mill. The prebin is equipped with load cells which simultaneously monitors the filling level and the mill capacity. The raw material is fed to the mill by means of an ad-justable-speed rotary feeder, whose speed con-trols the mill load. The one-sided conical steel

Diagram 1: The measured particle size distribution after grinding corresponds to the target curves [1], Images: Claudius Peters

Fig. 1: Claudius Peters EM mill with dynamic classifier [2]. 01: Mill foundation, 02: Mill jacket/doors, 03: Dy-namic classifier, 04: Gearbox, 05: Grinding elements, 06: Pressure ring, 07: Yoke, 08: Springs, 09: Spring tensioning frame, 10: Nozzle ring, 11: Hydraulic cylinder, 12: Reject Box, 13: Supports, 14: E-Motor, 15: Gas channel

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silo shown here prevents core flow and ensures a very good mass flow to the rotary feeder.

The vertical ball ring mill, where grinding, classifying and pneumatic transport all take place at the same time, is operated continuously in negative pressure condition. A fan provides the required gas movement to transport the ground petcoke from the mill to the bag filter, which separates the dust from the gas. The ma-jor part of the dust precipitates in a pre-cham-ber of the filter, the rest is separated via the filter bags. The petcoke dust collects in a filter trough from where screw and rotary convey-ors discharge it from the grinding system. Ro-tary feeders then transfer it to the subsequent production process for anode production.Most of the transport gas is re-circulated to the grinding process again. This ensures that only a smaller part of residual dust escapes into the atmosphere. The energy absorbed by

crushing and friction of the aggregates tends to heat up the grinding system, so a defined gas exchange carries excess heat away.

control loops of the grinding plant

Air quantity control (F): The grinding plant operates with a constant air flow rate which a Venturi nozzle measures. An air regulator located in front of the fans controls the air quantity.

Negative pressure control before mill (P): The grinding plant is operated with a constant negative pressure before mill. A pressure sensor, installed in the pipeline before mill, records this negative pressure continuously. A pneumatically- operated flap, located in the pipeline in front of the stack, controls the nega-tive pressure accordingly.

Control of differential pressure of the mill

(∆ P): Measurement of the differential pres-sure, through the mill prevents overloading of the mill. If the differential pressure exceeds the setpoint, the rotary feeders reduce the raw material input.

Mill load control: Raw material weighing monitors the current mill load. The speed-con-trolled drive of the rotary feeder adjusts the required mill load.

Control of product fineness: Laboratory examinations measure the product fineness. Adjustment of the product fineness is realized via the speed-controlled drive of the classifier [3].

competitive advantages

The advantages of the vertical mill over the tra-ditional horizontal or ball mill used in the alu-minium industry are apparent. The CP vertical mill, for example, offers a wide control range, which runs at approximately 25 to 100%. This way the grinding capacity can adapt to the subsequent anode production process without having a major influence on the grind-ing fineness. Thus the finished material silo can stay relatively small, which counteracts a possible tendency for segregation with changes to the existing particle size distribution.

In comparison, in the horizontal mill, which only disposes of a rather limited adjustment range of approximately 90 to 100%, is prac-tically unable to adjust ro the downstream process rate. This means that a horizontal grinding plant must stop when its output silo is full. The consequence is a start / stop opera-tion which is subject to undefined conditions, especially during the phase of load change, which causes severe fluctuations in the mate-rial fineness.

Diagram 2 (see next page) compares the variation of product finenesses of the CP-EM vertical mill as against the horizontal mill over a period of approx. four weeks. The EM mill provides a steady fineness tolerance of ±3% related to a residue on a 74 µm screen which equals ±115 cm2/g (Blaine) [4]. The horizontal mill is often outside these limits.

A further advantage is the lifetime of the grinding elements of the EM mill. Depending on the product and the fineness, up to 20,000 operating hours can be reached with one set of grinding elements. As a consequence much less worn metal appears in the ground prod-uct from abrasion of the grinding elements: it amounts to only approximately a third of the amount for horizontal mills. Thanks to the long lifetime the vertical mill needs only a minimum of maintenance work.

The classifier integrated in the mill and the

Fig. 2: Grinding mechanism of the EM mill [2]

Fig. 3: Modern grinding cycle for calcined petcoke

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50 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Diagram 2: Comparison of product fineness fluctuations tube mill / EM mill [2, 5]

Fig. 4: Claudius Peters mill type EM 73 – 5105 with dynamic classifier [2]Table 1: References

small storage silos allow for a very compact arrangement of the plant, which reduces the constructional requirements for the building and its foundation.

The clearly reduced noise emission (< 85 dB(A)), the lower specific energy con-sumption and the comparatively simple con-trol concept of the plant (push button technol-ogy) further distinguish CP plants from those of competitors.

Business references

The first grinding plants for calcined petcoke were sold successfully to China at the end of 2002. In the meantime a total of seven grind- ing plants for the aluminium industry have ei-ther already been built or are in the process-ing phase. From an initial grinding capacity of 12 t/h the throughput requirements have increased to currently 20 t/h. The last systems sold were based on two EM 73 – 5105 mills with a grinding capacity of precisely 14.25 t/h at 4,000 Blaine and a HGI of 35 for the German engineering and plant manufacture Outotec, Cologne. Outotec is the turn-key supplier of the paste plants for the final cus-tomer located in Abu Dhabi.

At the same time Claudius Peters sold a third grinding system of the same size to our Chi-nese customer who already bought a CP plant with a capacity of 12 t/h in 2003.

A further milestone was reached in 2010 when Claudius Peters received the order for the supply and erection of a 20 t/h grinding plant for a new Chinese customer.

outlook

Optimum processes increasingly become the key factor for perfect functioning and reliable operation of the anode coke production plants. This will have consequences for plant design and construction as well as for optimising the existing production processes.

It is the aim of Claudius Peters to constantly improve the key technology applied in the pro-duction of anodes so that our customers will benefit from the advantages of our systems in their anode production processes.

References

[1] J.-P. Thiel, T. Gehle, R. Kleibs, Internal Report, Claudius Peters Technolgies GmbH, Buxtehude, Germany 2002[2] N.N.: Presentation Documents, Claudius Peters Projects GmbH, Buxtehude, Germany[3] T. Möller, Fines production for anode manufac-ture, Light Metals 2005, ed. H. Kvande (TMS, War-rendale, Pa.), 653-657[4] T. Tong, Petcoke/Anode Coke Grinding in Ball Race Mills Practical Experiences, 2nd International Carbon Conference in China, Kunming 18 Sept. 2006, Claudius Peters (China) Ltd.[5] K. A. Sinclair and B. A. Sadler, Improving carbon plant operations through the better use of data, Light Metals 2006, ed. T. J. Galloway (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), 577-582[6] European Patent Specification EP 1 789 363 B1 from 11 Feb. 2009: “Verfahren zum Aufbereiten von Kohle-Trockenstoff für die Herstellung von Elektroden”

Author

Mechanic engineer Stefan Alexander Gosau has been working for Claudius Peters since 1999 as a senior sales engineer in the department Grinding/PCI. He is specialised in the technology of coal and mineral grinding.

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RDC – the worldwide leader in carbontechnology.

R&D Carbon provides the interface between tech-nology suppliers, coke producers and coke users.

Feedstock selectionDelayed cokingCoke calciningPilot operation from green coke to graphitized productsElectrode and cathode applicationsQuality assessment and testing

R&D Carbon Ltd. • P. O. Box 362 • CH-3960 Sierre • SwitzerlandPhone: + 41 27 459 29 29 • Fax: + 41 27 459 29 25 • e-mail: rdc@rd-carbon.com • www.rd-carbon.com

GRAPHITIZED CARBON

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ANDAPPLICATIONS

52 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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52 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

In 2000, the author Marc Dupuis already presented the retrofit of a 300 kA into a 350 kA cell design, and then into a new 400 kA cell thermo-electric design [1] by extending the length of the potshell. Then in 2003, by further extending the length, and this time by also slightly increasing the potshell width, he presented a new 500 kA cell thermo-electric design [2]. Later in 2005, still extending the length of the 500 kA cell potshell, he presented a new 740 kA cell thermo-electric design, and claimed that there is no foreseeable limit to a cell size as far as the thermo-electric cell heat balance aspect of the cell design is concerned [3]. Finally in 2005/06, Mr Dupuis and Mr Bojareivs presented the MHD and the potshell me-chanical design of the 500 and 740 kA cells claiming that there seems to be no foreseeable design limit to the cell size as regards the MHD and potshell mechanical aspects [4-6]. The recent increase in cell amperage in newly constructed smelters and prototypes, for example in China [7-9], confirms of this point of view.

In the meantime, over the last ten years, cell design has continued to evolve, especially as regards the cell lining design, so much so that a cell lining seen as best world practice ten years ago now appears old-fashioned, if not obsolete. This evolution clearly warrants a second retro-fit study in order to incorporate the new best practice design ideas: using new or improved modelling tools, the aim is to boost the 500 kA cell design into a 600 kA cell design, while still keeping the same potshell and busbar.

Review of the 500 kA cell busbar designs: In diverse publications, the authors have present-ed three different busbar designs for the 500 kA cell. The first one is a ‘classical’ asymmetric busbar (Fig. 1) that auto-compensates for the return line [10]. The second one is a symmetric busbar (Fig. 2) with an external compensation busbar inspired by Pechiney 1987 patent [6, 11]. The third one is also a symmetric busbar (Fig. 3), but it uses a different configuration for the compensation busbar [6].

All three busbar designs have been re-analysed using an upgraded version of MHD-Valdis, the stability analysis code. This upgrad-ed version takes into account the presence of the open bath channels, and is hence better at predicting the shape of the bath-metal inter-

Retrofit of a 500 kA cell design into a 600 kA cell designm. Dupuis, Jonquière; V. Bojareivs, Greenwich

face [12]. There is little change in the calcu-lated vertical component of the magnetic fields (Bz) and in the stability prediction as compared to previously presented results. But the pre-dicted bath-metal interface deformation is now significantly different.

New anode stub hole TEM model and an-ode design: The new anode stub hole thermo-electro-mechanical (TEM) model presented in [13] has been used to calculate what would be the anode voltage drop of a 1.95 m long by 0.665 m wide anode. This anode has four stubs of 175 mm diameter and incorporates a new type of stub hole design. There are 48 such anodes in the 500 kA cell design. In Fig. 4, the 1/16 TEM anode stub hole model predicts a voltage drop of 214 mV from the bottom of the anode carbon block to the top of the stub. The obtained average contact re-sistance is then fed to the standard, half anode thermo-electric (TE) model, which in turn pre-dicts 265 mV for the total anode voltage drop from the clamp connection to the bottom of the anode carbon block (Fig. 5).

New cathode collector bar slot TEM model and cathode design: The new cathode collector bar slot TEM model presented in [14] has been used to calcu-late what would be the cathode voltage drop of a 4.17 m long by 0.665 m wide and 0.58 m high fully graphitized cathode block. That cathode block has two collector bar slots and uses 220 mm high by 140 mm wide collector bars each containing a big copper insert [15]. There are 24 such cathode blocks in the 500 kA cell design. The TEM model predicts that the cathode voltage drop will only be 87 mV, as can be seen in Fig. 6.

The resulting average con-tact resistances are then fed into the standard cathode side slice TE model of the same elec-trical design. Of course such a different design requires some adjustment of the thermal lin-ing in order to prevent the top edge of the block becoming too cold and hence being covered by ledge way past the anode shadow. The cathode side slice

TE model is the perfect tool to work on those adjustments.

Another change has been made to the cathode lining design to accommodate a still longer anode: the 100+ mm thick silicon car-bide sidewall was replaced by a now standard 70 mm thick silicon carbide sidewall. As we can see from the calculated isotherms in Fig. 7, the model predicts a ledge profile that is quite acceptable at a typical cell superheat.

Full cell quarter model including the liquid zone: At this stage of a retrofit study, it would be common practice to develop a full cell slice model (see for example Fig. 2 of [3]). In the current study, that step was bypassed in order to develop directly a full cell quarter model including the liquid zone (see model mesh in Fig. 8). This model allows us to predict the ledge profile all around the perimeter of the cell, but letting the model converge to predict the ledge profile requires a lot of CPU time. In the current study, we used the quarter cell model including liquid zone to compute what the current density would be in the metal pad if we used big copper inserts in the collector bars, assuming the initial ledge profile (see Fig.

Fig. 1: MHD-Valdis results for the asymmetric busbar design of the 500 kA cell

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9). With these copper inserts, there is practi-cally no horizontal current in the metal pad, even in this fairly wide cathode design.

Calculation of the retrofitted cell amper-age using Dyna/Marc: There are many ways to carry out a retrofit study. In [1-3], each in-cremental step was an operable design at the quoted amperage. This is the standard way to

work when using Dyna/Marc ‘What if’ panel as each solution is by definition in perfect ther-mal balance.

In the current study, the procedure is differ-ent: TEM models were used so as to reduce the anode and cathode electrical resistance, but without considering how this affects the cell thermal balance. Then the half anode and cath-

ode side slice TE models were used to assess that thermal impact and to calculate what would be the total cell heat loss at a typical cell superheat. So at this stage of the study, a 1.95 m long anode is expected to oper-ate at an average of 265 mV of voltage drop at 500 kA and the total anode panel should loose 420 kW according to the half anode TE model.

According to the cathode side slice TE model, the cath-ode is expected to operate with a 87 mV of voltage drop and to loose 665 kW if operated at 500 kA and 7°C of super-heat. Yet, no calculations were done up to now to predict the internal heat of the cell, so as to verify whether the cell can really be un perfect thermal balance under these conditions (500 kA and 7°C of superheat, with a typical 4 cm of anode to cathode distance (ACD) per example, which was con-sidered the best practice value ten years ago). In fact, even without making any calcula-tions, it should be obvious to any experienced cell designer that this will not be the case!

Since that time, slotted an-odes have become common, and these have allowed cells to operate at 3.5 cm ACD, as calculated by the same voltage break down equations [16]. So, not only have the anode and cathode electrical resistances decreased with the retrofit-ted cell design, but the bath electrical resistance is now significantly lower as well. Furthermore, by reducing the thickness of the silicon carbide sidewalls to 70 mm, we have made room to accommodate 2.0 m long anodes while still maintaining a comfortable 280

mm wide anode to sidewall distance (ASD). The task at this stage is to enter all that in-

formation into Dyna/Marc and to ask: at what amperage does that cell design need to operate in order to be in perfect thermal balance at a typical cell superheat? As can be seen in Fig. 10, the Dyna/Marc answer to that question is 600 kA.

Verification of the thermal balance at 600 kA using the ‘ANSYS’ based TE models:

Fig. 2: MHD-Valdis results for the Pechiney 1987 inspired busbar de-sign of the 500 kA cell

Fig. 3: MHD-Valdis results for the alternative compensation busbar design of the 500 kA cell

Fig. 4: Predicted anode voltage drop from the an-ode stub hole TEM model at 500 kA

Fig. 5: Predicted anode voltage drop from the half anode TE model at 500 kA

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Dyna/Marc is the perfect tool to get a quick answer to difficult questions like the one asked above; but this answer cannot be ac-cepted as final. It is safe standard practice to double check this Dyna/Marc prediction us-ing the more accurate ‘ANSYS’ finite element based TE models. The model can be either a full cell slice model or, as in this current study, can combine models of separate half anode and cathode side slice.

The half anode model predicts that 48 2.0 m long anodes in a cell operated at 600 kA will have an average anode drop of 318 mV, and they will dissipate 449 kW with a 10 cm thick cover. The cathode side slice model predicts

that if operated at 600 kA and 7°C of super-heat, then the cathode drop would be 104 mV and the cathode would dissipate 676 kW, while maintaining a comfortable ledge profile.

Since the internal heat at 600 kA, (which corresponds to an anodic current density of 0.94 A/cm2 and 3.5 cm ACD), according to Dyna/Marc will be 1,140 kW, the cell should be in perfect thermal balance quite close to those assumed operating conditions. Note that

Dyna/Marc also predicts 96.4% current effi-ciency (CE) and 4.29 V, which corresponds to a energy consumption of 13.3 kWh/kg Al.

Verification of the MHD stability at 600 kA using MHD-Valdis: The final verification to make is that the cell will still be stable when operated at 600 kA without any modification of the busbar. The answer may depend on the type of busbar design selected for the base case 500 kA cell technology. An asymmetric

Fig. 6: Predicted cathode voltage drop from the cathode collector bar slot TEM model at 500 kA

Fig. 7: Predicted isotherms from the cathode side slice TE model at 500 kA

Fig. 8: Mesh of the full quarter cell TE model in-cluding the liquid zone Fig. 10: Dyna/Marc steady-state solution as calculated using the ‘What if’ panel

Fig. 9: Current density close to the centerline predicted by the full cell quarter model at 500 kA

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busbar designed to auto-compensate a 500 kA return line will not be able to perfectly com-pensate a 600 kA return line, and that will for sure reduce the cell stability.

Yet a very good busbar design is able to accommodate a lot of amperage creep, as we learned from the evolution of the AP30 cell technology over the last 20 years. The busbar was initially designed to operate at 280 kA, and yet that same busbar now supports cell operation at 360-380 kA, still without major impact on the cell stability. Clearly there is some built-in robustness in a good busbar de-sign!

Nevertheless, a busbar design incorporat-ing independent compensation busbars is more flexible as it allows separately adjustment of the current running in the compensation loop(s). Suitable adjustments can perfectly compen-sate for increased return line current. Fig. 11 shows results for the third busbar design, this time with a cell operating at 600 kA instead of 500 kA. This demonstrates that, despite the amperage increase the Bz is still more or less the same once the amperages in the compen-sation loops are adequately readjusted.

Note that the ACD has not been readjusted between the 500 kA and the 600 kA runs of the MHD cell stability analysis. This is because we assume that it is the use of slotted anodes that leads to a smaller calculated ACD and so changes the internal heat generation. The physical ACD that matters in terms of cell stability we assume remains the same in the

500 kA cell design (using the old conventional unslotted anodes) as in the 600 kA cell design (using slotted anodes).

conclusions

This demonstration study shows how to retro-fit a ten years old ‘past prime if not obsolete’ 500 kA cell technology to make it an up-to-date ‘innovative’ 600 kA cell technology. It highlights the huge potential capacity creep that is present in even fairly recent cell designs. A more concrete example is the recently pub-lished results of the DX cell technology, which now operates at 370 kA, while designed only a few years ago to operate at 340 kA [17, 18].

The authors also hope that this demonstra-tion study will highlight the value of using mature state-of-the-art mathematical models to carry out such studies. Those exact same models, used by the majority of the groups actively developing high amperage cell tech-nology today, are available to the whole alu-minium industry through GeniSim Inc.

References

[1] M. Dupuis, Thermo-Electric Design of a 400 kA Cell using Mathematical Models: A Tutorial, Light Metals, TMS, (2000), 297-302.[2] M. Dupuis, Thermo-Electric Design of a 500 kA Cell, ALUMINIUM 79(7/8) (2003), 629-631. [3] M. Dupuis, Thermo-Electric Design of a 740 kA Cell, Is There a Size Limit, ALUMINIUM 81(4) (2005), 324-327.

[4] M. Dupuis and D. Richard, Study of the Thermal ly- In -duced Shell Deformation of High Amperage H a l l - H é r o u l t Cells, Proceed-ings of the 4th Conference on Light Metal, COM, (2005), 35-47.[5] M. Dupuis, and V. Bojarev-ics, Comparing the MHD cell stability of an aluminium re-duction cell at different metal pad height and ledge thickness, COM, (2006), 479-497.[6] M. Dupuis, V. Bojarevics and D. Richard, MHD and pot

mechanical design of a 740 kA cell ALUMINIUM 82, (2006) 5, 442-446.[7] Qi, X. et al., Successful commercial operation of NEUI400 potline, Light Metals, TMS, (2010), 359-363.[8] D. Lv et al., New progress on application of NEUI400 aluminium reduction cell technology, Light Metals, TMS, (2011), to be published.[9] D. Lv et al., Development of NEUI500 high ener-gy efficiency aluminium reduction cell technology, Light Metals, TMS, (2011), to be published.[10] M. Dupuis and V. Bojarevics, Weakly Coupled Thermo-Electric and MHD Mathematical Models of an Aluminium Electrolysis Cell, Light Metals, TMS, (2005), 449-454.[11] J. Chaffy, B. Langon and M. Leroy, Device for Connection Between Very High Intensity Elec-trolysis Cells for the Production of Aluminium Comprising a Supply Circuit and an Independent Circuit for Correcting the Magnetic Field, US patent no 4,713,161, (1987). [12] V. Bojarevics and K. Pericleous, Solution for the metal-bath interface in aluminium electrolysis cells, Light Metals, TMS, (2009), 569-594.[13] M. Dupuis, Development and application of an ANSYS based thermo-electro-mechanical anode stub hole design tool, Light Metals, TMS, (2010), 433-438.[14] M. Dupuis, Development and application of an ANSYS based thermo-electro-mechanical collector bar slot design tool, Light Metals, TMS, (2011), to be published.[15] G. E. Homley, and D. P. Ziegler Cathode collec-tor bar, US patent no 6,231,745, (2001).[16] M. Dupuis and H. Côté, Dyna/Marc 1.9 User’s guide, (2006).[17] A. Kalban, et al., 2008: A milestone in the development of the DX technology, Light Metals, TMS, (2009), 359-363.[18] A. Zarouni et al., DX pot technology powers green field expansion, Light Metals, TMS, (2010), 339-348.

Authors

Dr. Marc Dupuis is a consultant specialised 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 Univer-sity in Quebec City in 1984, and then 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 deal-ing with the thermo-electric, thermo-mechanic, electro-magnetic and hydrodynamic aspects of the problem. He was also involved in the design of ex-perimental high amperage cells and the retrofit of many existing cell technologies.Dr. Valdis Bojarevics is reader in magnetohydro-dynamics at the University of Greenwich (UK). He specialises in the numerical modelling of various electrometallurgical applications involving complex interactions of the fluid flow, thermal and electrical fields, melting front and free surface dynamics; he has been involved in numerous industrial consult-ing projects. Fig. 11: MHD-Valdis results for the alternative compensation busbar design of the 600

kA cell

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Full automation is essential for reliable operation of vertical casting. This is why GAP Engineering SA has developed GAP-Cast, the Swiss technology that increases security, quality and productivity in alu-minium vertical casting. It is a powerful automated casting concept which includes mechanical equipment, electrical supplies, automation software and hardware, and commissioning as well as process support.

GAP provides entire turn-key solutions and services for building new and for modernising existing vertical casting machines. GAPCast can be adapted for different casting technolo-gies:• for casting conventional DC billets and slabs (with or without metal level control in the moulds) • for different hot-top systems for billets and slabs• for electromagnetic casting (EMC[1]) technology.A system to automate casting is first of all a high-performance process control system. It controls the cast according to an optimal cast-ing practice which takes account of the limit

of the machine, and it reacts to ensure safety if things go wrong. But a powerful process control system alone cannot ensure efficient casthouse operation: it must be integrated into the process.

The automation system has to allow for continuous improvement of the process. For this, it is important to understand the process, both by measuring it and by analysing it sta-tistically, which requires a suitable system of data logging and analysis. GAPCast contains some configuration and analysis tools that im-prove safety, quality and productivity.

Already in the mid-1970s, Alusuisse pro-moted automation of casting as a central factor in the success of the (then new) Electromag-netic Casting (EMC). Since then, over 30 years of continuous improvement have resulted in today’s GAPCast system for casting automa-tion. Several members of GAP staff have made major contributions to this development.

GAPcast the modular concept

GAPCast provides a modular automation con-cept using components serving the functions shown in Fig. 1.

RCD (Remote Control Desk): The RCD is a control desk cabinet that contains a touch screen panel and some hardware buttons. It is a user-friendly interface that connects the operator with the machine. The personal com-puter (placed on the cabinet or elsewhere with remote access) runs the visualisation software (WinCC, etc.) and all configuration and analy-sis software.

Configuration applications: The personal computer of the RCD also runs some very efficient but user-friendly configuration pro-grammes. Certain parameters (security of the machine, texts of alarms, messages, PLC signals, machines parameters, etc.) are config-ured using GAP editors. To record the data that have to be set according to the product, the Recipe editor serves to manage the recipes. For each recipe a logbook is created where all modifications are memorised. The recipes created with the old Alusuisse casting solution ‘Valcast 5’ can be managed (read and write) with the new Recipe editor.

Analysis applications: A powerful data acquisition has been created with ibaPDA which stores all analogue values (measures, setpoints). This generates one data file per

GAPcast control makes aluminium vertical casting safer and more efficientc. Briguet, sierre; m. Bolliger, Venthône

Fig. 1: GAPCast concept Images: GAP Engineering

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cast as well as one per day. These files can be read with freeware ibaAnalyser.

In addition to this analog data acquisition, the system generates different displays of records. For each process, a CAST protocol records all set points changes / events / alarms of the cast. Some other daily protocols (one protocol per day) show information such as signal changes, alarms of the day, log history, etc. All protocols can be read with Protocol Viewer software application or any other text reader. The DIDO viewer can display all digital signal changes on a graphical screen.

To be compatible with the Quality and Production Management system, GAP has recently developed a database tool (base on SQL server) that can collect process data for statistical analysis. This database, named GAPStat, is flexible and can be adjusted to match the customer’s MES (Manufacturing Execution System) and/or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).

PLC (Programmable Logic Controller): The PLC hardware and software is supplied with all necessary safety functions. GAP En-gineering SA is ‘Siemens Solution Partner’ and ‘Rockwell integrator’. The electrical dia-grams are developed with Eplan P8, and the electrical cabinets are built and completely tested before the delivery.

Metal level regulation: For some kinds of slab casting processes, a metal level regulation

into the casting moulds is recommended.The complete system for the metal level

regulation is supplied by Gap Engineering SA. For each mould it consists of a GLS (GAP Level Sensor), a GLA (GAP Level Actuator). The regulation software includes the manage-ment of the initial filling curve of the moulds and the regulation loops. There is also a hard-ware security concept in case of emergency stop. The GLS and GLA are used and appreci-ated by many different customers, and they are a very safe, reliable and well-tested system.

Cast machine – flexible mechanical con-cept: Gap Engineering has long experience with the mechanical equipment and the me-chanical engineering of casting machines to meet the specific needs of their customers. GAP can provide the following parts of the machine:• Casting wagon or tiltable frame• Moulds frame• Fixed or adjustable moulds with starting heads (slabs or billets, conventional or EMC)• Casting launder• Electrical heating for spouts and pins• Metal level regulation system• Utility beam for metal level equipment, to move with wagon, manipulator or rotating crane• Control elements for cooling water and for hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

GAP uses powerful 3D design tools for the mechanical engineering. These tools produce 3D drawings and movies which show the cus-tomer how the casting concept has been adapted to his process and needs. They also help him under-stand how the mechanical handling will work in practice. The GAPCast casting machine is based on a con-cept with moving parts arranged so that the operator can easily prepare the machine before the cast. It is also easy to clean the machine after the cast.

The moving parts are as follows:• When the liquid metal level is regulated on the moulds, the utility beam holds all the required equipment for this, as well as for preheating the down spouts. The utility beam can be removed from the casting car. It can be removed using a manipulator, or a rotating crane, or sometimes using the casting car to transport it. • The casting launder carries no level actua-tors and no metal level sensors (they are on the utility beam). Sometimes the launder can be separated from the utility beam. This makes it easier to clean the launder after the cast, because the beam is then not in the way. • The casting car carries the mould frame with the moulds. It can move out of the pit to clear access for removing the slabs at the end of the cast. Changing the mould is easy be-cause the utility beam and the casting launder can be moved away.

commissioning, monitoring production and providing process support

Gap Engineering SA provides the commis-sioning of the whole GAPCast machine, so as to ensure correct mechanical, electrical and software installation until the machine is fully in production. During modernisations, the lost production time of the machine is very short thanks to the close involvement of a powerful and competent working team. Further process support can be provided too, according to the wishes of the customer.

Process, the fully automatic management of the casting phases

The main role of the process control unit is to calculate, check and adjust all important parameters before and during the cast on the basis of the stored casting recipe. It does this by continuously feeding reference target val-ues into an autonomous control system. Proc-ess control is divided into different phases, as shown in Fig. 6.

The various process phases can be distin-guished as follows:

Check phase – during the check phase, as already in the automation mode, the proc-essor calls up the casting recipe and checks it for plausibility. The casting operator, who is familiar with the automation programme, works through the checklist to confirm that all important plant components, control elements and sensors are ready for the casting opera-tion. Then the programme releases the plant for the subsequent start phase.

Start phase – during the start phase, the key

Fig. 2: GAPCast metal level regulation system

Fig. 3: GLS (GAP Level Sensor) Figure 4: GLA (GAP Level Actuator)

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process parameters are progressively activated according to the recipe, until they reach the levels of the so-called ‘stationary’ phase, when the casting parameters are in a steady state.

Casting phase – prior to the start phase and until, as well as during the whole casting phase, the process automation system has the task of observing the entire casting unit, as well as checking the variable casting parameters against their target values. The system records any unexpected events, and if the parameters differ from the normal range, it first sends alarm messages, and it finally activates a rapid or an emergency stop procedure if deviations overshoot the permitted limits.

End phase – the end phase starts automati-cally, a few centimetres before the cast length reaches its target value. This serves to minimise the amount of liquid metal lost in the launder and also to respect the target length.

Quick stop – this immediately stops the metal feeding and terminates the cast. It can be initiated by the operator, or by the system in some configurable conditions. Basically, all parameters can have two levels of tolerances. At the first level, an alarm in-forms the operator. Outside of the second tolerances, there is a configurable delay before the quick stop process intervenes.

Emergency stop – this im-mediately stops the metal feed-ing and terminates the cast in case of major equipment fail-ure: e.g. mechanical or hard-ware failure (loss of power), or crash of the PLC programme. All the safety requirements are ensured by an appropri-ate concept of the mechani-cal and electrical equipment. The operator can activate the emergency stop when there is any danger to people, or the

control system will activate it in some config-urable conditions.

summary

Based on their in-depth know-how of the cast-ing process technology, GAP Engineering has developed a complete and modular concept for the vertical casting of aluminium: GAP-Cast. Gap Engineering SA (Switzerland) pro-vides turn-key machine or some parts of ma-chines or services for different types of casting technology: conventional DC billets and slabs casting (with or without metal level control in the moulds), different hot-top systems for bil-lets and slabs and EMC technology.

GAPCast is based on a powerful and user-friendly automation concept that allows im-provements to safety, to quality and to pro-ductivity. It includes mechanical equipment, electrical supplies, automation software and hardware, and commissioning as well as proc-ess support.

Today GAPCast is used all around Europe with very good feedback from customers.

References

[1] M. Bolliger and B. F. Prillhofer, Increase in capac-ity at Amag casting in Ranshofen, ALUMINIUM 86 (2010) 7/8, p. 44-47

Authors

Christian Briguet is co-owner of GAP Engineering SA in Switzerland. He had worked for Alusuisse/Alcan Technology & Management Ltd in Chippis/Switzerland from 1996 to 2001 and participated in ‘Valcast 5’ development. After the closing of Alcan Technology & Management in 2004, he contributed to the development of the new GAPCast automa-tion concept and to its deployment. He designed and installed more than 30 casting machines (Val-cast 5, then GAPCast) all around Europe.Martin Bolliger, a casting technology consultant, was formerly deputy vice-president of Alusuisse/Alcan Technology & Management Ltd in Switzerland. He has designed and installed EMC and conventional casting machines at many different sites and is an independent expert in this area.GAP Engineering SA is a SME company located in Switzerland, in the heart of the Swiss Alps, see also www.gap-engineering.ch

Fig. 6 : Sequence of GAPCast process automation phases

Fig. 5: GAPCast mechanical example of a slab cast machine with metal level regulation

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new cathode design saves energy in aluminium smeltingR. von Kaenel, J. Antille; sierre

A modified cathode shape, together with inserts in the cathode, can dramatically change the current distribution in the alu-minium liquid pool. This can significantly decrease both the cathode voltage drop and the anode to cathode voltage drop. The energy saving inside the cell depends on the cell’s initial design, but may ex-ceed 1 kWh/kg.

The aluminium industry is continuously work-ing on reducing the specific energy consump-tion, which is one of the main factors in pro-duction cost. To reduce the specific energy one must act on two parameters: increase the current efficiency and decrease the cell volt-age. The current efficiency is a result of the cell design, the cell operation and the quality of the raw materials. Today, the best cells achieve more than 96% current efficiency, and so it is very challenging to improve the situation. This study therefore assumes a constant cur-rent efficiency and focuses on reducing the cell voltage. Table 1 presents today’s status for a modern side-by-side cell.

In this study we have focused on the ohmic voltage drop in the anode to cathode distance (UW) and the cathode voltage drop (Ucvd). Both together represent about 1.5 V or 4.7 kWh/kg.

Much development work has already con-centrated on lowering the cathode voltage drop (CVD) [2, 3]. On the one hand the car-bon properties of the cathode blocks change considerably by moving from amorphous blocks to graphitised, graphitic, impregnated or even variable resistivity properties blocks. On the other hand the design of collector bars has improved both from the geometrical and from the materials point of view. A number of patents cover different aspects [4-6]. The use of copper inserts has contributed significantly

to lowering the CVD. At first glance, reducing the ohmic voltage

drop in the anode to cathode distance (ACD) looks very simple, as it is only necessary to reduce the ACD. But this simple approach ig-nores problems with the thermal balance and the magneto-hydrodynamic effects. In fact, for some cell designs, one should consider in-creasing the CDV for minimising the total cell voltage. This can be understood when analys-ing the thermal and magneto-hydrodynamic effects as a whole.

More recently, new cathode designs have shown a real improvement in the cell voltage, leading to specific energy consumption in the range of 12.2 to 12.5 kWh/kg [7]. New cathode shapes allow us to decrease the ACD without reaching the limit of magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities [8, 9].

The resistivity of molten cryolite is very high, typically 220 Ω-1m-1, so the ACD cannot be decreased much before we reach magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities leading to waves at the metal-bath (metal-cryolite electrolyte) interface. These waves lower the current ef-

ficiency of the process and so prevent us from decreasing the energy consumption below a certain value. On average in the aluminium industry, the current density corresponds to a the voltage drop in the ACD of at least 0.3 V/cm. As the ACD is 3 to 5 cm, the voltage drop in the ACD is typically 1.0 V to 1.5 V.

A thorough study of cell magneto-hydrodynamic insta-

bilities led us to conclude that there is still a large scope to improve the interaction between the magnetic field and the local current density in the liquid metal by modifying the cathode. The magnetic field inside the liquid metal re-sults from the currents flowing in the external busbars and from the internal currents. The internal local current density inside the liquid metal depends mostly on the cathode’s geom-etry and on its local electrical conductivity. In other words, changing the cathode geometry and conductivity will change the current dis-tribution inside the liquid metal. The magnetic field and current density produce the Lorentz force field, that itself generates the metal sur-face contour and the metal velocity field, and thus defines the basic environment for the

magneto-hydrodynamic cell stability. The cell stability can be expressed as the scope to lower the ACD without generating unstable waves at the surface of the metal pad. The level of sta-bility depends not only on the current density and on the induced magnetic fields, but also on the shape of the liquid metal pool. The shape of the pool in turn depends on the surface of the cathode and on the ledge shape. In order to eliminate potential sludge problems, this study was restricted to smooth cathode surfaces.

cathode design and inserts

Different geometries have been described [9] using both conductive inserts and a change in the cathode surface shape. Fig. 1 shows a pos-sibility using a deeper pool (‘A’), for at least 1/3 of the central area in between the ledge profiles, machined out of the standard cath-ode (‘B’).

Table 1: Voltage and related specific energy

Fig. 1: Modified metal pool

In 1999, the authors analysed the impact of the busbars [10] for an end-to-end technol-ogy using three different busbars topologies. As already mentioned, the magnetic field gen-erated by the current flowing in the busbars interacts with the current density in the liquid metal. This generates forces that play a key role on the cell stationary state and the cell stability limit. The present study determines the cell stability by using sophisticated models that were published earlier [11, 13-22]. Com-parison with a similar cell lets us analyse the impact of the cathode shape and of the use of inserts. We compared three cases:• Case 1: Reference cell with a standard cathode block (Fig. 2)• Case 2: Modified cathode surface (Fig. 3) using the same collector bars• Case 3: Addition of a conductive inserts above the collector bars (Fig. 4) using the same collector bars.For all three cases stationary quantities were analysed such as metal upheaval, metal veloc-ity field and electrical field. The stationary state was further analysed to determine the

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cell magneto-hydrodynamic stability. The fol-lowings parameters were considered for the reference cell:I 170 kA Line currentjA 0.9 A/cm2 Mean anode current densityhm 19.0 cm Mean metal heighthb 22.0 cm Mean bath heightQint 310 kW Internal heatThe ACD was kept constant under each an-ode, i.e. the anodes surface adapts in order to follow the metal surface. The total volume of metal has been kept constant when modify-ing the cathode surface. For the cell stability calculations, the anode to cathode distance is decreased while the current is increased, so to keep constant the total internal heat. In order to further improve the cell stability (magneto-hydrodynamic cell state) one can use conduc-tive metallic inserts in the cathode to drive the current through a different path. Fig. 4 shows the inserts on top of the collector bars. The cathode is not visible, but the metal pool in it is shown.

of modifying the cathode surface. The global pattern of metal flow is kept similar but the maximum speed is slightly higher at one posi-tion. This is most likely due to the lower level of metal above the cathode on the long sides of the cell. Fig. 10 shows the impact of the

collector bar inserts. The change is drastic: the flow has changed its sign at one end of the cell, and the maximum value of the velocity field is less than half of the previous cases.

Fig. 11 shows the electrical potential in the liquid metal for the reference cell. The current is flowing perpendicular to the iso-potential lines (see vectors). It can clearly be seen and it is well known that the current density has a horizontal component leading current from the centre of the cell towards the sides inside the liquid metal. Fig. 12 shows the electrical potential in the liquid metal for the modified cathode surface. The impact on the CVD is not very important, but the current density is more vertical in the liquid metal. Fig. 13 shows the impact of the inserts. The CVD shows only a small change, but the current density is strong-ly modified. This is of prime importance for the cell stability, and it also explains the change of metal velocity field.

Fig. 2: Reference cell, standard cathode block

Fig. 3: Modified cathode block surface

Fig. 4: Conductive Inserts on top of the collector bars

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the metal upheaval for the three cathode designs. The use of a modi-fied cathode surface leads to a 64% lower metal upheaval, which is favourable for the anode setting. The additional inserts do not further reduce the metal upheaval, which re-mains almost unchanged when compared to the modified surface cathode.

Fig. 8 shows the horizontal components of the velocity field 8 cm above the surface of the cathode for the reference cell. The maxi-mum value is 0.13 m/s. Fig. 9 shows the impact

Fig. 5: Metal upheaval of the reference cell (Min = -7.3 cm, Max = 2.5 cm)

Fig. 6: Metal upheaval of the modified cathode sur-face (Min = -2.6 cm, Max = 1.8 cm)

Fig. 7: Metal upheaval of the cathode using inserts above collector bars (Min = -3.1 cm, Max = 2.0 cm)

Fig. 8: Metal velocity field of the reference cell (Max speed = 0.13 m/s)

Fig. 9: Metal velocity field above the modified cath-ode surface (Max speed = 0.15 m/s)

Fig. 10: Metal velocity field above the cathode us-ing inserts above the collector bars (Max speed = 0.06 m/s)

Fig. 11: Electrical potential in the liquid metal of the reference cell (CVD = 0.34 V)

Fig. 12: Electrical potential in the liquid metal for the modified cathode surface. (CVD = 0.32 V)

Fig. 13: Electrical potential in the liquid metal of the cathode using inserts (CVD = 0.32 V)

For any given design, the cell stability decreas-es when the current is increased. In order to keep the same thermal state and to save en-ergy using these models of new cell designs, the current was increased while keeping the same internal heat production. In fact the ACD was lowered while increasing the current. Fig. 14 shows the relative change of cell stability between the reference cell and the cell with the modified cathode surface. As expected, the instability increases with the current for both cases. However, the current can be increased by more than 15% on the modified cathode cell before reaching the same level of stability as the reference cell.

Finally, table 2 summarises the most im-portant results. By increasing the current we can decrease the ACD and specific energy thanks to the new cell stability. There are other constraints to current increase that were not

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discussed in this paper, such as the minimum ACD and the maximum current density in the anodes and busbars. Each technology must be analysed in order to determine the global spe-cific energy saving which is in the range 0.4 to 1 kWh/kg, while the productivity increases is 10 to 20%.

In this study the current efficiency was assumed constant. In fact, an improved cell magneto-hy-drodynamic sate may contribute to improving the current efficiency and therefore to further decreasing the specific energy.

Many more alternative cathode shapes and positions of inserts can be considered in mod-els to improve the cell stability, and the solu-tions can be applied equally for end-to-end or side-by-side cell topologies.

conclusions

New designs of cathodes blocks can gener-ate important savings in the specific energy consumption and they offer great opportuni-ties for production increase. A small part of the energy saving is the direct energy saving in the cathode, but most of it occurs through increasing the cell current thanks to a better cell magneto-hydrodynamic state. The current efficiency might be further increased by the improved cell stability, but this must be quanti-fied by operating the cells.

References

[1] K. Grjotheim and H. Kvande, Understanding the Hall-Héroult Process for Production of Alu-minium, Aluminium-Verlag, ISBN 3-37017-181-2, 1986

[2] F. Hiltmann and P.M. Patel, Influence of Internal Cathode Structure on Behavior during Electrolysis Part1: Properties of Graphitic and Graphitized Cath-ode Materials, Light Metals 2005, ed. H. Kvande (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 757-762,

[3] Zhongning Shi and Junli Xu, Test of Various Graphitic Cath-ode Blocks materials for 300 kA Aluminium Reduction Cell, Light

Metals 2007, ed. M. Sorlie (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 849-852,

[4] G. E. Homley and D. P. Ziegler, Cathode collector bars, US patent 6,231,745 (May 2001)

[5] J. Antille, Carbon bottom of an electrolysis cell for production of aluminium WO patent 02/064860 (August 2002)

[6] F. Hiltmann, Cathodes for aluminium electrolysis cell with expanded graphite lining, WO patent 2007/071392 (June 2007)

[7] Li Jie et al., Industrial Test of Low-voltage Energy saving Alu-minium Reduction Cell, Light Met-als 2010, ed. J. A. Johnson (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 399-404

[8] Wang Ziqian et al., Study of Surface Oscillation of Liquid Alu-minium in 168 kA Aluminium Re-duction Cells with a New Type of

Cathode Design, Light Metals 2010, ed. J. A. John-son (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 485-488

[9] R. von Kaenel and J. Antille, Héroult Cell Cath-ode Design, PCT/IB2010/052394

(May 2010)

[10] J.P. Antille and R. von Kaenel, Busbar optimisa-tion using cell stability criteria and its impact on cell performance, Light Metals 1999, ed. C. E. Eckert (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 165-170

[11] J. Descloux and M. Romerio, On the Analysis by Perturbation Methods of the Anodic Current Fluctuations in an Electrolytic Cell of Aluminium Light Metals 1989, ed. P. G. Campbell (TMS, War-rendale, Pa.), pp. 237-243.

[12] J. Descloux and P. Maillard, An electromagnetic free-boundary problem, Equadiff 7, Teubner-Texte zur Mathematik 118, 1990, pp. 240-242

[13] J. Descloux, M.V.Romerio and M.Flück, Linear stability of electrolysis cells Parts I,II, EPFL, DMA, November 1990

[14] J. Descloux, M. Flueck and M.V. Romerio, Modeling of Stability of the electrolysis cells for the production of aluminium. Numerical Methods in Engineering and Applied Sciences, ed. Alder et al.. CIMME, Barcelona 1992, pp 30-38.

[15] J. Descloux, M. Flück and M.V. Romerio, Modeling for instabilities in Hall-Héroult cells:

Fig. 14: Relative change of cell stability to the reference cell

Table 2: Summary of results

mathematical and numerical aspects. Magnetohy-drodynamics in process metallurgy, Light Metals 1992, ed. E.R.Cutshall (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 1195-1198

[16] J. Descloux, Y. Jaccard and M.V. Romerio, Sta-bility in aluminium reduction cells: a spectral prob-lem solved by an iterative procedure, Light Metals 1994, ed. U. Mannweiler (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp 275-281,

[17] J. Descloux , M. Flueck and M.V. Romerio. Spectral aspects of an industrial problem, in Spectre Analysis Of Complex Structures, Collection Travaux en cours 49, Hermann, Paris, 1995, pp. 17-34.

[18] R. von Kaenel and J.P. Antille, On the stability of alumina reduction cells, 5th Australasian alumi-num smelter conference 1995, Sydney, Australia, ed. B. Welch and M. Skyllas Kazacos, pp. 530-544

[19] J. Descloux, M. Flück and M.V. Romerio, Spectral aspects of an industrial problem, Spectral analysis of complex structure, Ed Hermann Paris, coordinator E. Sanchez Palencia 1995, pp.17-33

[20] J.P. Antille, P. Snaelund, J.M. Stefansson and R. von Kaenel, Determination of metal surface con-tour and improved anode consumption, Light Metals 1997, ed. R. Huglen (TMS, Warrendale, Pa.), pp. 469-476

[21] J. Descloux, M. Flück and M.V. Romerio, Mod-elling of the stability of aluminium electrolysis cell, Non-linear partial differential equations and their applications, Collège de France, Seminaire Volume XIII, Ed Longman 1998, pp 117-133

[22] J.P. Antille, J.P. Descloux, J. Flueck and M. Romério, Eigen Modes and interface description in Hall-Héroult cell, Light Metals 1999, ed. C. E. Eckert (TMS, Warrendale. Pa.), pp. 333-338

Authors

René von Kaenel received his diploma of physicist from The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) with a specialisation in plasma physics before working for ICL in London and specialising in computer science. In 1981, he joined Alusuisse and became the head of the modeling activities for smelting technology. In 2000, he re-ceived the title of Electrolysis director in the new Alcan organisation and further supervised Alcan’s modeling activities. Since 1981 he has participated in many smelter modernisation projects all over the world, leading to large productivity increases. He has published many papers on electrolysis cells, casting processes and inert anode technology. In 2004, he created Kan-nak S.A., a specialised com-pany for the optimisation of processes, in particular the Hall-Héroult process.

Dr. Jacques Antille obtained a degree in Physics at the University of Lausanne in 1978 and his PhD at the European Centre of Nuclear Research (CERN) in 1984. Soon after, he joined the Alusuisse Technol-ogy and Management Ltd. and worked on modeling projects of the Hall-Héroult process and casting processes. In 2004, he joined Kan-nak S.A. where he is leading the magnetohydrodynamic studies for the optimisation of the electrolysis process as well as all measurement techniques.

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62 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Voltage variations are defined as ‘pot noise’ and indicate of the relative stabil-ity of a pot [1]. Pot stability is important in order to maintain high production efficiencies and low environmental emis-sions, so the key features for stability have been and continue to be studied. The Lomb algorithm identifies the fre-quencies of periodic disturbances. Iden-tifying these frequencies could help to trace their origin, and filtering out cyclic noise reveals less periodic voltage chang-es associated with cell stability. The dras-tic decrease in anode effect frequencies over the past decade or so is the result of innovative approaches to alumina ore feed control, and new ideas continue to be published on this subject [2].

The variation of pot voltage is often dominated by multiple and rapid potline amperage fluc-tuations. These larger fluctuations easily mask other more subtle voltage changes due to slowly changing bath parameters, especially alumina concentration. Amperage induced voltage fluctuations as such do not reflect real changes in bath parameters. This type of voltage fluctuation is at present filtered out by employing pseudo-resistance (RP) compu-tations. A more robust statistical alternative to pseudo-resistance computations has been described [3] which employs the predicted voltage variable (VP). This Vp is intrinsically less susceptible to changes from line amperage changes as has been mathematically demon-strated. Both RP and VP computations employ an estimate for the extrapolated voltage at zero amperage (Vext). This estimate can only be an approximation of the real dynamical value of Vext as has been credibly established [4].

causes of voltage variations

An aluminium pot’s voltage varies in time due to a number of disturbances typical of potline environments. These factors include: • Fluctuations in line amperage• Drift in concentrations of dissolved alumina• Metal pad rolling/shimmering type oscillations of various frequencies and amplitudes• Anode gas bubble formation and release• Cathode electrical shorting (cyclic or random)

• Anode consumption and replacement alters anode and cathode current distributions• Anode effects• Anode / cathode distance (ACD) alters as anode beam moves and drifts due to rate difference between metal pad increase and carbon anode consumption• Instrument (voltage / amperage) resolution limits.

Definition of pot noise

The ratio of predicted voltage variance to the predicted voltage mean is a reasonable meas-ure of pot noise for comparisons. The total noise (NT) of a VP data array collected over several minutes of operation can be comput-ed by: NT = σT

2 / μT * 105 where σ2 is the VP

variance and μ is the VP arithmetic mean. The ratio σ2/ μ is then multiplied by an arbitrary constant of sufficient magnitude (e. g. 105) in order to avoid the appearance of numbers less than unity.

A simulated 960 volt / amp data point array was generated where the only source of RP and VP noise variance was the result of impressed random errors on the raw voltage (± 0.50%) and amperage (± 0.10%) measurements. No voltage changes were impressed upon the data array as the result of changing alumina con-centration, voltage cycling, or ACD changes. The simulated ‘stable’ pot produced the fol-lowing:Voltage range: 4.410 to 4.490 V with im-pressed random error (± 0.10%)Amperage range: 297.8 to 302.2 kA with im-pressed random error (± 0.50%)Predicted voltage (VP) white noise: NT = 3.72Pseudo-resistance (RP) white noise: NT = 19.57.

In the absence of random errors impressed

upon amperage and voltage values, the noise value would have been NT = 0.00. The com-parative noise levels (3.72 vs. 19.57) of the simulated ideal pot in this example show that VP is a demonstrably better choice for control purposes. The aim of this paper is to describe a method to measure pot noise using the pre-dicted voltage variable, and then to partition this noise value into three component parts of the total noise, NT:NO: Voltage changes due to changing alumina concentrationNF: Voltage cycling based on measuring fre-quencies, mV amplitudes and phase angles NW: Residual white noise.

The practical use of the component noise values based upon the predicted voltage vari-able is yet to be fully investigated.

Lomb algorithm

Whenever there are voltage fluctuations (e. g. from aluminium pad surface oscillations and / or from electrical shorts) that are cyclic in nature, the Lomb algorithm provides a method to determine the frequencies of these cycles. There are two distinguishing features of this in-teresting algorithm [5]. By deducting the iden-tified frequencies, we can identify the ‘white noise’ of residual, non-cycle dusturbances.• It eliminates aliasing errors (false frequencies) if data is randomly sampled• It assigns a statistical probability can to each sampled frequency.For any sample of pot voltages and line am-perages, the Lomb algorithm can compute an array containing predicted voltages (VP). Thus: VP = (V - Vext) / I * RLA + Vext, where V is sampled pot voltageVext is the constant estimated extrapolated voltage at zero amperage I is sampled line amperage and

Pot voltage noise analysis using the Lomb algorithmm. c. schneller, istanbul

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RLA is the reference line amperage which is a constant that is close to the operating line amperage [3].

Before Lomb processing of any VP data ar-ray, essential first, to correct for any changes to VP due to changing concentrations of dis-solved alumina or due to small changes in ACD through the difference in rates of metal pad build-up and anode carbon burn-off. Otherwise these low frequency changes would artificially produce false Lomb signals.

The 960 volt / amp data point (2 Hz ran-domised ± 0.500 s sampling rate; i. e. 0 to 1 sec-ond intervals) array as used for the previous noise comparison had additional impressed components added:1. 4.50 mV/min increase in VP

2. Five sinusoidal voltage components:• 4.1 mV at 0.02525 Hz and phase angle ϕ = 2.54 radians• 8.6 mV at 0.05405 Hz and phase angle ϕ = 3.98 radians• 5.8 mV at 0.23256 Hz and phase angle ϕ = 4.47 radians• 4.6 mV at 1.28205 Hz and phase angle ϕ = 1.39 radians• 3.7 mV at 1.81818 Hz and phase angle ϕ = 5.44 radians.Under these conditions the total impressed known noise of the convoluted data array and

its component parts are:NT = 7.79 Total noiseNO = 2.15 Due to changing alumina concentrationNF = 1.92 Due to frequencies, mV amplitudes, and phase anglesNW = 3.72 Residual white noise.

noise metric partition methodology

The above convoluted data array can be proc-essed / deconvoluted into its noise components. The first step treats each VP element to remove the effect of the overvoltage changes from de-creasing levels of alumina and the estimated small changes from the differential rates of metal pad build up and carbon burn off:

VP - RSlope • Time Element where RSlope is the regression slope of VP versus Time Ele-ment.

RSlope was computed at 4.39 mV/min (compares to known impressed value of 4.50 mV/min). In the 5 minute time period neces-sary to collect data, voltage changes from bath ratio and temperature trends are considered negligible. The slope processed array was then further deconvoluted by first using the Lomb algorithm to determine the frequencies of statistical interest at the 0.05 level of signifi-

cance. The Lomb periodogram of the slope processed array is presented in Fig. 1. Any sampled frequency whose power is greater than 10.53 fails the null hypothesis. It is easy to see that all 5 impressed frequen-cies were accurately detected and that no random background frequencies failed the null hypothesis (false positives). The reso-lution limit for voltage cycle detection for the impressed parameters in this example is about 3.3 mV.

The power of each frequency of sig-nificance is directly related to its mV am-plitude. The probability of failing the null hypothesis is computed by: P(>z) = 1 - (1 - e-z)M, where z is the spectral power and M is twice the data sample size [5]. The horizontal line in Fig. 1 represent the sig-nificance level P(>z) = 0.05. Any frequency peak above the line fails the null hypothe-sis. The vertical line at 1.00 Hz indicates the Nyquist critical frequency. If the data had

been instead sampled at a uniform rate, then each true frequency would have produced an alias signal which would have been a mirror image about the Nyquist line (10 detected frequencies instead of 5). The modest effort needed for randomised data sampling easily avoids this ambiguity.

The sinusoidal nature of Lomb detected frequencies can be expressed by: u(t) = Asin (ϕ + ωt) where A is amplitude, ϕ is the radian phase angle, ω is radian angular frequency, and t is time in seconds. The relationship be-tween frequency (f) and ω is ω = 2πf. Since the phase angle can be limited between 0 and 2π the amplitude and phase angle of each Lomb measured frequency of significance can now be calculated by a method of successive ap-proximations/iterations. In this manner the phase angle ϕ is computed first, followed by the amplitude A. For example, A can be ini-tially set to a low test level greater than zero, such as Atest = 0.005 V. Three bracketed values for ϕ are then chosen (π - π/n, π, π + π/n where n= 2, 4, 8, 16, …). Then each VP element of the data array is decreased by Atest sin(ϕ + 2πft). The data array that has the minimum noise value is selected for the next approximation that brackets the new ϕmin value. The second approximation is made by choosing another 3 values of ϕ (ϕmin1 - π/4, ϕmin1, ϕmin1 + π/4). This process continues using smaller brackets until the difference in successive noise levels of ϕmin values is arbitrarily small. Once ϕ has been selected, then the amplitude A can be similarly approximated. The initial value for A should be initially set arbitrarily high (e.g. 0.050 V). Then 3 bracketed values of A can be selected (0.050-0.050/n, 0.050, 0.050+0.050/n where n = 2, 4, 8, 16, …) for the iterative process until the desired resolution is reached. Once ϕ and A have been sufficiently approxi-mated, the array is deconvoluted for a par-ticular frequency. Once all Lomb detected fre-quencies, in decreasing order of Lomb power, have been employed in the above described manner, the data array is fully deconvoluted and noise partition values can be computed.

The data array used to produce Fig. 1 was deconvoluted as described above. Compara-tive results are summarised in Table1 (num-bers in parentheses are the known impressed values). The agreement between known noise values and processed values is reasonable.

It is possible that pots with the same to-tal noise (NT) may have significantly different noise components. Different examples of this behavior are based upon the same simulated raw data array used previously and are sum-marised in Table 2. Noise partitions for Pot D appear to be the most worrisome case since

Noise Components Frequencies (Hz) Amplitude (mV) Phase Angles (radians)

NO = 2.28 (2.15) 0.02509 (0.02525) 4.8 (4.1) 2.60 (2.54)

NF = 1.85 (1.92) 0.05399 (0.05405) 8.7 (8.6) 3.98 (3.98)

NW = 3.66 (3.72) 0.23254 (0.23256) 5.9 (5.8) 4.65 (4.47)

NT = 7.79 1.28188 (1.28205) 4.0 (4.6) 1.74 (1.39)

Table 1 1.81829 (1.81818) 3.9 (3.7) 5.17 (5.4)

Table 2 Pot A B C D

NT 7.79 7.79 7.79 7.79

NO 2.15 4.07 7.75 0.00

NF 1.92 0.00 0.00 7.75

NW 3.72 3.72 0.04 0.04

VP slope (mV/min) 4.50 6.09 8.08 0.00

Amplitude (mV)@ 0.02525 Hz

4.1 0.0 0.0 8.6

Amplitude (mV)@ 0.05405 Hz

8.6 0.0 0.0 18.1

Amplitude (mV)@ 0.23256 Hz

5.8 0.0 0.0 12.2

Amplitude (mV)@ 1.28205 Hz

4.6 0.0 0.0 9.7

Amplitude (mV)@ 1.81818 Hz

3.7 0.0 0.0 7.8

Amperage % random error

± 0.10 ± 0.10 ± 0.01 ± 0.01

Voltage% random error

± 0.50 ± 0.50 ± 0.05 ± 0.05

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they show much voltage cycling; these indi-cate metal pad oscillations which increase metal reoxidation rates. Pot C seems to be the most stable, except that there is a low alumina concentration that may be close to an anode effect; this is a situation that can be remedied by increasing ore feed. Pot B could be con-sidered to be more stable than Pot A, since Pot B shows no voltage cycling. Pots A and B have a greater white noise (NW) than pots C and D, which may reflect of poorer anode and cathode current distributions, as well as higher bubble noise.

It remains to be seen what practical use-fulness this approach to noise partitioning methodology may produce. Could the ability to identify unstabilities lead to ways of improv-ing pot stability?

Which Lomb detected frequencies are the most deleterious? Are low frequencies at low amplitudes less desirable than higher frequen-cies at higher amplitudes even though NF is the same? Is a single high amplitude signal more harmful than a multitude of low amplitude sig-nals that produce the same NF? High NO val-ues are used to modify in situ PID modulated ore feed periods, and as such they reflect only rapidly changing bath alumina levels. As NW

values increase it is possible that they will be

found to track NF values as well as changes in gas bubble noise. After metal tapping, if these values increase dramatically, then it may be possible that the pot had been over tapped. Could a poor carbon anode set be reflected in a rapid and significant increase in NW? A host of other ideas linking noise partition values to operating parameters are open for exploi-tation. One possibility is to allow a stable pot to operate at a small but increasingly lower voltage if the metal pad build up rate is greater than the carbon burn off rate (NF and NW per-mitting). Downward anode beam moves may easily promote instability, but a slow and natu-ral decrease in ACD may provide a period of increased energy efficiency if coupled with in situ ore feed control logic [3].

conclusion

The substitution of RP by the VP variable is recommended for partitioning pot noise into 3 components which reflect of pot dynamics. The Lomb algorithm is a useful way to detect voltage cycling of which there may be multi-ple signals of significance. These cycles can be used to compute the pot noise characteristic of metal pad oscillations and electrical shorts including their respective mV amplitudes. Ap-

proximately 5 minutes of data sampling may be adequate for this purpose. Based upon the noise metrics described in this paper, cell con-trol strategies can be designed to enhance the potline process control tool kit.

References

[1] L. Banta, C.D. Dai, P. Biedler, Noise Classifi-cation in the Aluminum Reduction Process, Light Metals 2003, ed. P. Crepeau, pp. 431-436.[2] G. Bearne, Reduction Line Process Control Development, Proc. 6th Austr. Smelting Workshop 1998, eds. B. J. James, M. Skyllas-Kazacos & B. J. Welch, pp. 91-129.[3] M. C. Schneller, In Situ Alumina Feed Control, JOM, 61 (2009), pp. 26-29.[4] W. Haupin, Interpreting the Components of Cell Voltage, Light Metals, 1998, ed. B. J. Welsh, pp.531-537.[5] W. H. Press, et. al., Numerical Recipes in C++, Second Edition, 2005, Cambridge University Press, pp. 580-586.

Author

Michael C. Schneller has 16 years of working expe-rience in the aluminium smelting business including six years as an independent consultant. He spent the last several years teaching abroad and has now re-engaged in potline process control enhancement efforts. Email: michaelschneller@hotmail.com

Die TU Bergakademie Freiberg und die MgF Magnesium Flachprodukte GmbH (MgF) haben kürzlich ein Warmwalzwerk für Magnesium eingeweiht. Die durch den Freistaat Sachsen mit 7,5 Mio. Euro geförderte Anlage wird durch das Institut für Metallformung der TU betrieben. Die Anlage erweitert eine innovative Produk-tionslinie für Magnesium-Flachprodukte, die die Universität gemeinsam mit MgF,

einer Tochter der ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, entwickelt hat.

Bei dem von der MgF und dem Institut für Metallformung entwickelten Konzept für die Herstellung von Magnesiumblechen werden in einer Gießwalzanlage flache Bänder direkt aus der Magnesiumschmelze herstellt. Dieses Verfahren ist sehr kostengünstig – vor allem, weil es mit deutlich preiswerteren Vorpro-dukten, geringerem Material- und Energie-verbrauch sowie weniger Fertigungsschritten auskommt als die konventionelle Magnesium-blechfertigung.

Das neue Walzgerüst verwandelt die 4 bis 7 mm dicken Magnesiumbänder aus der Gießwalzanlage in dünnes Magnesiumblech von wenig mehr als 1 mm. Damit schafft es die Voraussetzungen dafür, dass das Magne-siumband zum Beispiel für Automobil-Karos-serieteile eingesetzt werden kann. Die Anlage verarbeitet bis zu zwei Tonnen Magnesium-vorband pro Stunde bei einer Walzgeschwin-digkeit von mehr als 80 Metern pro Minute. Professor Rudolf Kawalla, Direktor des Insti-tuts für Metallformung an der TU Bergakade-

TU Freiberg und mgF nehmen neuartiges magnesium-Walzwerk in Betrieb

mie kommentiert: „Das Warmwalzwerk ist für unsere Forschung ein wesentlicher Fortschritt, um Magnesium zu einem Werkstoff für den alltäglichen Gebrauch zu entwickeln.“

Magnesium ist der leichteste metallische Konstruktionswerkstoff. Das Material hat

nur etwa ein Viertel des Gewichts von Stahl und ist gut ein Drittel leichter als Aluminium. Bauteile aus Magnesium sind besonders in der Automobilbranche interessant, weil sie Gewicht sparen und CO2-Emissionen verrin-gern helfen. Bislang wird der Werkstoff dort je- doch nur als Gussteil, etwa im Fahrwerk oder in Getriebegehäusen, eingesetzt. Der Einsatz von Magnesiumblech als großflächiges Ka-rosserieteil scheitert derzeit noch an den zu hohen Kosten.Detailansicht der Magnesium-Walzanlage

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T e c H n o L o G i e

66 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Die neue Pressenlinie der Schletter GmbH unterscheidet sich in mehrfacher Hinsicht von den Anlagen der etablierten Presswerke. Da das Unternehmen aus-schließlich für den eigenen Bedarf presst, konnten Ausstattung und Arbeitsweise der Presse optimal an das Pressprogramm angepasst werden. Dabei weist die An-lage eine Reihe von Merkmalen auf, die der Betrachter in einem Strangpresswerk bisher noch nicht gesehen hat. Zur tech-nischen Beschreibung der Presse und des Auslaufs siehe Teil I in ALUMINIUM 12/2010.

Sägen und Stapeln: Über das Kühlbett und die Reckeinrichtung gelangen die Profile auf den Sägerollgang. Die Lagensäge trennt die Profile in einem breiten Abmessungsbereich zwischen 2 und 18 Meter Länge. Für diesen Arbeitsbe-reich ist der Profilstapler ausgelegt. Da die ge-samte Linie von Grund auf neu erstellt wurde, musste auch auf vorhandene Körbe oder gar auf unterschiedliche Korbabmessungen kei-ne Rücksicht genommen werden. Die Körbe wurden einheitlich mit einer Länge von etwa 6 Metern neu erstellt. Die Profile werden normalerweise Lage auf Lage gestapelt, kön-nen aber auch in Taschen abgelegt werden.

Profilabschnitte mit mehr als 6 Meter Länge werden auf zwei, bei mehr als 12 Me-tern sogar auf drei hintereinander angeord-neten Körben abgestapelt. Praktisch wird auf diese Weise eine variable Korblänge erreicht, die beliebig genutzt werden kann. So können beispielsweise auf zwei Körbe drei Stapel von etwa 4 Metern oder auf drei Körbe zwei Stapel von jeweils etwa 9 Meter Länge hintereinander abgelegt werden. Diese Anordnung verspricht dem Unternehmen ein außerordentlich hohes Maß an Flexibilität, ohne dass die Leistung eingeschränkt wäre.

Logistik: Sämtliche Transportvorgänge (volle und leere Körbe, Schrotte, Spacer, Profile, Pakete) sind voll automatisiert. Das gesamte Datenmanagement wird dabei von einem übergeordneten PPS-System geleitet, das von der Auftragsverwaltung (Aufträge werden von einem SAP-System übernom-men) bis hin zur Verpackung jede Profillän-ge verfolgt und dabei alle Anlagen abdeckt, auch die Werkzeugverwaltung. Es handelt sich mithin um ein System, das die Gesamtanlage

modern und innovativ – die neue 33-mn-strangpresslinie bei schletter, Teil iiP. Johne, Haan

modern and innovative – the new 33 mn extrusion line at schletter, Part iiP. Johne, Haan

The new extrusion line at Schletter GmbH differs in many respects from the equipment at established extrusion plants. Since the company produces ex-trusions exclusively for its own needs, it has been possible to adapt the equip-ment and operating mode of the press optimally to the production programme. In this case the plant embodies a series of features never before seen in an extru-sion plant. Part I of this article (published in ALUMINIUM 12/2010) is about the technical description and run-out of the extrusion press.

Sawing and stacking: Via the cooling bed and stretcher the profiles move onto the sawing roller track. The layer saw cuts the profiles to length over a wide range of dimensions be-tween 2 and 18 metres. The profile stacking machine is designed for that working range. Since the entire line was newly built from the ground upwards, no allowance had to be made for existing racks or varying rack sizes. The racks were newly provided with a uniform length of about six metres. The profiles are normally stacked layer on layer, but can also be positioned in pockets.

Profiles more than six metres long are stacked on two, and those more than 12 metres long even on three racks arranged in line one after another. In practice this produces a variable rack length that can be used as desired. For example, on two racks, three stacks each of approximately 4-metre profiles, or on three racks two stacks each of nine-metre profiles one after another can be laid. This system promises to give the company an exceptionally great degree of flexibility, without restricting performance.

Logistics: All transport processes (full and empty racks, scrap, spacers, profiles, packages) are fully automated. For this, the entire data management is run by a master PPS system which is followed from the order-administra-tion stage (orders are taken over by a SAP system) up to the packaging of each profile length and which covers all the plant com-ponents, including the die management. This therefore is a system which extends excep-tionally widely across the entire plant (EMS Extrusion Management System, supplied by DTM information).

The full profile racks are moved away from the stacking equipment on a roller track and empty racks come in from the side. Here, the

Reckkopf Stretcher

Phot

os:

P. J

ohne

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außergewöhnlich weit überspannt (EMS Ex-trusion Management System, Lieferant: DTM.informatica).

Die gefüllten Profilkörbe werden auf einer Rollenbahn aus der Stapeleinrichtung heraus-gefahren und leere Körbe kommen von der Seite hinzu. Das Korbhandling an dieser Stelle ist in drei Reihen angeordnet, mit Plätzen für insgesamt 3 x 3 Vollkörbe und 3 x 3 Leerkörbe, wobei die Bewegung der Körbe sehr flexibel ist: Alle Körbe können sowohl längs als auch quer auf freie Plätze bewegt werden und Über-kapazitäten abpuffern. Vollkörbe werden dort von einem Automatikkran (Lieferant: Vollert Anlagenbau, Weinsberg) aufgenommen, der auch die Leerkörbe dort abliefert.

Der Kran – auch das ist neu – ist in der Lage, sowohl einzelne Körbe wie auch bis zu drei Körbe mit einer Gesamtlänge von 18 Metern gleichzeitig zu transportieren. Dabei können

auch beim gleich-zeitigen Transport mehrerer Körbe die-se einzeln abgesetzt bzw. aufgenommen werden. Die aus der Stapeleinrichtung heraus fahrenden Körbe werden im Normalbetrieb ins Erdgeschoss trans-portiert und dort fünf Körbe hoch in einem Zwischenlager abge-stellt. Auch hier ist das Datenmanage-ment sehr aufwendig; immerhin müssen die Körbe in etwa 400 Stellplätzen verwal-tet werden, wobei

das Leitsystem auch Umstapelvorgänge vor-nehmen muss, um am Ende alle Körbe eines Auftrages wieder zusammenzuführen, oder um zu vermeiden, dass ein 3-Korb-Zug auf einem 2-Korb-Zug abgestellt wird, oder auch nur um den Warmauslagerungsofen möglichst optimal zu füllen.

Der Warmauslagerungsofen besitzt ein Fassungsvermögen von 36 einzelnen Körben. Dazu sind drei Reihen von je drei Körben hin-tereinander und jeweils vier Körben überein-ander vorgesehen. Damit können auch Pro-file bis zu 18 Meter Länge wärmebehandelt werden. Auch hier ist ein neueres Konzept verwirklicht worden: Die Luft wird mit hoher Geschwindigkeit horizontal eingeblasen – und zwar von allen vier Seiten gleichzeitig (!) und nach oben abgezogen.

Längs- und Querlüftung nebeneinander, geht das überhaupt? Das geht sehr wohl, wenn

rack handling is arranged in three rows with spaces for a total of 3 x 3 full racks and 3 x 3 empty racks, so that the movement of the racks is very flexible. All racks can be moved both longitu-dinally and transversely into free spaces, and overcapac-ities are buffered. There, full racks are taken up by an au-tomatic crane (supplied by Vollert Anlagenbau), which also delivers the empty racks.

The crane – this too is a new feature – can trans-port both individual racks and up to three racks with a total length of 18 metres at a time. Thus, even when several racks are being transported at the same time they can be deposited or taken up indi-vidually. In normal operation the racks com-ing from the stacker are transported to ground level and there placed in an intermediate store in stacks five racks high. Here too, the data management is very elaborate: after all, the racks have to be positioned somewhere among about 400 storage positions and the control system also has to carry out restacking proc-esses so as finally to bring together all the racks for a given order, or to prevent a 3-rack train from being placed on a 2-track train, or indeed only to fill the ageing furnace optimally.

The ageing furnace has a holding capacity of 36 individual racks. For this, three rows each with three racks, in each case with four racks one above another, are provided. Thus, even long profiles up to 18 metres can be heat treated. Here too a new concept has been im-plemented: air is blown in horizontally at high speed, and from all four sides at once (!), and is then drawn off upwards.

Longitudinal and transverse ventilation at the same time, is that at all possible? It works very well, considering that in the normal case the profile layers are on top of one another and are separated from one another by relatively thick (steel) spacers. The flow then passes lon-gitudinally within the layers and transversely over and under them. The temperature meas-urement results are satisfying.

The furnace charges are assembled in front of the furnace with the help of the automatic crane. When the heat treatment has ended, the racks leave the furnace at the opposite end and go to the intermediate store, ready for pack-aging. The rack called for from the packaging station is placed by the automatic crane onto

Lagensäge Layer saw

Der Automatikkran kann bis zu drei Körbe gleichzeitig transportieren

The automatic crane can transport up to three racks at a time

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man bedenkt, dass im Normalfall die Profil-lagen aufeinander liegen und durch relativ dicke (Stahl-)Spacer voneinander getrennt sind. Längs verläuft die Strömung dann inner-halb der Lagen, quer ober- und unterhalb der Lagen. Die Ergebnisse der Temperaturmes-sungen sind zufriedenstellend.

Die Ofenchargen werden mit Hilfe des Automatikkrans vor dem Ofen zusammen-gestellt. Nach beendeter Wärmebehandlung verlassen die Körbe den Ofen an der gegen-überliegenden Seite und stehen im Zwischen-lager zum Verpacken bereit. Der von der Verpackung angeforderte Korb wird mittels

Automatikkran auf die Zufuhrrollenbahn zur Verpackungsanlage aufgesetzt.

Verpackung: Da die neu installierte An- lage ausschließlich für den eigenen Bedarf produziert, konnte Schletter auch die Verpa-ckung automatisierungsgerecht gestalten. Un-ter diesen besonderen Bedingungen ist eine Anlage entstanden, die in der Lage ist, die gesamte Produktion dieser Linie automatisch zu verpacken. Mit Blick auf die nachfolgen- den Transporte und die Lagerung hat man sich für umreifte Bunde unter Verwendung von Kanthölzern mit Pappzwischenlagen ent-schieden.

Der Entstapler am Eingang der automa-tischen Verpackung ist wiederum für Längen zwischen zwei und 18 Metern ausgelegt. Die Profile werden lagenweise aus den Körben entnommen und über eine Rollenbahn auf ei-nen Querförderer abgelegt. Von diesem wer-den die Profile an ein zweites Transportband vereinzelt übergeben, sodass eine visuelle Kontrolle der Oberfläche möglich ist. Wenn kontrolliert wird, erledigt das ein Mitarbeiter.

Beschädigte Profile gelangen über Klappbän-der in eine tiefer gelegene Rinne, wo eine Pusher die Langschrotte der Schrottschere am Kopfende der Anlage zuführt. Die nicht beanstandeten Profile werden auf einem wei-teren Querförderer wieder zu einer Lage mit der gewünschten Packstückbreite zusammen-gefahren und stehen jetzt der Packstation zur lagenweisen Abstapelung zur Verfügung.

Durch die Festlegung auf eine einheitliche Methodik der Verpackung kann auch die Vor-bereitung und Zuführung der Hölzer in den automatisierten Vorgang einbezogen werden. Ausgangsmaterial sind in jedem Fall Kanthöl-

zer und Bretter von vier Meter Länge. Zum Transport der Hölzer dient ein dreh- und ver-fahrbarer Manipulator. Die Hölzer werden im Rahmen des automatischen Arbeitsablaufs in einem Magazin (nach Abmessungen sortiert) eingelagert und für jedes Paket nach Bedarf auf Länge gesägt.

In der Packstation werden die Profile mit-hilfe eines zweiten Lagenstaplers auf einem längs verfahrbaren Skip lagenweise abgelegt. Der Skip ist zugleich auch auf die Anforde-rungen der nachfolgenden Umreifung zuge-schnitten. Auf dem Skip werden die unteren Hölzer abgelegt, auf diese die unterste Lage. Die einzelnen Lagen werden durch Papp-spacer getrennt. Der gefüllte Skip mit dem Profilpaket wird nach vorn in die Umreifungs-station verfahren. Der nachfolgende Skip, auf dem während des Stapelvorganges die unteren Hölzer positioniert wurden, steht direkt zur Verfügung.

Die Komplettierung des Profilpaketes durch die seitlichen und die Deckelhölzer ist mit der Umreifung zu einer Station zusam-

the feed roller track leading to the packaging unit.

Packaging: Since the newly installed plant produces exclusively for the company’s own needs, Schletter was also able to design the packaging suitably for automation. Under these special condition a unit has been created, which can package the entire output of the line automatically. Having regard to the subse-quent transport and storage, it was decided to produce strapped bundles using square timber joists with cardboard intermediate layers.

The de-stacking machine at the entrance to the automatic packaging unit is again de-signed for lengths between 2 and 18 metres. The profiles are removed from the rack in layers and placed by a roller track onto a transverse conveyor. From this, the profiles are transferred onto a second transport belt so that their surface can be checked visually. When checking is carried out, this is done by a worker. Damaged profiles are discarded by tilting belts into a channel lower down, where a pusher also moves the offcuts from the scrap shear to the head end of the plant. Profiles that have passed inspection are brought together again on another transverse conveyor to form a layer with the desired packing width, and are then available to the packing station for stacking in layers.

Thanks to consistent use of a uniform pack-ing procedure the preparation and input of the wooden joists can also be included in the automated process. In all cases the starting material is square joists and boards four me-tres long. These are transported by a rotating and travelling manipulator. As part of the au-tomatic work sequence the joists (sorted by size) are stored in a magazine and sawn to length as necessary for each package. At the packing station, with the help of a second layer stacker, the profiles are placed in layers on a longitudinally mobile skip. The skip is at the same time also designed for the needs of the subsequent strapping. Onto the skip are placed the lower joists and over these the bottom layer. Individual layers are separated by card-board spacers. The full skip with the profile package is moved forward to the strapping sta-tion. The next skip, onto which the lower joists were positioned during the stacking process, is now directly available.

The completion of the profile package with lateral and cover joists is combined with the strapping in one station. Any missing joists are again cut to size according to specifica-tion, brought in from the saw in the correct se-quence by a separate feed belt, and positioned automatically. Finally, the completed pack-age is stabilised at the strapping station with

Vollautomatische Profilverpackung – Entstapler Fully-automatic packaging unit – de-stacking machine

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mengefasst. Die fehlenden Hölzer werden wiederum spezifikationsgerecht zugeschnit-ten und in der richtigen Reihenfolge von der Säge über ein separates Zuteilband zugeführt und automatisch positioniert. Das komplette Paket wird schließlich in der Umreifungssta-tion durch Kunststoffbänder stabilisiert und steht zum Abtransport zur Verfügung.

Der Abtransport kann wahlweise mit Flurförderzeugen oder automatisch erfolgen. Wenn das Profilpaket eingelagert werden soll, wird es mithilfe eines Hebezeuges in ein spe-zielles Transportgestell gebracht und auf eine unter Flur installierte Rollenbahn abgesetzt, die das Presswerk mit dem Lager verbindet.

Werkzeuge: Bei den Werkzeugen arbei-tet Schletter, wie die meisten Presswerke in-zwischen, mit spezialisierten, unabhängigen Dienstleistern zusammen. Für die erforder-lichen Arbeiten im eigenen Hause sind im Erdgeschoss Arbeitsplätze eingerichtet und die notwendigen Hilfseinrichtungen instal-liert. Auch in dieser Hinsicht hat man sich am Stand der Technik orientiert. Vorhanden sind Ringtrennung, Werkzeugbeize, Werk-zeugtrennvorrichtung, Strahlanlage, Werk-

zeug-Zusammenbauvorrichtung, Nitrierofen, automatisches Hochregallager und zugehörige Transporteinrichtungen.

Zur Werkzeuganwärmung stehen im Un-tergeschoss Überkopföfen zur Verfügung. Wegen der relativ großen mittleren Presslose hat man sich auf sechs Heizkammern für je zwei Werkzeuge beschränkt. Ungewöhnlich ist eine lange Reihe von Pufferplätzen in Li-nie mit den Heizkammern, wo die frischen Matrizen zusammen mit den zugehörigen Stützplatten (Bolster) vor dem Erwärmen und nach dem Pressen vom Transportshuttle abgelegt und aufgenommen werden. Diese Pufferplätze werden auf der Seite der Werk-zeugleute einschichtig be- und entladen, wäh-rend der vollautomatische Ofen die Presse dreischichtig bedient. Auch die in der Mitte des Werzeugpaketes liegenden Bolster wer-den systematisch auf Temperaturen von etwa 250 °C vorgewärmt. Das Leitsystem (EMS) steuert selbstständig, wann welches Werkzeug in die Heizkammer und zur Presse gebracht wird. Der Transport der Werkzeuge zwischen Presse und Ofen geschieht mit einem Lift. Der Ofen ist zwar für Schutzgas vorbereitet, wird

plastic strips and is then ready for removal.Removal can take place optionally by floor-

level trolleys, or automatically. If the profile package is to be stored, it is moved with the help of a hoist into a special transport frame and placed on a roller track installed below floor level, which connects the extrusion plant to the store.

Dies: Like most extrusion plants today, for its dies Schletter collaborates with specialised, independent service provision companies. For the necessary in-house work, work stations have been built on the ground floor, and the required auxiliary equipment has been in-stalled. In this respect too the state of the art has been adopted. Available are a ring sepa-rator, die etching, a die separator, a blasting machine, a die assembly machine, a nitriding furnace, an automatic high-rise shelf store and the associated transport equipment.

For heating the dies, overhead furnaces are available on the ground floor. Owing to the relatively large average extrusion batches, these are limited to six heating chambers each for two dies at a time. An unusual feature is a long row of buffer positions in line with

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70 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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the heating chambers, where the fresh dies together with their associated support plates (bolsters) are deposited and taken up by the transport shuttle before heating and after ex-trusion. These buffer positions are loaded and unloaded over one shift by the die personnel, while the fully automatic furnace serves the press over three shifts. Even the bolsters lo-

cated in the middle of the die pack are system-atically preheated to temperatures of around 250°C. The control system (EMS) automati-cally controls when and which die is put into a heating chamber and brought to the press. The dies are transported between press and furnace by a lift. Although the furnace is pre-pared for protective gas, for the time being it is being operated without this.

After use, the extrusion dies are cleaned to remove adhering aluminium by etching with hot caustic soda in a fully automatic etching unit. When it has reached the end of its useful life the caustic soda has to be disposed of. A special treatment process enables 90 percent of the caustic soda to be recovered in sale-able form for use in drinking water prepara-tion. Only ten percent has ultimately to be disposed of. This procedure saves hazardous goods transport and costs (supplier: K&E-Technik GmbH).

Final Assessment

The planned capacity of the plant is at least 15,000 tonnes a year. Confidentially, some of the equipment partners involved in the project assume that the output will ultimately exceed that figure.

It is interesting to consider how the new line is to be classified in the market. So far as the market environment is concerned, for the present it can be assumed that the demand for extrusions will continue increasing, and this to an extent determined by the trade situation. Extruded profiles are increasingly emerging as technical problem-solvers in numerous appli-

cation sectors. In the field of solar equipment, for which the company Schletter produces extruded supporting structures, experts an-ticipate that despite very limited state support the upward trend will continue in the coming years.

Against that background it cannot be ex-cluded that the premium undoubtedly paid

by Schletter in this sector could be used rationally for a second plant. Ludwig Schlet-ter, managing proprietor of the company, at least does not exclude that possibility on be-ing questioned. “However, we have no concrete plans along those lines,” he says.

Ultimately, the question arises whether the model of a highly specialised extrusion plant producing exclusively for the company’s own needs will prove acceptable. This would

also be conceivable in other application sec-tors provided that the quantities used justified a profile production facility of one’s own.

Author

Dr.-Ing. Peter Johne is now a freelance technical journalist for the aluminium industry, with his of-fice in Haan/Rhineland. For many long years he was editor-in-chief of this journal.

aber bis auf Weiteres ohne dieses gefahren.Die Presswerkzeuge werden nach ihrem

Einsatz in einer vollautomatischen Beizan-lage mit erhitzter Natronlauge von anhaften-dem Aluminium gereinigt. Am Ende ihrer Gebrauchsfähigkeit muss die Lauge entsorgt werden. Durch eine spezielle Aufbereitung wird erreicht, dass 90 Prozent der Lauge für die Verwendung in der Trinkwasserauf-bereitung verkaufsfähig sind. Lediglich zehn Prozent müssen letztlich entsorgt werden. Dieses Vorgehen spart Gefahrguttransporte und Kosten (Lieferant: K&E-Technik-GmbH, Kölleda).

Fazit

Als Kapazität der Anlage sind mindestens 15.000 Tonnen jährlich eingeplant. Unter der Hand gehen einige der am Projekt beteilig-ten Ausrüstungspartner davon aus, dass die Produktion letztlich über diesem Wert liegen wird.

Von Interesse ist, wie die neue Linie am Markt einzuordnen ist. Was das Marktumfeld betrifft, darf man derzeit davon ausgehen, dass die Nachfrage nach Profilen weiter an-steigen wird, und zwar über das konjunktu-rell bedingte Maß hinaus. Strangpressprofile erweisen sich zunehmend als technische Problemlöser auf zahlreichen Anwendungs-sektoren. Bei Solaranlagen, für die die Firma Schletter stranggepresste Unterkonstrukti-onen produziert, erwarten Branchenkenner, dass der Aufwärtstrend trotz eingeschränkter staatlicher Förderung in den kommenden Jah-ren anhalten wird.

Vor diesem Hintergrund ist nicht auszu-schließen, dass das Lehrgeld, das man bei Schletter ohne Zweifel auf diesem Sektor be-zahlt, sinnvoll für eine zweite Anlage genutzt werden könnte. Ludwig Schletter, geschäfts-führender Inhaber des Unternehmens, schließt diese Möglichkeit auf Nachfrage zumindest nicht aus. „Konkrete Pläne in diese Rich-tung“, sagt er, „haben wir allerdings nicht.“

Letztlich stellt sich die Frage, ob das Mo-dell eines hoch spezialisierten Presswerkes, das ausschließlich für den Eigenbedarf produ-ziert, Schule machen wird. Es wäre auch auf anderen Anwendungssektoren denkbar, wenn die verbrauchten Mengen eine eigene Profil-produktion rechtfertigten.

Autor

Dr.-Ing. Peter Johne ist heute freier Fachjournalist für die Aluminiumindustrie mit Büro in Haan/Rheinland. Er war lange Jahre Chefredakteur die-ser Zeitschrift.

Verpackte Profile, zum Abtransport bereit

Profile packages, ready for removal

• Technical consultancy and project manage- ment – EDplus-GmbH, Dr.-Ing. Werner Strehmel, CH-Venthône, edplus@netplus.ch• Equipment in front of the press: log and preheating magazine, gas furnace with hot shear – extrutec GmbH, Radolfzell, Germany• Extrusion press – Presezzi Extrusion SpA, Vimercate (Milano), Italy• Facilities behind the press: cooling system, run-out, cooling bed, stretcher, stacking machine, packaging – Unterschütz Sonder- maschinenbau GmbH, Walbeck, Germany• Automatic crane – Vollert Anlagenbau GmbH + Co. KG, Weinsberg, Germany• Ageing and die heating furnace – Unifour B.V., Ulft, The Netherlands• Die etching facility: K&E-Technik-GmbH, Kölleda, Germany• EMS Extrusion Management System: DTM. informatica. Collaboration between DTM Datentechnik GmbH, Lüdenscheid, Ger- many, and Uno Informatica Srl, Lecco, Italy

equipment partner

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Ma’aden and alcoa sign bank financing

Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Co., and Alcoa have signed bank financing for the Middle East’s first fully integrated aluminium smelter and food-grade can-sheet rolling mill in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sixteen fi-nancial institutions, together providing over USD1.9bn, participated in the signing. The fi-nancing has been heavily oversubscribed. The companies will soon start the financing proc-ess for the mine and refinery, which constitute the second phase of the USD10.8bn Ma’aden Alcoa joint venture.

sohar in talks on smelter expansion

Sohar Aluminium is in talks with the Omani government on its plan to build phase two of its operation, which will see the smelter double output to 740,000 tpy. An expansion depends on getting enough gas. The government has sufficient gas supply to power the expansion, but it is deciding whether to use it for alumin-ium smelting, for a power plant or for other projects in the fertiliser or liquid natural gas (LNG) markets. The government will make a decision by summer 2011.

If the company builds phase 2, then it will consider developing another 350,000 tpy with phase 3 and also consider adding a rolling mill that could take hot metal from the smelter to

supply sectors including the packaging and construction markets. If phase 2 happens, Sohar’s hot metal production will rise from 40,000 to 200,000 tpy by 2013/14. The de-velopment of the Sohar free zone will also help attract potential partners to Oman and to the company. Sohar only produces aluminium ingot, all of which is sold to Rio Tinto Alcan, but it is mulling a move downstream and has space for value-added products output at its smelter site. Rio sells Sohar ingots in China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

alba converts into a public joint stock company

At the end of November Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) converted into a public joint stock company under the official title of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. His Excellency the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Hassan Fakhro, praised Alba’s role as a national champion for industrial growth and infrastructural devel-opment and acknowledged its pivotal role in boosting the expansion of Bahrain’s alumin- ium sector. Alba’s decision to convert into a public joint stock company was the result of reviewing different strategic options to best position the company on the path for con-tinuing and future success. Alba’s IPO, which was launched recently, met with a positive response from both retail and institutional in- vestors and the company will be listed in Bah-rain and London Stock Exchange.

Alba’s installed capacity totals more than 870,000 tpy. The company also has plans to expand by building a sixth potline, which would expand capacity by a further 400,000 tpy. Around 60 to 70% of Alba’s output is value-added products, with liquid metal ac-counting for 27% of production in 2010.

arrival of first shipment at newly opened emal berth at Khalifa port

Emirates Aluminium (Emal) and Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) announced the first shipment of some 26,000 tonnes of smelting grade alumina to the purpose-built wharf at Khalifa Port in Taweelah. With the opening of the wharf, Emal is now able to receive shipments of raw materials directly to the Taweelah-based smelter.

The 800 meter long Emal wharf is situ-ated three and a half kilometres offshore with berthing space for two 60,000 tonne capac-ity ships. It contains a vacuum ship unloader that transfers coke and alumina (the primary

raw materials for aluminium production) onto the wharf belt conveyor system. The material is then transported 4.6 km along the trestle bridge and causeway running from the wharf to the shore, before being delivered directly to the Emal onsite Silo storage facility.

eU’s emission trading scheme moves closer

The aluminium industry may struggle to adapt to Europe’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) even after the European Union raised its emis-sions cap to just over 2bn tonnes from 1.9bn, to make way for energy-intensive industries. Under the ETS, which comes into force in 2013, aluminium smelters must buy carbon credits through a carbon auction system to cover any emissions they use over a set bench-mark. The ETS benchmark for most alumin-ium production is 1.5 tonnes of emissions per tonne of metal produced.

Although most aluminium plants in the EU will be able to meet the ETS benchmarks by 2013, some alumina refineries may strug-gle. The total European emissions cap will be lowered 1.74% annually between 2013 and 2020. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared with 1990 levels, although the EU Commission is considering raising the goal to 30%.

rio ups output estimate for paraguayan smelter

Rio Tinto Alcan’s proposed aluminium smelter in Paraguay could produce as much as 670,000 tpy once it comes on stream, marking a 38% increase from the 485,000 tpy capacity origi-nally estimated for the operation. An improve-ment in AP-series smelting technology at the proposed site is one driver behind the expected tonnage increase as the company is now em-ploying AP5X technology at the Paraguayan site. The Montreal-based aluminium producer has also raised its cost estimate for the project to more than USD3bn from USD2.5bn pre-viously, reflecting the increased energy that will be required to power the higher output levels.

novelis shuts aratu smelter in Brazil

Novelis closed its 60,000 tpy, loss-making alu-minium smelter in Aratu, Brazil, at the end of 2010 due to high operating costs and a lack of competitively priced energy supply. The

aluminium smelting industry

Qat

alum

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plant’s small scale, outdated technology and logistical factors also impair its operating ef-ficiency. The smelter, located in the country’s northeastern state of Bahia, supplies Novelis’ Pindamonhangaba’s hot mill in São Paulo state. The Ouro Preto smelter, also in Brazil and Novelis’ only remaining primary produc-tion facility, will pick up some of the supply to the company’s rolling mills in the country, but Novelis will also buy metal from third parties. The Ouro Preto smelter secures 65% of its power from Novelis’ own hydroelectric power plant. In contrast, Aratu was supplied with higher-priced electricity from the grid.

new Zealand aluminium smelters to cut production

The country’s biggest consumer of electric-ity, New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd in Bluff, says that unseasonably high power prices have forced it to cut production. The company is reducing its electricity consump-tion by 5% and producing 1,500 fewer tonnes of aluminium per month. A company repre-sentative told a radio station he was concerned by the speed wholesale prices had risen, which were meanwhile at levels last seen during the 2008 winter crisis. He said that the prices were confusing, as the hydro lakes were cur-rently above their average height for this time of the year. The Electricity Authority said it was looking into steep increases in wholesale electricity prices since the end of November.

emal listed on lMe

One of the four Emal products – sow, a solid block of molten aluminium – has been reg-istered with the London Metals Exchange (LME), ensuring both consistent pricing and an international standard of quality. The LME requires that aluminium producers be ISO 9000 certified, and to have completed a full year of production prior to having their prod-ucts listed on the LME. Emal’s listing comes exactly one year after the smelter began pro-ducing sow.

Hydro-Vale transaction expected in first half 2011

Norsk Hydro expects to complete the planned acquisition of Vale’s aluminium assets in the first half 2011, representing a delay from the original plan to close the transaction in the fourth quarter 2010. The reason for the

delay relates to mining rights and regulatory approval processes in Brazil, which are tak-ing longer than anticipated. The transaction involves the transfer of a large number of min-

ing rights from Vale to the newly established Paragominas joint-venture company, in which Hydro will own 60%. Most of the transfers have been approved.

Bauxite and alumina activities

rio to invest Usd10m at its Vaudreuil alumina facility

Rio Tinto Alcan will invest USD10m in the expansion of the bauxite residue containment site at its Vaudreuil Works alumina refinery in Jonquière, Quebec. The project is of con-siderable importance to the company. Work started at the end of November 2010 and will be carried out over three years. Located in Jonquière, Vaudreuil is the largest inorganic chemicals centre in Canada, with a capacity of 1.5m tpy of alumina and speciality chemicals. Most of the alumina produced is smelter-grade alumina to be used for further processing into primary aluminium. Vaudreuil Works ranks as the world leader in terms of greenhouse gas emissions control and second for energy efficiency.

Vimetco starts operating sierra leone mines without contractor

Vimetco has started operating its bauxite mines in Sierra Leone without a contractor as part of its plans to cut costs and improve vertical integration. The mine output of 1.4m tpy will mostly go to the company’s Alum Tulcea re-finery in Romania, ensuring supply for Vimet-co’s Slatina smelter. Directly operating the bauxite mine allows for better cost control and

it increases the reliability of the bauxite supply for Vimetco’s alumina refinery in Romania. The mines produced 814,000 tonnes of baux-ite in the first nine months of 2010, compared with 514,000 tonnes for the same period in 2009. Bauxite sales in 2009 totalled 963,000 tonnes, most of it shipped to Romania.

rio speeds up yarwun refinery expansion schedule

Rio Tinto Alcan is accelerating the construc-tion schedule of the Yarwun alumina refinery expansion, with a revised project comple-tion date of August 2012. Announced in July 2007, the USD1.9bn expansion will more than double alumina production to 3.4m tpy. The company will process first bauxite through the plant in the first half of 2012; the project will be totally complete in August 2012. Rio is confident that global demand for alumina is increasing, and the expanded refinery will be well placed to meet this demand.

The expansion project’s cogeneration fa-cility was handed over for commissioning in August 2010, and is feeding power into the grid. The 160 MW plant will reduce the car-bon dioxide emissions per tonne of alumina by more than a third relative to coal. The expanded wharf facility is also complete and operational.

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aluminium recycling on a strong growth path

Industry forecasts point toward 75% growth in aluminium recycling in the next decade. The recycling industry has seen recycled alu-minium volumes rise significantly from 13.7m tonnes in 2003 to 19.4m tonnes in 2009, rep-resenting an increase of 42%, compared with a 28% increase in primary production. This was supported by strong growth of recovered scrap from end-of-life products of close to 50% during the same period, Roland Scharf Berg-mann, head of Hydro’s Recycling unit and chairperson of the Global Aluminium Recy-cling Committee in the International Alumin-ium Institute, said in a conference speech in Poland in November.

Most recent forecasts show growth in re-covered scrap from 2010 at approx. 9.5m tonnes to almost 17m tonnes in 2020, follow-ing the life-cycle analysis of the various prod-uct groups, and taking into account projected collection and recycling rates. Today reports and statistics are issued not only on scrap col-lection and recycling rates and on production volumes, but also on avoided emissions of CO2 by recycling post-consumed scrap. This is driven by the fact that recycling consumes only 5% of the energy needed to produce pri-mary aluminium.

Scrap has become a strategic raw mate-rial in regions like Europe, but also across the globe. China views scrap as strategic, and so will invest more significantly in recycling and in scrap imports. Global scrap flows are ex-

pected to grow from 4m tonnes in 2008 to more than 10m tonnes in 2020, the majority ending up in China and the rest of Asia.

Hydro said last year that it would step up its activities in aluminium recycling to become a leader in this field. Hydro plans to build a recycling plant in Karmøy, Norway, and to develop a web-based scrap procurement and trading platform that will be unique in the market, as is the company’s customer portal. Hydro’s ambition is an annual recycling of up to 1m tonnes of aluminium in 2020.

shanghai sigma slashes aluminium scrap imports

Shanghai Sigma Metals, China’s biggest sec-ondary aluminium smelter, has halved the proportion of its scrap needs sourced from outside China. The company, traditionally one of China’s biggest importers of aluminium scrap, bought about 40% of its scrap from the domestic market in 2010 to take advantage of lower prices. The portion bought domestically was about 10 to 20% previously. The need for lower-cost raw materials has been underlined by falling margins on its alloy ingot sales as aluminium prices in China have tracked below international levels. Sigma, which has an alu-minium alloy ingot capacity of about 500,000 tpy of, is counting on the market improving as loss-making competitors go out of business.

After the economic crisis and the collapse of demand overseas, Sigma would shift focus to Chinese market. But with margins in China now being squeezed, sales outside China ap-pear to be helping the business stay in prof-it. Sigma has also benefited from currency strength in its main export market Japan where it supplies major car manufacturers.

The company is building a new smelter in Chongqing, the core of China’s fast-develop-ing western region. Originally scheduled for 2010, the plant should now start up at the end of 2011, after more of the excess capacity has been flushed out of the market. The Chong-qing plant will feed growing domestic demand, which is benefiting from government efforts to rebalance growth away from coastal regions.

secondary smelting and recycling

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) appointed Jean-Bap-tiste Lucas as chief marketing officer, who joins Alba’s senior executive management team. Lucas earlier worked with Rio Tinto Alcan.

Noranda Aluminum has named Peter J. Hartland president of the company’s upstream business unit, effective 6 Dec. In his new role Hartland will oversee the company’s primary aluminium, alumina and bauxite facilities, duties currently performed by chief operating officer Kyle Lorentzen, who left Noranda at the end of 2010. Alan Brown, vice president of human re-sources, will also step down from his role on 31 March and assume a consultancy role on labour relations issues.

Julia Steyn and George King have been named vice presidents and co-managing direc-tors of Alcoa’s business development group, suc-ceeding J. Michael Schell. Ms Steyn and Mr King

will report to Charles McLane, Alcoa executive vice president and CFO. Olivier Jarrault has been named president of Alcoa’s engineered products and solutions (EPS) division, effective 1 January 2011. Jarrault replaces William F. Christopher, who will retire on 1 April 2011 af-ter more than three decades with the company. Keith Walton has been appointed vice president of governmental affairs. Walton succeeds Russell Wisor, who is retiring in February after 33 years with the aluminium producer. In his new post, Walton will lead all of Alcoa’s federal and state government affairs activities in the US.

BHP Billiton announced the appointment of a new non-executive director, Baroness Shriti Vad-era, to its board, effective 1 January 2011.

Novelis announced the appointment of John Gardner as vice president and chief sustainability officer, effective 1 January.

on the move

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stena will increase swedish capacity

Aluminium alloy producer Stena Aluminium will increase output at its operations in Swe-den from 50,000 to 90,000 tpy by mid-2011 after it was given the go-ahead to increase capacity. Once on stream, the extra output at the company’s plant in Älmhult, Sweden, will take it back to former production levels. Stena stopped production at its operations in Kolding, Denmark, in 2009 after secondary aluminium demand and prices slumped. The company made the decision to increase output again following several months of recovery. Stena will not restart any output from Kolding, which had operated at a loss for several years before production was stopped.

alumetal will increase aluminium alloy

Alumetal is building a third plant that will increase its aluminium alloy output by over 30%. Based in western Poland, the new plant will produce 30,000 tpy when it is completed in mid-2011. This will take the Polish producer’s total output from 90,000 to 120,000 tpy. Construction of the plant, which received a grant from the European Union, has been on hold for the last two years be- cause of the recession. Alumetal output ac-counts for about 40% of total Polish alu-minium alloy. Poland is a big market with a population of over 40m, conveniently located with a stable, growing economy and relatively cheap labour.

suppliers

siemens to modernise aluminum cold rolling mill in Bahrain

Siemens VAI has received an order from Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill (Garmco) in Manama, Bahrain, to equip its aluminum cold rolling mill no. 2 with new automation and drive systems. The modernisation is intended to improve plant availability as well as to ensure consist-ently high product quality. The cold rolling mill will be upgraded during a scheduled plant shutdown at the end of February 2011.

Garmco is a leading producer of rolled alu-minum products in the Golf region. The com-pany’s two cold rolling mills have a combined capacity of 165,000 tpy. Its main products are series 1000, 3000 and 5000 alloys with thick-nesses ranging from 0.15 to 5 mm. The four-high, single-pass mill in the cold rolling mill no. 2 has a roll force of 21 MN and reaches a rolling speed of 1,200 m/min. The maximum coil weight is 10 tonnes.

In order to improve plant availability and ensure final products of consistently high qual-ity, Siemens VAI will renew the entire auto-mation equipment in the cold rolling mill and the associated secondary plants. The heart of the automation solution is the Siroll Alu TCS process control system specifically developed for aluminum rolling mills. It contains all the essential technology packages required for high product quality, including an automatic roll gap and thickness control, a flatness con-trol, and presetting the rolling mill on the basis of the production plan. The project also covers the replacement of the power modules in the stand drive, the two coiler drives and in most of the auxiliary drives. The consoles in the con-trol centers will also be modernised.

seco/warwick awarded several orders for annealing and homogenising furnaces

Alro S.A. has placed an order to Seco/War-wick for the revamping of four aluminium an-nealing furnaces in order to comply with the harsh requirements of the AMS 2750D avia-tion norm. The new furnaces will offer excel-lent gas consumption values and temperature uniformity features; they will also reduce the overall heating time. The revamping work will concern the full retrofit of the heating system and exchange of the insulation. The control system of all furnaces will be replaced as well. Additionally, two of the furnaces will be

aluminium semis

Ball to acquire european packaging plants

Ball Corp. has agreed to buy European aero- sol container producer Aerocan S.A.S. for about USD293m, as the company looks to grow its overseas aluminium packaging busi-ness. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2011. Aerocan operates three aerosol can plants – in Bellegarde, France; Devizes, England; and Velim, Czech Repub-lic – producing aluminium slugs as well as packaging for personal care, pharmaceutical, beverage and food products. It also is 51% owner of a joint-venture aluminium slug plant in Beaurepaire, France.

Hydro to close extrusion plant at Karmøy in 2012

Hydro has decided to phase out its extrusion plant at Karmøy in 2012 as part of its work to restructure the production of aluminum pro-files in Norway. Operations at the company’s extrusion plants at Magnor and Raufoss will be strengthened. The restructuring of Hydro’s Norwegian extrusion operations is scheduled for completion by the end of the first quarter of 2012 and includes the company’s three extrusion plants in Karmøy, Magnor and Rau-foss. The press, anodising line and fabrica-tion activities at Karmøy will all be gradually phased out over a period of 15 months.

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equipped with a special design of fans dedi-cated exclusively for aluminium annealing furnaces.

Producing over 200,000 tonnes of prima-ry aluminium, Alro is the largest aluminium smelter in Central and Eastern Europe (ex-cluding CIS). It is one of Romania’s largest companies with an important contribution to the local and national economy. The company is part of the 7th largest aluminium producer worldwide, Vimetco NV, which has operations in Romania, China and Sierra Leone.

Seco/Warwick has also received an order from Asia for the delivery of a four-zone coil annealing furnace equipped with a Vortex jet heating system. The new furnace will offer excellent heating times and reduced energy consumption thanks to the Vortex and heat-ing system which will be equipped with highly efficient auto recuperative burners. The guar-anteed temperature uniformity will be ± 5°C during soaking. Additionally, the system will be equipped with a bypass cooler unit allowing to cool the load down to 180°C directly in the furnace after the heating phase.

Moreover, Seco/Warwick signed the con-tract for the delivery of a 30-tonne electrically heated travel log homogenising furnace to the Romanian plant of Universal Alloy Corp. Eu-rope. This is the third contract between UAC Europe and Seco/Warwick. The furnace will comply with the AMS 2750D aviation norm and guarantee the temperature uniformity of ± 4°C during the soaking phase. In order to minimise the installation area and speed up the cycle time the plant design allows the equipment to travel over the two piles of load prepared on the floor level. Furthermore, this solution does not require using the loading device. After the heat treatment of the first load has been finished, the furnace moves to the second base and starts the treatment of the subsequent load. Additionally, the fur-

nace will be equipped with cooling fans to conduct the cooling immediately after the heating.

Hertwich awarded orders for furnaces and ultrasonic inspection stations

Dubai Aluminium Co. Ltd (Dubal), UAE, has placed an order with Hertwich Engineering, Austria, for the supply and commissioning of a batch homogenising facility. The scope comprises two batch homogenising furnaces as well as one air cooling station. Due to the reversing air flow concept and to regulation by flaps, the furnaces will heat the logs some 20% faster and with improved temperature uniformity. The facility is fully automated and heating is regulated through measurement of the air and metal temperatures. The same concept is employed in the cooling station to ensure efficient cooling. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2010

Otto Fuchs AG, Germany, has placed an order with Hertwich for the supply of two turnkey two-chamber melting furnaces for a production of approx. 50,000 tpy. The new Ecomelt-type furnaces, replacing obsolete in-duction units, are designed to ensure minimal metal loss and most economical operation. Commissioning is scheduled for Q4 2010.

Moreover, Hertwich has been awarded four orders for ultrasonic billet inspection sta-tions, all of them of helical type for volume inspection. Two stations have already been successfully commissioned for Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI) at its works in Ranshofen, Austria, and in Arad, Romania. The other two UT stations are scheduled to be commissioned around the end of 2010 at Dubal and at Impol d.d., Slovenia.

All four UT units are designed for helical inspection of the entire billet volume to detect faults and inclusions, meeting the requirements of ASTM B 594 detection class A or B, (flat bottom hole of 1.2 or 2.0 mm), and surface faults 2 mm deep. Billet diameters range from 125 to 450 mm. The number of probes per

unit is determined to meet specific throughput requirements (up to 150,000 tpy).

Fully automated ultrasonic inspection equipment is an indispensable instrument to certify and document that billets are free from defects and to achieve best economy of opera-tion. The volume inspection is mandatory for billet suppliers to the automotive and aircraft industries.

Hatch to implement rio’s aluminium project

Hatch Canada Ltd. will implement the first phase of Rio Tinto Alcan’s AP60 project in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region in a 50-50 joint venture with SNC-Lavalin En-gineers & Constructors Ltd. The USD758m project will include 38 pots with a capacity of 60,000 tpy. AP60 technology is more energy efficient and will deliver 40% higher output per pot than existing technology. Mississau-ga / Ontario-based Hatch will provide project management, engineering, procurement, con-struction management and pre-commission-ing services for the smelter. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by 2013.

The author

The author, Dipl.-Ing. R. P. Pawlek, is founder of TS+C, Technical Info Services and Consult-ing, Sierre (Switzerland), an established service for the primary aluminium industry. He is also the publisher of the standard works Alumina Refineries and Producers of the World and Primary Aluminium Smelters and Producers of the World. These reference works are continu-ally updated and contain useful technical and economic information on all alumina refineries and primary aluminium smelters of the world. They are available as loose-leaf files and/or CD-ROMs from the Alu Media GmbH in Düs-seldorf, Germany.

We purchase and supply:n Rolling mills cold/hotn Roll grinding machinesn Continuous castersn Levellers/straightenersn Drawing machines

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SMS Siemag has recently been awarded several orders for hot and cold rolling mills from customers in Middle East, China and Brazil.

The biggest order comes from the Ma’aden Al-coa joint venture. For the ambitious greenfield project in Ras Az Zawr, Saudi Arabia, SMS Siemag will supply a complete integrated hot and cold rolling complex for aluminium flat products, including the electrical and automa-tion package. The capacity of the integrated rolling mill is around 400,000 tpy of alu-minium strip for the manufacture of beverage cans. The plant will start operation already at the end of 2012.

SMS is supplying the complete roughing and finishing mills for the hot rolling mill. The roughing mill comprises a 4-high roughing stand which rolls down, in reversing opera- tion, the incoming aluminium ingots of thick-ness up to 635 mm and weight up to 32.5 tonnes. The mill also includes one heavy and one light hydraulic crop shear for intermediate cropping and for removing the head and tail ends from the roughed ingot.

The 4-stand finishing mill in 4-high design rolls the roughed ingot, which has an entry thickness of around 30 mm, down to a final gauge of 2 to 7 mm in a single pass. In the exit section, the finished strip is side-trimmed and then taken up by a hot-strip coiler with belt wrapper.

SMS is likewise supplying the complete cold rolling mill with coil preparation station in the entry section and an offline strip inspec-

tion facility in the exit section. The powerful 4-stand tandem mill in 4-high design rolls the incoming aluminium hot strip, having a maxi-mum width of 2,100 mm, down to minimum final gauges of 0.15 mm. The tandem mill is equipped with tried and tested actuators, comprising hydraulic adjustment, positive and negative work-roll bending and CVC plus technology. These actuator systems ensure optimum strip flatness, strip gauge tolerances and a perfect strip surface.

In a later expansion stage of the works, the plant concept will make it possible to change over to fully continuous mill operation through the retrofitting of various plant components such as a double pay-off reel, welding ma-chine, strip accumulator and carrousel reel.

Both the hot rolling mill and the tandem cold mill are equipped with all open and closed-loop control systems that ensure reliable proc-ess control of the fully automated rolling op-erations. The here employed systems include the AluControl automation system, which is part of SMS’s X-Pact electrical and automa-tion package and specifically designed to meet the process requirements of aluminium rolling. In both mills, AluControl covers the processes from Level 0 through to Level 2 (A detailed report on the AluControl automation system was given in ALUMINIUM 10/2010).

Henan Zhongfu Industrial Co. Ltd. has placed an order with SMS Siemag for the erection of a 1 + 4 CVC plus hot rolling mill at the Gogyi location, West Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The mill is to be integrated into a new works complex in which, primarily, alu-minium hot strip will be rolled for can pro-duction. The hot rolling mill is designed for a capacity of more than 760,000 tpy.

SMS is supplying the reversing roughing stand and the 4-stand finishing mill for the production of 2,400-mm wide hot strip with a minimum final gauge of 1.8 mm. The four stands of the finishing mill are equipped with hydraulic adjustment system, CVC plus with integrated work-roll bending and multi-zone cooling. In the entry section of the finishing mill, an ingot cooler for special products regu-lates the strip temperature in order to ensure high production. The supply scope is rounded off by light and heavy crop shears with scrap handling system, side trimmer, fume exhaust, uncoiler and coil conveyor, and utility systems.

The mill will go into operation at the begin-ning of 2013 and be used for manufacturing

new rolling mill orders for sMs siemag from Middle east, China and Brazil

aluminium hot strip for beverage cans in a wide range of grades and alloys.

With the new aluminium cold rolling mill, Northeast Light Alloy Co., Ltd. (Nela), China, is entering modern production of high-qual-ity aluminium strip products. In addition to various finished products, input stock for foil manufacture will be rolled on the CVC plus 6-high stand. In view of the large variety of rolled products, the new SMS Siemag cold rolling mill will constitute the central produc-tion unit of the works in Harbin.

The rolling mill is designed for a capacity of 85,000 tpy and processes incoming strips with entry gauges of maximum 8 mm and widths of up to 1,900 mm. The minimum final gauge is 100 µm, the maximum coil weight 21 tonnes.

The 6-high stand is equipped with CVC plus intermediate-roll shifting and with multi-zone roll cooling for influencing strip flatness. A Hot Edge Spray system is provided to influence strip flatness in the strip edge area. The Dry Strip system installed in the exit section of the mill ensures that the residual oil on the surface of the rolled strips is kept to a minimum. A coil preparation station, a coil conveyor sys-tem and the full range of utility systems com-plete the mill stand. Already in 2006, Nela had awarded an order to SMS for the supply of a mill stand for wide aluminium plate for the works in Harbin.

Novelis do Brasil Ltda. in Pindamonhang-aba, Sao Paulo, has awarded SMS Siemag the order to supply a new 2-stand cold rolling mill for aluminium alloys. The 2-stand tandem mill is the first of its type in South America. The new tandem cold mill will be used for manu-facturing can stock for the beverage industry. The products will comprise strip in widths of up to 2,000 mm and with a minimum final gauge of 0.15 mm. The mill will be designed for an annual capacity of 330,000 tonnes.

The key components of this high-capacity mill are highly efficient roll bending systems, multi-zone roll cooling and the hydraulic roll adjustment system. A coil preparation station, an offline strip inspection facility and a pal-let transport system from SMS Siemag com-plete and enhance the rolling mill, which will produce cold-rolled aluminium strips for high quality standards. The SMS Siemag technol-ogy is already well known by the customer. An aluminium hot strip mill that had been relocated and revamped by SMS commenced operation in Pindamonhangaba in 1999.

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This overview covers the development of inert anodes for the primary aluminium industry in the period 2007 to 2010. It continues a review of oxides, cermets and alloys as well as of compatible low-tem-perature electrolytes.

The development of inert anodes has been re-viewed several times [1-7] in the past. The use of an inert anode instead of carbon eliminates the generation of the greenhouse gas CO2

when oxygen liberated form the dissociation of alumina reacts with anode carbon. It also eliminates perfluorocarbon (PFC) by-products and other polluting emissions such as PAHs. This update is a continuation of [3].

oxides

The use of oxides was the first and most impor-tant step towards inert anodes on the labora-tory scale. Tin oxide was one of the first used. Vasilev and co-workers [8] examined the electrochemistry of tin ion species in cryolite alumina melts. They studied Sn(O)/Sn (II) and Sn (II)/Sn (IV) equilibria by voltammetry in cryolite alumina melts, and measured formal potentials of redox processes on platinum, car-bon and tin dioxide anodes for various SnO concentrations. On the basis of tin electro-chemistry data the authors discussed possible ways to control and monitor the processes in the bath using tin-containing low-consumable anodes. The ions found agreed well and cor-related with the thermodynamic estimates. The slow electronic transfer kinetics for tin cathodic reduction was of special interest be-cause it reveals new possibilities to control the transfer of tin impurities from the melt to the produced aluminium, and so provides some optimism as regards ceramic inert anodes based on tin oxide.

Then Robert, Liu and Weirauch [9, 10] proposed the use of iron oxides singly or in various combinations as inert anode material. The iron oxide can be FeO, Fe2O3, Fe3O4 or combinations of these. During the aluminium production process the anodes remain stable at a controlled bath temperature and current density through the anodes.

Li [11] examined the manufacture of NiFe2O4 which has been identified as a po-tential candidate for inert anodes with low corrosion wear. Wang [12] used such samples and measured their electrical conductivity and

their corrosion resistance in the electrolyte. The electrical conductivity increases with in-creasing temperature. The samples show good corrosion resistance in the cryolite bath, and the dissolution of Fe2O3 is the main mode of anode corrosion by the electrolyte.

Lai et al. [13] performed preliminary test-ing of NiO-NiFe2O4 as a ceramic matrix of cermet inert anodes under electrolysis condi-tions. Results show that the solubility of Fe from NiFe2O4 is 0.06% and Ni from NiFe2O4 is 0.008%. With increasing NiO content the solubility of Ni increases, but overall solubility of NiFe2O4 – NiO ceramics decreases.

In order to improve the properties of NiFe2O4 inert anodes, Ma et al. [14] adopted a two-step sintering process and improved the composite of the solid state reaction by add-ing 18 wt.% excess NiO. Sintering 18NiO – NiFe2O4 has thermodynamic conditions which belong to solid sintering, and solid reactions and densification in this process happen simultane-ously. The higher the sintering temperature, the larger is the diffusion coefficient. When the sintering temperature increases from 1150-1400°C, the relative density of the sintering sample increases from 69.59 to 98.28%, the porosity decreases accordingly, the bending strength increases from 14.62 to 71.94 MPa and the electrical conductivity increases from 0.47 to 2.23 Scm-1.

Tian et al. [15] examined the effect of CaO addition on the corrosion resistance of 10NiO-NiFe2O4 as inert anode material. They prepared CaO additions ranging from 0.5 to 4 wt.% and found that the added CaO content has great effects on the concentration of im-purities in the electrolyte. Unfortunately the corrosion increases with increasing CaO in the anodes. The corrosion resistance of the inert anode containing CaO is mainly affected by electrolyte penetration causing grain bound-ary attack of the anode sample. CaO which exists in the grain boundary layer accelerates the corrosion of the ceramic anode.

In another experiment Xue et al. [16] added Co3O4 to NiO-NiFe2O4 inert anode material and examined the corrosion resistance in low temperature electrolyte. They found that the addition of Co3O4 up to 3 wt.% can improve the material density and lower its porosity due to the chemically stabilized microstructure formed with the NiFe2O4-NiO-Co3O4 mixture. Adding Co3O4 reduced the corrosion rate, but the corrosion rate increased again above 4

wt.%. This was especially due to the thermal reduction of Co3O4 by metallic aluminium dis-solved in the melts, but this could be partially counteracted by oxygen generated during the electrolysis process at a current density of about 0.4 A/cm2. At this current density the corrosion rate was about 20 mm per year.

Pietrzyk [17] examined three different ox-ide type anodes as inert anodes for aluminium electrolysis. The composition of the anodes by wt.% of the tests lasting about 100 hours re-vealed the following:• 62.3% Cr2O3 – 35.7% NiO – 2% CuO: corrosion rate 14.82 cm per year• 40.1% NiO – 36.7% Fe2O3 – 23.2% SnO2: corrosion rate 4.21 cm per year• 96% SnO2 – 2% Sb2O3 – 2% CuO: corro-sion rate 2.91 cm per year [17, 18]

The inertness of the material was judged by: open circuit potential (OCP); residual cor-rosion current density (NOCP); and limiting corrosion current density. The OCP results of all investigated anode materials were below the NCOP, showing that these anodes were not completely inert but undergo corrosion. All tested anodes showed first an anodic dis-solution followed by oxygen evolution. The corrosion is mass transport controlled mostly by chemical reaction.

The anodic overvoltage of the above anode materials was studied by galvanostatic steady state current/voltage measurements [19]. These anodes showed several times lower ov-ervoltage than a traditional carbon anode. The process of oxygen release on the used inert anode materials depends on a two-step reac-tion of charge transition. At current densities above 1.2 A/cm2 the deviation of the over-voltage results from straight line in the Tafel system, which may indicate slow desorption of oxygen off the anode surface.

Then Pietrzyk [20] studied how changes of the anode-cathode distance (ACD) affect the electrical resistance of the cryolite electrolyte. Decreasing the ACD below 2 cm increased the electrical resistivity of the electrolyte due to the simultaneous increase of gas bubbles which reduce the active electrolyte cross section and so its conductivity. With a larger ACD of about 3 to 5 cm the electrolyte resistivity approaches the theoretical value asymptotically because of the lesser accumulation of the gas bubbles. The results have shown that for a given ACD, increasing the current density effectively de-creases the electrolyte resistivity and bubble

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density, probably due to speeding up the bub-bles coalescence and so their escape.

Cermets

Mixing metal powders and oxides and forming these to get inert anode has long been standard practice. So Xu et al. [21] mixed Fe and Ni powders with Al2O3 and formed composites for aluminium electrolysis. In laboratory scale they obtained a corrosion rate of 24 mm/year using a low temperature electrolyte. Shi [22] added Co powder to the above composite and measured the physical properties of Fe-Ni-Co-Al2O3 composites under electrolysis condi-tions. This kind of anode shows good electrical conductivity, and resistance to oxidation and corrosion. During electrolysis a cermet layer forms on the anode surface and can protect against oxidation and corrosion.

Then the scientists used different types of metal matrix: Cu, Ni, CuNi and FeNi, while mostly using NiFe2O4 as the oxide fraction.

The following paper examines the Cu metal powder matrix. Xi [23] used Cu2O-10CuAlO2-xCu cermets as inert anode candidate materi-als. He showed that this material behaves as an electrical conductor when the Cu-content is higher than 15 wt.%. The electrical conductiv-ity depends on the content, the particle size of the metal phase and also on the porosity of the cermet material, and the electrical conductiv-ity increases with the decrease of particle size of the metal phase and the porosity.

The system Cu-NiFe2O4 was examined sev-eral times [17, 24]. Wu [24] examined such inert anode material under laboratory condi-tions and measured the corrosion rate to be 30 mm per year, while Pietrzyk [17] found a corrosion rate of 4.19 cm per year. Adding Ag to the metal phase [25] helps to increase the electrical conductivity.

Wang [26] prepared cermet anodes with the composition 5Cu/(10NiO-NiFe2O4) by powder metallurgy, and he studied the corro-sion behaviour of these anodes in KF-K3AlF6-AlF3-Al2O3 electrolytes. Due to the thermal reduction reaction, these anodes erode seri-ously. But adopting low-temperature baths may help to reduce the corrosion rate.

Li et al. [27] examined the mechanical prop-erties of 10NiO-NiFe2O4 based cermet anodes. The toughening and strengthening mechanism of these cermets consists of crack bridging and of crack deflection toughening. A cermet con-taining 15 wt.% Cu achieves optimal strength of 200.34 MPa. The thermal shock resistance was evaluated by thermal shock cycles. The heating and quenching experiments show that NiFe2O4-10NiO ceramic show cracks after 2-3

cycles for heating and quenching from 960°C to room temperature. The addition of copper increases the strength and fracture stress, as well as thermal stress resistance, and helps to prevent crack nucleation.

Then Lai [28] doped Cu/(NiFe2O4-10NiO) cermets with CaO and studied the effect in low temperature electrolytic baths. The re-sults show that adding 2 mass% CaO to the above composition increases the relative den-sity from 82.83 to 97.63% at 1200°C. During electrolysis the relative density decreases due to the chemical dissolution of CaO at the ce-ramic grain boundary, which aggravates the penetration of the electrolyte into the anode material. Therefore, in order to improve corro-sion resistance of the anode material, the CaO content should be kept to a minimum.

The Cu-Ni metal phase in a NiO-NiFe2O4 oxide cermet was studied several times [29-31] recently. Lai [29] reported that the metallic phase species in cermets have no effect on the concentration of impurities in the bath during electrolysis: the total steady-state concentra-tion of impurities remains almost the same in the range of 4.12 x 10-4 to 4.80 x 10-4. How-ever, preferential corrosion occurs in cermets with Ni as the metallic phase, while cermets with Cu as the metallic phase resist corrosion better. In another study Zhang [30] examined the metal and physical properties of these inert anodes. X-ray diffraction indicates the coexist-ence of Cu-Ni, NiO and NiFe2O4 phases in the cermets. Within the metallic phases ranging from 0% to 20% (mass fraction), the maxi-mum bending strength of 176.4 MPa and the minimal porosity of 3.9% of the composite ap-pear when the metal phase content is 5%. Us-ing a controlled sintering atmosphere (argon for 6 hours at 1150°C) Ma et al. [31] found the following components in the composites: NiFe2O4 (NixFe3-xO4), NiO and Cu3-xNix. The porosity decreases from 1.53 to 0.63% as tem-perature and pressure increase. The grain size goes from 5 µm ~ 10 µm to 30 µm ~ 30 µm with increasing pressure. The bending strength in-creases with increasing pressure, and the elec-trical conductivity improves with increasing temperature and increasing pressure. The cor-rosion resistance in the electrolyte improved significantly.

Then the Ni-NiFe2O4 system served for several experiments. For Lai [32] the factors causing corrosion are as follows: alumina con-centration, bath temperature, cryolite ratio, area ratio of anode to cathode, and current density. Corrosion analysis is consistent with experimental results leading to a mathematical model to predict the corrosion rate of inert anodes in aluminium electrolysis. For the sys-

tem Ni-NiFe2O4 Li [33] examined the ther-mal stress situation and the transient thermal stresses under complex boundary conditions during high temperature (955°C) electrolysis using the finite element software ANSYS.

Then Qin [34] used the same system to measure corrosion rates in cryolite alumina melts. He showed that the corrosion rate increases very slowly with an alumina con-centration near saturation or above 5%; but corrosion increases sharply when the alumina content falls to about 2%. Depletion of the Al2O3 concentration in the bath can thus cause catastrophic corrosion. The anodes perform well in a bath with cryolite ratios ranging from 2.2-2.4 at about 960°C. Dissolved metal in the bath and high anodic current density increase the corrosion rate. The principal corrosion mechanism seems to be the aluminothermic reaction with dispersed aluminium in the bath, followed by fluoridation of the anode matrix and subsequent dissolution of the anode in the bath.

The density of the cermet inert anode is of great importance. The results of Lai [35] show that prolonging the ball milling time up to 150 minutes gives the optimum density; cermets containing up to 15 mass% Ni achieve a high density, ranging from 94-96%. A weakly re-ductive atmosphere favours densification; the relative density increases from 80.38-96.85% when increasing the sintering temperature from 1100-1300°C.

Ball milling and electroless plating of the metallic phase of Ni/(90NiFe2O4-10NiO) was used by Lai [36] to improve the microstructure and the thermal shock resistance. For samples prepared by ball milling an aggregation of the metallic phase is found both in the green block and the sintered sample and the extent of the aggregation increases the Ni content.

Atmosphere-changing sintering was ap-plied by Liu et al. [37] to improve the cor-rosion resistance of 17Ni/(10NiO-NiFe2O4) cermet anodes for aluminium electrolysis. In this sintering method, samples were prelimi-narily sintered at 1050-1200°C for 2 hours in an argon flow to obtain a relatively high density. Then the temperature was lowered to 1000°C and the inert atmosphere changed to oxidizing so as to oxidise the metal phase in the outer part of the sample. Then the inert sintering atmosphere was once applied and the temperature increased up to 1400°C in order to obtain fully densified samples. Atmosphere-changing sintering reduces the corroded layer in the outer zone from 440-200 µm. The Fe and Ni content in the produced aluminium decrease from 0.121-0.043 g and from 0.030-0.004 g respectively, and the wear rate drops

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from 3.12 cm per year (traditional sintering) to 1.10 cm per year(changed sintering).

Li et al. [27] determined the toughening and strengthening mechanism of the cermets to be crack bridging and crack deflection toughen-ing. Cermets containing 10% Ni achieved an optimal toughness of 5.11 MPa.m-2.

Tian et al. [38] took 100 mm diameter cup-shaped inert anodes with the composition 17Ni and 83(10NiO-90NiFe2O4) to perform laboratory scale tests. The Ni content in the produced aluminium was 0.1288% and Fe 1.0074%. The corrosion rate was determined to be approximately 8.51 mm per year. During the test, gas bubbles with 0.5-1.0 mm diam-eter, evolved almost like a froth on the anode surface. They caused a voltage fluctuation of about 49 mV, but this was smaller than 135 mV caused by bubbles on graphite anodes.

Hua et al. [39] studied the effect of Ni-Fe additions on the properties of NiFe2O4-based cermets. Metallic Ni and Fe can promote the sintering and also promote NiFe2O4 grain growth. With increasing Ni-Fe content the bending strength increases, but the bulk den-sity decreases and the porosity increases. The reason seems to be that adding Ni and Fe caus-es more interspaces to form in the NiFe2O4. This is because the expansion coefficient of NiFe2O4 is smaller than that of Ni or Fe, so interspaces form in the metal during cooling. After replacing Ni and Fe powder by a Ni-Fe alloy only few interspaces were left.

Li [40] proposed a multi-component alloy as metal phase of the NiFe2O4 oxide phase cermet. He described methods to prepare the alloys, which is quite difficult. To manu-facture the alloys NiFeAlCuZn, NiFeAlCuSn and NiFe, Li graded composite slurry casting to manufacture the anode samples and he judged this technique to be valuable for making new anti-corrosion electrode material for alumin-ium electrolysis.

Li [41] examined the effects of structural parameters on the thermal stress of NiFe2O4-based cermet inert anodes, using a mathemati-cal model based on a finite element analysis and ANSYS software. The analysis of thermal stress distribution took into account anode height, anode radius, hole depth, hole radius, and the radius of the inner and outer chamber. Results showed that under the actual working conditions, there is a large axial tensile stress near the tangent interface between the anode and the bath. This stress is the major cause of anode breaking. Increasing the anode height and reducing the hole depth seemed to im-prove the stress distribution. The hole radius has a significant effect on the stress: a smaller radius would reduce the thermal stress. Then

Li [42] and Wang [43] examined the effect of the working conditions on thermal stress of NiFe2O4-based anodes, also with a mathemat-ical model using finite element analysis and ANSYS software. Increasing the electrolyte temperature or the anode immersion depth deteriorated the stress distribution of the inert anode. The other parameters do not affect the stress distribution significantly.

Metals and alloys

Forming inert anodes with mixed metal pow-ders or using bought alloys has long been ex-perimental practice. The metal alloy can be any of a number of alloys, but it must contain aluminium as a second alloying metal. Hryn [44] and Aune et al. [45] used the simple sys-tem: copper with at least 5-15 wt% aluminium. In the presence of oxygen, aluminium on the metal anode’s exterior surface forms a con-tinuous alumina film that is thick enough to protect the anode from chemical attack by cry-olite during electrolysis, and yet thin enough to maintain electrical conductivity.

Further tests using copper, nickel and chro-mium [46] as composite materials showed that the corrosion rate in cryolite electrolyte melts decreases with higher alumina concentration in the bath and with lower bath temperature. Gao and coworkers [47] found that the Cu-Ni-Cr anode showed poor resistance in the electrolyte, but the compositions Cu-Ni-Al and Cu-Ni-Fe merit more testing as inert an-ode materials.

Another Cu-based metal alloy (Cu82Al10Ni5Fe3) was used by Helle et al. [48] in a low temperature KF-containing electro-lyte. The ball-milled alloy provided a better corrosion resistance during aluminium elec-trolysis than a commercial hot rolled alloy (C63000).

Of more interest has been the system Ni-Fe, used especially as inert anode material by de Nora and co-workers [49, 50]. It was of spe-cial interest having an openly porous nickel-rich outer portion of the anode body, whose surface is electrochemically active. This outer surface develops an integral nickel-iron oxide layer which adheres to the nickel rich portion and which protects the anode body from cor-rosion. Doping with aluminium [51] and cobalt [51, 52] can also form a surface oxide film which sticks better to the substrate. The doping effect of cobalt is better than aluminium with respect to anti-oxidation properties. Cao et al. [53] proposed doping Fe-Ni alloy with Nd. The addition of Nd (up to 1 wt.%) remarkably improves the oxidation resistance at 800°C in air. Nd mainly segregates to near the oxide/gas

interface, and possibly exists in the Fe2O3 oxide grain boundary in the form of NdFeO3, thus improving the oxidation resistance. De Nora and Nguyen [54] used copper as an alloying element in metallic anode, while Assouli et al. [55] produced copper-nickel-iron compounds with varying compositions by mechanically alloying. They obtained the best result with Cu70Ni15Fe15 material, which displayed a stable cell potential in low temperature elec-trolyte and maintained its mechanical integ-rity during aluminium electrolysis. The oxide layers formed at the surface of Cu-Ni-Fe an-odes depend on the composition of the anode body.

observations, calculations and design

Gao et al. [56] examined the oxygen gas bub-ble evolution on metal anodes in aluminium electrolysis. At low current densities, while aluminium fog disperses on the cathode, no oxygen bubbles appear on the anode as all renascent oxygen reacts with the metal of the anode to form a metal oxide film. When the oxide film is thick enough, the oxidation rate of the metal anode decreases, then oxy-gen bubbles appear on the anode surface. At higher anodic current densities, which produce more oxygen than is consumed, oxygen bub-bles evolve. Bubbles released at low current densities grow, coalesce to bigger ones, and then escape from the metal anode surface. The diameter of the released bubbles decreases with increasing current density.

Lainer [57] examined the use of metallic compounds as inert anodes for aluminium electrolysis, and he observed that these metal-lic compounds cannot be used without prelimi-nary preparation. Promising inert anode can-didates are those with a dense multi-alloyed composition to form anodes with protective barrier layers which better resist atomic oxy-gen on the anode surface, and so resist electro-chemical corrosion during electrolysis.

In a laboratory study Frolov et al. [58] ex-amined the use of Si3N4 bonded SiC as sidelin-ing material in an aluminium electrolysis cell, operated with inert metal anodes and at low temperature electrolyte. The authors recom-mend the use of Si3N4 bonded SiC as sidelining material. The most corrosion-sensitive part of the sample was found to be the three phase boundary. The corrosion was significant when using metallic anodes due to greater oxygen evolution.

When using semi graphitic side carbon block Li [59] calculated that this assures the required cell profile and reduces heat dissipation. The calculated heat balance shows that both cells

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with semi-graphitic cathode and with graphi-tized cathode achieve thermal equilibrium, but a cell operated with graphitized cathode needs 9% more energy input than the cell with semi-graphitic cathode.

As inert anode metal cells operate without crust formation on the electrolyte surface, and so dissipate more heat than necessary, de Nora and Berclaz [60] proposed an insulating cover made of movable sections that together cover the major part of the electrolyte. Another solu-tion was proposed by Nguyen et al. [61] using preformed alumina plates impregnated with frozen electrolyte and floating on the electro-lyte surface. After about 15 minutes a crust of about 1-2 cm thick forms by freezing from the cell’s electrolyte, starting from the impreg-nated, preformed refractory alumina plates.

An individual protection of inert anodes – heat radiation shield – was proposed by Burg and d’Astolfo [62] consisting of alumina, silica, calcia and mixtures of these to form a layer about 0.2-0.4 cm thick.

A cermet anode that produces oxygen and a cathode that is wetted by aluminium can provide a dimensionally stable inter-electrode distance in Hall-Héroult cells. Christini [63] reported that this concept was developed and tested using a system of vertically interleaved anodes and cathodes. The major advantage of this concept is the significant increase in elec-trochemical surface area compared to hori-zontal oriented anodes and cathodes presently used in the Hall-Héroult process. However, an acceptable current efficiency was never prov-en during either pilot scale or bench scale tests with the vertical plate configuration.

Asen at al. [64] propose to exploit the oxy-gen generated during the electrolysis process with inert anodes: the oxygen would react with a carbon containing gas in a combustion cham-ber. Thus at least a part of the reaction process stream from the combustion chamber should be used to recover energy.

Conclusion

Research to develop of inert anodes can be resumed as Welch [5] described it: “There is no compelling argument for focussing on ret-rofit technology as the first step. Those smelt-ers have already invested in the carbon plants and they have the basic cell design that is at the top of the difficulty factors for each of the obstacles that remain.

If we take the present success of inert an-ode materials development, and accept the un-derstanding of the corrosion mechanisms, the industry has climbed up the first and perhaps most difficult rung of the ladder for developing

new high-productivity cell technology.There are still a number of obstacles, but

these are minor in comparison with those that we were faced when developing a suit-able electrode material. Therefore the chance of successfully developing and implementing inert anode technology has increased in recent years, but there are many rungs to the ladder. The rungs are challenging bug, not show stop-pers. It does however require a change in atti-tude, better planning and analysis, dedication, time and many millions of dollars.”

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Al-Mg-Si-Legierungsblech, das ausgezeichne-te Oberflächeneigenschaften aufweist und Herstellungsverfahren dafür. Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.), Kobe-shi, Hy-ogo, JP. (C22C 21/08, PS 10 2004 013 497, AT: 18.03.2004)

Hochfestes Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Sc-Gussteil für Flug-zeug- und Automobilgehäuse. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., US. (C22C 21/10, EP 1 885 898, WO 2006/127812, EP-AT: 24.05.2006, WO-AT: 24.05.2006)

Al-Cu-Legierungsprodukt, das für die Luft- und Raumfahrtanwendung geeignet ist. Aleris Aluminum Koblenz GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (C22C 21/12, EP 2 121 997, WO 2008/110269, EP-AT: 28.02.2008, WO-AT: 28.02.2008) Druckgusskörper aus einer übereutektischen Aluminium-Silizium-Gusslegierung und Ver-fahren zu dessen Herstellung. Technische Universität Clausthal, 38678 Clausthal-Zeller- feld, DE. (C22C 21/04, EPA 2236637, EP-AT: 31.03.2010)

Gerolltes Produkt aus Aluminium-Lithium-Le-gierung für die Luftfahrt. Alcan Rhenalu, 92400 Courbevoie, FR. (C22C 21/12, EPA 2235224, WO 2009/103899, EP-AT: 19.12.2008, WO-AT: 19.12.2008)

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Form zum Aluminium-Thermoschweißen von Eisenbahnschienen, von denen mindestens eine abgenutzt ist, die Form aufweisend durch verformbares Material geschützte Teile und nicht geschützte Teile, die bearbeitbar sein können. Railtech International, Raismes, FR. (B23K 23/00, PS 60 2007 002, EP 1862250, EP-AT: 22.05.200)

Verbessertes modifizierendes Flussmittel für schmelzflüssiges Aluminium. Foseco Internati-onal Ltd., Central Park Barlborough Links Der-byshire S43 4XA, GB. (C22C 1/02, EPA 2231887, WO 2009/081157, EP-AT: 22.12.2008, WO-AT: 22.12.2008)

Verbesserte Aluminium-Kupfer-Lithium-Legie-rungen. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 15212- 5858, US. (C22C 21/18, EPA 2231888, WO 2009/073794, EP-AT: 04.12.2008, WO-AT: 04.12.2008)

Auf Aluminium basierende Vorlegierung zum Manganlegieren von Metalllegierungen, Her-stellungsverfahren dafür und Verwendung da-von. Terehhov, Mihhail, 13812 Tallinn, EE. (C22C 22/00, EPA 2231889, WO 2009/076969, EP-AT: 16.06.2008, WO-AT: 16.06.2008)

Belüftetes Fenster, Fenstertür oder derglei- chen, mit einer Fluidverbindung eines Luft-spaltes mit der Außenumgebung durch eine Außenglasscheibe und eine diese Scheibe haltende Leiste. Norsk Hydro ASA, Oslo, NO. (E06B 3/673, PS 60 2006 009 856, EP 1700993, EP-AT: 09.03.2006)

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82 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

ALUMINIUM veröffentlicht unter dieser Rub-rik regelmäßig einen Überblick über wichtige, den Werkstoff Aluminium betreffende Patente. Die ausführlichen Patentblätter und auch weiterführende Informationen dazu stehen der Redaktion nicht zur Verfügung. Interes-senten können diese beziehen oder einsehen bei der

Mitteldeutschen Informations-, Patent-, Online-Service GmbH (mipo),Julius-Ebeling-Str. 6,D-06112 Halle an der Saale,Tel. 0345/29398-0Fax 0345/29398-40,www.mipo.de

Die Gesellschaft bietet darüber hinaus weitere Patent-Dienstleistungen an.

Vorrichtung zum Gießen von Artikeln aus Alu-minium, Aluminiumlegierungen, Leichtmetall-legierungen und dergleichen. Frulla, Claudio, Lacchiarella, IT. (B22D 18/02, EP 1 687 107, WO 2005/049248, EP-AT: 04.11.2004, WO-AT: 04.11.2004)

Aluminium-Silizium-Druckgusslegierung für dünnwandige Strukturbauteile. Audi AG, 85057 Ingolstadt, DE; Belte AG, 33129 Delbrück, DE. (C22C 21/02, OS 10 2009 019 269, AT: 28.04.2009)

Aluminium-Verbundblechprodukt. Aleris Alu-minum Duffel BVBA, Duffel, BE; Aleris Alumi-num Koblenz GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (C22C 21/00, OS 10 2010 017 860 u. OS 10 2010 018 252, AT: 22.04.2010 u. AT: 23.04.2010)

Aluminium-Magnesium-Legierungsprodukt für geformte Automobilteile. Aleris Aluminum Duf-fel BVBA, Duffel, BE; Aleris Aluminium Koblenz GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (C22C 21/06, OS 10 2010 020 268, AT: 11.05.2010)

Drehtrommelofen mit feuerfesten Rührkör- pern zum Umschmelzen von Aluminium. Me-tallhüttenwerke Bruch GmbH, 44145 Dortmund, DE. (C22B 21/00, PS 50 2005 008 371, EP 1725690, EP-AT: 17.03.2005)

Hochreine Aluminium-Sputtertargets. Praxair S.T. Technology, Inc., North Haven, Conn., US. (C22F 1/04, EP 1 444 376, WO 2003/042421, EP-AT: 23.10.2002, WO-AT: 23.10.2002)

Aluminiumlegierung für gepulstes Laser-schweißen und Batteriegehäuse. Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho, Chuo-ku Kobe-shi Hy-ogo 651-8585, JP. (C22C 21/00, EPA 2236636, WO 2009/084454, EP-AT: 18.12.2008, WO-AT: 18.12.2008)

Konzepte für schweißbare ballistische Pro-dukte für Schweißreparaturen vor Ort und Herstellung resistenter ballistischer Strukturen. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5858, US. (B23K 20708, EPA 2231359, WO 2009/131601, EP-AT: 15.12.2008, WO-AT: 15.12.2008)

Aluminiumlegierung für tribologisch bean-spruchte Flächen. Miba Gleitlager GmbH, Laa-kirchen, AT. (C22C 21/00, PS 50 2005 000 070, EP 1624081, EP-AT: 25.07.2005)

Hitzebeständige und hochzähe Aluminiumle-gierung und Herstellungsverfahren dafür und Motorenteile. Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP; Sumitomo Electric Sintered Alloy, Ltd., Okaya- ma, JP. (C22C 21/02, PS 60 2004 023 872, EP 1690953, EP-AT: 02.12.2004) Schweißverbindung von einer Eisenlegierung und einer Aluminiumlegierung sowie Schweiß-verfahren. Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, JP. (B23K 9/23, EP 1 604 769, EP-AT: 09.06.2005)

Ceracon-Schmieden von L12-Aluminiumlegie-rungen. United Technologies Corp., Hartford, CT 06101, US. (B22F 3/17, EPA 2239071, EP-AT: 25.03.2010)

Magnesiumbasierte Legierungen. Acrostak Corp. BVI, Winterthur, CH. (C22C 32/06, EP 2 000 551, EP-AT: 28.05.2007)

Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von Masseln aus Aluminiumlegierungen. Rhein-felden Alloys GmbH & Co. KG, 79618 Rhein-felden, DE. (B22C 5/00, EPA 2230033, EP-AT: 16.03.2009)

Verschweißen von Leichtmetall-Werkstücken durch Reaktionsmetallurgie. GM Global Tech-nology Operations, Inc., Detroit, Mich., US. (B23K 20/233, OS 10 2010 013 894, AT: 07.04.2010)

Verfahren zur Herstellung von Bauteilen aus Magnesium oder Magnesiumlegierung durch Sintern. GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, 21502 Geesthacht, DE. (B22F 3/10, OS 10 2009 019 041, AT: 27.04.2009)

Legierung auf Magnesiumbasis. Cast Crc Ltd., St. Lucia, Queensland 4067, AU. (C22C 23/06, EPA 2231890, WO 2009/086585, EP-AT: 23.12.2008, WO-AT: 23.12.2008)

Erweitertes Muttern- und Schraubensystem. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5858, US. (F16B 29/00, EPA 2238361, WO 2010/080666, EP-AT: 24.12.2009, WO-AT: 24.12.2009)

Vorrichtung und Verfahren zum Schleifen von Arbeitswalzen. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5858, US. (B24B 5/37, EPA 2237924, WO 2009/079639, EP-AT: 18.12.2008, WO-AT: 18.12.2008)

Virtuelle Programmierung von Formteilbahnen. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., US. (G06F 19/00, PS 60 2005 017 301, EP 1817707, EP-AT: 25.10.2005)

Aluminiumlegierungsblech für Motorfahrzeug und Herstellungsverfahren dafür. Nippon Light Metal, Co. Ltd., Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 140-8628, JP; Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Minato-ku Tokyo 107-8556, JP. (C22C 21/06, EPA 2239347, WO 2009/098732, EP-AT: 06.02.2008, WO-AT: 06.02.2008)

Mehrschultrige Festspulen-Werkzeuge zum gleichzeitigen Reibrührschweißen von mehre-ren parallelen Wänden zwischen Teilen. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., US. (B23K 20/12, PS 60 2005 017 507, EP 1793961, EP-AT: 27.09.2005)

Entlüftungsrohr für einen Flüssigkeitsbehälter. Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., US. (B65D 17/34, EP 2 038 178, WO 2008/008892, EP-AT: 12.07.2007, WO-AT: 12.07.2007)

Halteelement für Bekleidungsprofile und Be-festigungswerkzeug hierfür. Corus Bausysteme GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (E04F 13/00, GM 20 2004 020 824, AT: 03.08.2004) Unterstruktur für ein Dach oder eine Fassade. Corus Bausysteme GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (E04D 3/36, GM 202 80 423, AT: 09.08.2002)

Fenster, Fenstertür oder dergleichen mit einem belüfteten Rahmen, mit Fluidverbindungsmit-teln von einer Luftschicht zur Außenumgebung über eine Profildichtung im unteren Querträ-ger der Außenglasscheibe. Norsk Hydro ASA, Oslo, NO. (E06B 3/673, PS 60 2006 009 855, EP 1700992, EP-AT: 09.03.2006)

Stoßverbinder für Holz-/Aluminiumfassaden. Hermann Gutmann Werke AG, 91781 Weißen-burg, DE. (E04B 2/96, PS 10 2005 044 980, AT: 20.09.2005)

Vorrichtung zur Abstützung eines Plattenele-ments. Aleris Aluminum Vogt GmbH, 88267 Vogt, DE. (E04D 13/18, GM 20 2007 010 520, AT: 28.07.2007)

Verfahren und Anordnung zum Nahtschwei-ßen von Blechen. Aleris Aluminum Duffel BVBA, Duffel, BE. (B23K 11/30, EP 1 744 851, WO 2005/105358, EP-AT: 28.04.2005, WO-AT: 28.04.2005)

Bauelement einer elektrischen Schaltung und Herstellungsverfahren für ein derartiges Bau-element. Hydro Aluminium Deutschland GmbH, 53117 Bonn, DE. (H01B 1/02, EPA 2230669, EP-AT: 16.03.2010)

Gasdichter Kraftstoffbehälter. Hydro Alumini-um Deutschland GmbH, 51149 Köln, DE. (B60K 15/03, OS 103 93 500, EP2003008019, WO-AT: 23.07.2003)

Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Behälters aus Aluminiumblechen. Hydro Aluminium Deutsch-land GmbH, 51149 Köln, DE. (B21D 51/24, PS 50 2007 001 809, EP 2026920, EP-AT: 01.06.2007)

Befestigungsmittel zur Befestigung eines Me-tallrahmens auf einen Trägerrahmen. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 1/34, GM 20 2004 008 433, AT: 24.05.2004) Draht aus Magnesiumlegierung und Herstel-lungsverfahren dafür. Sumitomo (SEI) Steel Wire Corp., Itama, Hyogo, JP; Sumitomo Elec-tric Industries, Ltd., Osaka-shi, Osaka, JP. (C22C 23/02, EP 1 400 605, WO 2002/099148, EP-AT: 16.05.2002, WO-AT: 16.05.2002)

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Klappfenster oder ähnliches mit Rahmen, mit verdecktem Öffnungsflügel. Norsk Hydro ASA, Oslo, NO. (E06B 3/263, EP 2 003 279, EP-AT: 10.06.2008)

Hohlprofil für Wärmetauscher. Erbslöh Alumi-nium GmbH, 42553 Velbert, DE. (F28F 1/02, GM 20 2010 010 187, AT: 14.07.2010)

Wärmetauscher. Erbslöh Aluminium GmbH, 42553 Velbert, DE. (F28F 19/02, GM 20 2010 010 188, AT: 14.07.2010)

Profilschiene zur Abstützung einer Terrasse oder dgl. Aleris Aluminum Vogt GmbH, 88267 Vogt, DE. (E04F 15/02, GM 20 2007 010 332, AT: 23.07.2007)

Profil mit verbesserten Wärmedämmwerten. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E04C 3/29, GM 20 2004 004 184, AT: 16.03.2004)

Regenschutzschiene ohne Endkappen. Gut-mann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 7/26, GM 20 2004 004 648, AT: 24.03.2004)

Regenschutzschiene. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 7/26 u. E06B 1/34,GM 20 2004 008 644 u. GM 20 2008 014 277, AT: 27.05.2004 u. AT: 27.10.2008)

Holz-Metall-Türkonstruktion. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 3/30, GM 20 2004 008 780, AT: 02.06.2004)

Fensterkonstruktion, insbesondere Dachfens-terkonstruktion. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißen-burg, DE. (E06B 3/30, GM 20 2006 014 581, AT: 20.09.2006)

Rahmenkonstruktion für Fenster und/oder Tü-ren. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. E06B 3/30, GM 20 2007 005 388, AT: 12.04.2007)

System zur wetterseitigen Verkleidung von Blend- und Flügelrahmen. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 3/30, GM 20 2007 014 137, AT: 09.10.2007)

Kolben mit Kühlkanal. Mahle International GmbH, 70376 Stuttgart, DE. (F02F 3/00, EPA 2232038, WO 2009/074296, EP-AT: 10.12.2008, WO-AT: 10.12.2008)

Aufsatzdichtung mit variabler Breite und Rah-menwerk. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E04B 2/96, GM 203 12 245, AT: 06.08.2003)

Wetterschutzschiene sowie Tür bzw. Fenster. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 1/34, GM 20 2008 008 486, AT: 26.06.2008)

Regenschutzschiene ohne Endkappen. Gutmann AG, 91781 Weißenburg, DE. (E06B 7/26, PS 50 2005 010 197, EP 1580394, EP-AT: 23.03.2005)

Verfahren zur Herstellung von Aluminiumti- tanatkeramik. Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd., Tokyo 104-8260, JP. (C04B 35/46, EPA 2239244, WO 2009/087912, EP-AT: 25.12. 2008, WO-AT: 25.12.2008)

Zylindrische Lauffläche. KS Aluminium-Techno-logie AG, 74172 Neckarsulm, DE. (F02F 1/00, PS 502 13 911, EP 1225324, EP-AT: 15.01.2002)

Kolben für einen Verbrennungsmotor sowie Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung. Mahle Inter-national GmbH, 70376 Stuttgart, DE. (F02F 3/00, EPA 2229522, WO 2009/079988, EP-AT: 10.12.2008, WO-AT: 10.12.2008)

Zweiteiliger Kolben für einen Verbrennungs-motor. Mahle International GmbH, 70376 Stutt-gart. (F02F 3/00, EPA 2229521, WO 2009/ 076928, EP-AT: 01.12.2008, WO-AT: 01.12.2008)

Keramik aus Aluminiummagnesiumtitanat- Aluminiumverbund. Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Tokyo 104-8260, JP. (C04B 35/46, EPA 2239245, WO 2009/093560, EP-AT: 20.01. 2009, WO-AT: 20.01.2009)

Kolben für einen Verbrennungsmotor. Mahle International GmbH, 70376 Stuttgart, DE. (F02F 3/00, OS 10 2009 032 379, AT: 08.07.2009)

Stranggießvorrichtung und Metallschmelzen-düse. Showa Denko K.K., Tokyo 105-8518, JP. (B22D 11/07, EPA 2230034, WO 2009/072558, EP-AT: 04.12.2008, WO-AT: 04.12.2008)

Herstellungsverfahren für aus einer wärme-beständigen Aluminiumlegierung geformte Produkte und aus einer wärmebeständigen Aluminiumlegierung geformtes Produkt. Kabu-shiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, JP. (C22F 1/00, EP 1 881 084, EP-AT: 14.06.2007)

Aluminiumlegierungsmaterial zum Schmieden. Showa Denko K.K., Tokyo 105-8518, JP. (C22C 21/12, EPA 2233595, WO 2009/081770, EP-AT: 12.12.2008, WO-AT: 12.12.2008)

Plattierplatte und Herstellungsverfahren da-für. Showa Denko K.K., Tokyo, JP. (C22C 21/00, EP 1 939 312, WO 2007/026481, EP-AT: 25.07.2006, WO-AT: 25.07.2006)

Bahnenmaterial aus einer Magnesiumlegie-rung. Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Chuo-ku Osaka-shi Osaka 541-0041, JP. (C22C 23/02, EPA 2239348, WO 2009/093420, EP-AT: 14.01.2009, WO-AT: 14.01.2009)

Verfahren zur Züchtung eines Aluminium-nitridkristalls, Herstellungsprozess für einen Aluminiumnitridkristall und Aluminiumnit-ridkristall. Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Chuo-ku Osaka-shi Osaka 541-0041, JP. (C30B 29/38, EPA 2230333, WO 2009/090831, EP-AT: 19.12.2008, WO-AT: 19.12.2008)

patentblatt dezember 2010

Legierungen auf Al-Zn-Cu-Mg-Aluminium-Ba-sis, Verfahren zu ihrer Herstellung und Ver-wendung. Alcan Rolled Products Ravenswood LLC, Ravenswood, W.Va., US; Alcan Rhenalu, Paris, FR. (C22C 21/10, PS 60 2006 011 447, EP 1861516, EP-AT: 10.02.2006)

Schweißbare Al-Mg-Si-Legierung mit hoher Festigkeit. Aleris Aluminum Koblenz GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (C22C 21/08, OS 102 30 710, AT: 08.07.2002)

Produkt aus Al-Mg-Zn-Knetlegierung und Herstellungsverfahren dafür. Aleris Aluminum Koblenz GmbH, 56070 Koblenz, DE. (C22C 21/06, WO 2009/062866, WO-AT: 05.11.2008 )

Al-Ti-Ru-N-C Hartstoffschicht. Ceratizit Austria Ges.m.b.H., Reutte, Tirol, AT. (C23C 16/30, EP 2 179 073, WO 2009/003206, EP-AT: 26.06.2008, WO-AT: 26.06.2008)

Produkte aus Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Legierung. Alcan Rhenalu, Courbevoie, FR. (C22C 21/10, PS 603 30 547, EP 1492895, EP-AT: 04.04.2003)

Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Bauteils aus einem mit einem Al-Si-Überzug versehenen Stahlprodukt und Zwischenprodukt eines solchen Verfahrens. Thyssen Krupp Steel Euro-pe AG, 47166 Duisburg, DE. (C23C 2/28, EPA 2240622, WO 2009/095427, EP-AT: 9.01.2009, WO-AT: 29.01.2009)

Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Laminats mit einer Einkristallschicht aus einem auf Al basie-renden Gruppe-III-Nitrid, nach dem Verfahren hergestelltes Laminat, Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Einkristallsubstrats aus einem auf Al-ba-sierenden Gruppe-III-Nitrid unter Verwendung des Laminats und Aluminiumnitrideinkristall-substrat. National University Corporation Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo 183-0057, JP; Tokuyama Corporation, Shunan-shi, Yamaguchi-ken 745-8648, JP. (C30B 29/38, EPA 2243866, WO 2009/090821, EP-AT: 16.12.2008, WO-AT: 16.12.2008)

Gliederheizkessel aus Gusseisen oder Alumini-um. Robert Bosch GmbH, 70442 Stuttgart, DE. (F24H 1/32, EPA 2250448, WO 2009/109486, EP-AT: 24.02.2009, WO-AT: 24.02.2009)

Geripptes Spiralbohrrohr aus Aluminium. Aqua-tic Company, Moscow, RU. (E21B 17/22, EPA 2240665, WO 2009/095794, EP-AT: 12.01.2009, WO-AT: 12.01.2009)

Fischer-Tropsch-Katalysator mit aluminium- oder zirkoniumdotiertem Kobalt-auf-Zink-oxidträger. (B01J 23/75, EPA 2242575, WO 2009/099328, EP-AT: 05.02.2009, WO-AT: 05.02.2009)

Verfahren zur Verwertung von Aluminium in Abfallstoffen, insbesondere im Verbund mit anderen Stoffen. Weingart und Kubrat GmbH, 21035 Hamburg, DE; Nowacki, Dörte, 21509 Glinde, DE. (B09B 3/00, EPA 2240287, WO 2009/087079, EP-AT: 05.01.2009, WO-AT: 05.01.2009)

Wärmetauscher. Showa Aluminium Czech, s.r.o., 272 01 Kladno - Krocehlavy, CZ. (F25B 43/00, EPA 2110623, EP-AT: 17.04.2008)

Fortsetzung in ALUMINIUM 3/2011

84 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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FLSmidth MöLLer GmbHHaderslebener Straße 7D-25421 PinnebergTelefon: 04101 788-0Telefax: 04101 788-115E-Mail: moeller@flsmidth.comInternet: www.flsmidthmoeller.comKontakt: Herr Dipl.-Ing. Timo Letz

1.2Storagefacilitiesfor smelting Lagermöglichkeiteni.d.Hütte

Unloading/Loadingequipment Entlade-/Beladeeinrichtungen

FLSmidth MöLLer GmbHwww.flsmidthmoeller.com

see Storage facilities for smelting 1.2

Hydraulicpressesforprebaked anodes/HydraulischePressenzur HerstellungvonAnoden

1.3 Anodeproduction Anodenherstellung

LAeIS GmbHAm Scheerleck 7, L-6868 Wecker, LuxembourgPhone: +352 27612 0Fax: +352 27612 109E-Mail: info@laeis-gmbh.comInternet: www.laeis-gmbh.comContact: Dr. Alfred Kaiser

Autofiringsystems AutomatischeFeuerungssysteme

1.1 Raw materials 1.2 Storage facilities for smelting1.3 Anode production 1.4 Anode rodding1.4.1 Anode baking1.4.2 Anode clearing1.4.3 Fixing of new anodes to the anodes bars1.5 Casthouse (foundry)1.6 Casting machines1.7 Current supply1.8 Electrolysis cell (pot)1.9 Potroom1.10 Laboratory1.11 Emptying the cathode shell1.12 Cathode repair shop1.13 Second-hand plant1.14 Aluminium alloys1.15 Storage and transport1.16 Smelting manufactures

1Smelting technologyHüttentechnik

1.1 Rohstoffe1.2 Lagermöglichkeiten in der Hütte1.3 Anodenherstellung1.4 Anodenschlägerei1.4.1 Anodenbrennen1.4.2 Anodenschlägerei1.4.3 Befestigen von neuen Anoden an der Anodenstange1.5 Gießerei1.6 Gießmaschinen1.7 Stromversorgung1.8 Elektrolyseofen1.9 Elektrolysehalle1.10 Labor1.11 Ofenwannenentleeren1.12 Kathodenreparaturwerkstatt1.13 Gebrauchtanlagen1.14 Aluminiumlegierungen1.15 Lager und Transport1.16 Hüttenerzeugnisse

FLSmidth MöLLer GmbHInternet: www.flsmidthmoeller.com

see Storage facilities for smelting 1.2

Conveyingsystemsbulkmaterials FörderanlagenfürSchüttgüter (Hüttenaluminiumherstellung)

Outotec GmbHAlbin-Köbis-Str. 8, D-51147 KölnPhone: +49 (0) 2203 / 9921-0E-mail: aluminium@outotec.comwww.outotec.com

ALuMInA And pet cOke SHIpunLOAderSContact: Andreas Haeuser, ha@neuero.de

see Storage facilities for smelting 1.2

rIedHAMMer GmbHD-90411 NürnbergPhone: +49 (0) 911 5218 0, Fax: -5218 231E-Mail: frank.goede@riedhammer.deInternet: www.riedhammer.de

www.coperion.commailto: info.cc-mh@coperion.com

BulkmaterialsHandling fromShiptoCell BulkmaterialsHandlingfromShiptoCell

Storvik AS Industriveien 13 6600 SuNNDALSØRA/NORWAyTel.: +47 71 69 95 00 | Fax: +47 71 69 95 55 www.storvik.no | storvik@storvik.no

Solios carbone – Francewww.fivesgroup.com

AnodeTechnology& MixingEquipment

Buss chemtech AG, SwitzerlandPhone: +4161 825 64 62E-Mail: info@buss-ct.comInternet: www.buss-ct.com

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Buss AGCH-4133 PrattelnPhone: +41 61 825 66 00E-Mail: info@busscorp.comInternet: www.busscorp.com

MixingTechnologyfor Anodepastes MischtechnologiefürAnodenmassen

Metaltreatmentinthe holdingfurnace MetallbehandlunginHalteöfen

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

Sistem teknik Ltd. Sti.DES San. Sit. 102 SOK No: 6/8y.Dudullu, TR-34775 Istanbul/TurkeyTel.: +90 216 420 86 24Fax: +90 216 420 23 22E-Mail: info@sistemteknik.comInternet: www.sistemteknik.com

Melting/holding/castingfurnaces Schmelz-/Halte-undGießöfen

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Furnacechargingwith moltenmetal OfenbeschickungmitFlüssigmetall

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbHsee Anode rodding 1.4

Stopinc AGBösch 83 aCH-6331 HünenbergTel. +41/41-785 75 00Fax +41/41-785 75 01E-Mail: interstop@stopinc.chInternet: www.stopinc.ch

InOtHerM InduStrIeOFen- und WÄrMetecHnIk GMBHKonstantinstraße 1aD 41238 MönchengladbachTelefon +49 (02166) 987990Telefax +49 (02166) 987996E-Mail: info@inotherm-gmbh.deInternet: www.inotherm-gmbh.de

1.5 Casthouse(foundry) Gießerei

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHMaschinen und IndustrieanlagenWeinbergerstraße 6, A-5280 Braunau am InnPhone +437722/806-0Fax +437722/806-122E-Mail: info@hertwich.comInternet: www.hertwich.com

Removalofbathresiduesfrom thesurfaceofspentanodes EntfernenderBadrestevonderOber- flächederverbrauchtenAnoden

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbHHornstraße 19D-45964 GladbeckTelefon 02043 / 9738-0Telefax 02043 / 9738-50

1.4 Anoderodding Anodenanschlägerei

Transportoffinishedanode elementstothepotroom TransportderfertigenAnoden- elementeinElektrolysehalle

Hovestr. 10 . D-48431 Rheine Telefon + 49 (0) 59 7158-0 Fax + 49 (0) 59 7158-209 E-Mail info@windhoff.de Internet www.windhoff.de

1.4.2Anodeclearing Anodenschlägerei

SerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

see Casting Machines 1.6

Separationofspentanodes fromtheanodebars TrennenvondenAnodenstangen

1.4.3Fixingofnewanodes totheanodesbars Befestigenvonneuen Anodena.d.Anodenstange

Fixingthenipplestothe anodesbycastingin BefestigenderNippelmitder AnodedurchEingießen

SerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

see Casting Machines 1.6

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

see Storage facilities for smelting 1.2

Hampshire House, High Street, Kingswinford, West Midlands Dy6 8AW, uK Tel.: +44 (0) 1384 279132 Fax: +44 (0) 1384 291211 E-Mail: sales@mechatherm.co.uk www.mechatherm.com

Opentopandclosed typebakingfurnaces OffeneundgeschlosseneRingöfen

rIedHAMMer GmbHD-90411 NürnbergPhone: +49 (0) 911 5218 0, Fax: -5218 231E-Mail: frank.goede@riedhammer.deInternet: www.riedhammer.de

Drossskimmingofliquidmetal AbkrätzendesFlüssigmetalls

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbHsee Anode rodding 1.4

drache umwelttechnikGmbHWerner-v.-Siemens-Straße 9/24-26D 65582 Diez/LahnTelefon 06432/607-0Telefax 06432/607-52Internet: www.drache-gmbh.de

Degassing,filtrationand grainrefinement Entgasung,Filtern,Kornfeinung

E-Mail: sermas@sermas.comsee Casting machines 1.6

Drossskimmingofthemelt AbkrätzenderSchmelze

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

1.4.1Anodebaking Anodenbrennen

SerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

see Casting Machines 1.6

Anodecharging/Anodenchargieren

Anodestorage/AnodenlagerSerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

see Casting Machines 1.6

Solios thermal ukwww.fivesgroup.com

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Sawing/Sägen

Horizontalcontinuouscasting HorizontalesStranggießen

Scales/Waagen

Rollingandextrusioningot andT-bars Formatgießerei(Walzbarrenoder PressbolzenoderT-Barren)

343 Chemin du Stade38210 Saint Quentin sur Isère Tel. +33 (0) 476 074 242Fax +33 (0) 476 936 776E-Mail: sermas@sermas.comInternet: www.sermas.com

1.6 Castingmachines Gießmaschinen

Pigcastingmachines(sowcasters) Masselgießmaschine(Sowcaster)

see Storage facilities for smelting 1.2

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Transportofliquidmetal tothecasthouse Transportv.FlüssigmetallinGießereien

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbHsee Anode rodding 1.4

Windhoff Bahn- undAnlagentechnik GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

MArx GmbH & co. kGwww.marx-gmbh.de

see Melt operations 4.13

Treatmentofcasthouse offgases BehandlungderGießereiabgaseGautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Transfertothecastingfurnace ÜberführunginGießofen

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbHsee Anode rodding 1.4

drache umwelttechnikGmbHWerner-v.-Siemens-Straße 9/24-26D 65582 Diez/LahnTelefon 06432/607-0Telefax 06432/607-52Internet: www.drache-gmbh.de

Windhoff Bahn- undAnlagentechnik GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

Solios carbone – Francewww.solios.com

rIHS enGIneerInG AGsee Casting machines and equipment 4.7

GApcast tM: the Swiss casting solutionsee Casting machines and equipment 4.7

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

Heattreatmentofextrusion ingot(homogenisation) Formatebehandlung(homogenisieren)

see Billet Heating Furnaces 1.5

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

1.8 Electrolysiscell(pot) Elektrolyseofen

Calciumsilicateboards Calciumsilikatplatten

promat GmbH – techn. WärmedämmungScheifenkamp 16, D-40878 RatingenTel. +49 (0) 2102 / 493-0, Fax -493 115verkauf3@promat.de, www.promat.de

Wagstaff, Inc.3910 N. Flora Rd.Spokane, WA 99216 uSA+1 509 922 1404 phone+1 509 924 0241 faxE-Mail: info@wagstaff.comInternet: www.wagstaff.com

Verticalsemi-continuousDC casting/VertikalesStranggießen

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

www.coperion.commailto: info.cc-mh@coperion.com

BulkmaterialsHandling fromShiptoCell BulkmaterialsHandlingfromShiptoCell

Potfeedingsystems Beschickungseinrichtungen fürElektrolysezellen

FLSmidth MöLLer GmbHwww.flsmidthmoeller.com

see Storage facilities for smelting 1.2

Exhaustgastreatment Abgasbehandlung

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

1.9 Potroom Elektrolysehalle

t.t. tomorrow technology S.p.A.Via dell’Artigianato 18Due Carrare, Padova 35020, ItalyTelefon +39 049 912 8800Telefax +39 049 912 8888E-Mail: gmagarotto@tomorrowtechnology.itContact: Giovanni Magarotto

Solios environnementwww.fivesgroup.com

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2.1.1Extrusionbillet production Pressbolzenherstellung

Billettransportandstorage equipment Bolzen-Transport-u.Lagereinricht.

SerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

See Casting Machines 1.6Sistem teknik Ltd. Sti.DES San. Sit. 102 SOK No: 6/8y. Dudullu, TR-34775 Istanbul/TurkeyTel.: +90 216 420 86 24Fax: +90 216 420 23 22E-Mail: info@sistemteknik.comInternet: www.sistemteknik.com

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

2.1Extrusionbilletpreparation Pressbolzenbereitstellung

Billetheatingfurnaces ÖfenzurBolzenerwärmung

Am großen Teich 16+27D-58640 IserlohnTel. +49 (0) 2371 / 4346-0Fax +49 (0) 2371 / 4346-43E-Mail: verkauf@ias-gmbh.deInternet: www.ias-gmbh.de

MArx GmbH & co. kGwww.marx-gmbh.de

see Melt operations 4.13

Extrusion2 Strangpressen

2.1 Extrusion billet preparation 2.1.1 Extrusion billet production2.2 Extrusion equipment2.3 Section handling2.4 Heat treatment2.5 Measurement and control equipment2.6 Die preparation and care2.7 Second-hand extrusion plant2.8 Consultancy, expert opinion2.9 Surface finishing of sections2.10 Machining of sections2.11 Equipment and accessories2.12 Services

2.1 Pressbolzenbereitstellung 2.1.1 Pressbolzenherstellung2.2 Strangpresseinrichtungen2.3 Profilhandling 2.4 Wärmebehandlung 2.5 Mess- und Regeleinrichtungen2.6 Werkzeugbereitstellung und -pflege2.7 Gebrauchte Strangpressanlagen2.8 Beratung, Gutachten2.9 Oberflächenveredlung von Profilen2.10 Profilbearbeitung2.11 Ausrüstungen und Hilfsmittel2.12 Dienstleistungen

www.alu-web.de

Tappingvehicles/Schöpffahrzeuge

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbHsee Anode rodding 1.4

1.11Emptyingthecathodeshell OfenwannenentleerenCathodebarcastingunits Kathodenbarreneingießanlage

E-Mail: sermas@sermas.comsee Casting machines 1.6

1.15 Storageandtransport Lager und Transport

Alcan Aluminium Valais SACH-3960 SierreTelefon: 0041 27 / 4575111Telefax: 0041 27 / 4576425

1.16 Smeltingmanufactories Hüttenerzeugnisse

Rollingingots Walzbarren

rHeInFeLden ALLOYS GmbH & co. kGA member of ALuMINIuM RHEINFELDEN GroupPostfach 1703, 79607 RheinfeldenTel.: +49 7623 93-490Fax: +49 7623 93-546E-Mail: alloys@rheinfelden-alloys.euInternet: www.rheinfelden-alloys.eu

1.14AluminiumAlloys Aluminiumlegierungen

Dryabsorptionunitsfor electrolysisexhaustgases Trockenabsorptionsanlagefür Elektrolyseofenabgase

www.alu-web.de

Anodechangingmachine AnodenwechselmaschineGLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

Crustbreakers/KrustenbrecherGLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

Anodetransportequipment AnodenTransporteinrichtungenGLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

Solios environnementwww.fivesgroup.com

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Presscontrolsystems Pressensteuersysteme

Oilgear towler GmbHsee Extrusion Equipment 2.2

Temperaturemeasurement Temperaturmessung

2.2 Extrusionequipment Strangpresseinrichtungen

Oilgear towler GmbHIm Gotthelf 8D 65795 HattersheimTel. +49 (0) 6145 3770Fax +49 (0) 6145 30770E-Mail: info@oilgear.deInternet: www.oilgear.de

Containers/Rezipienten

SMS Meer GmbHSchloemann ExtrusionOhlerkirchweg 6641069 Mönchengladbach, GermanyTel. +49 (0) 2161 350-0Fax +49 (0) 2161 350-1667E-Mail: info@sms-meer.comInternet: www.sms-meer.com

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

Heatingandcontrol equipmentforintelligent billetcontainers Heizungs-undKontrollausrüstung fürintelligenteBlockaufnehmer

MArx GmbH & co. kGwww.marx-gmbh.de

see Melt operations 4.13

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

Packagingequipment Verpackungseinrichtungen

H+H HerrMAnn + HIeBer GMBHFördersysteme für palettenund schwere LastenRechbergstraße 46D-73770 Denkendorf/StuttgartTel. +49 (0) 711 / 9 34 67-0Fax +49 (0) 711 / 3 46 0911E-Mail: info@herrmannhieber.deInternet: www.herrmannhieber.de

2.3 Sectionhandling Profilhandling

Pullerequipment Ausziehvorrichtungen/Puller

Sectioncooling Profilkühlung

Sectionsaws Profilsägen

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kGStadtseestraße 12D-74189 WeinsbergTel. +49 (0) 7134 / 52-220Fax +49 (0) 7134 / 52-222E-Mail intralogistik@vollert.deInternet www.vollert.de

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

kAStO Maschinenbau GmbH & co. kGIndustriestr. 14, D-77855 AchernTel.: +49 (0) 7841 61-0 / Fax: +49 (0) 7841 61 300kasto@kasto.de / www.kasto.deHersteller von Band- und Kreissägemaschinensowie Langgut- und Blechlagersystemen

Stackers/Destackers Stapler/Entstapler

Stretchingequipment Reckeinrichtungen

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

Sectiontransportequipment Profiltransporteinrichtungen

Nijverheidsweg 3NL-7071 CH ulft NetherlandsTel.: +31 315 641352Fax: +31 315 641852E-Mail: info@unifour.nlInternet: www.unifour.nlSales Contact: Paul Overmans

Sectionstoreequipment Profil-Lagereinrichtungen

H+H HerrMAnn + HIeBer GMBHFördersysteme für palettenund schwere LastenRechbergstraße 46D-73770 Denkendorf/StuttgartTel. +49 (0) 711 / 9 34 67-0Fax +49 (0) 711 / 3 46 0911E-Mail: info@herrmannhieber.deInternet: www.herrmannhieber.de

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

Transportequipmentfor extrudedsections Transporteinrichtungen fürProfilabschnitte

H+H HerrMAnn + HIeBer GMBHFördersysteme für palettenund schwere LastenRechbergstraße 46D-73770 Denkendorf/StuttgartTel. +49 (0) 711 / 9 34 67-0Fax +49 (0) 711 / 3 46 0911E-Mail: info@herrmannhieber.deInternet: www.herrmannhieber.de

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

Hier könnte IhrBezugsquellen-Eintrag

stehen.

Rufen Sie an:Tel. 0511 / 73 04-148

Beate Schaefer

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2.10Machiningofsections Profilbearbeitung

tensai (International) AGextal divisionSteinengraben 40CH-4051 BaselTelefon +41 (0) 61 284 98 10Telefax +41 (0) 61 284 98 20E-Mail: tensai@tensai.com

ProcessingofProfiles Profilbearbeitung

2.6 Diepreparationandcare Werkzeugbereitstellung und-pflege

Dieheatingfurnaces Werkzeuganwärmöfen

Sistem teknik Ltd. Sti.see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1

MArx GmbH & co. kGwww.marx-gmbh.de

see Melt operations 4.13

Inductivheatingequipment Induktivbeheizte Erwärmungseinrichtungen

2.11Equipmentand accessories Ausrüstungenund Hilfsmittel

Ageingfurnaceforextrusions Auslagerungsöfenfür Strangpressprofile

see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1Nijverheidsweg 3NL-7071 CH ulft NetherlandsTel.: +31 315 641352Fax: +31 315 641852E-Mail: info@unifour.nlInternet: www.unifour.nlSales Contact: Paul Overmans Nijverheidsweg 3

NL-7071 CH ulft NetherlandsTel.: +31 315 641352Fax: +31 315 641852E-Mail: info@unifour.nlInternet: www.unifour.nlSales Contact: Paul Overmans

Am großen Teich 16+27D-58640 IserlohnTel. +49 (0) 2371 / 4346-0Fax +49 (0) 2371 / 4346-43E-Mail: verkauf@ias-gmbh.deInternet: www.ias-gmbh.de

2.5 Measurementand controlequipment Mess-undRegeleinrichtungen

Extrusionplantcontrolsystems Presswerkssteuerungen

Customdesignedheat processingequipment Kundenspezifische Wärmebehandlungsanlagen

Sistem teknik Ltd. Sti.see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1

Heattreatmentfurnaces Wärmebehandlungsöfen

InOtHerM InduStrIeOFen- und WÄrMetecHnIk GMBH

see Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1

Homogenisingfurnaces Homogenisieröfen

see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Annealingfurnaces Glühöfen

2.4 Heattreatment Wärmebehandlung

BSN Thermprozesstechnik GmbHKammerbruchstraße 64D-52152 SimmerathTel. 02473-9277-0 · Fax: 02473-9277-111info@bsn-therm.de · www.bsn-therm.deOfenanlagen zum Wärmebehandeln von Alu-miniumlegierungen, Buntmetallen und Stählen

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

2.7 Second-hand extrusionplant Gebr.Strangpressanlagen

Qualiteam International/extruprexChamps Elyséesweg 17, NL-6213 AA MaastrichtTel. +31-43-3 25 67 77Internet: www.extruprex.com

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

Hier könnte IhrBezugsquellen-Eintrag

stehen.

Rufen Sie an:Tel. 0511 / 73 04-148

Beate Schaefer

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3.1 Castingequipment Gießanlagen

Meltingandholdingfurnaces Schmelz-undWarmhalteöfen

Gautschiengineering GmbHGeschäftsbereich AluminiumKonstanzer Straße 37Postfach 170CH 8274 TägerwilenTelefon +41/71/6666666Telefax +41/71/6666688E-Mail: aluminium@gautschi-engineering.comKontakt: Stefan Blum, Tel. +41/71/6666621

Fillinglevelindicatorsandcontrols Füllstandsanzeigerund-regler

3Rolling mill technologyWalzwerktechnik

3.1 Casting equipment 3.2 Rolling bar machining3.3 Rolling bar furnaces 3.4 Hot rolling equipment 3.5 Strip casting units and accessories3.6 Cold rolling equipment3.7 Thin strip / foil rolling plant3.8 Auxiliary equipment3.9 Adjustment devices3.10 Process technology / Automation technology3.11 Coolant / lubricant preparation3.12 Air extraction systems3.13 Fire extinguishing units3.14 Storage and dispatch3.15 Second-hand rolling equipment3.16 Coil storage systems3.17 Strip Processing Lines3.18 Productions Management Systems

3.1 Gießanlagen 3.2 Walzbarrenbearbeitung3.3 Walzbarrenvorbereitung 3.4 Warmwalzanlagen 3.5 Bandgießanlagen und Zubehör3.6 Kaltwalzanlagen3.7 Feinband-/Folienwalzwerke3.8 Nebeneinrichtungen3.9 Adjustageeinrichtungen3.10 Prozesstechnik / Automatisierungstechnik3.11 Kühl-/Schmiermittel-Aufbereitung3.12 Abluftsysteme3.13 Feuerlöschanlagen3.14 Lagerung und Versand3.15 Gebrauchtanlagen3.16 Coil storage systems3.17 Bandprozesslinien3.18 Produktions Management Systeme

3.0Rollingmilltechnology Walzwerktechnik

LOI thermprocess GmbHAm Lichtbogen 29D-45141 EssenGermanyTelefon +49 (0) 201 / 18 91-1Telefax +49 (0) 201 / 18 91-321E-Mail: info@loi-italimpianti.deInternet: www.loi-italimpianti.com

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Wagstaff, Inc.see Casting machines 1.6

SMS Siemag AktiengesellschaftEduard-Schloemann-Straße 440237 Düsseldorf, GermanyTelefon: +49 (0) 211 881-0Telefax: +49 (0) 211 881-4902E-Mail: communications@sms-siemag.comInternet: www.sms-siemag.comGeschäftsbereiche:Warmflach- und kaltwalzwerkeWiesenstraße 3057271 Hilchenbach-Dahlbruch, GermanyTelefon: +49 (0) 2733 29-0Telefax: +49 (0) 2733 29-2852BandanlagenWalder Straße 51-5340724 Hilden, GermanyTelefon: +49 (0) 211 881-5100Telefax: +49 (0) 211 881-5200elektrik + AutomationIvo-Beucker-Straße 4340237 Düsseldorf, GermanyTelefon: +49 (0) 211 881-5895Telefax: +49 (0) 211 881-775895Graf-Recke-Straße 8240239 Düsseldorf, GermanyTelefon: +49 (0) 211 881-0Telefax: +49 (0) 211 881-4902

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

ElectromagneticStirrer ElektromagnetischeRührer

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

3.2 Rollingbarmachining Walzbarrenbearbeitung

Bandsaws/Bandsägen

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

Metalfilters/Metallfilter

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Meltpurificationunits Schmelzereinigungsanlagen

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Metalpumps/Metallpumpen

Solios carbone – Francewww.solios.com

Solios thermal ukwww.fivesgroup.com

Solios thermal ukwww.fivesgroup.com

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Annealingfurnaces Glühöfen

eBner Industrieofenbau Ges.m.b.H.Ruflinger Str. 111, A-4060 LeondingTel. +43 / 732 / 68 68Fax +43 / 732 / 68 68-1000Internet: www.ebner.ccE-Mail: sales@ebner.cc

3.4 Hotrollingequipment Warmwalzanlagen

schwartz GmbHsee Heat treatment 2.4

Barheatingfurnaces Barrenanwärmanlagen

eBner Industrieofenbau Ges.m.b.H.see Annealing furnaces 3.3

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

Coiltransportsystems Bundtransportsysteme

Windhoff Bahn- undAnlagentechnik GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Rollertracks Rollengänge

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

Drivesystems/Antriebe

Rollingmillmodernisation Walzwerksmodernisierung

Spools/Haspel

Hotrollingunits/ completeplants Warmwalzanlagen/Komplettanlagen

3.3 Rollingbarfurnaces Walzbarrenvorbereitung

BSN Thermprozesstechnik GmbHsee Heat Treatment 2.4

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Homogenisingfurnaces Homogenisieröfen

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

3.6 Coldrollingequipment Kaltwalzanlagen

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

Gautschiengineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Coilannealingfurnaces Bundglühöfen

BSN Thermprozesstechnik GmbHsee Heat Treatment 2.4

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Slabmillingmachines Barrenfräsmaschinen

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

Solios thermal ukwww.fivesgroup.com

Solios thermal ukwww.fivesgroup.com

Coiltransportsystems Bundtransportsysteme

Windhoff Bahn- undAnlagentechnik GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

Coldrollingunits/ completeplants Kaltwalzanlagen/Komplettanlagen

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

Drivesystems/Antriebe

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

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3.7 Thinstrip/ foilrollingplant Feinband-/Folienwalzwerke

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

Processoptimisationsystems Prozessoptimierungssysteme

Processsimulation Prozesssimulation

Heatingfurnaces/Anwärmöfen

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Rollexchangeequipment Walzenwechseleinrichtungen

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

Stripshears/Bandscheren

Rollingmillmodernization Walzwerkmodernisierung

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

Slittinglines-CTL Längs-undQuerteilanlagen

Trimmingequipment Besäumeinrichtungen

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

Windhoff Bahn- undAnlagentechnik GmbH

see Anode rodding 1.4

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

Coilannealingfurnaces Bundglühöfen

Gautschiengineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Rollingmillmodernization Walzwerkmodernisierung

Heatingfurnaces Anwärmöfen

InOtHerM InduStrIeOFen- und WÄrMetecHnIk GMBH

see Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

schwartz GmbHsee Cold colling equipment 3.6

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

Thinstrip/foilrollingmills/ completeplant Feinband-/Folienwalzwerke/ Komplettanlagen

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

3.9 Adjustmentdevices Adjustageeinrichtungen

Sheetandplatestretchers Blech-undPlattenstrecker

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

3.10Processtechnology/ Automationtechnology Prozesstechnik/ Automatisierungstechnik

Cableundulatingmachines Kabelwellmaschinen

Processcontroltechnology Prozessleittechnik

Transversecuttingunits Querteilanlagen

SerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

See Casting Machines 1.6

Wagstaff, Inc.see Casting machines 1.6

Cablesheathingpresses Kabelummantelungspressen

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

SMS Meer GmbHsee Extrusion equipment 2.2

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Stripflatnessmeasurement andcontrolequipment Bandplanheitsmess-und -regeleinrichtungen

ABB Automation technologies ABForce MeasurementS-72159 Västeras, SwedenPhone: +46 21 325 000Fax: +46 21 340 005E-Mail: pressductor@se.abb.com Internet: www.abb.com/pressductor

Stripthicknessmeasurement andcontrolequipment Banddickenmess-und -regeleinrichtungen

ABB Automation technologies ABForce MeasurementS-72159 Västeras, SwedenPhone: +46 21 325 000Fax: +46 21 340 005E-Mail: pressductor@se.abb.com Internet: www.abb.com/pressductor

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

3.11Coolant/lubricant preparation Kühl-/Schmiermittel- Aufbereitung

Rollingoilrecoveryand treatmentunits Walzöl-Wiederaufbereitungsanlagen

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

Filterforrollingoilsand emulsions FilterfürWalzöleundEmulsionen

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

3.12Airextractionsystems Abluft-Systeme

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

3.14 Storageanddispatch LagerungundVersand

Exhaustairpurification systems(active) Abluft-Reinigungssysteme(aktiv)

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

dantherm Filtration GmbHIndustriestr. 9, D-77948 FriesenheimTel.: +49 (0) 7821 / 966-0, Fax: - 966-245E-Mail: info.de@danthermfiltration.com Internet: www.danthermfiltration.com

Filteringplantsandsystems FilteranlagenundSysteme

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

Rollingoilrectificationunits Walzölrektifikationsanlagen

Achenbach Buschhütten GmbHSiegener Str. 152, D-57223 KreuztalTel. +49 (0) 2732/7990, info@achenbach.deInternet: www.achenbach.de

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

StripTension Measurementequipment Bandplanheitsmess-und -regeleinrichtungen

RollForce Measurementequipment Bandplanheitsmess-und -regeleinrichtungen

StripWidth&Position Measurementequipment Bandplanheitsmess-und -regeleinrichtungen

ABB Automation technologies ABForce MeasurementS-72159 Västeras, SwedenPhone: +46 21 325 000Fax: +46 21 340 005E-Mail: pressductor@se.abb.com Internet: www.abb.com/pressductor

ABB Automation technologies ABForce MeasurementS-72159 Västeras, SwedenPhone: +46 21 325 000Fax: +46 21 340 005E-Mail: pressductor@se.abb.com Internet: www.abb.com/pressductor

ABB Automation technologies ABForce MeasurementS-72159 Västeras, SwedenPhone: +46 21 325 000Fax: +46 21 340 005E-Mail: pressductor@se.abb.com Internet: www.abb.com/pressductor

Hier könnte IhrBezugsquellen-Eintrag

stehen.

Rufen Sie an:Tel. 0511 / 73 04-148

Beate Schaefer

94 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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3.16Coilstoragesystems Bundlagersysteme

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

SMS Siemag AGsee Rolling mill technology 3.0

3.17StripProcessingLines Bandprozesslinien

ColourCoatingLines Bandlackierlinien

www.bwg-online.comsee Strip Processing Lines 3.17

BWG Bergwerk- und Walzwerk-Maschinenbau GmbHMercatorstraße 74 – 78D-47051 DuisburgTel.: +49 (0) 203-9929-0Fax: +49 (0) 203-9929-400E-Mail: bwg@bwg-online.deInternet: www.bwg-online.com

StripProcessingLines Bandprozesslinien

StripAnnealingLines Bandglühlinien

www.bwg-online.comsee Strip Processing Lines 3.17

pSI Metals non Ferrous GmbHSoftware Excellence in MetalsCarlo-Schmid-Str. 12, D-52146 WürselenTel.: +49 (0) 2405 4135-0info@psimetals.de, www.psimetals.com

3.18Production Managementsystems ProduktionsManagement Systeme

www.bwg-online.comsee Strip Processing Lines 3.17

StretchLevellingLines Streckrichtanlagen

LithographicSheetLines Lithografielinien

seeColdrollingunits/completeplants3.6

www.bwg-online.comsee Strip Processing Lines 3.17

4FoundryGießerei

4.1 Work protection and ergonomics 4.2 Heat-resistant technology4.3 Conveyor and storage technology 4.4 Mould and core production 4.5 Mould accessories and accessory materials4.6 Foundry equipment4.7 Casting machines and equipment4.8 Handling technology4.9 Construction and design4.10 Measurement technology and materials testing4.11 Metallic charge materials4.12 Finshing of raw castings4.13 Melt operations4.14 Melt preparation4.15Melttreatmentdevices4.16 Control and regulation technology4.17 Environment protection and disposal4.18 Dross recovery4.19 Gussteile

4.1 Arbeitsschutz und Ergonomie 4.2 Feuerfesttechnik4.3 Förder- und Lagertechnik4.4 Form- und Kernherstellung4.5 Formzubehör, Hilfsmittel4.6 Gießereianlagen4.7 Gießmaschinen und Gießeinrichtungen4.8 Handhabungstechnik4.9 Konstruktion und Design4.10 Messtechnik und Materialprüfung4.11 Metallische Einsatzstoffe4.12 Rohgussnachbehandlung4.13 Schmelzbetrieb4.14 Schmelzvorbereitung4.15 Schmelzebehandlungseinrichtungen4.16 Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik4.17 umweltschutz und Entsorgung4.18 Schlackenrückgewinnung4.19 Cast parts

4.2 Heat-resistenttechnology Feuerfesttechnik

Refractories/Feuerfeststoffe

promat GmbH – techn. WärmedämmungScheifenkamp 16, D-40878 RatingenTel. +49 (0) 2102 / 493-0, Fax -493 115verkauf3@promat.de, www.promat.de

4.3 Conveyorandstorage technology Förder-undLagertechnik

Fluxes Flussmittel

4.5 Moldaccessoriesand accessorymaterials Formzubehör,Hilfmittel

Solvay Fluor GmbHHans-Böckler-Allee 20D-30173 HannoverTelefon +49 (0) 511 / 857-0Telefax +49 (0) 511 / 857-2146Internet: www.solvay-fluor.de

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

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Castingmachines Gießmaschinen

Heattreatmentfurnaces Wärmebehandlungsöfen

4.7 Castingmachines andequipment Gießereimaschinen undGießeinrichtungen

see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

GApcast tM: the Swiss casting solutionCasting Technology / AutomationTel.: +41 27 455 57 14E-Mail: info@gap-engineering.chInternet: www.gap-engineering.ch

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

4.9 ConstructionandDesign KonstruktionundDesign

THERMCONOVENSBVsee Extrusion 2

4.8 Handlingtechnology Handhabungstechnik

Vollert AnlagenbauGmbH + co. kG

see Packaging equipment 2.3

Manipulators Manipulatoren

SerMAS InduStrIeE-Mail: sermas@sermas.com

See Casting Machines 1.6

Mouldpartingagents Kokillentrennmittel

Schröder kGSchmierstofftechnikPostfach 1170D-57251FreudenbergTel. 02734/7071Fax 02734/20784

www.schroeder-schmierstoffe.de

Wagstaff, Inc.see Casting machines 1.6

Competence in EMC and ASC castingrIHS enGIneerInG AGCH-3123 Belp, P.O. Box 197Phone: +41 31 812-0025, Fax: -0026Mail: rihs@maschko.ch

MetALLHAndeLSGeSeLLScHAFtScHOOF & HASLAcHer MBH & cO. kGPostfach 600714, D 81207 MünchenTelefon 089/829133-0Telefax 089/8201154E-Mail: info@metallhandelsgesellschaft.deInternet: www.metallhandelsgesellschaft.de

Prealloys/Vorlegierungen

Recycling/Recyclingchr. Otto pape GmbH

AluminiumgranulateBerliner Allee 34 D-30855 Langenhagen

Tel:+49(0)511 786 32-0 Fax: -32Internet: www.papemetals.comE-Mail: info@papemetals.com

4.13Meltoperations Schmelzbetrieb

Meltingfurnaces Schmelzöfen

Büttgenbachstraße 14D-40549 Düsseldorf/GermanyTel.: +49 (0) 211 / 5 00 91-43Fax: +49 (0) 211 / 50 13 97E-Mail: info@bloomeng.deInternet: www.bloomeng.comSales Contact: Klaus Rixen

Heattreatmentfurnaces Wärmebehandlungsanlagen

see Billet Heating Furnaces 2.1

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

4.6 Foundryequipment Gießereianlagen

www.mechatherm.comsee Smelting technology 1.5

ELPO GmbH Kuchengrund 18 71522 Backnang Telefon 07191 9572-0 Telefax 07191 9572-29 E-Mail: info@elpo.de Internet: www.elpo.de

Molten Metall Level controlOstra Hamnen 7SE-430 91 Hono / SchwedenTel.: +46 31 764 5520, Fax: +46 31 764 5529E-Mail: info@precimeter.comInternet: www.precimeter.comSales contact: Jan Strömbeck

Aluminiumalloys Aluminiumlegierungen

MetALLHAndeLSGeSeLLScHAFtScHOOF & HASLAcHer MBH & cO. kGPostfach 600714, D 81207 MünchenTelefon 089/829133-0Telefax 089/8201154E-Mail: info@metallhandelsgesellschaft.deInternet: www.metallhandelsgesellschaft.de

4.11Metalliccharge materials MetallischeEinsatzstoffe

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

96 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

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MArx GmbH & co. kGLilienthalstr. 6-18D-58638 IserhohnTel.: +49 (0) 2371 / 2105-0, Fax: -11E-Mail: info@marx-gmbh.de Internet: www.marx-gmbh.de

neOtecHnIk GmbHEntstaubungsanlagenPostfach 110261, D-33662 BielefeldTel. 05205/7503-0, Fax 05205/7503-77info@neotechnik.com, www.neotechnik.com

4.17Environmentprotection anddisposal Umweltschutzund Entsorgung

Dustremoval Entstaubung

4.15Melttreatmentdevices Schmelzbehandlungs- einrichtungen

Metaullics Systems europe B.V.Ebweg 14NL-2991 LT BarendrechtTel. +31-180/590890Fax +31-180/551040E-Mail: info@metaullics.nlInternet: www.metaullics.com

4.14Meltpreparation Schmelzvorbereitung

drache umwelttechnikGmbHWerner-v.-Siemens-Straße 9/24-26D 65582 Diez/LahnTelefon 06432/607-0Telefax 06432/607-52Internet: http://www.drache-gmbh.de

Degassing,filtration Entgasung,Filtration

Melttreatmentagents Schmelzebehandlungsmittel

Fluegascleaning Rauchgasreinigung

dantherm Filtration GmbHIndustriestr. 9, D-77948 FriesenheimTel.: +49 (0) 7821 / 966-0, Fax: - 966-245E-Mail: info.de@danthermfiltration.com Internet: www.danthermfiltration.com

Heattreatmentfurnaces Wärmebehandlungsanlagen

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

Holdingfurnaces Warmhalteöfen

Büttgenbachstraße 14D-40549 Düsseldorf/GermanyTel.: +49 (0) 211 / 5 00 91-43Fax: +49 (0) 211 / 50 13 97E-Mail: info@bloomeng.deInternet: www.bloomeng.comSales Contact: Klaus Rixen

seeEquipmentandaccessories3.1

Gautschi engineering GmbH

see Casting equipment 3.1

HertWIcH enGIneerInG GmbHsee Casthouse (foundry) 1.5

Granulatedaluminium Aluminiumgranulate

5Materials and RecyclingWerkstoffe und Recycling

chr. Otto pape GmbHAluminiumgranulateBerliner Allee 34 D-30855 Langenhagen

Tel:+49(0)511 786 32-0 Fax: -32Internet: www.papemetals.comE-Mail: info@papemetals.com

6Machining and ApplicationBearbeitung und Anwendung

Anodising/Anodisation

Adhesivebonding/Verkleben

6.1 Surfacetreatment processes Prozessefürdie Oberflächenbehandlung

Henkel AG & co. kGaAD-40191 DüsseldorfTel. +49 (0) 211 / 797-30 00Fax +49 (0) 211 / 798-23 23Internet: www.henkel-technologies.com

Henkel AG & co. kGaAsiehe Prozesse für die Oberflächentechnik 6.1

Henkel AG & co. kGaAsiehe Prozesse für die Oberflächentechnik 6.1

Joining/Fügen

Henkel AG & co. kGaAsiehe Prozesse für die Oberflächentechnik 6.1

www.alu-web.de

Pretreatmentbeforecoating VorbehandlungvorderBeschichtung

Cleaning/Reinigung

Henkel AG & co. kGaAsiehe Prozesse für die Oberflächentechnik 6.1

Henkel AG & co. kGaAsiehe Prozesse für die Oberflächentechnik 6.1

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8LiteratureLiteratur

Technicalliterature Fachliteratur

taschenbuch des Metallhandels

Fundamentals of extrusion technology

Giesel Verlag GmbHHans-Böckler-Allee 9, 30173 HannoverTel. 0511 / 73 04-125 · Fax 0511 / 73 04-233Internet: www.alu-bookshop.de

LAScO umformtechnik GmbHHahnweg 139, D-96450 CoburgTel. +49 (0) 9561 642-0Fax +49 (0) 9561 642-333E-Mail: lasco@lasco.deInternet: www.lasco.com

6.3 Equipmentforforging andimpactextrusion AusrüstungfürSchmiede- undFließpresstechnik

HydraulicPresses HydraulischePressen

Wires/Drähte

6.2 Semiproducts Halbzeuge

drAHtWerk eLISentALW. erdmann GmbH & co.Werdohler Str. 40, D-58809 NeuenradePostfach 12 60, D-58804 NeuenradeTel. +49(0)2392/697-0, Fax 49(0)2392/62044E-Mail: info@elisental.deInternet: www.elisental.de

www.alu-web.de

A L L G E M E I N E S

International

ALUMINIUMJournal

87. Jahrgang 1.1.2011

Verlag / Publishing houseGiesel Verlag GmbH Post fach 5420, 30054 Hannover Hans-Böckler-Allee 9, 30173 Hannover Tel. 0511 7304-0, Fax 0511 7304-157 giesel@giesel.de, www.giesel-verlag.de Postbank / postal cheque account Hannover, BLZ / routing code: 25010030; Kto.-Nr. / account no. 90898-306, Bankkonto/bank account Commerzbank AG, BLZ/routing code: 25040066, Kto.-Nr./account no. 1500222

Geschäftsleitung / Managing Director Klaus Krause

Redaktion / Editorial office Dipl.-Vw. Volker Karow. Chefredakteur, Editor in ChiefFranz-Meyers-Str. 16, 53340 Meckenheim Tel. +49(0)2225 8359643 Fax +49(0)2225 18458vkarow@online.deDipl.-Ing. Rudolf P. Pawlek Hüttenindustrie und Recycling rudolf.pawlek@span.chDipl.-Ing. Bernhard RiethWalzwerkstechnik und Bandverarbeitung rollingmill-technology@t-online.de

Objektleitung / General Manager Material PublicationDennis Roß Tel. 0821 319880-34, d.ross@giesel.de

Anzeigendisposition / Advertising layoutBeate Schaefer Tel. 0511 7304-148, b.schaefer@giesel.de

Anzeigenpreise / Advertisement ratesPreisliste Nr. 51 vom 1.1.2011. Price list No. 51 from 1.1.2011.

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Abonnenten-Service / Reader serviceSabrina Matzat Tel. 0511 7304-125, vertrieb@giesel.de

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Subscription rates EUR 289.00 p.a. (domestic incl. V.A.T.) plus post-age. Europe EUR 289.00 incl. surface mail. Single copy EUR 28,90. Out side Europe US$ 382.00 incl. surface mail, air mail plus US$ 82.00. Single copy US$ 38,20. ALUMINIUM is published monthly (10 issues a year). Cancellations six weeks prior to the end of a year.Die Zeitschrift und alle in ihr enthaltenen Beiträge und Abbildungen sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der en gen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt ins-besondere für Ver vielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Be-arbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Der Verlag übernimmt keine Gewähr für die Richtigkeit der in diesem Heft mitgeteilten Informationen und haftet nicht für abgeleitete Folgen. Haftung bei Leistungs-minderung durch höhere Gewalt oder andere vom Verlag nicht verschuldete Umstände (z. B. Streik) ist ausgeschlossen.This jour nal and all con tri bu tions con tained there-in are pro tect ed by copy right. Any util iza tion out-side the strict lim its of copy right leg is la tion with out the ex press con sent of the pub lish er ist pro hib it ed and ac tion able at law. This ap plies in par tic u lar to re pro duc tion, trans la tions, mi cro film ing and stor-age or pro cess ing in elec tron ic systems. The pub-lish er of fers no guar an tee that the in for ma tion in this vol ume is ac cu rate and ac cepts no li abil ity for con se quenc es de riv ing there from. No li abil ity what soev er is ac cept ed for per fo mance lag caused by force ma jeure or by cir cum stanc es be yond the publisher’s con trol (e.g. in dus tri al ac tion).ISSN: 0002-6689© Giesel Verlag GmbH

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V O R S C H A U / P R E V I E W

98 ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

IM NÄCHSTEN HEFT

Special: Die internationale Strangpressindustrie

Maschinen und Anlagen, Technologien und Projekte. Geplante Beiträge, unter anderem:• Prozessgesteuerte intelligente Blockaufnehmer• Die neue 27-MN-Strangpresslinie bei Eduard Hueck• Effiziente Logistik bei Renson• Profilanwendungen mit überproportionalem Wachstum

Umschmelzen und Recycling von Aluminium

• Technologie brennstoffbeheizter Schmelzöfen• Neue Technik der Zerkleinerung und Trennung von Materialien

Weitere Themen

• Hochwertige Maschinen für Gießereien, Elektrolysen und Anodenfertigung

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

Special: The international extrusion industry

Machines and plants, technologies and projects. Subjects covered, among others: • Process controlled extrusion containers – ‘Smart Container’ technology• The new 27 MN extrusion line at Eduard Hueck• Efficient logistics at Renson

Secondary smelting and recycling of aluminium

• Technology of fuel-fired melting furnaces• Towards zero waste dross processing• Save money with swarf briquetting• Spent pot lining and salt slag treatment services

Others

• High-grade machines for casthouse, pot room area and anode rodding shop

Erscheinungstermin: 15. März 2011Anzeigenschluss: 01. März 2011Redaktionsschluss: 15. Februar 2011

Date of publication: 15 March 2011Advertisement deadline: 01 March 2011Editorial deadline: 15 February 2011

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ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2011

Modern logisticssystems

By logistics systems we mean the purposeful combi-nation of individual functions, i.e. transport, storage,packaging and marking, to form one complex whole –the logistics in your rolling mill or finishing plant.

Logistics planning based on studies and simulationmodelsTransport and handling systems for heavy loads

Fully automatic flat and high-bay storage systems & warehouse management systemsPackaging and strapping machinery for coils, sheetpacks and slit coilsMarking machines as robot or gantry solution forcoils, metal sheets, slabs and pipesHigh-pressure grinding machines for slabs, billetsand blooms including ancillary equipment

SMS LOGISTIKSYSTEME GMBH

Obere Industriestrasse 8 Telephone: +49 (0) 2738 21-0 E-mail: info@sms-lsn.com57250 Netphen, Germany Telefax: +49 (0) 2738 21-2222 Internet: www.sms-logistics-systems.com

MEETING your EXPECTATIONS

http://www.dubal.ae