A strong start at ICSOBA 2024: Day-1 technical conference highlighted future-ready aluminium solutions

The ICSOBA 2024 day-1 technical conference commenced on October 28, 2024, following the registration and welcome reception on October 27, 2024. This marked an exciting start to three days of advanced discussions and deep dives into the evolving landscape of the aluminium industry.

This year’s event, set against a backdrop of rapid technological progress and sustainability drives, offers an enriched programme segmented into four specialised streams, each spotlighting critical themes shaping the aluminium industry.

The opening day began with keynote addresses, where industry leaders presented forward-looking insights, trends, and actionable strategies set to influence the future of aluminium. These keynotes underscored the industry's commitment to sustainable practices, including decarbonisation efforts and efficient resource management in light of today's environmental challenges. The following sessions were organised into expertly curated streams, enabling attendees to engage with focused content on topics.

Here's how the day began:

AA-1: Alumina Session 1

4 Sub-sessions (Alumina Paper)

• A01 - Decarbonisation of the Bayer Process – A Technical Assessment of Enabling Technologies and Process Economics

Authors: Michael Barnes; Jordan Neil; Kushagra Bosamia

This paper reviewed the scale and nature of the global decarbonisation challenge faced by the alumina refining industry. It provided a technical assessment of potential retrofit pathways to reduce carbon emissions associated with the Bayer process.

• AA02 - Coal and Acai Seed Cofiring into Bubbling Fluidised Bed Boiler

Authors: Clara Veiga Ferreira de Souza; Sergio Ferreira; Raquel Rodrigues; Marcelo Maciel; Ana Carolina Ferreira; Manoel Nogueira; Danielle Guerra; João Ribeiro; Fernando Santos; Alan Carneiro

In line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (scopes 1 and 2 emissions), Hydro aims to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 30 per cent in 2030. Alunorte, Hydro’s alumina refinery in Para, Brazil, will significantly contribute to this goal, reducing its direct and indirect CO₂ emissions by 70 per cent. Alunorte burns approximately 720 kt/year of mineral coal in three fluidised bed boilers to produce high-pressure steam for energy generation and subsequent use in its thermal processes. This work aimed to show a way of decarbonisation by replacing coal with local biomass, acai seed (Euterpe oleracea).

• AA03 - KX Low-Temperature Digestion Preliminary Engineering

Authors: Rob Clegg; Laurent Guillaumont; Fabrice Gamel

The patented KX heat exchanger, supplied by Sahl Regen, in combination with the reduction of environmental heat losses, can reduce energy consumption at ALTEO’s Bayer process by 70 per cent and reduce CO₂ footprint by 93 per cent, as reported at the AQW conference in April 2024

• AA04 - Exhaust to Energy: Waste Heat Recovery in Alumina Digesters

Authors: Santunu Pathy; Kausikisharan Mishra; Sasi Kumar; Uttam Kumar Giri

Waste heat recovery is a crucial aspect of sustainable industrial processes, offering both environmental and economic benefits. This study investigates the potential to recover energy from waste/low-quality heat that is released to exhaust in an alumina refinery.

AL-1: Electrolysis Session 1

4 Sub-sessions (Aluminium Electrolysis Paper)

• AL01 - Historical Development of Aluminium Technologies in Germany
• AL02 - Experience of Potline Restarts in the TRIMET Group
• AL04 - Successful 72-Hour Sleeping Mode Operation on AP40 Pots in Kitimat Smelter - A Case Study.
• AL05 - EGA Experience in Improving Cell Performance through Design and Control System Upgrade of INALUM Sumitomo S170 Technology

CH-1: Casthouse Session 1 (Casthouse Operation Paper)

• CH01 - Combined Quantitative Analysis of Salt Fluxes Composition by X-ray Diffraction and X-ray Fluorescence in Process Control

Authors: Oksana Bezrukova; Petr Dubinin; Aleksandr Samoilo; Igor Yakimov; Aleksandr Zaloga; Denis Khlystov; Nikolai Babitskiy

Salt flux treatment of molten aluminium is a common practice in aluminium production and recycling, and it is used to decrease oxidation and metal losses and to clean the metal. The most common class of fluxes contain a mixture of sodium chloride and potassium chloride and minor amounts of fluoride compounds.

• CH02 - Conservation of Energy in Al Cast House – Technology Advancement to Overcome Challenges

Authors: Praddyum Rushikesh Pavitrakar; Shibu Mathew

The aluminium smelter casthouse (CH) operates at approximately 800 °C and generates heat (furnace burners and incoming hot aluminium molten metal from reduction) that has a lot of opportunities to conserve and reuse it to support sustainability and carbon footprint. It helps reduce the consumption of gas/fuels and other consumable materials. This paper focused on advanced technology and approaches to overcome challenges to conserve, reduce and reuse energy and materials in casthouses.

• CH03 - Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Usage in Cast House Furnaces

Authors: Lee Anthony Allen; Tim Hordley

Energy supplies have always been a premium commodity that greatly affects the operating viability of our plants. Now more than ever, our processes must reduce exposure to the ever-increasing costs associated with energy usage. This is a complicated scenario as we must use energy more cleanly to comply with the latest environmental legislation.

• CH04 - Improvement in Sodium Reduction Process During TAC

Authors: Rashid Ahmed Alawadhi; Sajjad Hussain Shah

The Treatment of Aluminium in Crucible (TAC) process, integrated into sodium reduction skimming stations in Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) Al Taweelah smelter, essentially involves adding aluminium fluoride (AlF3) to the molten metal during the first seconds of agitation. This removes alkali metal components and forms a stable fluoride compound.

EL-1: Electrode Session 1

4 Sub-sessions (Electrodes Paper)

• EL01 - A Case Study for Emissions-Free CPC Production
• EL02 - Analysis of Materials for Production and from Production
• EL03 - Improved Process Safety of Petroleum Coke Calcination by Improved Knowledge and Control Measures
• EL04 - A Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Assessment of Pre-baked Carbon Anode Production; A Case Study in Quebec.

Day 1 welcomed an eager audience of professionals, industry leaders, researchers, and innovators from across the globe, all united by their dedication to propelling aluminium production, sustainability, and technological advancements. AL Circle, the world's fastest-growing global ALuminium ecosystem, is a proud official supporter of ICSOBA 2024

AA-2: Alumina Session 2

4 Sub-sessions (Alumina Paper)

• AA05 - Enabling Improved Waste Heat Recovery in Digestion for Energy and Carbon Footprint Reduction

Authors: Andrew Furlong

Alumina refineries are large industrial process heat users, so their CO2 emissions are considered “hard to abate.” As the largest single energy consumer in the form of process steam, the digestion area is critical to both minimising overall refinery energy consumption and delivering net zero carbon in the most economical way.

• AA06 - Enhancing Energy Efficiency in Alumina Refineries through Motor Underload Current Monitoring

Authors: Subhadeep Bhattacharya; Nitya Nand Roy; Pradeep Kumar Singh; Arvind Kumar Singh

Electric motors are indispensable in alumina Refineries, consuming a significant portion of the total electricity, typically 70 per cent or more. Despite various energy-saving initiatives, such as using Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs), energy-efficient motors, power factor improvements, etc., there is still room for improvement.

• AA29 - Influence of Calcination Parameters on Alumina Quality in Gas Suspension Calciner

Authors: Bharathesh Kumar; Nireesh Budumuru; Swapnil Ghatage; Chandrakala Kari; Vilas Tathavadkar; Keshav Karn; Neelmani Srivastava; Himanshu Ranjan; Paul Gupta

Recent technological advancements have been driven by improving the alumina calcination process to reduce specific fuel energy consumption and enhance product quality. Alumina quality, in terms of parameters such as LOI, surface area, and phase composition, impacts the efficiency of the downstream smelting process.

• AA30 - ACH Calcination and Spray Roasting: Opportunities for Closing Gaps Within the Chloride Route

Authors: David Konlechner; Guilherme M. D. M. Rubio; Maria Bagani; Danai Marinos; Dimitrios Sparis; Michail Vafeias; Dimitrios Kotsanis; Efthymios Balomenos; Dimitrios Panias

The chloride route for alumina production has recently gained renewed interest in R&D and industry. The EU-funded “SisAl Pilot” (no 869268) exemplifies this, utilizing HCl and AlCl3 for Al2O3 production. Using HCl allows for alternative raw materials such as anorthosite, kaolin, and by-products such as bauxite residues or fly ash to be utilized for alumina production.

AL-2: Electrolysis Session 2

4 Sub-sessions (Aluminium Electrolysis Paper)

• AL06 - Scaling Potline Amperage Due to Rectifier Maintenance in DX Technology Line 8
• AL07 - Seasonal Protocol - Strategies to Improve the Thermal Balance in Potline
• AL08 - SmartCrane Contributes to Proactive Decision-Making and Optimization of Electrolysis Process
• AL09 - Pot Control Systems and Safety. Lessons Learned from Real Potline Incidents.

Participants learned about groundbreaking innovations in the aluminium industry, advanced material properties, and process optimisation techniques. The above-mentioned topics are among the few that we have published; however, you can click here to get the topics for all three days of the technical conference.

Day 1 of ICSOBA 2024 laid the stage for a dynamic exchange of ideas, sparking curiosity and ambition among the attendees as they looked forward to future innovations.