Process Control and Management
Improvements to the operating performance of aluminium smelting have reached a plateau in the last decade. A series of step changes in cell design have been made, including high thermal conductivity cathode blocks, thinner and more conductive sidewalls, pot cavities with more anodes and less bath volume, increased anode heights and modified stubs and anode yokes. These innovations have allowed improvements in energy intensity, smelter emissions, and cell life.
These changes are necessary, but are they sufficient?
Our team of specialists provides complementary solutions by:
- Training on pot signal analysis, diagnosis of problems with anode and cathode condition
- Analysing potline voltage distributions through pot data and diagnosing potline condition with respect to cathode health
- Recommending new control strategies to prevent pot thermal cycling , based on statistical sensing of abnormalities and multivariate heat balance control
- Defining and implementing new supervisory control systems to allow operational staff to identify and diagnose problems quickly, and to improve operating standards through this process
- Research into optimal decision-making strategies for smelter operating systems