|
|
FEBRUARY 13-17 · 2005 TMS ANNUAL MEETING · SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
 Aluminum Smelter Control
Sponsored by: TMS Light Metals Division
Dates and Times: Sunday, February 13, 2005 ~ 8:30 am-5:00 pm
Advance Fees: Members $475; Non-Members $560. If you register by January 17, 2005 you will save an additional $50.00.
To register for a course, please use the 2005 TMS Annual Meeting Registration form. You may register any time prior to the Annual Meeting and on-site. Course size is limited and a sufficient number of pre-registered attendees are necessary to offer each course, so please register early!
Who Should Attend
As amperages have increased on existing plants
and environmental and energy constraints have tightened
on both new and existing ones, smelter control
has become the biggest leverage area for not only
cost reduction and product quality improvement, but
also environmental compliance. The license to operate
smelters now is becoming increasingly dependent on
the reputation of companies for close control of their
operations, and this is equally the case for companies
building new smelters.
This short course is targeted at smelter operations
practitioners, and smelter designers and engineers
who have a need for hands-on knowledge of the drivers
of smelter process variation and the levers to reduce
it. The content in each area will start at a managerial
level, and move to specific examples of control
issues while providing a framework to build on the understanding
gained.
Course
Overview
The course is designed to provide learning experiences
based on real examples of smelter variation and
control improvements and set backs over many years.
These experiences are taken from a range of operations,
and from different parts of the smelter flowsheet.
Although it is not possible to cover every unit operation
within and every input to a smelter in one day, the presenters
will use these examples to build a framework of
thinking about control which can be applied over the full
range of plant operations and to other complex process
industries as well.
An introductory discussion of Control Fundamentals
will first highlight:
-
The origins of control in Smelters
-
The three main phases of Control including the
importance of observation
-
The understanding of variation observed, and
-
Risk management in control decision-making where
automatic and manually performed control loops
co-exist.
A more in depth presentation on variation then follows,
with manufacturing analogies from other industries.
This leads into a discussion of the linkages between
the various parts of any smelter and the tendency
for all variation to show up in a magnified way in the
Reduction Lines.
Two specific case studies then bring the focus back to
the inputs and outputs of a smelter – these case studies
will discuss smelter experiences with controlling alumina
variation, and with managing environmental regulation
under varying input and process conditions. This
is particularly topical at the moment because of recent
experiences with hydrogen fluoride emissions at many
different smelters.
After lunch the course turns to the manufacturing
control necessary for consistent quality anodes, with
another case study highlighting the leverage points
for Carbon Plant control. This leads into the subject of
Reduction Line process stability, and some examples
of how reduction control loops have been destabilized
through the underlying conditions, with event or process
change triggers often involved as well. Consequences
of Reduction Line instability will be discussed with substantial
input from the participants on the course.
Next the latest developments in control are overviewed
in two presentations - one focusing on new
data analysis and monitoring techniques which are now
available for multivariate systems, and the other looking
more broadly at trends in energy management in smelters
in the future.
The crucial aspect of primary metal quality, purity drivers,
and quality differentiation at the reduction lines is
addressed last in a joint presentation on metal contamination
control, and impurity control more generally.
About the Presenters
Dr.
Mark P. Taylor graduated from Auckland University
in 1984 with a PhD in Chemical and Materials
Engineering. His career with the Comalco organization
spanned 18 years in a variety of research, technical and
operational roles. He commenced at the Comalco Research
Centre in Melbourne, before moving into technical
management at New Zealand Aluminium Smelters,
Tiwai, Invercargill. During this time, he was also the Implementation
Manager for the $450m smelter upgrade
and then Potroom Manager. Following this he managed
the smelter for a six month period before transferring
to Brisbane. As General Manager Technical, M.P. Taylor
directed Comalco’s reduction research and development
and provided technical support to Comalco’s three
operational smelters. He was appointed General Manager
Operations in 2000 to Comalco’s largest smelting
operation, Boyne Smelters Ltd in Central Queensland.
During his time with Comalco M.P. Taylor published over
50 papers, has been the recipient of two Best Paper
Awards at TMS, and authored more than 100 technical
reports within Comalco. M.P. Taylor joined the University
of Auckland in January 2003 as the Director, Light Metals
Research Centre and Honorary Professor in Chemical
and Materials Engineering. He is engaged in light
metals research and consulting globally and specializes
in aluminium smelter improvement programs.
Prof.
John JJ Chen is Professor of Chemical and
Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland. After
obtaining his BE degree from the University of Auckland,
he worked for three years as a Potrooms Development
Engineering at New Zealand Aluminium Smelters.
He then returned to Auckland and completed a PhD in
1979. He has published over 170 papers in international
journals and conference proceedings, one patent and
over 60 proprietary research reports. He is on the Light
Metals Division and the Aluminium Committee of TMS.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the
Institution of Chemical Engineers (London), and the Institution
of Professional Engineers New Zealand. He has
received Merit Awards and Best Teachers Awards in the
School of Engineering, and awards for best paper from
TMS and IPENZ. Professor Chen’s research interests
include the modelling of the aluminium smelting process,
the treatment of molten metal, and process control in the
potrooms. He has been for many years at the forefront
of multiphase flows and related transport processes.
Professor Chen’s research team was the first to quantify
the impact of bubble driven flows on current efficiency
in aluminium smelting cells and the first to identify and
measure the increase in sidewall heat transfer coefficient
opposite the bath/metal interface due to the waves in the
metal layer impinging on the wall.
Associate
Professor James Metson completed his
PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in 1980. After a
period as a staff Scientist at Surface Science Western,
the University of Western Ontario, Canada, he moved
to the University of Auckland late in 1985. In addition to
his appointment in the Department of Chemistry he has
since held positions as Director of the Research Centre
for Surface and Materials Science, Acting Director of
the Light Metals Research Centre during its formation. In
addition he held the position of Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) for the University between 2000
and 2002. His research work, largely based in surface
and materials science, has involved extensive contact
with the Aluminium industry, including involvement in
the development of a new dry-scrubbing technology and
studies of cell emissions, electrolyte chemistry, and electrode
reactivity. He has presented many papers at the
TMS Light Metals Conference and was a Light Metals
award winner in 1994. He was also winner of the New
Zealand 1995 Shell Prize for Industrial Chemistry. He
has presented more than 20 plenary or keynote lectures,
has over 100 research publications and sixty technical
reports, many dealing with applications in the aluminium
industry.
Dr.
Margaret Hyland graduated with a PhD in Chemistry
from the University of Western Ontario, London,
Canada in 1989, and is currently a Senior Lecturer in the
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at
the University of Auckland. She has carried out extensive
research in aluminium smelting technology with primary
interests in dry scrubbing and cell materials. She has presented
a number of papers at the TMS Light Metals Conference
and is the winner of 3 TMS Awards in Carbon and
Reduction Technology in 1997 and 2000. Dr Hyland has
published over 40 papers and over 60 technical reports,
involving contracts with many of the major aluminium
companies.
With
Contributions by
Dr. Barry Sadler, Managing Director, Net Carbon
Consulting Pty Ltd
Mr. Keith Sinclair, Sinclair Associates
For
More Information
Christina Raabe
TMS, Manager of Continuing Ed and Information
184 Thorn Hill Road
Warrendale PA 15086 USA
Tel (724) 776-9000 ext. 212
Fax (724) 776-3770
E-mail raabe@tms.org
|
