Startup and Tuning of Material
Distribution System at Aluminium
Smelter in Qatar
Mr. Julian Sowah – Qatalum
Mr. Vivek Shroff – Qatalum
Mr. Santosh Kumar – Qatalum
Mr. Arne Hilck - Claudius Peters
Mr. Jan Paepcke - Claudius Peters

Content of Today
• Introduction of Claudius Peters
• Aerated Distribution System for
Potroom Feeding (ADS) – Basics
• Claudius Peters - Outlook for 2015
• Introduction of Qatalum
• Startup and Tuning - Results
• Summary and Outlook 2015

Outlook TMS 2013 for
• FLUIDCON: Attrition factor testing
• AS – System: Commissioning of Boguchany and Results

Introduction – Claudius Peters
Claudius Peters
• Worldwide acting Engineering Company (born 1906)
• Main Business Areas:
Aluminium, Cement, Steel, Gypsum, Power
• More than 550 employees worldwide
• Deliverer for AIRBUS Industries
• Turnover 150 Mio €
• Offices in Germany, USA, France, China, Brazil
UK, Spain, Italy, Romania, Singapore, India
•
4

The ADS Principle
•
5

The ADS Principle
•
6

The ADS Principle
•
7

Introduction - Who are we?
Qatalum
•
8

Introduction Qatalum: Our Milestones
2004
December
Heads of agreement
2006
March
Joint venture agreement and approval of feasibility
2007
January
Site p repa ration start-up
July
Final approval
November
Construction commences
October
Investment decision
2009
April
Power from grid
October
First raw material ship
November
Commissioning of cast house
December 18
First Metal from potline
First Export of PFA
2010
January
First EI Export
Fuel gas for power plant gas turbines
Initial power available from power plant
2011
March
Project completion
​September 21
Qatalum achieved full production of
585,000 tonnes

Qatalum: About Us
39 Nationalities at Qatalum
6
2
2
1
1
1
16
239
3
21
34
3 5
1
50
1
1
1
1
15
11
3
9
3
30
1
357
3
98
1
3
172
47
7

Reduction (Potlines) - Qatalum
Designed for low specific energy consumption, high labour productivity, low emissions, no SPL landfill
• Delete text box and insert
Picture/Photo/Figure here
1.2 km

Qatalum
• Delete text box and insert
Picture/Photo/Figure here

Qatalum Pot Line Design Parameters
Design Parameter (704 pots)
Name Template
Capacity
Amperage
Number of
Pots
Design 585,000 t/y 300 kA 704
Present Day + 605,000 t/y 314 kA 704

Qatalum ADS Design Parameters
ADS desgin parameters
Design
Present Day
Distribution
Air slide
Inclination Cell Airslide Inclination
50 t/h
100 t/h
1 °
1 °
10 [t/h]
10 t/h
0.5
0.5
°
°

CHALLENGES
• Constant Flow into System with varying Material Properties
– Silo fluidisation
– Silo aeration timing
– Material overflow from Silo to Coarse Particle Separator (CPS)
• Coarse Particle Separator (CPS) Accessibility & Performance
• Air supply nozzles (blockages)
• De-aeration of transport system
• Fine tuning of operational settings
•
16

Modifications carried out
• Modification CPS for accessibility
• Repositioning of Level switches
• Conversion of level switches to adjustable types.
• Installation of additional manual valves on 750t secondary alumina silo
• Filling time optimization
•
Provision of continous venting (2015)

Coarse Particle Separator
Improvements
• Baffle plates for flow control
• Vibrator design
• Silo fluidisation adjustment
• Aeration nozzle size repositioning
• Easier access for daily inspections
•
18

Coarse Particle Separator- Improvement Results
15
10
5
0
Weekly Count of Coarse Particle Separator (CPS) Failures Causing Material Spills

0
Week
Month
Jul-12
Aug-12
Sep-12
Oct-12
Nov-12
Dec-12
Jan-13
Feb-13
Mar-13
Apr-13
May-13
Jun-13
Jul-13
Aug-13
Sep-13
Oct-13
Nov-13
Dec-13
2
5
4
30
11
5
No. of CPS overflows
26
32
34
28
29
3
3
5
13
0
5
2
•
19

Other Modifications Carried Out
Modification of CPS for accessibility Repositioning of Level switches on airslides
Installation of adjustable level switches Additional manual valves on alumina silo
20

Verification of Improvements
How the improvements were measured
Alumina spills on CPS
Maintenance cost
- No significant wear can be seen on the airslide fabric
- Spare / Wear parts consumption is extremely low
Timing of aeration system
(Small increaments of 10s resulted in more consistent filling)
•
21

ADS – Results & Advantages
• NO RISK for Potline – Easy catch up after stoppage.
• Easy maintenance. Low manpower.
• 2013 Maintenance cost = 0.126 USD/ton of alumina
• Operational activities: Cleaning of CPS and visual inspections!
• System availibility is more than 98%;
• The buffer silosensures constant material supply to pots.
• Dust free system (environmentally friendly)
• No accumulation of coarse particles in the system, as material is screened out in the beginning.
• Little variations in alumina grain size distribution during conveying

Variations in alumina grain size distribution during conveying
Longest Conveying distance = 280m
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Alumina Grain Size Distribution During Conveying (Lab analysis)
-45
+150
-0.020
-0.045 +0.020
-0.075 +0.045
-0.106- +0.075
-0.150 +0.106
-0.200 +0.150
-0.300 +0.200
+0.300

Ø 8,1% < 45µm
Ø 8,21% < 45µm
Ø 8,3% < 45µm
Ø 7,9% < 45µm

No Effect on PSD and Anode effect distribution
Material
Number of AE

ADS Maintenance
• No significant wear has been seen on the airslide fabric since the plant startup
• Spare / Wear parts consumption is extremely low
0,25
0,2
0,15
0,1
0,05
0
ADS Annual Maintenance & Operational Cost/ton of Alumina
0,223
0,142
0,126
Dec-09 2010 2011 2012 2013

No Scaling
• No build-up of scales inside
Airslides
• No Coarse particle accumulation.

Lessons Learned
Material Flow from silo
•Control of alumina flow out of silo / inlet box by optimization of aeration air.
•Coarse particle seperator upgrade
Quality of aeration air/Aeration nozzles
•Flushing of the air system before start-up is helpful
•Selection of air filtration system for compressed air
Stability of deaeration pressure is crucial for the system operation