Hosted by:

Decision Science Forum

Simulating pot room logistics in Aluminium Smelters

November 9, 2011 1 Your presentation title

Hosted by:

Simulating pot room logsitics in Aluminium Smelters

Aluminium Smelters

• What is an Aluminium Smelter?

• What is an Aluminium pot?

• KPI’s in Aluminium Industry

• The cost of Aluminium Production

• The role of logistics

• System Architecture

• Example

2 Your presentation title November 9, 2011

Hosted by:

9 november 2011 3

Aluminium Smelter

Hosted by:

9 november 2011 4

Aluminium Smelter

Continuous Production with Discrete input and output

Hosted by:

9 november 2011 5

Aluminium Production

Hosted by:

9 november 2011 6

Product Line Aluminium smelters

Hosted by:

November 9, 2011 Your presentation title 7

No Cells Year Output mT

120 1960 <100.000

256 1980 < 180.000

365 1990 <365.000

720 2010 <1.500.000

Hall Herault Process

Hosted by:

9 november 2011 8

Maintaining cell stability 'Smelters need to maintain stable operating conditions so that energy and carbon are consumed in such a way that aluminium production is optimized and greenhouse gas emissions are minimized,' says Dr Lwin, from CSIRO's Mathematical and Information Sciences division.

Cell operation is controlled by three variables: – anode-cathode distance (ACD)

– alumina concentration in the cell bath

– and heat-balance in the cell.

The control of these variables depends on monitoring and assessment of measurable signals: – Cell resistance and/or voltage, meausred during the

electrolysis from the cell 'Abnormal patterns in the voltage signal, for example, trigger actions such as varying the ACD, or breaking the crust of the cell and feeding it with alumina.‘ Preliminary results indicate that early warning alert systems for detecting certain abnormal patterns are achievable . Dr Lwin says the signal analysis project team is collaborating with three major aluminium companies.

Hall Herault Process (cell stability)

CE

kWh/T

Hosted by:

Simulating pot room logsitics in Aluminium Smelters

Typical KPI’s In Al Industry

• Current efficiencies : >95% – Actual production per cell = Theoretical Production x CE/100

– Where Theoretical Production = Current x 0,08056 (Ton/Day)

• DC power consumption: <14 kwH/T – kWH/kg = Volts/CE x 298

• Output Smelter:

– Output = Actual per cell x number of cells x 365

• Capital Charge: <$700/YT production

November 9, 2011 Your presentation title 9

Hosted by:

Simulating pot room logsitics in Aluminium Smelters

The cost of Aluminium Production

November 9, 2011 Your presentation title 10

Hosted by:

November 9, 2011 Your presentation title 11

AVERAGE SMELTER RUSSIAN SMELTER EFFICIENT SMELTER

CE 95% 14kWh CE 91% 14,5kWH CE 98% 12,9kWh

Capital Charge $ 700,00 30,5% $ 250,00 13,4% $ 600,00 26,8%

Alumina $ 528,00 23,0% $ 550,00 28,3% $ 511,00 24,5%

Energy $ 505,00 22,0% $ 480,00 25,8% $ 465,00 22,3%

Carbon $ 275,00 12,0% $ 290,00 14,8% $ 266,00 12,7%

Labour $ 69,00 3,0% $ 69,00 3,7% $ 69,00 3,3%

Miscellaneous $ 218,00 9,5% $ 270,00 14,0% $ 218,00 10,4%

$ 2.295,00 100,0% $ 1.909,00 100,0% $ 2.089,00 100,0%

LME TODAY ALUMINIUM Prompt Date Buyer ($) Seller ($)

Cash 03/11/2011 2,091.00 2,092.00

The cost of Aluminium Production

Hosted by:

November 9, 2011 Your presentation title 12

The role of Discrete Logistics

•Economy of scale makes proven technologies Run out of Time

•CE and KwH/T are dependent on accuracy in time and space

But

• Industry focus is on further development of High Amperage Hall Herault cells and capital charge cost reduction.

Hosted by:

November 9, 2011 Your presentation title 13

AVERAGE SMELTER

CE 95% 14kWh

Capital Charge $ 700,00 30,5%

Alumina $ 528,00 23,0%

Energy $ 505,00 22,0%

Carbon $ 275,00 12,0%

Labour $ 69,00 3,0%

Miscellaneous $ 218,00 9,5%

$ 2.295,00 100,0%

Evaluation of

required equipment

Efficiency and

Accuracy

Discrete Logistics

Hosted by:

Simulating pot room logsitics in Aluminium Smelters

System Architecture

9 november 2011 14

Scenario Navigator Simio

Hosted by:

Simulating pot room logsitics in Aluminium Smelters

System Architecture

9 november 2011 15

Soft commissioning Virtual

Cell demand

feet

Discrete Demand

Control simulation

RT simulation HTC

MES interface

Supervision & safety

Maintenance

AGV energy mgmt

Network mgmt

Fleet mgmt

Traffic control

Scheduling

Hosted by:

Simulating pot room logsitics in Aluminium Smelters

Demo

November 9, 2011 16

Please refer to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkV6zOt2F5g for a movie of the simulation model