expansions and new-build smelter projects

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Aluminium International Today January/February 2009

A summary of existing and new-buildsmelters in the Middle EastExpansions and new-build smelter projects currently under way in Middle East countries will add over 6Mtof capacity to the region in the next five years. This article summarises these projects and existing capacity.

In recent decades, those countries in theMiddle East exploiting rich reserves of oiland natural gas have looked for ways ofdiversifying their industries from reliance onpetrochemicals to develop other primary anddownstream industries.

A combination of low cost fuel forelectricity generation and a suitablegeographic location to supply the markets ofEurope and to import raw materials fromAustralia, Brazil and West Africa, has enabledproduction of primary aluminium to be oneof the ways of achieving this goal.

Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Iran, and mostrecently, Oman, have already developedsignificant primary aluminium production asa way of achieving diversification. Qatar, andSaudi Arabia are in the process of buildingsmelters to the extent that 5.7Mt/y of newcapacity is currently under construction inthe Gulf region. While the current drop indemand may delay some of the expansionplans, most will continue in anticipation ofrecovery in 2010. However, in particular, theadvent of a developing international marketfor liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is leadingto some governments showing reluctance tocommit more of their valuable but finite gasreserves to smelters.

This article summarises existing and newprojects in the region.

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba)Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) was the firstaluminium smelter to be built in the MiddleEast. It started with a modest capacity of120kt/y. Now, after several expansionprojects, Alba’s production capacity hasincreased to 870kt/y.

Alba was officially opened in 1971, and itsshareholders today are the BahrainMurritalakat Holding Company (77%),SABIC (Saudi Arabia) Industrial Investments(20%) and Breton Investments (3%).

Alba has a comprehensive aluminiumsmelting process. As well as its five reductionlines and its cast houses, Alba has a dedicatedcarbon department, a 600kt/y coke calciningplant – the only smelter in the world to haveits own calciner, it is self-sufficient in powergeneration with a 2300MW power station,and has a water desalination plant at thecompany’s marine terminal which alsosupplies part of the general population.

The entire plant operates to theEnvironmental Management System

standard ISO 14001:2004 and the QualityManagement System ISO 9001:2000.

Alba has always contributed to Bahrain’seconomic and social development, which istranslated into providing jobs and trainingopportunities for young Bahrainis. Albaearned the GCC-wide award for HumanResources Development in recognition ofits outstanding Bahrainisation levels ofalmost 90%.

The company has won a number of otherprestigious awards, including the inauguralShaikh Khalifa bin Salman AI Khalifa Awardfor Industrial Excellence, Shaikh Mohamedbin Rashid AI Maktoom Arab ManagementAward – Outstanding Arab Organisation

category, RoSPA Safety Award, and it was thefirst company to receive the InternationalMillennium Business Award forEnvironmental Achievement presented bythe United Nations Environment Programme.

Alba also fuels a thriving downstreamindustry in Bahrain, by supplying over 45% ofits production to local downstreamcompanies. Thus, Alba contributes nearly12% of Bahrain’s GDP.

A sixth potline is pending construction butis awaiting approval of long-term gas suppliesby the Bahraini government which needs toimport gas from Saudi Arabia or Qatar tosupplement Bahrain’s dwindling domesticresources.

Smelter projects under way in the Gulf countries (note excludes Egypt and Iran)

Dubal with a capacity of 1Mt/y is ranked as the seventhlargest producer of primary aluminium in the world

Alba’s 870kt/y capacity is now constrained by lackof gas in Bahrain

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January/February 2009 Aluminium International Today

Also, feasibility studies for two privatelyowned smelters proposed to be built atKerman and Sabzevar are under way.

Because of growing demands for aluminiumin the country, Iran imports more than200kt/y of aluminium mostly from Dubal,Alba, Rusal and some Chinese companies.

Iran has its own bauxite deposits which areblended with imported bauxite to obtainhigher qualities. The raw material foraluminium production is mainly importedfrom India and West Africa. The country’sfirst refinery plant, Iran Alumina Co, islocated near the bauxite mine at Jajarm(Khorasan), and has a capacity of 200kt/y ofrefined alumina and is likely to reach itsdesign capacity of 280kt/y in a few yearstime. At this stage it is able to provide most ofthe alumina needs of the two smelters.

There are also large reserves of NephelineSyenite in Iran which can be processed foralumina production and attention is beinggiven to these more difficult ores to process toproduce alumina. A plant for this is underconstruction in Sarab (East AzarbaijanProvince). This plant is designed to produce200kt/y of alumina. Also, IMIDRO has aprogramme to transport bauxite from a mineit operates in Guinea and is constructing analumina refinery on the Persian Gulf.

Sohar Aluminium (Oman)Sohar Aluminum Company was formed inSeptember 2004 to undertake a landmarkUS$2.4bn greenfield aluminum smelterproject in the Sultanate of Oman.

Dubai Aluminium Co (DUBAL)The construction of the Dubal smelterstarted in 1977, under the patronage of HisHighness the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed AIMaktourn. The first metal was tapped andcast in 1979, followed by the first metal salesin 1980.

Dubal is ranked as the seventh largestproducer of primary aluminium in the world,and is currently the largest single-sitealuminium smelter complex in the Westernworld using pre-baked anode technology. The company is the single largest non-oilcontributor to the economy of Dubai. Builton a 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali near Dubai,UAE, Dubal’s major facilities comprise a950kt/y primary aluminium smelter, a2100MW power station, a large carbon plant,three casthouses, a 30-million-gallon-per-daywater desalination plant, laboratories, portand storage facilities.

The company has the capacity to producemore than 1Mt of high quality finishedaluminium products a year, in three mainforms: foundry alloy for automotiveapplications, extrusion billet for constructionpurposes and high purity aluminium for theelectronics industry.

Dubal serves 290 customers in 46 countriespredominantly in the Far East, Europe, theASEAN region, the Middle East andMediterranean region, and North America.The company holds ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949,ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001certification; and has twice won the DubaiQuality Award in the Production andManufacturing sector (1996 and 2000).

EgyptalumIn 1972 a scheme was initiated on the banksof the river Nile which was to culminate inthe completion of the second aluminiumsmelter to be built in the Middle East.Egyptalum’s aluminium plant is situated atNag Hammady, some 100km north of Luxor.

Nag Hammady is unique in several ways;the development has risen from the barrendesert, to realise one of the most technologic-ally advanced sites of its kind. Also a city hasbeen established alongside the plant to provideevery amenity from hospitals to stadiums andhousing set in tree lined avenues.

Egyptalum is a public-sector body thatstarted production in 1975. In 1983, theannual production reached the design

capacity of 166kt. As a result of thecontinuous development in performance ofemployees and equipment, the annualproduction capacity reached 181kt in 1993from five pot lines with a total of 460 cellsoperating at 155kA using vertical studSoderberg cells.

In view of the company strategy ofexporting a fixed proportion of itsproduction, Egyptalum has foreseen theimportance of increasing output. Thecompany decided to increase productivity bytransformation its existing Soderberg cells toprebaked anode cells and by building a sixthpotline. Work starting on this strategy in1997. In 2007, output reached 265kt. By theend of 2010 the annual capacity of thesmelter is planned to reach 320kt.

IranThe two primary producers in Iran are Iralco(Iran Aluminium Co) with more than 30years of aluminium smelting experience andAlmahdi Aluminum Co in Bandar Abbas nearthe Persian Gulf. At present Iralco’s andAlmahdi’s production are about 130kt and110kt a year respectively. Each of thesecompanies has their own anode plants. Iralcoplans to build a new carbon plant in the nextthree years. Recently Iralco startedconstruction of a new greenfield smelter withfinal capacity of 110kt/y. The first phase ofthis smelter, with a capacity of 33kt/y, hasstarted operations and is expected to reachfull capacity by Q3 2009.

Iralco’s production consists of ingots,extrusion billets and rolling slab. Most ofAlmahdi’s production is pure aluminiumingot both for the domestic market and forexport. Based on the developmentprogramme, it is expected that the capacity ofaluminium production in Iran will be 900kt/yin 2011. The expansion plans underconstructing and supervised by the IranianMines and Mineral Industries Developmentand Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO) aresummarised in Table 1.

Plant Capacity Location(kt/y)

Iralco New phase 110 ArakHormozal 147 Bandar AbbasAlmahdi’s expansion(U Plant) 23 Bandar AbbasSouth Aluminium (Salco) 276 LamerdJajarm Aluminium 36 Jajarm

Table 1: Construction of new plants in Iran under thesupervision of IMIDRO

Construction of new plants in Iran will add nearly 600kt/y of new capacity by 2011 making the total 900kt.

Iralco is commissioning a new 110kt/y greenfield smelterin Iran

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Located 11km inland from the port ofSohar the smelter produced its first metal inJune 2008. The project shareholders are theOman Oil Company (40%), Abu DhabiElectricity & Water Authority (ADWEA 40%)and Rio Tinto Alcan (20%).

Using Rio Tinto Alcan AP smeltertechnology the project involves theconstruction of a single 360 pot AP35 potlinewith a capacity of approximately 350kt/y; acarbon anode plant; a metal casting facility;and a port for product storage and shiploading and unloading. When complete, thepotline will be the largest single potline inthe world. Full production is expected to bereached in the first half of 2009.

Products will include liquid metaltransferred to local downstream businessesby crucible, and primary ingots and sows forexport. Of the total annual capacity of 350kt,60% will be sold to the local market.

The smelter consists of:■ A carbon plant to supply 183 anodes per

shift, (200 000 anodes per year) and willemploy approximately 160 personnel;

■ A potline which will be the world’s longest(over 1.2km) containing 360 pots using thelatest AP35 technology. The potlineoperating current is 350kA, producing 350ktof metal a year or 2700kg per pot per day.

■ A Casthouse with two automated ingotcasting lines and a sow caster. The casthousewill cast up to 350kt of aluminium a year.

■ The port facility at Sohar comprises a bulkmaterial ship unloader with connectingconveyors to two alumina silos, each of60kt capacity; and two coke silos, each of15kt capacity. There is also a liquid pitchreceiving facility with two 5kt capacityliquid pitch tanks.

■ A dedicated 1000MW captive powergeneration plant is under construction atSohar port. The Sohar Aluminium powerplant is being procured under a lump sumturnkey contract with Alstom and willdeliver around 650MW to the smelter on acontinuous basis without interruption.

The power plant also includes adesalination plant to supply water for theheat recovery steam generators and alsoprovide water for the smelter.

The primary fuel for the plant is naturalgas, which is transported to the site via a newgas pipeline from the existing Port PressureReduction Terminal to the Gas MeteringFacility, located within the Sohar Aluminiumpower plant site.

Fume treatment plants for the potline andthe green anode plant as well as four tiltingholding furnaces for the casthouse and theliquid pitch marine terminal are supplied byFives Solios.

Emirates Aluminium (EMAL)Emal is a 50:50 joint venture between DubaiAluminium Company Ltd (Dubal) andMubadala Development Company (Mubadala)the investment vehicle of the Emirate of AbuDhabi. Emal was established in February 2007to construct what will become the world’slargest single site aluminium smelter complex.The project is being built in two 700kt phases.The first phase will cost approximately $ 5.7bnand will result in 756 reduction cells arrangedin two pot lines and will use Dubal’s DX-350cell technology. An on-site 2000MW powerplant, anode manufacturing plant and multi-product cast house are all part of phase one. Atthe end of phase one in April 2010, Emal willbe able to produce 700kt/y of aluminium andthe completion of phase two planned forJanuary 2011 will raise this to 1.4Mt/y. Thesmelter complex occupies a 6km2 site in theKhalifa Port Industrial Zone in Taweelah, halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and willproduce primary aluminium with a productmix of sow, standard ingot, billet and rollingingot.

Being the largest industrial project in theUAE outside the oil and gas industry, theproject will encourage economicdiversification, creating downstreamopportunities. This development will benefitthe UAE economy, employing more than

14 000 local and international contractorsand staff during construction and 1800people direct employment during operations.

Emal adheres to strict environmentalstandards set by the Abu DhabiEnvironmental Agency, with state-of the-artemission control equipment including seawater sulphur-dioxide scrubbers for thecarbon plant, the latest potroom gastreatment technology from Alstom to capturefluoride and sulphur dioxide emissions andthe best-available CHP gas turbine systemsfor power generation with cooling towerssupplied by SPIG of Italy to eliminatethermal stress on local marine life whencoolant is discharged to the sea.

The gas fired power station is beingequipped with General Electric generators andwill have an initial generating capacity of2000MW to be increased to 3600MW forphase two. It will use gas and steam CHPturbines for maximum efficiency. Gas suppliesand prices have been guaranteed for a 30 yearperiod.

Qatar AluminiumQatar Aluminium (Qatalum) will be theworld’s largest primary aluminium plant everbuilt in one step. However, it will also be themost expensive at an estimated specificcapital cost of $7265/t of capacity. The plantwill have a capacity in the first phase of 585ktof primary aluminium, all to be shipped asvalue added aluminium casthouse products.

It is a 50:50 joint venture between QatarPetroleum of Qatar and Norsk Hydro ASA ofNorway.

The Qatalum venture is ideally located tomeet the growing demand for aluminium inAsia and the rest of the world. Whenconceived, the anticipated annual globaldemand growth for primary aluminium was5% for the coming decade.

Qatalum is based on strong strategicfundamentals, and can draw on the supportand know how of the two partners behind theproject.

Qatar Petroleum provides a combination oflong-term competitive energy resources, anindustrial infrastructure and location suitablefor this large project.

Hydro is responsible for the execution ofthe construction of the project. Hydro is aleading integrated, global aluminiumcompany and a technology and R&D leaderin the industry with close to a century ofexperience of aluminium production. Hydroalso holds leading positions in markets foraluminium metal products and has a strongrecord in the execution of large projects.

The facility consists of:■ Two potlines of 352 pots each using 300kA

cells based on Hydro’s HAL275 technology.Liquid metal capacity is 585kt/y.

■ Two product casthouses producing 335kt ofextrusion ingot and 275kt of foundry alloysa year;

■ A carbon plant producing 300kt of anodes ayear;

Emal, the second smelter to be built in UAE, will be the world’s largest single site aluminium smelter with phase oneopening in April 2010 with a capacity of 700kt/y

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■ A dedicated gas fired power plant with aninstalled capacity of 1350MW;

■ Fume treatment plant for all areas of theplant (potline, carbon plant, casthouse andconveying) supplied by Fives Solios (SeeAIT May June 2008 p37).Located in Mesaieed Industrial City, 40km

south of Doha, the capital of Qatar,production start-up is planned by the end of2009 with full production reached during2010. Space has been allocated for a secondphase of construction to bring capacity up to1.2Mt/y.

Qatalum will employ approximately 1100 workers from more than 25nationalities.

Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia is, apart from Iran, the onlyother Middle East country with exploitablebauxite reserves. At present, it has no smelteror alumina refinery but plans to exploit thesereserves to produce up to 2Mt of metal a year,eventually.

Two projects are currently under way,Jazan Aluminium to build a 720kt/y smelterby 2011-12 in a joint venture between theSaudi Binladin Group of Malaysia, Chalco ofChina and MMC Corp (China).

The other project, Ma’aden, scheduled forstart of production in 2011, was initially ajoint equity venture between Saudi ArabiaMining and Rio Tinto Alcan with plans tobuild an alumina refinery and smelter at RasAz Zawr to exploit the local bauxite deposits.The two partners held 49% and 51% equity inthe project respectively, but in December2008, Rio Tinto Alcan relinquished its equityshare but will continue as technologyprovider. This is expected to delay the projectby at least 12 months.

Total output from the $10bn refinery andsmelter combined is planned to be 750kt/y ofwhich the smelter would account for around170kt/y of metal production. Capital costs pertonne of metal produced are estimated at$5950/t reflecting the high cost of build inGulf countries.

This is the second project in the regionthat Rio Tinto has been thwarted in. Earlierplans to build a smelter in the Emirate ofAbu Dhabi at Ruwais in partnership withAbu Dhabi Aluminium Co with an initialcapacity of 550kt/y and expansion plans to2Mt/y have failed to come to fruition due to the lack of agreement with thegovernment on long-term gas supplies forthe project.

Rio Tinto’s investment in the region is thuspresently limited to a 20% holding in SoharAluminium in Oman.

Presently, the company is suffering from acombination of the current downturn indemand for metal and ores, and fromfinancing a close to $40bn net debt partlyincurred by the acquisition of Alcan last year.It is thus unlikely to pursue furtherinvestment in the region in the presentclimate.

Pneumatic conveyanceof alumina by FluidconClaudius Peters has developed a low velocity pneumatic conveyingsystem for alumina which uses a combination of a driving gas and afluidising gas thus doing away with the need for an inclined airslideresulting in reduced maintenance and energy requirements.

The Fluidcon cell feeding (FCF) system is apneumatic feeding system for aluminiumreduction cells which combines theadvantages of the airslide design withconventional pneumatic pipe conveying.

FCF’s most important point is that it ispossible to fluidise and convey alumina at lowpressures so saving on energy and thereforesubstantially reducing operating costs whencompared with conventional pipe conveyingsystems.

FCF was developed by Claudius Peters ofGermany, which has applied its extensiveknowledge of the constructive characteristicsof alumina distribution and feeding systemsfor aluminium reduction cells in aluminiumsmelters.

The general control philosophy compriseall components from the upstream interface,(secondary alumina silo), to the downstreaminterfaces above the potline cells. Thepneumatic transport and intermediatestorage of alumina from the secondaryalumina silo is decoupled from theelectrolysis cells when using the pneumaticFCF to convey alumina to the reductionscells.

The operating characteristic of the systemresults in extremely low transport velocity,low energy consumption and minimised wearand maintenance.

FCF contain no mechanical valves insidethe material flow and uses standard steelpipes with aeration pads, which can be

removed easily if necessary for maintenance. The gas flow is divided into a fluidising gas

and a driving gas. The distribution of thefluidising gas is controlled and fed along theconveying pipe to fluidise the bulk alumina.The driving gas flow is fed into the silo end ofthe conveying pipe and replaces theinclination of a conventional airslide. Due tothe fluidisation, the alumina is transformedinto a fluid-like state with nearly no internalfriction and is lifted off the bottom of theconveying pipe and introduced into the flowof the driving gas. Therefore the alumina isnot abrading the internal conveying pipewall.

Results show that the Fluidcon cell feedingsystem is relatively insensitive to varyingoperating conditions and disturbances andcan be adjusted easily to the prevailingconstruction configuration and operatingconditions It is also possible to implementthis system into existing plant.

FCF meets the requirements of increasingecological awareness, stricter regulations onemissions, and the growing need forindustrial safety.

Contact: Andreas Wolf – Business DevelopmentManager AluminiumClaudius Peters Group GmbH, Schanzenstraße 40D-21614 Buxtehude, GermanyTel +49 4161 706310, Fax +49 4161 7067310email [email protected] web www.claudiuspeters.com

Fig 1: The Fluidcon cell feeding system combines a fluidising gas with a driving gas

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