DUBAL appoints Rockwell Automation to build world’s largest smelter
US industrial automation firm to provide a commercial pot-control system for DX+ technology
Dubai Aluminium has appointed Rockwell Automation to provide a commercial pot-control system for its DX+ technology.
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Dubai Aluminium, the owner and operator of one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, has engaged Rockwell Automation and its Global Solutions team to provide a commercial pot-control system for its proprietary DX+ technology, it has been announced.
The technology is currently being installed in the Phase II expansion at Emirates Aluminium in Abu Dhabi. The system is a major part of a multi-million dollar project that will add 520,000 tonnes of capacity to EMAL’s existing potlines, which convert aluminium powder into molten aluminium, Rockwell Automation said in a statement.
Once the project is completed, EMAL will be one of the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelters in the world, with a total production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year.
“We needed a flexible, robust and scalable commercial solution. Rockwell Automation met our needs with its Logix-based architecture, and by showcasing its existing installed base in smelters around the world,” said Ali Hussain Ahmed M Al Zarouni, DUBAL vice president, Smelter Operations.
“This is a significant expansion, and it’s important that we can easily make upgrades and modifications. We now have that capability with Logix.”
Rockwell Automation employed a commercial off-the shelf pot-control solution using EtherNet/IP, the scalability of its Logix control platform, its global resources and a 24/7 helpline capacity. The work includes hardware and network design, assembly, factory acceptance testing, project management and start-up procedures.
“This project is a great example of our ability to deliver a large turnkey solution using global resources,” said Terry Gebert, vice president and general manager, Rockwell Automation Global Solutions.
“We are utilising engineering in the United Kingdom and France, assembly and testing in Poland, and commissioning and support in the UAE. Our experience, domain expertise and global resources will help DUBAL achieve its goal of building the required state-of-the-art pot control system for this project.”
DUBAL currently operates the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter using pre-bake anode technology. Built on a 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali, the complex’s major facilities comprise a one million metric tonne per annum primary aluminium smelter, a 2,350 megawatt power station (at 30°C), a large carbon plant, casting operations with a capability of more than one million metric tonnes per annum, a 30 million gallon per day seawater desalination plant, laboratories, port and storage facilities.
