ABB to upgrade 2 Chinalco aluminium mills with automation and digital tech

ABB has secured two orders from China’s Southwest Aluminum to supply integrated automation and digital technologies for two six-high aluminium cold rolling mills, supporting the manufacturer’s wide-strip production expansion and upgrade. The projects involve a 2,500 mm two-stand mill and a 3,000 mm single-stand mill, with both lines expected to be fully commissioned and operational by the end of 2027.

Chongqing-based Southwest Aluminum is a subsidiary of the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco). The orders build on the longstanding cooperation between ABB and the aluminium producer, with the latest projects focusing on process stability, control precision and production performance.

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Blending mill automation with digital optimisation

ABB’s scope includes mill automation and process control through its ABB Ability System 800xA distributed control system (DCS), alongside drives, flatness control, sensing and measurement technologies. The integrated systems are designed to improve visibility into production performance and equipment condition.

A common automation architecture across both mills would help standardise operating environments, improve system compatibility and simplify maintenance and spare-parts management.

Frederik Esterhuizen, Global Manager of ABB’s Business Line Metals and Power Conversion, stated, “The two projects build on the experience ABB and Southwest Aluminum have developed together over many years.”

“Cold rolling places demanding requirements on process stability, control accuracy, and equipment availability,” he added.

Implementing “common automation architecture across the two mills” would further help Southwest Aluminum with “a strong foundation for optimising performance throughout the operating life of the lines.”

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Smart manufacturing platform to boost quality and yield

Both mills would deploy ABB’s Ability Smart Manufacturing Solution for Cold Rolling Mill, a digital platform that integrates production, quality and equipment data. It is intended to help operators and maintenance teams make more informed decisions on process settings, product quality and equipment condition.

ABB’s Ability History industrial time-series data management platform would collect and store high-frequency process information for analysis and business intelligence, helping monitor key rolling parameters such as thickness deviation and flatness.

The company plans to apply its “Golden Coil” analysis methodology to identify and replicate operating practices associated with better quality, productivity, yield and energy consumption. By linking process settings with production outcomes, the approach is designed to help mill teams optimise operating parameters and address bottlenecks more systematically.

The digital scope further includes condition monitoring, drive-performance analysis and hydraulic diagnostics. Bringing these capabilities together is expected to support earlier fault detection, predictive maintenance and more informed planning of equipment interventions.

With commissioning targeted by the end of 2027, the projects would combine automation standardisation and digital analytics to support Southwest Aluminum’s wide-strip cold rolling operations.

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