Alba’s Forced Cooling Network comes into operation at Potlines 4 & 5; expects to lift smelting capacity by 17000 TPA

On Monday, January 16, Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) held a programme to commission the Forced Cooling Network (FCN) Project at Potlines 4 and 5. The occasion was attended by Alba's Chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa and Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali, along with Directors and Managers and concerned teams of the respective area.

The FCN project, managed by the in-house Engineering and Operations team, has lifted Alba's amperage to 410 kA at Potlines 4 and 5, enabling the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East to increase production capacity by approximately 17,000 tonnes per annum.

Commenting on this occasion, Alba’s Chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said: “By chasing operational efficiency, we will attain excellence as we journey to the future. Devised as a focus area within Alba’s 5-year business strategy, the FCN Project started as one step outside our comfort zone since it was executed while Potlines 4 & 5 were fully operational -- and that speak volumes about the technical and operational expertise of our people.”

Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali stated: “We are pleased to commission FCN Project simultaneously in Potlines 4 & 5 on time and within budget. Action expresses priorities and the key is to schedule our priorities right. I take the opportunity to thank our teams for this exceptional teamwork and for delivering this Project safely without any disruptions to our ongoing operations.”

Alba shared the engineering detail of the FCN project in August 2021, while the manufacturing and installation work started in March 2022. It was successfully completed with 478,000 manhours worked onsite with zero lost time injury.