On May 13, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) announced that they have successfully started their DX+ Ultra reduction cell technology with a modified liner at 500kA, the first time this amperage has reached the Middle East. When compared to the existing maximum working amperage in EGA, increasing the amperage to 500kA is predicted to increase aluminium output by 5 per cent.
This milestone was achieved in the Eagle research and development section of EGA in Jebel Ali. It is a part of the feasibility study for EGA's potline 3 in Al Taweelah, which contains 444 DX+ and 14 DX+ Ultra pots, to update 458 reduction cells.
“Reaching 500kA for the first time is a great achievement and I congratulate our Research & Development team who are continuously improving the performance of our proprietary smelting technologies as we strive towards being a technology pathfinder for our industry in the decades ahead. In addition to supporting production creep in Al Taweelah, this work also contributes to the ongoing development of our next generation technology which promises a further step change in performance both for EGA and our technology customers,” said Chief Executive Officer of EGA, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban.
In the case of aluminium smelting, raising amperage can boost output while lowering the cost per tonne of new reduction cells and enhancing the productivity of existing ones. As the amperage grows, the issue is to maintain the heat and magnetic stability within the reduction cell.
EGA's latest fully-industrialized technology is DX+ Ultra, which was licensed to Aluminium Bahrain for the extension of potline 6 at the Bahraini firm, in addition to potline 3 at Al Taweelah. The production for this started in 2018.
For more than 25 years, Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE's largest industrial firm outside of oil and gas, has been developing its own aluminium smelting technology in the UAE. Since the 1990s, EGA has employed its own technology for every smelting expansion, as well as retrofitting all of its older production lines. EGA has agreements in place with firms ranging from Indonesia to Colombia, which might lead to more worldwide licencing of EGA technology.
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