RUSAL invests up to $10 million in the casthouse modernisation project at Sayanogorsk

UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, has conducted the initial tests of new equipment within the project for melting furnace installation in the casthouse at Sayanogorsk smelter (RUSAL Sayanogorsk). The project investment will total up to USD 10 million.

The project, scheduled to be implemented throughout 2015–2016, aims to boost efficiency by recycling the processed waste of value-added products. The company expects annual volumes of processed waste to exceed 27 thousand tonnes, including dross pressing. At the first stage of the project new equipment has been purchased: an automated hot dross pressing machine equipped with a gas filtering system.

‘Installation of a melting furnace will allow us to bring VAP production efficiency at the smelter to a fundamentally new level. As a result of the modernisation process, we will start producing additional metal via hot dross pressing already this year. At the final stage of the project in 2016 we will complete the construction of a new waste recycling shop and put the melting furnace of 20 tonnes capacity into operation. The increase in recycled aluminium volumes will also enable us to further reduce production costs,’ noted Evgeny Nikitin, Head of Aluminium Division at UC RUSAL.

To date, initial tests with hot metal have been conducted on the new equipment, allowing a recovery of up to 10% liquid metal from hot dross processing. The pressed dross residual itself, covered with a metal coat on the outside, provides an increased metal yield and minimum waste volumes when further recycled in melting furnaces.

The casthouse modernisation at RUSAL Sayanogorsk is part of a long-term investment programme aimed at boosting the output of alloys and value-added products.