Since 1963, ICSOBA (The International Committee for Study of Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium) has organized 41 international events in different places of the world. In 2023, ICSOBA marked its 60th anniversary. The selection of Dubai, UAE, for the 41st International Conference and Exhibition follows ICSOBA’s practice of rotating the venue of its International Meetings to countries that play an important role in the global aluminium industry. The Conference was held from 6 to 9 November 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights hotel and online.
The Conference obtained support from Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) as the host sponsor and attracted over 550 delegates from 41 countries.
The program included 14 high-level keynote speakers and over 180 technical papers. The conference covered bauxite, alumina, bauxite residue, electrodes (carbon) for aluminium electrolysis, aluminium electrolysis, casting operations, and sustainability in a variety of technical sessions.
To continuously innovate and contribute to better practical knowledge sharing within the industry, a new Casthouse Operation subject was added this year to the ICSOBA Conference, limited to smelter casthouse operations and connection to potrooms.
A dedicated workshop for Alumina Properties for Smelting was organised during the conference.
On-site participant interaction and live streaming of the conference from a single platform (Whova) was used for the second time this year, enabling interaction between on-site and online participants.
For the first time in ICSOBA history, an Aluminium Electrolysis Short Course was organised to increase participants’ comprehensive understanding of the electrolysis process and an overview of state-of-the-art aluminium production. The course was held at the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights in Dubai from 1 to 3 November 2023 and was attended by 120 participants from 14 countries.
The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) also took advantage of this gathering of technologists from around the world to hold its Bauxite & Alumina Committee meeting and a workshop on decarbonisation in refining and bauxite residue reuse on 5 November 2023.
During the Conference, an exhibition of the latest technologies, equipment and other devices for the bauxite, alumina and aluminium industry took place with 12 participating companies: ABC Flex, AKW Apparate + Verfahren, Beijing SIO Technology, DT Equipment, Emirates Global Aluminium, Filtrapol, Gaudfrin, LYNCIS, Malvern Panalytical, SAATI, Solvay, and Spectraflow Analytics. We all pay tribute to their continuous support of ICSOBA.
The last day of the conference saw field trips to EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery and smelter. The forum proved again that ICSOBA provides a unique platform to exchange information on the latest innovations and deeply contributes to knowledge dissemination in our industry.
As usual, all papers published in the TRAVAUX 52, as well as the presentations, will be accessible from the ICSOBA website at https://icsoba.org/proceedings/.
We want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to the conference this year. In addition, we are deeply grateful to the partners and sponsors who have worked with us at all stages of this important industry event. With 45 Corporate Members and 17 Sponsors (EGA, Alba, Hydro, Rio Tinto, Metso, Nalco Water, Tokai COBEX, Alteo, Aluminium Dunkerque, Fives, Gaudfrin, GEA, Hatch, Mytilineos, Sohar Aluminium, Techmo, Trimet) the organizers of ICSOBA 2023 are humbled by this realization.
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