Gas consumption and related CO2 emissions become a critical challenge for all aluminium smelters, particularly in Europe. Aluminium Dunkerque, Boston Consulting Group, and Fives Solios have jointly embarked on a project to reduce gas consumption in the anode baking furnace by employing data-driven techniques. Beyond the objective of reducing gas consumption, this project was an opportunity to exploit production data to improve an industrial process. An approach that has been successful in other industries, but which is a premiere for the anode baking furnace.

The project cleaned and consolidated historical data from various sources to derive interrelations across the entire furnace, across time, and across adjacent departments (e.g., Gas treatment center, Electrolysis). In close collaboration with process experts, predictive models were developed which link the actionable baking furnace process parameters with the key process outcomes of gas consumption and anode quality, under consideration of other causal factors such as refractory state. The models were developed and tested on historical data during the Proof-of-concept phase to evaluate and confirm the potential benefits. During the subsequent Minimum-viable-product phase, for which dedicated user interfaces are co-designed with the end users, the models are evaluated in an online fashion to demonstrate gains under operating conditions.

This paper presents the project methodology, the data analysis done and the first results on ABF gas consumption and CO2 emission reduction.

Fume Treatment Centres (FTC) are essential for the operation of anode baking furnaces and for keeping emissions within environmental limits. Many FTCs in operation today have exceeded their initial design life and experience severe operational and maintenance issues. This paper presents a structured methodology and risk-based approach which is used for assessing fit for service. Considering the uncertain future of carbon plants, smelters often seek to extend the safe lifetime by a given period. When addressing these challenges, a strategic choice must thus often be made involving building new, upgrading, refurbishing, or a combination. A key piece of equipment, where failures are critical, is the cooling tower. Repairs can often not keep up with deterioration, so it must either be replaced entirely or substituted by the AHEX (anode heat exchanger). The AHEX solution does not only provide gas cooling but also upgrades the reactor where alumina is mixed with gas upstream the filter house.

A critical need for enhanced data visibility and communication has been identified in the dynamic environment of carbon operations within the aluminium industry. The current state of operations is characterised by challenges, such as delayed data access and the potential for data-entry errors. Gap analysis revealed opportunities for technological advancement to bridge these operational inefficiencies.

The future state is envisioned as a digitally empowered workspace, where seamless communication and real-time data are the norm. To achieve this, an innovative mobile application called the "Carbon Mobility" Project was initiated. This app enables operators and managers to interact with operational data and live plant status, offering a user-friendly interface based on Web technology that makes the invisible visible.

The key implementation steps of the Carbon Mobility app include optimising the packing and unpacking processes, and integrating a firing alert system. The monitoring module of the app facilitates proactive field observations aligned with the process KPIs, enabling immediate corrective actions and efficient maintenance planning. The app is accessible anywhere, fostering a culture of prompt responses to deviations and catalysing continuous improvement. These steps are part of a comprehensive strategy to enhance the operational visibility and efficiency of the anode baking furnace (ABF).

Fives Solios is one of the leading western suppliers of Fume Treatment Centers (FTC) for Anode Baking Furnaces (ABF) since the early beginning in 1980 with the largest installed base. All of these references are with water cooling towers to cool down the hot ABF fumes before dry scrubbing with alumina. These cooling towers (CT) are very efficient and long lasting but they use water, which is not only an increasingly scarce resource but also a cause of potential corrosion.

Norwegian Emission Abatement Technologies (NEATEC) has a world leading competence in the retrofit of FTC and GTC (Gas Treatment Centers) with TurboBed reactors and cooling of fumes with NEATEC heat exchangers (NHEX).

For the past 2 years, Fives Solios and NEATEC have developed a partnership on various projects bringing together the best technology from each company to build innovative solutions with high added values to their clients in term of performance and carbon footprint reductions.

One of them consists of implementing for clients having bad experience with cooling towers operation, a NHEX heat exchanger into the Fives OZEOS filter technology for FTCs. The NHEX, of tube and shell design, acts both as gas cooler and as reactor where tar components can condense on alumina particles that simultaneously adsorb HF and SO2 before entering the filter. The TurboBed alumina injection ensures thorough and even alumina distribution in the flue gas upstream of the entry section of each heat exchanger.

The aim of this paper is to compare the NHEX and the cooling tower FTC solutions with advantages and drawbacks, CAPEX and OPEX, with and without heat recovery and make it fully understandable for our clients in order to facilitate their technology selection.