Aluminium International Today January Februry 2021

INDUSTRY NEWS

FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM REVIEW

DIGITALISATION

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

www.aluminiumtoday.com January/February 2021—Vol.34 No.1

THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

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SHARING THE FASCINATING WORLD OF ALUMINIUM Our innovative solutions transform your creative visions for aluminium into reality. We support you with the full range of technologies needed for ingenious approaches. From melting and casting to rolling, extrusion and forging.

Let’s add value along the entire value chain, together.

Leading partner in the world of metals

SMS group GmbH Wiesenstrasse 30 57271 Hilchenbach, Germany Phone: +49 2733 292793 michael.schaefer@sms-group.com

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CONTENTS 1

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2 2

COVER

Editorial Editor: Nadine Bloxsome Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855115 nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM REVIEW

DIGITALISATION

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Production Editor: Annie Baker www.aluminiumtoday.com January/February 2021—Vol.34 No.1

THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

Sales

Advertisement Production

6

Virtually a success!

8

Digitalization and CO2 - Free Aluminium -

10

The Internet of Metals (IoM)

13

Smart smelters and digital twins

17

Collaboration, the first step towards success

20

Staying ahead in the era of perpetual change

22

The Planning Superhero

25

Is Southern Africa ready for digital transformation?

A LU M I N I U M I N T E R N AT I O N A L TO DAY J A N U A RY/ F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1 V O L . 3 4 N O 1

Sales Director: Ken Clark kenclark@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855117

NEWS FAF REVIEW The Hurdles and the Pitfalls

Volume 34 No. 1 – January/February 2021

Sales Manager: Nathan Jupp nathanjupp@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855027

LEADER

DIGITALISATION

Production Executive: Martin Lawrence

28

Smart manufacturing investments

31

Smart factories are the future

33

Does analytics have a role to play

Managing Director: Tony Crinion CEO: Steve Diprose

in Aluminium?

Circulation/subscriptions

PRIMARY

Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 email subscriptions@quartzltd.com Annual subscription: UK £245, all other countries £265. For two year subscription: UK £440, all other countries £480. Airmail prices on request.

Single copies £45

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UK Smelter at the heart of green aluminium

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Cover picture courtesy of Granco Clark

6

28

MODERN METAL MANAGEMENT 37

Supporters of Aluminium International Today

Modernising metals management with MES

MAINTENANCE 39

39

46

Storvik Pneumatic Tube Cleaning Machine

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING 41

Innovative aluminium SC reinforced solution for additive manufacturing

44 ALUMINIUM INTERNATIONAL TODAY is published six times a year by Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email: aluminium@quartzltd.com Aluminium International Today (USO No; 022-344) is published bi-monthly

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Advances in additive manufacturing held back by old powder

AUSTRALIAN UPDATE 49

52

46

Focus on: Australian Aluminium

CONSTRUCTION 49

Combatting construction’s carbon footprint

ROLLING SEARCH FOR ALUMINIUM INTERNATIONAL TODAY

50

Improving cold rolling mill performance

52

Inspection solutions to support surface quality in aluminum cold rolling

REFRACTORIES ISSN1475-455X

Aluminium International Today

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Fontes remains key player January/February 2021

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2 COMMENT

Production restarts at the Hydro Husnes B-line

VIRTUAL INSANITY Jamiroquai’s predictions were right...it’s a crazy world we’re all living in!

Thankfully this virtual reality we find ourselves in can have some benefits and still being able to hold a version of the Future Aluminium Forum in December was one of them.

Of course, it was not the same as being able to network in person and holding face-to-face meetings, but with more than 400 registered attendees over the two days, we were really encouraged by the interaction and opportunities it offered during these travel restricted times!

If you weren’t able to join, this issue includes a full review of the event and also features a number of papers from speakers who presented during the online conference. We had so many great speakers join and discussions were held on topics such as building digital supply chains, environmental technologies, intelligent manufacturing solutions and lots more.

Overall, it was certainly a very different way to host an event and I can confirm that conducting a Keynote Q&A session over Zoom is even more nerve-wracking when you are relying on your home WIFI and not being interrupted by an Amazon delivery!

This issue continues on the digitalisation theme, with a dedicated look at smart manufacturing investments (page 28).

We also focus on the impact of additive manufacturing across the sector and how technology is advancing here.

I hope you enjoy this issue and wish you a good start to 2021. nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com January/February 2021

Nadine jan feb.indd 1

Production recently resumed at the Hydro Husnes B line – more than 10 years after the production line was idled as a result of the financial crisis. Now, Hydro’s aluminium plant in western Norway is well on its way back to full production, after running at half capacity since 2009.

As of today, Hydro Husnes produces about 95,000 tonnes of aluminium annually via the A line. This will gradually increase to around 195,000 as the 200 electrolysis cells in the one-kilometer-long B line are restarted.

“It is great that the B line at Hydro Husnes is finally producing aluminium again. The restart fits well with Hydro’s strategy of lifting profitability and driving sustainability. The world will have

access to more renewable energy-based and infinitely recyclable aluminium, and with the technology upgrades that have been implemented, we can produce and

deliver in a more efficient, profitable and sustainable manner,” says Hydro President & CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim.

Aasheim explains that the restart of the B line is based on a

combination of increased demand for aluminium and expectations that Norway will continue to utilise EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) for 2021-2030.

“We welcome framework conditions that pave the way for continued production of low-carbon aluminium in Norway to serve a world market that is increasingly demanding more of our products.

Aluminium is on the EU’s list of raw materials that will contribute to the European Green Deal with the goal of making Europe climate neutral by 2050. Our Norwegian aluminium production is based on hydro- and wind power and has among the world’s lowest carbon footprint – making what we produce an important part of Europe’s 2050 goal,” she says.

EGA to provide technology know-how

Emirates Global Aluminium has signed a series of agreements with PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM) to provide technological know-how to upgrade the Indonesian company’s aluminium smelter in North Sumatra.

The signing was part of Indonesia UAE Week, organised by the two countries’ Embassies to further deepen economic ties between the UAE and Indonesia.

EGA will provide expertise to upgrade the performance of the INALUM smelter by retrofitting improvements to its existing technology, which was first installed in 1982.

The project, which is expected to take some 18 months to complete, aims to increase production at the North Sumatran smelter by 20,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. EGA has extensive experience in upgrading aluminium smelting technol-

ogy. The company has completed a series of similar upgrades across its sites in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah over the past decade.

EGA and INALUM also signed an extension to a Memorandum of Understanding on broader cooperation, which envisages potential cooperation on the construction of a new aluminium smelter in Indonesia using EGA’s proprietary technology.

ALTEK offers end-to-end solutions Harsco Corporation recently announced its subsidiary ALTEK is now able to provide complete end-to-end dross processing and environmental solutions to enable the global aluminium industry to maximise aluminium recoveries

and achieve zero waste.

“ALTEK is providing modern solutions to age-old problems, drastically reducing atmospheric pollution and pushing the aluminium industry to a zero-waste scenario through sustainable meth-

ods of producing aluminium,” said Ian Johns, Managing Director of ALTEK. “Our latest technology is designed with Industry 4.0 in mind, driving the digital transformation.”

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INDUSTRY NEWS 3

Alcoa to sell rolling mill to Kaiser Alcoa Corporation has announced an agreement to sell its rolling mill business, held by Alcoa Warrick LLC, to Kaiser Aluminum Corporation for total consideration of approximately $670 million, which includes $587 million in cash and the assumption of $83 million in other postretirement employee benefit (OPEB) liabilities.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

The rolling mill is located at

Warrick Operations, an integrated aluminium manufacturing site near Evansville, Indiana. Alcoa will retain ownership of the site’s 269,000 metric ton per year aluminium smelter and its electric generating units. Alcoa will also enter into a ground lease agreement with Kaiser for property that Alcoa will continue to own at the Warrick site.

“The sale will achieve a key target in our strategy to focus on core markets while generating additional cash,” said Alcoa Pres-

ident and CEO Roy Harvey. “We look forward to having Kaiser Aluminum as a valued customer at Warrick Operations, and we thank all of the employees who have contributed significantly to the site’s 60-year history of manufacturing excellence.”

As part of the transaction, Alcoa will enter into a market-based metal supply agreement with Kaiser Aluminum at closing. Alcoa will continue to operate the smelter and the power plant, which together employ approximately 660 people.

APPOINTMENTS Expansion of the management at HAI Marcus Oberhofer will strengthen the management of the HAI Group as Managing Director for Sales Construction & Industrial Extrusion from 1.1.2021.

The aluminium expert Hammerer Aluminium Industries has successfully implemented its growth strategy over the last few years. The offer for the markets Construction & Industry have been consistently expanded and now the sales organisation is being restructured.

ERG increases aluminium production

The Kazakhstan Aluminium Smelter JSC (KAS), part of Eurasian Resources Group has significantly increased aluminium production in 2020, strengthening its sales in the domestic and export markets, notably in Europe.

The plant, designed to produce 250ktpa, has managed to exceed that target by 15ktpa this year.

Following the signing of 11 contracts with businesses in Kazakhstan throughout 2020, KAS expanded its domestic sales by 20 percent this year.

Also strengthened were aluminium sales to Europe, which accounted for 77 percent of exports in 2020. Aluminium supply to European markets increased by 10kt.

Serik Donbekbaev, President of the Kazakhstan Aluminium Smelter (KAS), commented: “Demand for aluminium has increased domestically and internationally in recent months in line with the easing of restrictions and fiscal stimulus programs, particularly in China and Europe. We are pleased that we have been able to increase

our production capacity at KAS to meet the growing demand, and strengthen both our domestic and international sales.”

Serik Shakhazhanov, Chairman of the Management Board at Eurasian Group LLP, which operates ERG’s assets in Kazakhstan, commented: “KAS has surpassed expectations and strengthened its capacity, all in the midst of a challenging year. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team at KAS and the Group’s broader efforts and successes.”

Aluminium France elects new Chairman Aluminium France’s Board of Directors have unanimously elected Mr. Guillaume de Goÿs, Chief Operating Officer of Advance, Chairman of Aluminium France.

Mr. de Goÿs succeeds JeanFrançois Faure, General Manager Aluminium Technology at Rio Tinto and Chairman of Aluminium France for 3 years.

RUSAL to supply to Hyundai Hyundai Sungwoo Holdings Co, Ltd. has chosen RUSAL as its preferred long-term sustainable supplier of primary foundry aluminium alloys.

Such co-operation with the company displays RUSAL’s expertise to supply high-quality foundry alloys for car wheels manufacturing.

The partnership with Hyundai Sungwoo strengthens RUSAL’s leading position in the region, with an opportunity to boost sales in China.

Constellium partners with Project MFG Constellium has agreed to join Project MFG as a Technology Partner for its Next Generation Manufacturing Challenge Series.

As a Technology Partner, Constellium will provide material and machines that power the Project MFG competitions, which bring together teams of students who compete in a real world manufac-

turing challenge. Participants gain unprecedented access to the latest technology and personal guidance from industry experts.

Constellium will provide engineering staff to support the students as well as supply its aluminium plate Alplan® for the manufacture of the complex pieces required in the competition.

Eurasian Resources Group appoints New President at Kazakhstan Aluminium Smelter Kazakhstan Aluminium Smelter, the only producer of high-grade primary aluminium in Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of Eurasian Resources Group, has announced the appointment of Mr Serik Donbekbaev as President.

Mr Donbekbaev has over 20 years of successful track record in mining, metals and processing operations.

Aluminium International Today

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4 GREEN NEWS

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AMAG to build Austria’s largest rooftop photovoltaic system AMAG is building the largest rooftop photovoltaic system in Austria across an area of 55,000m² – roughly the size of eight soccer fields.

The project represents an investment volume of several million euros. The PV system, which will be installed on the roofs of the new plant, will generate around 6 GWh of electricity per year. This is enough to cover the needs of roughly 1,700 households. In addition, the rooftop system will be supplemented by a free-standing photovoltaic system over an area of 2,600 m².

“As recycling specialists, you could say that sustainable use of limited resources is part of our DNA. That’s why we have a clear energy strategy which, in addition to increasing energy efficiency,

also provides for the use of electricity from renewable sources. All the green electricity generated by the new system will be used by AMAG. The project fits seamlessly into our strategic energy manage-

ment concept while also meeting the long-term goals for decarbonization and expanded use of renewable energies in Austria and the EU,” explains AMAG CEO Gerald Mayer.

casting centre to recycle aluminium cuttings from Rio Tinto’s operations and rolling mill customers in manufacturing sectors, producing rolling ingots for the automotive and packaging industries.

With an initial capacity of 22,000 metric tons of remelted aluminium per year, the new al-

uminium recycling system is expected to be operational at the end of 2021.

The rolled product recycling service will complement the closed looped solution Rio Tinto is offering to billet customers from 2021, providing high quality alloys made of low carbon primary aluminium and recycled content.

Hydro signs MoUs for renewable power projects in Brazil Hydro has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the aim to develop two renewable power projects in Brazil.

Renewable energy is an important step towards a more sustainable future, and it is a key element in Hydro’s strategic agenda. These

March 15th - 18th TMS VIRTUAL The TMS 2021 Annual Meeting & Exhibition (TMS2021) will be held as a fully virtual event, featuring technical presentations, keynote sessions, panel discussions, networking events, a virtual exhibit, student activities, and more! www.tms.org/TMS2021

April 27th - 29th

Rio Tinto expands recycling capacity at Laterrière Plant Rio Tinto is investing $8.4 million to expand the recycling capacity of its aluminium operations in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, to offer rolled product customers in North America a new, sustainable solution combining low-carbon and recycled aluminium.

A new remelt furnace will be added at the Laterrière Plant’s

2021 DIARY

agreements are an important step for Hydro’s newly established Renewable Growth unit, which targets to offer competitive renewable power to Hydro’s industrial assets by taking equity and operator positions in wind, solar and hydropower projects in Brazil and

the Nordics.

“Hydro aims to lower the CO2 footprint from the company’s operations by 30 percent by 2030, and most of the reduction will come from its operations in Brazil. To reach that target, sufficient access to renewable energy is fundamental. These projects demonstrate our resolve to partner with industry leaders to develop a substantial and balanced portfolio of renewable projects that Hydro can source from in the near future,” says Olivier Girardot, Head of Renewable Growth.

International SAP Conference for Mining and Metals * VIRTUAL * www.tacevents.com/uk/eventsuk/international-sap-conferencefor-mining-and-metals

May 11th - 13th ET’ 2021 The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) and the ET Foundation have announced the rescheduled dates and location for the Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar, previously postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Held in Orlando, Florida www.ET-21.org

18th - 20th ALUMINIUM 2021 World’s leading trade show and leading B2B platform for the aluminium industry and its application industries.

Held in Dusseldorf, Germany www.aluminium-messe.com

June 8th - 10th NorCast 2021 The Nordic Aluminium Casthouse Conference returns for the 15th edition.

Held in Norway www.norcast-seminar.com

10th - 12th METEF Expo of customised technology for aluminium, foundry castings and innovative metals Held in Bologna, Italy www.metef.com

For a full listing visit www. aluminiumtoday.com and click on Events Diary Aluminium International Today

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6 FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM REVIEW

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Future Aluminium Forum 2020: Virtually a success!

Nadine Bloxsome* picks out the highlights from the event and presents a selection of papers that were given across the two days.

ALUMINIUM FORUM DIGITAL

The Future Aluminium Forum virtual event took place on 2nd – 3rd December 2020, with more than 400 registered delegates from over 30 countries taking part.

Due to the on-going situation with COVID-19 and the continued restrictions on international travel, the organisers, Quartz Business Media (QBM), made the decision earlier this year to host the event online, instead of in beautiful Québec City, as originally planned.

With so many interesting speakers lined up and a great selection of companies

waiting in the wings to present their technologies, we didn’t want to miss an opportunity to connect the industry and present all of the latest insights into the world of digital aluminium manufacturing.

The Forum Now in it’s third year, the Forum has established itself as the key industry event to document case studies, discuss optimisation through machine learning and examine robotics, automation and

augmented reality across the value chain.

Initially developed to assist manufacturers and processors in adopting digital technologies and the challenges associated with implementation, this year, the focus was on the role of intelligent manufacturing and looking at Pilot projects that have now become part of everyday.

The Conference The conference agenda was packed full of interesting video presentations, looking at

“Congratulations for this really exciting conference format. The response to our presentation was overwhelming. We got responses by chat, video chat, messages and even direct contact via our

”

LinkedIn profiles. This opportunity for direct responses and contact was really perfect.

DR. WERNER AUMAYR, MANAGING DIRECTOR, COILDNA GMBH *Editor, Aluminium International Today January/February 2021

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FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM REVIEW 7

“Thank you for the opportunity and experience of such a great conference.

The subject matter presented was relevant and interesting.

I was also invited by quite a few OEM’s to speak more on how we can work together and I made a lot more connections with customers and suppliers in general.

”

GUS ALLAN, DIRECTOR, GNV ENTERPRISES

topics from digitalising the supply chain, the use of augmented reality, intelligent solutions and cyber security resilience.

Attendees were also invited to join Vincent Christ, CEO, ELYSIS for a live Q&A session, where they could ask any burning questions about this pioneering project.

Unlike a live event, delegates were encouraged to take part in an online discussion forum, whereby they could connect directly with the speakers and show their interest in the presentations.

The participation levels were very encouraging and speakers expressed their gratitude at being able to make new business connections during the global crises.

The Exhibition Alongside the conference, participants were also encouraged to visit the virtual exhibition hall and stop by any of the 40 booths.

Solutions providers and technology specialists were waiting to take their

questions and networking opportunities were offered via online chats, video calls and additional discussion forums.

Visitors were also able to download reference information on certain products and projects directly from the booths, as well as watch videos and other informative material to learn about the solutions offered.

Virtual VS Live As we have all experienced over recent months, there is no real replacement for a physical meeting or live networking.

However, we were very encouraged by the positive feedback we received about the virtual Future Aluminium Forum and we are pleased that we were able to offer a platform that offered such opportunities during this time.

Nadine Bloxsome, Content Director and Editor of Aluminium International Today said: “The idea of a virtual event wasn’t something we had in our plans, but we are really very grateful to all of our sponsors,

exhibitors and delegates who stuck by us with this decision. We hope everyone who attended was able to have an enjoyable and successful experience and we hope to meet face-to-face again soon.”

Featured Topics As mentioned, the conference programme covered a variety of different topics related to digital aluminium manufacturing.

Over the next few pages, a selection of presentations that were given during the Forum have been turned into articles for you to enjoy.

Hopefully these will give you an idea of the sort of content you can expect at the Future Aluminium Forum, or if you attended this year, then we hope this gives you extra insight into the topics covered.

Please keep following online for more information about the next Future Aluminium Forum, or contact any of the team to find out what support is available for companies adopting digital manufacturing technologies. �

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.futurealuminiumforum.com

Aluminium International Today

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8 FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM

2050 is seen by many as a significant milestone in the fight against climate change. But what does that mean for my job, my industry, and for me personally?

The Paris Agreement sets out a global framework to combat climate change, by limiting global warming to well below 2°C – ideally, below 1.5°C. It also aims to strengthen countries’ ability to deal with the impacts of climate change and support them in their efforts.

Spain, France, and the UK have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Some countries have set more ambitious targets: Finland has pledged to reach net-zero by 2035, and Sweden has set its goal for 2045. Other countries, including major economic powers such as Russia, have not made any firm commitments on cutting emissions.

The 2°C limit refers to the increase of average global temperature seen from the baseline of pre-industrialization. Currently, we are 1.2°C above the baseline.

The agreement states that the global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45% from 2030. This is a short time from now and the fear is that many industries are going to act too late and will have to go through expensive and rushed planning to meet the targets.

Aluminium is often considered as clean, but the figures are shocking. It is estimated that half of the globally produced aluminium is made with more than 20 metric tons (mt) of CO2 per metric ton of aluminium. A small portion of the globally produced aluminium in Norway and Iceland is made at 3 mt of CO2 per 1 mt of aluminium, but even that is a shocking figure.

The message is clear: we need to act, and we need to act soon.

Reducing CO2 There are two ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The first is, of course, to avoid generating it. We call that carbon dioxide reduction. The second is to clean the CO2 from exhausted air and store it or recycle it into another material.

Let’s have a look at reducing CO2 production in aluminium smelting. Today, the process is based on carbon anodes, used in the process of electrolyzing the alumina into aluminium. If we could avoid using these carbon anodes, it would be a big step forward. There are ongoing tests to use carbon-free anodes, driven by companies such as Elysis.

The energy used is also a concern, with much of it coming from coal-powered sources, creating even more CO2. Using alternative and sustainable energy is a must. Solar panels and wind turbines can generate this power, but we need a better January/February 2021

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Marc Gillis, Industry Manager Metals Mining Cement and Aggregates at Rockwell Automation, presented at the Future Aluminium Forum. In this article, he looks at the hurdles and the solutions of making CO2 free aluminium.

ALUMINIUM FORUM DIGITAL

Digitalization and CO2Free Aluminium – The Hurdles and the Pitfalls way to store and transport the energy.

With sustainable energy we can generate hydrogen (H2), a highly flammable gas. This gas can be made anywhere in the world, in places that experience large quantities of wind or sunlight. A pipeline system could supply the gas to industrial plants and even to domestic users. Today, we have many pipelines for transporting liquid gas that could become of interest for the transportation of hydrogen. And the byproduct of burning hydrogen is H2O – water – so, we avoid carbon dioxide.

Creating a carbonfree process is something that’s going to take time.

Meanwhile, we will have to capture the CO2 and do something with it. One option

Marc Gillis

Aluminium CO2 Tons per 1 ton Al

is to separate it and store it – usually underground. Or we can capture it and let a bioreactor (microbes, argues) make a useful material from it, such as ethanol.

Currently, these techniques are used on an industrial scale. At Arcelor Ghent, CO2 is captured from the production area and converted into ethanol, which can be used as a disinfectant or as biofuel.

The technology provider for this project is Lanzatech, with the full automation platform, including drives, process control, networks and visualization, supplied by Rockwell Automation.

Adapting for a Clean Future Over the coming three decades, innovation in the Aluminium International Today

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FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM 9

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Hydrogen pipelines in the future

aluminium industry will be vital. Standing still is not an option. Adapting to the new clean-air rules is a must.

Today, we see that digitalization is becoming a standard among the bigger aluminim players. But not everyone is onboard, with many yet to begin their digital transformation. Despite gathering masses of data, less than 1% is used to make decisions. But making the right decisions, and the digitalization that makes that possible, is critical to adapting to the coming changes.

Many companies try to undertake this

Rockwell Automation Data collection for CO2 elimination

digital journey on their own, but ultimately encounter obstacles and are reluctant to try again. But, at Rockwell Automation, we have dedicated teams in place to guide you through this transition. We can help you with building a digitalization plan – not just a roadmap. We can work with you on every detail, from executive board engagement to production team engagement, from report to operator screen, from process to IO level design.

If you would like to know more about how we can help you advance your business into a cleaner, more profitable future, get in touch. �

CO2 to Ethanol

Superior Rolling Mill Spray Systems A Better Design for Mill Duty Rolling • All service done from the front of the header • Never need to remove the header from the mill • Fasteners are fully retained • Highest grade elastomer seals with metal-to-metal backup • Valves can be refurbished to “As New” with full warranty after decades of service • Upgrade Kits for Installed Equipment - Robust liquid tight connectors - Long life current limiting electronics MADE IN USA

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10

FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM ALUMINIUM FORUM DIGITAL

Industrial metals such as aluminium are processed by means of melting, casting, rolling and different kinds of heat and surface treatment. In each step, countless sets of data are generated which are relevant for the quality and the properties of the semi-finished product (coils, strips, plates, profiles).

In further processing steps, single pieces of metal are usually cut from these semifinished products. In this process step the data link between the single piece and the parent product is broken. The single piece usually does not carry any information about its material composition, the manufacturer, the position within the parent product or about its mechanical properties or quality relevant production parameters. coilDNA, an Austrian start-up company based in Linz, has developed a revolutionary, patented technology that gives individual pieces of metal an identity. By making these metal products smart they may be connected to the Internet as well. So IoT - Internet of things - the concept of connecting smart devices to the internet now applies to coilDNAenabled smart aluminium and thus IoM - Internet of Metals is taking shape.

The human DNA is an excellent role model for coilDNA. Every single cell of a human body can be used to identify the individual. DNA sequencing allows to reconstruct the entire DNA information obtained from only a single DNA molecule. The coilDNA technology uses comparable algorithms. A unique coilDNA information code gets continuously printed on the surface of a parent product e.g. a coil, a tube or a profile by laser or inkjet. This code uniquely identifies the position within the parent product and subsequently allows the assignment of the production data recorded at this position.

Regardless of how this parent product is cut in subsequent production steps, the item-related and even the position-related information is always kept available. With only 14 human readable characters of the coilDNA code all the information about the respective piece of metal can be retrieved. coilDNA thus offers a key and platform to producers and processors of metals to exchange product related data in extra fine granularity. New ways for the optimization of production processes, supply chains and communication via useful Apps are opened. In detail: � Efficient processing of metal parts by considering the local properties of the semi-finished product used � Seamless tracking of products and their properties throughout the whole supply-chain from producer to processor January/February 2021

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coilDNA - Door opener to the Internet of Metals (IoM) Dr Werner Aumayr presented at the Future Aluminium Forum. In this article, he presents how coilDNA gives metal identity and how to connect to the Internet of Metals. � Data driven communication with the producers using a simple picture of a product labeled with a coilDNA code taken for example by a cell phone. The coilDNA CHAT App allows to identify the product and to give direct feedback to the producer. � Check of validity of product-related paper documents using the coilDNA CHECK App � The coilDNA technology therefore makes products and the associated information forgery-proof coilDNA supplies the unique product code, data services and application support.

Industrial partners in the field of � Manufacturing execution systems for the integration of the coilDNA technology into MES systems, � Industrial printing and high-speed inline character recognition as well as � Blockchain technologies are available to complete the technological package. �

Dr. Werner Aumayr

Contact: www.coildna.com

Aluminium International Today

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Hydraulic Free : Fully Electric System.

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Martin Provencher is Global Industry Principal - Mining Metals and Materials, OSIsoft Ltd. In this article he explains the benefits of digital transformation in smelters.

Smart smelters and digital twins How digital transformation can revolutionize the aluminum industry The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation that was starting to take hold across industries and sectors, including aluminum. According to Global Workplace Analytics, demand for remote work is expected to increase 30% by 2030, and 85% of businesses report that remote work has increased employee productivity.

However, remote work requires a solid foundation of operations data to ensure that employees have the information they need in real time to make good decisions.

Having too much data can actually be a bad thing if you don’t understand it, or if your organization does not have a framework for interpreting it.

According to a McKinsey study, only 16% of companies succeed in implementing digital initiatives like IoT integration; they end up with a lot of data but no context to accompany it. Context is crucial for understanding operations data like operating temperature and conditions for a particular asset.

Digital transformation using the PI System can provide both the data and the context necessary to streamline operations. The PI System also enables users to automatically perform real-time analysis which can help create improvements in areas such as process, maintenance, environment, quality, and energy management. Team members around the world can access the information they need at any time and from any device and make even the most consequential decisions with confidence – opening the doors to digital engineering and fully autonomous operations.

Data equals value The PI System brings data from multiple systems into one data platform, eliminating the data silos that plague so many organizations. Once all of the information is visible on the same dashboard, problems Aluminium International Today

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and inefficiencies quickly that is least impactful to the stand out and all reports are production schedule, rather generated using one version than halting production for of the truth. an unanticipated repair or A single data source downtime.

ALUMINIUM FORUM DIGITAL provides value to aluminum � Quality: Monitoring companies in a number of quality throughout the ways: production process allows � Process productivity: you to anticipate weaknesses People across the and make changes to correct organization can see the them upfront. Over time, entire production supply chain and quickly you can predict things like reject rates identify issues as they arise. Taking decisive, and other quality issues and make the data-driven action leads to significant necessary adjustments before problems productivity improvements. For example, occur, which will help significantly reduce you can push the amperage in a potline reject rates. knowing you have the ability to implement � KPIs and reporting: Everyone in real-time condition process monitoring the organization has access to the same on all aspects that can influence a pot’s information and can get to it at any time performance, including anode quality, pot and from any device. No more data silos lining quality, and more. Increased insight and hours wasted manually updating allows an organization to keep tabs on individual spreadsheets and databases. how its pots are performing in real time, rather than waiting for an error to occur From theory to practice and trying to fix it later.

It’s one thing to talk about the benefits of data integration in general terms, but � Energy and water management: Many businesses have sustainability as what does it actually look like on the an overarching goal and having a unified ground? Some of this sector’s leading industrial data platform puts you one producers took the plunge and are already step closer to achieving it. For example, starting to see the benefits across their organizations. you can identify leaks in the As one of the world’s compressed air system or inefficiently run machines largest aluminum and gain a better sense of manufacturers, Alcoa’s data which assets consume the was spread across many most natural resources. silos and disparate legacy systems. It has smelters � Asset performance around the world that and reliability: Having realcontain more than 300 time operations data at your aluminum-producing pots. fingertips opens the door There was too much data to condition-based and and it was impossible to predictive maintenance. You Martin analyze in real time. can anticipate when an asset Provencher After moving to a single, is likely to need repairs and unified industrial data schedule the work at a time January/February 2021

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platform, the company implemented a standard data model across all of its plants and implemented tools for analysis and improvement. These changes resulted in improved operational efficiency and process control and created the opportunity for operational intelligence through plant-level dashboards.

In 2015, CBA Brazil, the country’s largest aluminum producer, set a goal of improving sustainability by reducing water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The company achieved these goals by creating a single industrial data platform and making it available to everyone in the organization.

With this access, team members collaborated on immediate action to stabilize and unify production processes, implement condition-based maintenance, and take other actions that led to a 99% reduction in water consumption. Not only did the move to the PI System help CBA Brazil meet its sustainability goals; it also improved the company’s bottom line, saving almost $50,000 per year in water consumption.

Digital twins Digital transformations like those at Alcoa and CBA Brazil represent the starting point for what’s possible in the manufacturing sector. We’re all familiar with taking pictures of equipment with our phones or scanning documents to create PDFs, but what if you could create a full-scale digital replica of an asset? This replica would have the asset’s structure, operations, and nonoperations data, events stats, and more.

For example, a digital twin for a pot would allow you to analyze real-time conditions on the pot’s performance, taking into consideration all relevant data. The PI System makes it possible to do just that by having a complete digital representation of an asset and establishing the baseline of what’s commonly known as a digital twin.

According to the ARC Advisory Group, a digital twin is a representation of a physical asset that has a level of completeness and accuracy and includes critical information such as context information that allows the user to understand its behavior and performance. A digital twin contains all of the structure, context, and operations data of a physical asset and creates the opportunity for fully remote monitoring.

Norwegian aluminum manufacturer Norsk Hydro is already using digital twins to streamline operations in its Brazilian mines. Engineers can access real-time data from assets in operation at three separate mines, from any device in any location. These digital twins empowered users across the company to make better decisions, which reduced maintenance January/February 2021

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costs by 10% and unplanned downtime by 50%.

It’s easy to see how digital twins can be used for the potline. Each potline needs to be monitored using complex parameters that come from different parts of the asset. Each of these components can be recreated digitally and monitored remotely using the PI System, creating the opportunity for real-time pot condition monitoring and even process optimization simulations.

Adding AI to the mix Once your organization has unified data, the door to new possibilities like AI and advanced analytics swings wide open. The AI market is taking off around the world; the International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates the market will grow to $240 billion by 2024.

While AI is most commonly talked about for things like autonomous vehicles, it can have tremendous impacts on the industrial sector by creating digital twins using augmented reality and virtual reality. Not only can you see the data coming from your assets in real time, you can also use AR and VR to see the machines themselves and monitor plant performance from the comfort of your home.

Once Alcoa had a unified industrial data platform in place, the company was ready to dive further into its digital transformation by implementing predictive maintenance using a combination of real-time operations data and advanced analytics – all without adding any new sensors on its assets.

Once predictive maintenance began, Alcoa quickly saw abnormal behavior in the saw motor of a horizontal direct caster, which was resulting in blade degradation over time. Studying the behavior patterns fixed the underlying problem behind those dull blades and resulted in a 20% reduction in downtime.

Eventually, a company can progress from predictive maintenance to fully autonomous operations. It might sound like something from the distant future, but organizations in other sectors have started sharing what they are already doing today.

Cemex, a cement manufacturer, began its digital transformation by implementing a real-time industrial data platform in all of its locations worldwide. It then used predictive modeling to evaluate how operations would perform with specific setpoints. When the operations team was comfortable with those predictions, they built an AI model to identify the optimal set points for its machines based on previous performance data. Once the AI recommendations were validated, Cemex linked those AI models to the kiln cooler

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control systems to automatically set up the machines at the appropriate time.

This approach has been successful so far, and Cemex hopes to transition to fully autonomous operations by 2022.

If it can work with 1500-degree kilns in the cement industry, there’s no reason autonomous operations can’t work in aluminum production.

New skills for new processes Of course, a unified industrial data platform and autonomous operations only works if an organization has the right people to put those tools to good use. An emerging field known as digital engineering serves as the bridge between traditional engineering and the IT knowledge needed to make the most of a digital transformation.

The IDC defines digital engineering as “the missing piece for businesses to become more resilient and closely align operations with the needs of their customers.” In other words, digital engineers are responsible for ensuring that data and systems are available to support the decision-making process, no matter whether those decisions are made by humans or AI. Digital engineers work with everything from operational tags and frameworks to IoT support to data management. Each of these responsibilities is neither purely IT or purely OT; it’s a combination of strong operational expertise with IT and OT knowledge.

Digital engineering will become a growing part of the industrial sector moving forward. Now is a great time to begin rethinking your workforce structure and identifying opportunities to make new hires and retrain existing workers to make sure they’re ready to handle everything that a digital transformation has to offer.

Harnessing the power of digital transformation Change is never easy for any organization, but when it comes to digital transformation, the benefits of shared data, predictive maintenance, digital twins, autonomous operations far outweigh the costs of making these changes happen.

As great as it would be to undertake this transformation all at once, that’s simply not feasible for aluminum producers. Starting small and setting realistic goals along the way helps make complex processes like this easier to manage and allows an organization to implement changes without causing too much disruption to current production. Along the way, you’ll quickly get significant business value and see changes and victories that will make you excited to take the next step on the digital journey. � Aluminium International Today

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Collaboration, the first step towards success Everyday organisations juggle with four options: Do, do not, have it done by someone else and do together. Let’s define each option: DO – gathering a team of people who might have never done it and asking them to create something new. This approach can surely function, but the learning curve might be steeper and the risks higher.

DO NOT – self-explanatory!

HAVE IT DONE BY SOMEONE ELSE – that could work well, but the company misses on a transfer of knowledge.

DOING TOGETHER – pooling together experience, expertise, creative minds, different approaches and making things happen.

DOING TOGETHER requires an innovative socio-economic context allowing good partnerships to be created. Such collaboration reaches its heights when it deploys on multiple levels, involving SMEs, large businesses, governments, research and expertise centers and technological transfer hubs.

Mecfor can testify that when all is in phase, a symbiotic relationship is woven, Aluminium International Today

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Éloïse Harvey, B. Eng. & Mgmt, President, Mecfor Inc. presented at the recent Future Aluminium Forum about the importance of collaboration across the sector.

making all winners. The SME benefits between businesses (large or small) even among other resources and good between competitors (e.g. Elysis). management practices from In Québec there exists the large business. In return, an aluminium ecosystem the latter benefits from regrouping major aluminium the flexibility and daring smelters plus numerous that characterise SMEs. equipment manufacturers They (SMEs) are important and specialised suppliers, ALUMINIUM FORUM DIGITAL sources of innovation, often research and expertise producing products in a very centers and technological flexible way and adapted to transfer hubs. It is the perfect niche markets. Without the setup for collaborative complicity of big business, development of new applications, discoveries and technologies. innovations would not flourish as much.1 Mecfor’s experience shows that it is The aluminium industry needs to continue possible, with nearby allies, to create a developing new technologies life-size incubator. Over the and implementing them in two last decades, Mecfor smelters. It also needs to discuss has been involved in many ways to do it better, faster and initiatives regrouping actors with a risk sharing approach of ‘The Aluminium Valley’, between smaller businesses very active in many ways and the large multinationals. promoting innovation, That is: COLLABORATION transfer of expertise and as first step towards success know-how allowing to that this article will be talking reach daring objectives. about ‘DOING TOGETHER’ Also, there has been an as a fruitful collaboration active group of equipment Éloïse Harvey that leads to success. It is an manufacturers, under increasingly observable model AluQuébec, gathers to January/February 2021

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address common challenges and to work on various initiatives. One of the most positive output is a stronger network with tighter business relationships.

Manufacturers exchange ideas and expertise to co-develop products and technologies in the DO TOGETHER philosophy. This has led to some interesting projects supported by the rich environment that Québec has to offer in terms of governmental programs, very specialised research centers in AI, robotics, vision to name a few and the ability to pair up with the primary producers for either co-development or to test the new technologies in real life operations. This is the most crucial step in commercialisation of a new equipment.

SMEs can strongly benefit from an association with large primary producers that bring resources but also good management practices in new product development and project management.

Needless to add the operational knowledge and the ability to offer a real-life operation setup to really test new equipment are key elements that led to the success of product development projects.

In parallel, SMEs offer large multinationals some additional flexibility and audacity. The creativity of niche technical experts in SMEs can be a source of innovation and can help move the large primary smelters into the next era.

Therefore, finding ways to join up forces of SMEs and primary producers is a good way to ensure that the aluminium industry is moving towards 4.0.

The transformation towards the 4.0 smelter or the digitalisation or automation of operations in existing plants is not only feasible but desirable to maintain competitiveness. This shift cannot happen alone and cannot only consists of isolated opportunistic incremental modernisations.

It requires a holistic vision of the end state.

Plus, it needs to encompass the whole value chain.

This transformation requires a large portfolio of competencies which do not necessarily exist within one organisation.

The aluminium industry needs everyone to get mobilised, it needs to pool resources and talents from within the smelters but also from research centers, technology transfer hubs and from the supply chain (specialised suppliers and equipment manufacturers).

At an early development stage, standard procurement processes can hardly be followed because of the lack of clear technical specifications. Since

the technology does not exist yet, it can hardly be correctly priced. Therefore, in such a situation, the smelters must choose their technological partners based on skills and expertise and the relationship will be based on trust instead of a competitive bid. The future client cannot commit to a commercial or contractual relationship when the technology has not proven its efficiency yet - which makes is risky for the SME to engage in large sums of money being invest on a leap of faith of future sales.

Such approach of ‘partnership’ instead of traditional ‘client-supplier’ relationship can result in longer decisionmaking processes within the business.

However, both SMEs and large businesses have realised the benefits of greater collaboration.

Two convincing examples Concretely, here are two perfect examples that demonstrates what collaboration can produce. One led by Mecfor and one in which Mecfor has been asked to participate.

The first example is when Mecfor decided in 2016 to start the development of an electrical auto guided vehicle, its AGV TEAM. There were elements that were fully mastered by the technical team such as the harsh working environment of an aluminium smelter and the knowledge around heavy duty vehicles. Others that were lacking such as electrical vehicle technologies, autoguiding and safety system overall.

To accelerate the learning curve and project schedule while reducing the risk, it was decided that Mecfor would find partners in making the project a success.

Not only did Mecfor utilised a technology transfer hub for the electrical drive, battery selection and battery management system selection, but a partner was found for the autoguiding system. This partner, AMERDEN AGVs (Florida, USA), was bringing a portfolio of products and 30 years of experience in custom made AGVs to the table. The guiding technology that was chosen was also a well-established company with over 25,000 AGVs equipped with their systems running worldwide.

Both, provincial and federal governments supported this product development, reducing some of the commercial risk and the amount of equity money to be invested. A tremendous asset was having a local plant in Quebec to accept that high risks components be mounted on board their traditional haulers to test the impact

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of magnetic fields in the long run and accepting to test the prototype in real life operation. This approach has allowed the AGV TEAM to be developed, tested and ready for plant implementation.

In the second example, Mecfor was invited by Dynamic Concept (another Quebec based equipment designer) to join its team in the development of a new fully automated tending robot that skims the surface of a furnace using artificial vision. This robot can be moved around using MECFOR AGV TEAM. It can also interchange the tools for other applications such as furnace charging using an automated charging bin.

Each one expert in their fields, Dynamic Concept and Mecfor make a perfect mix of expertise and experience to design this new technology.

However, Dynamic Concept reached out to a technology transfer hub in Robotics and artificial vision: The robot must be able to identify the dross at the surface of the molten metal to remove it, eliminating any non necessary movement to quicken the job.

These two projects are great examples of how the aluminium industry can and will continue to innovate while minimising the risks. Both projects required financial support from Québec and Canada governments as well as supportive client that decided to invest in the next generation of equipment allowing for tests to be performed in real life operation.

In conclusion We need to embrace a shift from a clientsupplier relationship to that of partnership to allow for co-development of product, equipment, or process while reducing risks for all.

Aristode once said: ‘The Whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ Creating synergies that bring together SMEs, research centers, technology transfer hubs and large multinationals is one way to bring competencies and to accelerate change. Merging forces and expertise’s can only benefit everyone. Finally, financial support from governments should not be neglected; various programs help in reducing risk and promote investment fostering R&D. In short, if Quebec is recognised world-wide for its capacity of producing aluminium with practices that are up to speed with the 4.0 Industry concepts, it could very well be because everyone got mobilised within a greater and profitable collaboration. �

1. Source. https://mcleodgroup.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/REVISED-Groupe-McLeod-note-de-breffage-n%c2%ba-5-Le-d%c3%a9veloppement-des-PME.pdf

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Staying ahead in the era of perpetual change In recent years we’ve heard a lot about the potential and marvels of innovation and technology in supply chains and some firms have been quick to embrace new ideas.

But much of the sector has taken a more cautious approach to progress – that is until early 2020, when supply chains were put under the spotlight and tested to their limits, across production, transportation, manufacturing and delivery. Within weeks traditional, safe and well-established processes were no longer adequate. After a brief evaluation of the challenges, and a moment of ‘rabbit in the headlights’, businesses rolled up their collective sleeves and set out to bring siloed systems and processes together to build a more resilient and flexible business. Very quickly meaningful digitalisation of core operating workflows was seen as the foundation for enabling a more robust and connected business. With hindsight we may see Covid as the shock factor that accelerated the adoption of technologies to create a more responsive business. By connecting systems, data and stakeholders for each part of the business, the benefits of a single, ‘golden copy’ of a contract become apparent: improved team collaboration, greater efficiencies, cost reductions and better risk management.

Keeping up with the supply chain The supply chain is one of the most important processes in what we call modern life, but also one of the most unpredictable and volatile. As industries around the globe are trying to keep up with increased demand due to the population boom – which is predicted to reach 9.5 billion by 2050 – while retaining January/February 2021

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viable business models, accuracy and efficiency are of the utmost importance in trading practices along the whole supply chain. Although facing this new reality, many businesses still rely on legacy procedures and systems which, in many cases, are over-stressed or no longer fit for purpose, creating the potential for unnecessary losses and increased risks.

An effectively-managed supply chain is a significant source of competitive advantage and value creation; conversely, a poorly managed one can be Tony Faneco the source of bottlenecks and constraints that will limit the organisation. Because of this, many organisations employ an array of technology systems, each with its own claim of innovation in different areas of the supply chain. Unfortunately, this is not enough.

Where is my contract?

To properly manage your supply chain, the organisation needs actionable data, that can be integrated with other software used from the start of the contract process to its completion. Unfortunately, a major oversight in the commodity and freight markets is the contract and its value to the organisation. Although having cuttingedge technology can enable the tracking of physical merchandise, the actual value of a transaction is embedded in the contract. Contracts have historically been MS Word and PDF documents, distributed and edited accordingly as different

Tony Faneco, CCO, Chinsay presented at the Future Aluminium Forum. Here, he outlines how we can make supply chains more efficient by using digital technologies.

stakeholders negotiated via email and over the phone, with important information, either not captured at all, or locked away in a reference PDF document. Once these have been signed, they are often filed in a cabinet and are rarely consulted.

We believe this is a terrible way to treat such valuable and important documents, as contracts hold valuable data which informs all supply chain workflows. There are five flows in the supply chain; the physical, financial, value, risk and, most importantly, the information flows. The information flow is the backbone of the other four.

The flow of information from contracts and the contract data set is essential, but its value is regularly overlooked, leading to inefficiencies, increased risks and, quite possibly, lost business opportunities.

Contracts contain important details on parties’ obligations that inform the finance, operations, risk and logistics departments and post-trade activities, and this information needs to be readily available, reportable and actionable. The traditional use of functionally- specific PDFs, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents means departments work as siloes, regularly retrieving and retyping information multiple times to be able to make use of it, a process that is error-prone, timeconsuming and far from efficient. At the end of this, there is no way to connect all of this data to post-trade activities and no way of leveraging knowledge from previous trades, which can lead to increased risk and Aluminium International Today

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diminished profit.

For a contract to be a truly valuable reference point, the business needs the ability to capture dynamic data and a contract data set that can then be integrated with other systems and departments within the organisation. The contract also needs to be an automatic process that can enable the company to save time, eliminate re-keying and provide a seamless, compliant approval system and a full audit trail.

These can only be achieved by digitalising the contract and hyper-automating the business: capturing correct, compliant, authorised, and validated data; maintaining a single, up-to-date, shared version of a process or contract is the most important step in transforming a company’s supply chain. A digitalised contract can provide an automated data flow from pre-trade to post-trade activities and informs all departments dealing with the contract. It can also provide insights into risks due to clause changes and counterparty behavioural analytics, informing future decisions and processes.

everything a business needs, but digitalised siloes are not an option either.

Siloed data cannot be used throughout the organisation and supply chains can only be effective when the company benefits from end-to-end data capture.

Many companies overlook the importance of having actionable data that can be used throughout the organisation to provide value to the business. Interoperability, connecting existing legacy systems and emerging new solutions are essential, enabling the integration and collaboration of different software, departments and even companies. Connecting old and new tech to integrate these siloed activities is a must for an efficient organisation.

Chinsay digitalises the trade workflow of any organisation enabling both internal and external collaboration and in doing so it enriches the contract data set beyond the conventional contract. Capturing data from legacy or emerging solutions in a “business as usual” workflow ensures that the right people have the right information at hand to make the right decisions, providing the business with a seamless and efficient execution and administration process.

Hyper-automation is a necessity There isn’t a one-stop solution for aluminium international today halfpage_25_12_2020.pdf

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The future of technology Innovation and the efficacy of new technology is forcing the industry to adopt new technology solutions.

The recent themes of globalisation, digitalisation and other world events have forced organisations to re-think the way they approach technology, meaning it is sensible to not only make changes for the present, but simultaneously prepare for the future.

As technology evolves and new solutions appear on the market, companies should be prepared to integrate these without losing out on actionable intelligence and without having to do a complete restructuring of the technology stack.

To achieve this, companies need to think about capturing data end-to-end and in a format that can be integrated with other systems. Digital islands should be dismissed in favour of digitalised workflows throughout the business, which transforms complicated trading and operational activities into a structured, transparent, data-driven process.

The cause of change this year is very unwelcome, but it can have an essential and positive impact on supply chains and transform the way we do business. �

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Gunther Schober, Sales Manager, PSI Metals, Non Ferrous GmbH, presented at the Future Aluminium Forum. In this article, he introduces a concept of how the well-known “topdown” planning approaches can be combined with more “bottom-up” local software agents to create a reactive yet highly optimized planning solution.

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The PSImetals Service Platform

The Planning Superhero – Combining global optimization and local reactivity Planners in any industry are the modernday superheroes.

Balancing and optimizing resources, inventory, longterm planning, and short-term scheduling is a hard feat to tackle. On top of this, they have to mitigate all the unplanned issues. Planning aluminium production is one of the most complex challenges.

Software technology in planning such as algorithms and computational support help to standardize near-optimal plans across lines; however, the need of manual interaction in aluminium planning remains at a high level, including: � Significant reaction delays due to unexpected deviations and changes to plans and schedules causing time consuming and difficult reactive scheduling. � The manual task of data inputs which must be synthesized to arrive at an appropriate decision. � Optimized production plans and schedules are sensitive to production constraints, resulting in little room for deviation.

The challenge is complex and only superheroes can manage. As superhero planners are rare and sometimes need a break, help is needed.

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Planning and scheduling methods of today adhere to a traditional pyramid model – decisions made centrally and implemented from the topdown. This approach has its limitations and does not serve modern requirements of immediate reaction and utmost flexibility. Agents, smart agents can help break up this hierarchy.

Smart software agents focus on a specific, local set of problems and solve them with a variety of data sources, enacting a quick and flexible independent, local decision. This localized approach, which lacks the full picture, has a gap between the top of the pyramid and those at the ground floor and misses the opportunities of a global planning and scheduling approach. Centralized planning decision makers are not able to react quickly to real time issues and do not have the on-sight insider knowledge while on-sight insiders are not able to see the big global picture and multiple data sources.

What planning needs is a collaborative network of software superheroes and smart agents – one that can bridge the

gap, connecting the top-down approach, the knowledge of smart agents on the floor, and the technology of multi-agent systems. PSI and our Production Management System offer this opportunity to you. The I4.0 architecture of the PSImetals Service Platform covers all the important aspects combining global optimization and local reactivity to provide users with the “Best of Both Worlds” in planning. We enable our superhero planners to be everywhere at once, creating Gunther optimal, timely decisions for Schober long-term planning, detail scheduling and last-minute reactivity.

Are you one of these superheroes that could use the help of smart agents and you want to learn more about how to benefit from this “Best of Both Worlds” approach and how intelligent systems can boost your production in terms of efficiency and quality?

Book your limited 1-day Industrial Intelligence Workshop for free with the experts on smart metals production @: info@psimetals.de – re: II Workshop – learn from the experience and get new ideas. � Aluminium International Today

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Digitalization

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Gus Allan, Director, GNV Enterprises presented at the Future Aluminium Forum. In this article, he gives an overview of the aluminium industry in South Africa and details where Industry 4.0 applications are being applied.

Is Southern Africa ready for digital transformation?

South Africa is caught up in the global hype of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) but have not yet publicly invested in what they want their future to look like.

Even with the vision of prosperity and great economic forecasts of exponential growth, Industry 4.0 is still seen as something to be cautious about. This is what has slowed the growth in interest in Southern Africa for a while.

We are now faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. The start of 2021 has not been as we have expected, with the “second wave” more countries going on stricter restrictions to curb the spread of this virus.

This means that companies would have to shut down due to people not being able to work or have been affected. The effects of this show in business continuity and many businesses have already closed doors due to it. The use of technology can assist businesses in many way and ensure continuity. In many ways, this has made organisations sit up and take note of automation and AI for use in their businesses – business continuity through difficult times, and cost competitiveness.

The challenge now is how to engage with customers to start these discussion and move forward as organisations are trying their best not to spend money.

A look at the Aluminium Industry in Southern Africa South Africa has been in primary aluminium production for about 50 years, Aluminium International Today

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starting with the Alusaf smelter, which was later called Bayside Aluminium, Hillside Aluminium and lastly Mozal Aluminium. Hulamin been in the secondary production for around 74 years. In 2008, the Bayside Aluminium Smelter closed its Reduction operations. Still there seems to be a lot of potential with primary and secondary smelters within Southern Africa.

Primary and secondary smelters show promise of improvement with numerous cost saving initiatives and new ways of operating their plants. Some of these improvements were well implemented, but these can only produce efficiencies to a point. Foundries have growth in the automotive sector and looking more attractive for increased volumes. Southern Africa is responsible for about 1300 Kilotons of primary aluminium per annum into the global market.

At GNV Enterprises, we believe that there is always a better way of doing things. We are passionate about our work and strive to help our Customers find the best fit solutions for their operations. Our focus on Innovation and Technology in Industry 4.0, together with experience in Robotics and Autonomous vehicles puts us in the driving seat and best positioned to assist industry. Through continuous Research

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& Development we aim to provide the best possible solutions to a wide range of industries and applications. Access to various fields of expertise and skills and the synergies of work from this, allows our customers to benefit from recommendations and informed advice. We offer the choice of the best proven technologies and work with Customers to optimise the efficiency of their equipment and plants. This together Gus Allan with performance audits carried out by our highly qualified personnel help Customers extend the working life of their existing equipment.

Customer satisfaction is paramount, and we remain fully dedicated to bringing cost effective, simple, workable solutions to all our Customers.

We provide our Customers and Partners sustainable value creation based on honesty and integrity and strive in every aspect of our business to ensure that Our Customers are satisfied with the solutions we provide and the way we deliver it. It is important that every equipment, spare part, or service provided is done safely and responsibly, with regard to People and the Environment.

GNV Enterprises is an active technologyfocused company. We offer a range of products and services that aim to provide January/February 2021

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26 FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM

our Customers with solutions that takes in account reliability, efficiency, and cost savings. In order to do this, we have partnered with some of the World leaders in the industry who have been around for a long time and offer proven technology solutions which help us strengthen our position further. We also work with our Customers to provide solutions that require minimal change to their existing plant. We offer equipment for Primary and Secondary Smelting operations, i.e., Carbon Plant, Reduction, Casthouse, Bath Plant, Treatment and logistics and Gas treatment centres. These include turnkey solutions for casting lines and furnaces, fixed or mobile equipment as well as surface mobile equipment. Our involvement in Industry 4.0 focuses on Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV’s), Laser Technologies - Marking and Tracking systems (Fully automated) and Robotics and AI. The Aluminium Federation of SA (AFSA) has done a lot of work to develop a roadmap of the Aluminium industry and put the following in place to design the roadmap. This roadmap is aligned with Industry 4.0 and our strategy of how we plan assist organizations transform as

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provide these solutions. The task for many of us as technology providers/consultants is that we need to demonstrate the benefits of adopting Industry 4.0, so our customers can see the value. My experience has led me to believe that this approach will help the Southern African Aluminium industry grow and be globally competitive in these unprecedented difficult times. �

industry 4.0 sets to radically transform manufacturing.

Southern African smelters and foundries are starting to position themselves for the change to technology. This has led them to look at what the current trends globally in the industry are and look at who can

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Smart manufacturing investments

By Myra Pinkham* No doubt the Covid-19 pandemic has had an immense impact upon not just the global economy but upon the aluminium industry as well. It remains somewhat uncertain, however, what this means for industry’s investment in automation, digitalization and other types of smart manufacturing, which even pre-pandemic was somewhat gradual. But while it could be argued that in the future digitalization and automation could help companies to better weather the kind of challenges that the pandemic has brought upon them, there is no question that executives have recently been more selective about which investment projects they are willing to undertake.

“It is fair to say that the global aluminium industry has been lagging some others when it comes to automation and smart manufacturing technologies,” Hans Erik Vatne, Norsk Hydro’s chief technology officer, admits. “But over the past five years or so the industry has been focusing more on this,” he noted.

“Going forward greater automation and digitalization will be the name of the game,” in what is increasingly becoming a world of Industry 4.0 manufacturing, Jean Simard, president and chief executive officer of the Aluminium Association of Canada, said. “But it will the prudent adopters that will be on the winning side of things. That is the only way to approach a market that is shaping up to be quite different from what it had been in the past.”

Stefan Koch, global metals lead for SAP SE, agreed, pointing out that while there has been continuous investment in such technologies, at least to this point it has been gradual in nature. “There haven’t been any totally disruptive moves resulting in a totally different way to produce aluminium,” he explained. “Rather, it has been an evolutionary process with older technologies being slowly replace by state of the art technology as the automation of the industry keeps on moving on.”

He pointed out that metals companies – including both aluminium and steel producers – actually have had highly automated production lines for the past 30 to 40 years.

“Recently, with the push for more digital transformation, we are seeing more sensors

come into the game,” Koch said, noting that this, along with the development of the technology necessary to do more Big Data analytics, has helped companies to better understand the physical and chemical aspects related to the production processes which companies are looking to modernize, automate and streamline to become more agile.

Another big driver of the aluminium industry’s recent technology transformation and innovation, according to Tony Barnes, senior manager of Crowe LLC’s metals consulting group, has been security concerns. This, he said, has involved more aluminium companies making sure that their information and people are safe and that their security is modernized by investing in modern security tools – both new hardware and software solutions.

He pointed out that while such moves to update their technology to make sure that they are better protected against security gap and flaws was already in motion over the past several years, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need to plan for such investments, particularly those related to beefing up digital security for a remote workforce. “While 10-15 years ago all of their data sat within a company’s four walls, now everyone has mobile devices including laptops, tablets and cell phones, so people are accessing company information from everywhere,” he explained, noting that this doesn’t only include the company’s employees, but also there are third parties such as their customers and vendors, who they want to have access to their information.

This, Koch points out, comes as, at least to a certain degree, the aluminium industry

*US correspondent January/February 2021

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is under pressure to further digitize, therefore increase the connectivity, of its value chain. He explained that with some of their end use market being impacted by the pandemic, aluminum companies have been under pressure to be more efficient from a cost, environmental and strategic perspective.

One way that aluminium companies

have approached that is by doing what they can to bring the different pieces of the value chain together in an architecture where the different areas and functions of the company are able to work seamlessly together, Koch said. “Also, they have been looking for ways to provide customers with more engineering and strategic solutions.”

In the current business environment – both pre-Covid and post-Covid – Jean Simard, president and chief executive officer of the Aluminium Association of Canada, agreed that cybersecurity is extremely important as getting hacked has a huge impact – including a huge cost – upon aluminium companies. He notes that protecting against such hacks, however, could involve a company being in communication with its equipment suppliers’ systems. “That means that your equipment suppliers need to have cybersecurity standards and systems that Aluminium International Today

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are on par with yours,” he pointed out.

Cybersecurity, however, isn’t the only area of technological investment that has been impacted, either positively or negatively, by the pandemic. Such investments, however, have been somewhat selective, Koch admitted, with companies making certain investments that are required to increase their efficiency or to achieve certain things they are looking to achieve while choosing not to invest, or to invest less, in certain older technologies or in technologies related to markets that might eventually go away.

Vatne agreed, noting that in general the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in companies delaying automation investments, explaining that while it is tempting for companies to make

US manufacturing leaders said that they are moderately or extremely concerned about the pandemic’s ongoing impact upon their operations, supply and demand and their profitability goals, 62 percent of the leaders surveyed said they are continuing to make smart factory investments. In fact, they indicated that they spent about 20 percent more to such initiatives in 2020 than they had in 2019.

This finding coincides with those of a separate MAPI chief executive officer survey in which 85 percent of the respondents said they either agree or strongly agree that investments in smart factories will rise by June 2021.

The study also indicated that manufacturers are finding that digital transformation is a journey that should

changes that will reduce manpower and will improve cost efficiency, “But if you really need to hold onto your money to keep up your operations, you aren’t able to make those kinds of investments into the future right now. He pointed out that this has been a big challenge not just for aluminum, but for all industries.

But on the other hand, Stephen Gold, president and chief executive officer of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI), said, “While manufacturers continue to face a global pandemic and economic and political uncertainty, manufacturing leaders must continue to adapt and in their digital journeys,” maintaining that fully connected enterprises allow manufacturers to expand their capabilities, identify cost savings and better prepare for the post-Covid era.

In fact, a recent Deloitte LLP study entitled Accelerating Smart Manufacturing: The Value of an Ecosystem Approach, based upon surveys conducted by both Deloitte and MAPI, with more than 70 percent of

be shared with external partners, Paul Wellener, Deloitte’s vice chairman and US industrial products and construction leader, said, observing that companies today are looking beyond the silo of their own organization to establish powerful networks of vendors to source digital capabilities and solutions that drive results.

“These ecosystems are driving manufacturers improvements in agility, efficiency and production at a pace that most companies would struggle to achieve alone,” he said, encouraging manufacturers to adopt such an ecosystem approach as soon as possible given that the Deloitte/MAPI study indicates that ecosystem-focused manufacturers have experienced twice the pace of digital maturity and delivery of new products and services and had operationalized 31 percent of their projects vs. 15 percent of projects for those companies that are still focused internally.

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aluminium companies, which, Simard said, are in a position, especially given the impact of the pandemic, where to remain in business they need to improve their competitiveness, with the best way to do that being to invest in such technologies that bring them towards smart manufacturing, including automation, artificial intelligence and robotics.

However, Barnes says there are two different camps of companies with different abilities to make such investments, especially given current economic conditions – well capitalized companies and others who aren’t sure where the pandemic will take them.

He points out that given that the well capitalized companied are in a good position to grow when things comeback full steam to pre-Covid levels and that

ovens and smelting capabilities, but also in new information technology solutions to help them determine the purity of their scrap melt.

This is also the case with companies who are increasingly introducing their own brands of low carbon footprint products into the market. Koch said that this push, as well as increased environmental regulations being imposed by certain government agencies, there is an increase need for companies to, at least to a certain degree, prove were some of their raw material come from. That, Simard pointed out, also includes the greenhouse gas emissions for the power they use, although that, he said, is less of an issue in Canada then many other nations given that Canadian smelters are all hydro-powered.

they have the resources to do so, they are investing right now in analytics initiatives and business applications systems. In fact, Koch says that many companies that have already begun to make such investments in digital technologies are actually weathering Covid quite well – in many cases better than their competition. “That is because if you have your processes digitized and put on the platform, he explained, “It is easier to run them from home, which is advantageous during the pandemic.”

Koch admits that companies’ issues of achieving social distancing at their production lines has been somewhat more challenging, “But in general aluminium companies have been managing quite well,” he says. That, he said, includes making a variety of investments. For example, he said that one primary aluminum producer, whose product mix has changed to include more used beverage can recycling due to the pandemic, is not only investing in new

On the other hand, Barnes says that less capitalized companies – many of which hadn’t had big technology investment plans on the books even before the pandemic – are generally looking to hunker down, stabilize what they have and focus on riding this through before making any big investments. “While there could be a few companies whose mindsets have changed, for the most part those companies that were already planning such investments continue to do so and companies that were laggards continue to lag in making such decisions,” he said.

While he admits that it varies company by company, Simard says that at the end of the day these investment decisions largely depend upon their cost, noting that something that takes three to nine years to get a return on the investment is too risky and will not be something that a company is willing to do at this time.

Hydro’s Vatne agreed, stating that at least in the current economic environment, the investments that

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aluminium companies have at least on their short-term radar are less likely to be high capital cost automation or robotics projects. “Instead, they are more likely to concentrate on upgrading their data handling and data analytics capabilities and other investments that aren’t very capital intensive, including preventative maintenance applications.

That, he said, is one reason why Hydro is very enthusiastic about the work it is doing on the use of digital twins – a numerical simulation model of the aluminium production process, which could be used to help us to optimize our operations and to make them more stable. “The big things, like automating processes in the smelter or making cranes and vehicles used in the plant autonomous, will have to come later,” Vatne said, adding that while Hydro continues explore and test new things through pilot projects, “That is going slower than we thought it would go about five years ago.”

But there is little doubt that the aluminium industry will continue to make incremental improvements in the technologies they use. But there are also some limitations inherent in certain phases of the aluminium production process for such movement toward greater automation and robotization, Simard said. For example, the high temperatures and the magnetic fields that are present in aluminium smelters could be a very demanding environment for sensors if they haven’t been properly tweaked or adapted for that kind of use. “You can’t just transplant existing technology from other, more highly automated industrial sectors and put into a smelter,” he noted.

“There will be more automation and more autonomous processes as more confidence gets built into the systems,” Vatne said. “We are on our way, although it could take a longer time to achieve than we had previously thought.”

Koch agreed, noting that today we are seeing investments in infrastructure aimed to keep companies to run more efficiently as well those supporting the use of more Big Data analytics to help companies understand the physical and chemical processes involved in using aluminium in different products and applications.

That, Koch said, will likely be followed in the midterm by moves to help companies to optimize their production, including technologies give them a better digital view of the physical world and to help them develop more reliable processes, not just at a specific plant but that could even go across companies. And longer term there will also be greater use of such disruptive technologies as additive manufacturing and greater collaboration with other companies. � Aluminium International Today

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Smart factories are the future of the aluminium industry Sistem Teknik is on the verge of commissioning a machine learning operations and data analytics ecosystem in ASAŞ Sakarya facilities. As this system will help manage the production lifecycle for both the melting and annealing lines, it provides four crucial benefits to ASAŞ: preventative maintenance, increased product quality, idle time minimization, and higher burner efficiency for optimal energy consumption.

Combining machine-to-machine communication with data analytics to achieve these powerful business outcomes, Sistem Teknik presents a pioneering IoT and data science solution that can redefine all production processes in the aluminium industry.

Aware of the capabilities machine learning can bring to the complex real-world problems of the aluminium industry, Sistem Teknik has been investing in a software and data science team for more than two years. In early 2018, Revolvind was founded with the initiatives of Sistem Teknik as an independent startup company in the incubation centre of Turkey’s largest R&D campus, Teknopark Istanbul. Having completed several IoT and data science solutions, Revolvind has recently graduated from the incubation Aluminium International Today

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centre and now works as a team of eight data scientists and software engineers.

Comprehending how exhaustive their work must be to create a platform for the aluminium industry, the Revolvind team started their journey with a project called RevoAnalytics to complete the vital phase of data collection and verification.

This project focused on processing ample raw data that already exist but fail to be reflected as meaningful values that

businesses can extrapolate from. Several sample datasets were established based on the high dimensional data recorded by sensors on furnaces and charging cars. ASAŞ has been an indispensable collaborator during the completion of RevoAnalytics as the company kindly volunteered for the data collection and experimentation processes as well as the exploratory data analysis phase of the project.

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Once a decisive and comprehensive dataset was created, Revolvind’s software team used it for developing a prototype of the Revo Ecosystem, the software platform that incorporates various machine learning and communication tools for aluminium annealing furnaces, melting furnaces, and charging cars. Temperature, time in which the door remains open, use of gas, idle time, and overall productivity are a few of the values that constitute the extensive final dataset that is used in this platform. Data driven modelling has been used in the Revo Ecosystem to create an automatic loop of reporting about more than 50 process values. Such complex data analytical tools require high computational power. Therefore, cloud solutions have been adopted, allowing the system to work fully automatically. Based on the final dataset and data analysis models, automatically updating codes (a part of the CI and CD processes) have been integrated to render cumbersome and sluggish manual interventions completely unnecessary. In case reporting methods need to be updated, models are altered remotely by the Revolvind team upon request. Certain values reach the Revo Ecosystem’s dashboard instantly as the data are automatically collected every day and all values are calculated according to formulae written by Revolvind’s data science team.

This data streaming system also includes a feedback mechanism that assists production managers. In case a certain change in the data distribution emerges, such as an alteration in productivity levels, formulae change automatically and generate new models that can analyse the new system structure. This allows the system to work in varying conditions and for furnaces and other machinery to learn new behaviours since machine learning tools instantly track production behaviour and reactions to regular or anomalous inputs. For example, through machine January/February 2021

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learning, melting furnaces learn to use furnace roof temperature more efficiently by utilising prediction models on the first metal temperature values and the timing of the melt. With this freshly acquired behaviour, thermocouples operate minutes earlier than they used to under conventional settings, and therefore contribute to a decrease in energy use as well as the achievement of higher and consistent quality outcomes.

Maintenance requirements are also tracked with similar methods to eliminate any unnecessary production halts. Additionally, anomaly detection mechanisms determine when the next burner fault will take place. With this prediction modelling, aluminium producers no longer need to reboot their plants as they can prevent shutdowns resulting from burner faults. As for annealing furnaces, Revolvind engineers developed an anomaly detection system to prevent any possible immediate increases in furnace temperature. Intentional and anomalous temperature increases are detected while predictions are constantly provided for coil temperatures.

Especially for times that the furnace

operates without a recipe, this prediction modelling is crucial to reducing values of natural gas consumption. Another aspect that decreases energy use is the fact that production is no longer prone to human error in tacking temperature values; the Revo Ecosystem predicts when all set values will be achieved and therefore optimizes burner use and heat transfer.

Despite its marked operational and financial benefits, a digital transformation towards IIoT solutions seems to be a tardy process: as of today, merely a 5% of manufacturing companies around the world have succeeded in completing the digital transformation towards IoT because such transformations often involve the integration of new platforms and software, which is costly and requires major renewals in the existing digital infrastructure. Witnessing how deterring such costly and timely investments can be for the aluminium industry, Revolvind has developed this ecosystem with the aim of integrating it to existing automation systems. The Revo Ecosystem can work at any software environment and require no extra digital infrastructure. Through containerization, the ecosystem works in both local and cloud environments without being determined by the type of operating systems or microprosessors.

To conclude, Revolvind’s project has integrated many different disciplines such as data science, machine learning operations, cloud systems, and IoT so that operators can easily control all production processes that take place inside one factory. The system that is currently being developed in the ASAŞ facilities is a humble step towards harnessing all the potential IIoT solutions offer for the aluminium industry. Yet it is a significant project that proves smart factories can bring many crucial answers to requests for quality improvement, cost cutting, and energy efficiency without demanding major infrastructural investments. �

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Does analytics have a role to play in Aluminium?

By Julie Johnson*

The prevalence of big data and analytics is growing across a seemingly limitless range of industries in the modern world. A post on big data at ReadWrite listed some of the main industries in which we see this occurring – touching on healthcare, retail, telecommunication, manufacturing, fitness, finance, and more. In all of these spaces we see a sensational range of effects that big data and analytics can bring about. But to sum those effects up, we can simply say the following: Data analytics enables businesses and organisations in these spaces to gather information, form insights, and turn those insights into actions with extreme efficiency.

That fundamental function, however complex and variable it may be, speaks to why the analytical process is so broadly useful. Virtually any business or industry can find a way to make use of data and insights at this level. And perhaps unsurprisingly, this includes the aluminium industry.

Big, beautiful data...

First and foremost, modern data analytics can help relevant entities within the aluminum industry to visualise troves of data that as of now can be somewhat dense.

That data can relate to anything from mining conditions and logistical concerns, to product manufacturing and inventory needs, and any number of things in between With modern analytics though, all of this can be gathered and – more importantly – made sense of. As is pointed out in a piece about “big, beautiful data” on Verizon Connect, one of the true assets of data analytics as we’re coming to know it is that it can turn our information into attention-grabbing, digestible formats.

In other words, endless lists of numbers and terms can be automatically converted into clear graphs, charts, and other visualisations. In an industry as sprawling as aluminium, this is invaluable, and can ensure that information that would once

have been overlooked, missed, or simply ignored is now recognised and taken seriously.

That’s the big picture. But it’s also worth considering some of the specific insights data analytics can provide in aluminium that people in the industry might not have been able to take advantage of in years past. We can point to an example, in fact, in a recent blog post citing a YouGov poll about UK consumers’ feelings toward aluminum water cans.

Such cans more or less represent brand new product potential in the aluminium industry, and thanks to survey numbers we now know that some 55% of UK consumers would embrace (and purchase) water in these cans. This is an example of a survey rather than “big data” but it still represents an important idea. The gathering of insights relating to something like consumer preference can produce enough information to actually drive the creation and marketing of new aluminium products.

Finally, data analytics also stands to benefit the aluminium industry by way of

helping with said industry’s digitalisation.

This can mean several things, but it’s important to note how important the core concept has become for modern business. In Digitalist’s article on industrial manufacturing, it is noted that 88% of “innovative manufacturers” have started or completed digital transformation – and are typically seeing greater revenue, growth, and profit margin as a result. We tend to think of these terms – innovation and digitalisation – as having to do with the simple implementation of new technology.

But data plays a role as well. It is digital data that improves business supply chains, enables the performance of smarter equipment, and even bring about machine learning to simplify and expedite various internal processes.

How much these ideas apply, and in what ways, depends on the company or entity at hand. But the potential is clear across the industry. It is evident at this point that data and analytics have significant and varied roles to play in the world of aluminium. �

*Contributor Aluminium International Today

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34

ADVERTORIAL: TOTAL

Aluminium rolling lubrication Lubrication is a critical part of the rolling process as it influences both the quality of the metal produced as well as the productivity of the mill.

Two technologies of lubricants are commonly used in Aluminium rolling: emulsions (oil-in-water) for hot rolling and low viscosity neat oils for cold and foil rolling.

Although the technologies are different, the roles of the rolling oils are similar in both cold and hot rolling. The lubricant must provide friction control to avoid direct contact between the work rolls and the aluminium strip, cooling power to evacuate the heat generated during rolling and cleaning properties to ensure proper evacuation of the fines generated during rolling.

COLD ROLLING OILS A cold rolling oil is composed of a highly refined base oil and lubricity additives.

1. Base oil The choice of a proper base oil is critical on several aspects detailed in Fig 2. Therefore, the base oil must have undergone a severe refining process to produce Total’s premium cold rolling base oils: LUBRILAM S Series.

Viscosity is also a critical parameter to consider in the choice of rolling base oil. Higher reduction can be obtained using a higher viscosity base oil – thanks to higher oil film thickness. However, oil residue will be increased which has to be considered at the annealing process. Fig 3

Fig 3. Influence of reduction rate and rolling speed on oil film thickness

HOT ROLLING OILS Hot rolling emulsions are high-tech products that count around 20 components: base oil, emulsifiers, antioxidants, lubricity improvers, corrosion inhibitors and some other specialty additives.

Those products are tailor-made for each mill. Therefore, the 1st step to designing a hot rolling emulsion is an audit of the mill to understand its specificities : mill configuration, emulsion tank configuration, emulsion management, alloys series and thicknesses, rolling schedules,… and determine suitable KPIs such as surface quality and oil consumption (per Ton of rolled aluminium for instance). Based on that information, a formulation will be designed and proposed to the customer.

During the trial phase, Total Lubrifiants’ lubrication engineers dedicate 24/7 on-site support from start-up until the achievement of the required product quality. Additives top-ups can be made during that process to optimize the formulation.

Total Lubrifiants is part of Total group, the world’s fifth largest oil and gas company.

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Total Lubrifiants has been involved in aluminum cold rolling operations for more than 20 years. During summer 2019, Total Lubrifiants acquired the Hot Rolling emulsion technologies TANDEMOL and NOA as well as compatible hydraulics oils: VITAL FLUID NOA and NOALUBRIC. Together with these technologies, experts joined the company to create the Total Aluminium Rolling Competence Center (RCC). The Aluminium RCC now counts 15 professionals who have been serving the aluminium rolling companies the last decades. These experts have full access to Total R&D capabilities are able to deliver high level on-site technical support and problem solving on a worldwide perimeter.

Total Lubrifiants is now the only company able to offer a complete range of fluids for the aluminium rolling industry: tailor-made Hot Rolling oils (NOA and TANDEMOL Series), Cold Rolling oils and additives (LUBRILAM Series), low-stain oils (AZOLLA ALS and CARTER ALS Series) as well as general maintenance lubricants & greases.

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ADVERTORIAL: TOTAL 35

Fig 1. Roles of rolling oil

BASE OIL FEATURES

BENEFITS

NARROW BOILING RANGE

Rolling stability Optimized rolling oil consumption

2. Additives Additives are essential to friction control (Fig 4). Most used are polar compounds such as fatty alcohols, esters or acids.

Thanks to their functionalized part, they create a transfer layer on the work rolls which, in the end, provide the load-bearing capacity of the rolling fluid.

The carbon chain length of those additives is also critical.

It must be long enough to provide the necessary lubricity but not too long to avoid staining issues during annealing.

In that pursue, Total Lubrifiants is constantly evaluating new compounds to incorporate in its additives packages: LUBRILAM ADD Series.

Minimized residues on the sheets / foils

LIMITED VOLATILITY (VOC)

Reduced consumption Minimized fire hazards Safer environment

LOW AROMATICS AND OLEFINS CONTENT Less odor Increased cold rolling fluid lifetime in service Respectful of workers’ health as well as

Fig 2. Main base oil features and benefits

workshop environment

Fig 4. Influence of additives on Stribeck curve

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UK smelter at the heart of green aluminium

Brian King

ALVANCE Aluminium, a member of Sanjeev Gupta’s sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, recently announced a £94m investment package to secure Fort William’s future as a GREENALUMINIUM Hub. Nadine Bloxsome* spoke to Brian King** to find out about the change of plan regarding the alloy wheel plant and what this means for the longevity of the smelter.

ALVANCE recently announced that it would invest in a new recycling and casting facility that will take aluminium production at its Fort William plant from just over 40,000 tonne per annum (ktpa) to 80ktpa.

The new facility will produce 80ktpa of billets for the domestic construction sector, which currently relies heavily on imports.

To support the developments, ALVANCE is also proposing significant upgrades to the nearby port facilities to improve efficiency of material flow.

“We spent a lot of time and money on the plans for the alloy wheel plant, but unfortunately, there is just no market for it in the UK at present,” says Brian King, Chairman of ALVANCE British Aluminium.

“When we began looking into the wheel plant, we explored making forged wheels, which lead us down the path of thinking that we need to make billet and could we make it in our existing casthouse?

“That got us all thinking that if we’re going to make billet, let’s make it on a larger scale and turn the whole product line over to accommodate this.” continues Brian.

Greener Aluminium With current smelting processes already powered by GFG Alliance’s zero emission hydro-electric power, the new addition of aluminium recycling and expansion into

downstream billets will allow ALVANCE to manufacture some of the most sustainably produced billets in the world, giving it a competitive advantage as the demand for green aluminium grows.

“The more we looked into it, we realised that one good news story lead to another,” says Brian. “The demand for billet is soaring and the premiums are predicted to remain strong, which is a great positive.

There is also plenty of scrap in the UK and it all fits in with the GFG CN30 target, so it ticks all the boxes!”

The GFG’s CN30 mission is to be carbon neutral by 2030 and recycling aluminium is a key part of this.

Plans in place Proposals will be submitted to the Highlands Council for approval and formally replace the previously announced plan for an alloy wheels factory due to a significant decline in the UK automotive sector.

Once approved, the new integrated business plan and associated developments will secure the long-term future of the Fort William aluminium smelter, safeguarding 200 local jobs and directly creating 70 new high quality roles. Subject to approvals and any further impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, ALVANCE aims to commence the new development works in 2021 and target full operation by 2024.

“It’s gathering everything we have been talking about in the aluminium industry for years with regards to environmental change and rolling it all together into one big project,” says Brian.

“The customers we have already approached have expressed a significant interest in this product because of our environmental situation – our renewable power and also the geographical location,” he continues.

“This is certainly the healthiest the smelter has been in a while and as a UK supplier, with excellent carbon credentials, we feel really well-placed to be able to provide not only a great product, but also opportunities for local firms to be involved in the construction of the new facilities and new job opportunities for local people.”

Future-proofing In a new venture for the group, GFG Alliance is also tabling plans for a new water canning facility, located next to the Fort William plant, to package Scottish Highlands water into recyclable aluminium cans to provide an alternative to plastic bottles for sale to the UK and international market. � Find out more about the GFG’s CN30 target here: www.gfgalliance.com/cn30/

*Editor, Aluminium International Today **Chairman of ALVANCE British Aluminium January/February 2021

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Modernising metals management with MES Many of today’s metals companies are trying to compete using yesterday’s technologies. These systems often cause downtime due to a lack of diagnostics which can result in re-work and costly late delivery penalties. Todd Montpas* explains how digital innovations such as advanced analytics and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) can help solve challenges within the metals industry, as they are used to track inventory and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods.

Like most other sectors, the metals sector has been on the path to a digital transformation for decades, utilising data to increase automation. However, this process is far from complete, and its adoption is patchy across the wider sector. Even though it is clear that greater real-time information and visibility opens up new possibilities to further increase delivery performance and production quality, far too many metals production processes are reliant on systems that have been obsolete for 10, 20 or even 30 years.

At the heart of this lack of adoption are the normally economic constraints.

During the good times when production is stretched to the limits to meet current demand, the time and resources are not available to focus on the digital transformation journey. Conversely, when the sector is in a slump, it is the lack of available financial resources that thwart any move to adopt new processes to integrate new technology.

Meeting new business demands with legacy systems This dilemma leaves many metals companies attempting to compete in a highly competitive market utilising antiquated technologies that fall short of business needs and introduce obsolescence risks, with limited to no spare parts availability. When it comes to the workforce, those with the greatest experience operating and maintaining these mature systems are nearing retirement with the potential risk that they could take critical domain expertise with them.

It is not just the domain expertise that is a concern from the ageing workforce but ageing systems with a lack of diagnostics

that make downtime a constant concern.

This can lead to missed production targets and costly late delivery penalties.

Visibility is key throughout the entire process. This paucity of production intelligence impacts the quality control procedure making it extremely difficult for companies to identify quality issues in real time. The lack of real-time information also hampers the ability to monitor key metrics, such as overall equipment efficiency (OEE), and to track inventory and work in progress. These legacy systems are often proprietary and hoard information in silos that cannot be accessed outside the immediate process, making it difficult to manage product traceability or genealogy.

Metals companies are also aiming to increase flexibility. Take the automotive market that is increasingly looking to aluminium in the drive towards lightweight vehicles. This involves a high level of variation in the number of

chemical formulations that are used. This means that there are usually smaller runs that are extremely specific for certain types of materials. Attempting to achieve this within the constraints of a legacy system that is often rigid and difficult to change can present enormous challenges.

This conflicts with the growing need for greater operations flexibility to respond to changing input commodity prices and meet customer demands for more advanced materials.

The time for action is upon us It has been apparent for some time that the sector needs to act. The volatile nature of the sector is unlikely to change, and the challenges that the sector faces in legacy process and equipment allied to an ageing workforce will only get worse with time.

A modern MES can help you gain deeper insights into your operations, get more from your assets, and be more responsive

*Product Manager of Information Software, Rockwell Automation Aluminium International Today

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38 MODERN METAL MANAGEMENT

to the needs of your customer.

Looking across the sector, there are many companies that are trusting to their hard-earned reputation and expertise and taking a chance that they can muddle through, but fortunately, we see others starting to break the cycle. Over the past year, we have witnessed more and more customers enthusiastic about leveraging the capabilities that MES delivers to link business systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP) with real-time, operational, plant-control systems. In doing so, these producers create an information-driven manufacturing process that can help trigger actions or execute operations, activities, rules and more.

It is widely recognised that the European and North American metals sector cannot compete with the Asia-Pacific region on a pure cost basis. To flourish, they need to implement systems that allow them to sell a higher quality, validated product.

To deliver this high-value offering both in terms of service and produce requires a system that can connect all the operations and deliver real-time visibility.

By employing MES, metals companies can track bill-of-material information, quality data, line performance and productivity for each order. With access to the vital data, they can start to achieve better key performance indicators (KPIs).

Companies have heard the message that MES can help them gain deeper insights into their operations, get more from their assets, and be more responsive to customer needs. But what does that mean when they come to operate their facility in crucial areas such as downtime, quality, performance, automation, visibility, and traceability?

Linking systems to improve performance One of the core attributes of MES is providing a digital backbone that can link January/February 2021

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business systems, such as an ERP system, with real-time, operational, plant-control systems, such as PLCs, while providing enhanced user experience. It provides the vehicle to create a single version of the truth by opening stand-alone databases, legacy custom systems, and spreadsheets into a more integrated, holistic solution.

This can help drive business value across their enterprise.

According to industry figures, access to improved visibility can reduce downtime as much as 20 per cent. With this enhanced outlook, operators can identify areas that need to be tackled by tracking which machines are operating and those that are idle, and for those that are idle identify if this is scheduled or unscheduled downtime. To optimise operations, operators can monitor downtime and analyse it by facility, shift, and process line to assist in discovering anomalies and discrepancies across their operations.

Operators can identify opportunities for continuous improvement activities by being able to retrieve, view and log data from nearly any production point.

It can provide opportunities right across the workforce from management to the shop floor. For senior operators, it means they can track key metrics, such as overall equipment efficiency (OEE), and better monitor material stock flows.

At the technician level, it allows workers to improve uptime by investigating production anomalies and minor machine delays, while plant managers can monitor energy consumption.

In the steel industry, it is not uncommon for the cost of energy to account for up to 30 per cent of the overall operating costs.

With an MES system implemented and integrated with time-stamped historian data to provide context, it allows plant managers to scrutinise machine energy consumption and identify opportunities for reduction.

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Retaining and accessing vital knowledge When it comes to information on recipes and workflows, many metals companies still rely on manually completed physical documents with operators often compiling this vital knowledge in black books. This manual methodology is both time consuming and prone to errors or misinterpretation. Through MES, these tasks can be managed from within the system, from creating and storing recipes to developing standard operating procedures. Production processes also can be synchronised within MES, enabling workers to adjust or transfer work between production lines or other areas to maximise throughput.

However, in the modern environment it is not enough to have access to this information on a consistent and standardised basis, there needs to be visibility, traceability and accountability of the metals and products, both in and outbound. Safety conscious sectors such as aerospace and automotive demand dimensional, quality, and metallurgical properties of each product to incorporate into their own information systems. In this area, MES can track raw-material inventory, work-in-progress inventory, materials on hold and finished goods waiting to be shipped and communicating this information back to the ERP for material resource planning, sequencing of orders and customer shipments. Within an MES system, work in progress is tracked from start to finish, including processes, operators, and scrap.

Finally, the spectre that is hanging across all sectors of industry is in the form of the widening skills gap and this is viewed as a significant threat for the metals industry.

As experienced workers retire, they take with them a huge volume of intellectual knowledge and operations intelligence.

The legacy systems that are widespread within the sector are not designed to store that information. With MES in place, companies can develop work instructions and procedures to help ensure that this vital domain experience does not retire with the workers.

Those of us who have experience within the industry realise that a large proportion of the metals companies will not progress with their current production systems.

They know that now is the time to get on board with the digital transformation that will allow them to move along the path to become world-class operators. A crucial element of this journey is a modern MES that can help companies achieve this transition to more advanced materials production, incorporate new equipment and more complex processes, and address emerging workforce needs. ďż˝ Aluminium International Today

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MAINTENANCE 39

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Storvik Pneumatic Tube Cleaning Machine PTCM Probably the easiest way to clean your pipes? By Viktor Røsand*

Storvik’s PTCM has more than 15 years of proven lifetime showing its robustness and capacity in operations at Alcoa Mosjøen Aluminium plant. With the latest delivery of the Storvik PTCM to a customer in Tasmania Bell Bay, we provide the best automated unit for cleaning of straight and full-length curved bath and metal tubes. HSE is, as always, in focus with status lights, switch stoppers, alarm system and noise levels, all according to international standards.

Customers of Storvik are typically top tier aluminium producers with the highest standards to consistency in quality of all processes and equipment. The new generation pneumatic tube cleaning machine is typical equipment for meeting such criteria.

The standard version of the Storvik’s PTCM comes with a fixed pneumatic grinding tool on a flexible air hose. The machine has sensor load cell for detection of tube before use.

Light column for steps indications

Pneumatic cleaning tool Tapping tube in place detection

Coil hose for various tapping tubes lengths

Automated feeding and retracting mechanism

* Sales & Marketing Manager, Storvik AS Aluminium International Today

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RODDING

40 MAINTENANCE

IN-LINE ROD REPAIR

The system can be operated from local control room inside the machine or with remote control from tapping vehicle. This opportunity make the machine more flexible and reduce the noice level for the operator.

Storvik has the highest standards for its products and deliverables. The Storvik pneumatic tube cleaning machine (PTCM) is no exception. We strive to honor our commitment to always deliver on agreed time and budget with the desired capacity, redundancy, and quality. ďż˝

Robotic welding of anode studs

KEY FEATURES

FEATURES n n n n n

Cost-effective Reliable

Scalable

Industry 4.0

Low space requirements

BENEFITS n n n

Fewer rods and trolleys needed Increased rod efficiencies Redundancy

Industriveien 13, N-6600 Sunndalsøra Phone: +47 71 69 95 00 Email: storvik@storvik.no

www.storvik.no

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Innovative aluminium SC reinforced solution for additive manufacturing

By Viktor Mann*, Vladimir Korolev** & Darya Daubarayte***

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is becoming a widespread technology among other techniques of additive manufacturing (AM). The method is based on layer-by-layer synthesis of three-dimensional products from metallic powder on the substrate with the use of laser radiation [1]. The technology allows to produce parts with high accuracy and complex shape, providing opportunities to change traditional constructions to increase their functionality, eliminating the need for different joints, reducing the weight of structures, etc. All these benefits may be obtained by using of lattice structures or modifying parts via topological optimization and by the use of materials with improved characteristics.

However, the range of aluminium materials used in additive technologies is short in comparison to casting or wrought series. There are few aluminum alloys, which have found industrial application (Fig.1) [2].

AlSi10Mg alloy is the most widespread alloy with high processability during LPBF characterized by medium strength [3].

Other powders based on Al-Si system, e.g. AlSi12 or AlSi7Mg are used as the substitution of casting solutions and some non-critical application and are successfully used for printing different parts for aerospace, instrumentation or customers’ goods. AlSi9Cu3 is high strength powder, characterized by good casting properties and cost-effectiveness which is commonly used for automotive application. However, copper addition to Al-Si alloys is tend to decrease their corrosion resistance [4].

Among others, Al-Mg-Sc alloys are the most promising due to the highest strength and best strength to weight ratio. These alloys offer high tensile characteristics and improved corrosion resistance (compared to Al-Si). The formation of Al3Sc

Fig.1 Properties of commonly used aluminium alloys for AM

precipitates, coherent to aluminium matrix, leads to strength increment of nearly 40 – 50 MPa per 0,1 % Sc [5].

As far as commercially available Al-Mg-Sc alloys contain from 0,6 to 1,1 % Sc [6], the main barrier which complicates their mass application is high price caused by the high cost of Sc (average price for 99,9 % Sc is $15 000 per kg [6]). Moreover, existing alloys based on Al-Mg-Sc system are characterized by poor processability during LPBF [7], which enhances the cost of parts produced by additive manufacturing [8].

Fig 3. Cubic samples on the building platform

Fig 2. SEM image of the RS-553 powder

Thus, two key issues for Al-Mg-Sc alloys application growth should be solved: � lowering the cost of the material; � development of high-productive RS-553 alloy production The technology RS-553 powder production was implemented at LLC VALCOM-PM. It was specially created to obtain spherical powders with minimum of satellites (Fig. 2) in production site. Much attention was paid to atomization and classification parameters development in order to

Fig 4. Structure of RS-553 alloy in as-built condition

*Chief Technical Officer, RUSAL ** Director of the Department (Department of Additive Technologies, Limited Liability Company “Light Materials and Technologies Institute”, RUSAL) *** Project leader (Department of Additive Technologies, Limited Liability Company “Light Materials and Technologies Institute”, RUSAL) Aluminium International Today

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Fig 5. Typical structure of RS-553 alloy synthesized at optimal (b) non-optimal parameters

Mechanical properties in annealed state

RS-553

AlSi10Mg

2024-T3 [11]

(0,3 % Sc)

Modulus of elasticity, GPa

72

72

72

UTS, MPa

495

350

440

TYS, MPa

440

220

290

El., %

14

10

10

Fatigue (Kt = 1)

180

110

138

(N = 2 · 108)

(N = 2 · 108)

(N = 5 · 108)

Table 1. Mechanical properties of RS-553 in comparison with other materials

Alloy Corrosion rate, g/cm2·24 h

RS-553 7075-T1 [12] Al5MgMn-O* [11] AlSi10Mg 0,26

30,6

0,43

0,67

Table 2. Comparison of aluminium alloys corrosion characteristics

achieve maximum powder yield. As a result double decreased concentration of Sc and stable production technology resulted in significant drop of powder price in comparison with high Sc solutions.

Process parameters development Optimization of RS-553 porosity and processability was carried out in the UC RUSAL Light Materials and Technologies Institute (RUSAL LMTI) on cubic samples.

Several experiments were carried out to create and optimize process parameters set providing printing of the material with not less than 99,5 % density (Fig.3, Fig.4) Microstructure analysis and properties tests LPBF process is takes place under conditions of rapid solidification, when the range of crystallization exceeds 105 – 106 ˚C/s.

We carried out a lot of investigation to provide good structure of printed material in order to achieve the best performance.

During the experiments laser power, hatch distance and scan speed were varied. In January/February 2021

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general, printing processability can be characterized by laser energy density Ev (the value shows general relationship between fusing parameters [9]. For RS553 alloy is in the range of 80 – 90 J/ mm3. It is also demonstrated that high laser energy density (> 140 J/mm3) causes metallurgical pores and cracks, while low energy density (< 80 J/mm3) leads to ‘’lack of fusion defects’’ (Fig 5), caused by incomplete filling of gaps with molten metal.

SEM analysis showed that RS-553 alloy structure is characterized by ultrafine grained structure and all alloying elements are fully dissolved if aluminium solid solution. Previously RUSAL team showed [9] that after heat treatment RS-553 alloy structure is characterized by aluminium solid solution with nanoparticle homogeneously distributed nano sized Al3(Sc, TM) precipitates, which provide high mechanical strength.

Tensile and fatigue properties are among the most significant characteristics required to materials for any structural

application. In order to approve RS-553 workability, series of specimens were tested according relevant standards. The results were compared to mechanical characteristics of existing AM analogues and conventional alloys. Table 1 In addition, RS-553 shows advantages in terms of not only strength above conventional alloys and widely used AlSi alloys for AM, but also good fatigue performance, which makes it promising to replace parts made of high strength alloys (2xxx or 7xxx), operating under load fatigue conditions.

An additional advantage to the strength of the alloy is its high corrosion resistance.

The samples were exposed in the salt spray chamber at room temperature for 30 days in 3 % NaCl atmosphere. Table 2 The general corrosion rate of the RS553 alloy is more than 2 times lower than that of AlSi10Mg and is comparable to the rates of Al-Mg system alloys which, however, are characterized by lower strength. Thus RS-553 alloy is promising for using in aircraft and automotive industries.

Parts production and further prospectives Currently achieved level of roughness on outer surfaces remains 12 µm, which is close to achieved values of AlSi10Mg alloy of other producers (open data analysis).

Surface parameters of RS-553 alloy are still under development, however, already achieved results even now allow to produce parts with complex geometry with geometrical accuracy 150 µm that require minimal post-processing (Fig.6, Fig.7).

As a result, new high-strength RS-553 aluminium alloy for AM was developed.

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Fig 7. Finished part

Fig 6. Parts on the building platform

applications, including both mechanical engineering and mass-market production.

The alloy shows great mechanical strength compared to high-strength analogues, outstanding corrosion resistance and good processability during LPBF, leading to further lowering of the cost, which will promote its consumer expansion. The alloy has huge promises for being implemented to various constructions as far as showed great performance during bench-testing of the prototypes. �

References 1. Yadroitsev, Igor. Selective laser melting: direct manufacturing of 3D-objects by selective laser melting of metal powders. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert, 2009, iv, 266 s. ISBN 978-3-8383-1794-6.

2. Manfredi D., Calignano F., Krishnan M., et al., Additive Manufacturing of Al Alloys and Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMCs), Light Metal Alloys Applications. 2014, 3–34.

3. Kempen, Karolien & Thijs, Lore & Humbeeck, Jan & Kruth, Jean-Pierre. (2012). Mechanical Properties of AlSi10Mg Produced by Selective

Laser Melting. Physics Procedia. 39. 439–446.

10.1016/j.phpro.2012.10.059.

4. Jan Suchy , Libor Pantelejev , David Palousek , Daniel Koutny & Jozef Kaiser (2020) Processing of AlSi9Cu3 alloy by selective laser melting, Powder Metallurgy, 63:3, 197-211, doi: 10.1080/00325899.2020.1792675 5. Zakharov, V.. (2003). Effect of Scandium on the Structure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys.

Metal Science and Heat Treatment. 45. 246-253.

10.1023/A:1027368032062.

6.https://aluminiuminsider.com/aluminiumscandiumalloys-future/ 7. Aboulkhair, Nesma & Everitt, Nicola & Maskery, Ian & Ashcroft, Ian & Tuck, Christopher. (2017).

Selective laser melting of aluminum alloys. MRS Bulletin. 42. 10.1557/mrs.2017.63.

8. Altiparmak, Sadettin. (2020). Challenges and Limitations in Additive Manufacturing of Aluminium Alloys for the Aerospace Industry. 6.

34-47. 10.7176/JSTR/6-05-04.

9. Churyumov Alexander, Pozdniakov Andrey, Prosviryakov Alexey, Loginova, Irina, Daubarayte, Dariya, Ryabov Dmitriy, Korolev Vladimir, Solonin Alexey, Pavlov Mikhail, Valchuk Sergey. (2019).

Microstructure and mechanical properties of a novel selective laser melted Al-Mg alloy with low Sc content. Materials Research Express. 6.

10.1088/2053-1591/ab5bea.

10. https://apworks.de/ 11. http://matweb.com/

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44 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Advances in additive manufacturing held back by old powder This article is an abridged version of a whitepaper released by Equispheres titled The Problem With Additive Metal Manufacturing.By Doug Brouse* Additive Manufacturing (AM) is promising new technology that offers design freedom, improved supply chain logistics, bespoke part production and reduced cost/time for part development.

The technology holds the promise to revolutionize the current $13 Trillion per year manufacturing sector. However, it is critically important that AM be adept at using aluminum and aluminum alloys as these materials are used widely in all industrial and consumer sectors.

Presently, the primary AM technology for printing aluminum alloy material is powder-bed fusion, a process that involves spreading metal powder in a horizontal bed and then melting the material, layer by layer, into the desired geometry. The technology has been proven to be effective, and many companies are using aluminum alloys to conduct R&D and produce functional prototypes to physically validate a part design. Importantly, a number aerospace and automotive companies are using the technology to produce production parts – albeit in very small volumes.

But why small volumes? Why isn’t aluminum used for mass AM production?

There are three challenges that are preventing the breakthrough to full scale

materials tend to crack. As are result, the industry is limited to simple casting material such as AlSi10Mg or A357.

adoption of the technology 1) Metal AM is slow and costly – the cost to produce a part is roughly 10X that of casting. This cost is driven by the expensive metal printers and their slow production speeds. In fact, in most applications, the burden of the capital cost represents ~50% of the cost of the final part.

Doug Brouse,

But help is on the way and many in the industry are offering a two-pronged approach to resolving these issues. These solutions tend be technological improvements to either: 1) the printer hardware, 2) the feedstock material

(i.e. the metal powder).

2) The AM process tends VP of Strategic Partners and to have a lot of variability Alliances at Equispheres.

Printer manufactures are when processing aluminum sometimes the process will produce parts improving the quality and reliability of with exceptional mechanical properties, their systems by improving laser quality, but sometimes it doesn’t. This lack of build chamber environment control and consistency in the process has driven offering better tools to manage and many engineers to use expensive, high plan the build process. Improvements temperature, high strength titanium to production speeds are being achieved in applications where strength and by packing the systems with more and temperature are not issues and lower cost more lasers and finding other pre and post-production efficiencies. These are all aluminum would do. helpful improvements.

However, the challenges to aluminum 3) Limited aluminum alloys – Many of the higher strength aluminum alloys adoption in metal AM are best handled required by industry such as 6061 or 7075 through improvement to the metal are challenging to process in AM and the powder.

*VP of Strategic Partners and Alliances at Equispheres.

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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING 45

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170 x-1- tilted 45

With respect to limited aluminum alloys, it is noted that several companies have entered the market with new aluminum chemical alloys that have been specifically designed for AM. These new alloys are stronger and operate at higher temperatures – thus freeing the industry from simple casting alloys and enabling a whole host of new aluminum class applications However, regardless of chemical composition, research has shown that the quality of the powder feedstock has a dramatic impact on both the speed of production and the reliability of the AM process.

Unfortunately, most of the aluminum metal powder on the market has been developed to support industries such as press and sinter, and the production technology is chaotic and lacks process control. Sadly, the resultant powder produced by these traditional atomization technologies lacks the uniformity and quality for reliable, mass AM production.

Powder comparison - Competitor versus Equispheres (right)

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Like the introduction of new AMcentric aluminum alloys, the AM industry requires new ‘atomization’ processes, such as those developed by Equispheres, to produce powder specifically for AM. These powders need to have the following key properties: � Highly sphericity � Narrow PSD � Free of fines � Free of agglomerates � Smooth surface (minimal surface area) This class of uniform powder behaves predictably in the AM process as the material absorbs the laser energy uniformly, melts uniformly and resolidifies uniformly.

This translates into the production of parts with consistent mechanical performance.

In-field and laboratory research has shown that parts made with superior powder can attain a design strength (in aerospace, the ‘a-basis’ design allowable) that is 20 to 30% higher than parts made with

traditional powder. Said simply, parts can be 30% stronger or 30% lighter.

Importantly, powder with these properties flow 2 times more quickly and pack 30% more densely. Therefore, the material absorbs the laser energy more efficiently.

Consequently, the powder layers can be spread more thickly (increasing the velocity of the vertical build speeds) and can be melted 20% more rapidly (increasing the horizontal build speed). This has a profound impact on build speed and part cost reduction.

Many industry observers believe that mass production in AM will be achieved with the introduction of Binder Jet printers that use a completely different technology for printing parts. These devices, which use sintering instead of laser melting are coming to market in the next 12 months and offering speeds that are significantly more productive (some producers claim 100 times faster) than traditional laserbased systems and it is believed that these systems will have the same cost profile as casting.

It is noted that these systems are compaction-free and therefore cannot, as of yet, sinter aluminum alloys. This of course, is a major challenge for the industry as aluminum alloys are so important for so many sectors. However, research conducted by McGill university and reproduced independently has shown that powder with properties described above can be readily and densely sintered.

Several Binder Jet printer OEMs are now working with this class of powder to have them market ready by the end of 2021.

With the latest advancement in printer and metal aluminum powder technology, it is clear that fast, low cost aluminum alloy part production using AM will become a reality. Are you ready for this market disruption? � January/February 2021

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46 AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM COUNCIL

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Focus on: Australian Aluminium

By Marghanita Johnson*

1

1. Bauxite 2. Margi Johnson, Executive Director, Australian Aluminium Council 3. Capral press

Looking back on my first twelve months at the Australian Aluminium Council as the Executive Director; wow! What a year it has been for the Australian aluminium industry (and no, I don’t just mean COVID).

2020 marked the 65th birthday of the Australian aluminium industry. The southern hemisphere’s first aluminium smelter was built at Bell Bay in northern Tasmania to overcome national security risks following the second world war and is still operating. Today, Australia’s aluminium industry directly employs more than 15,000 people and indirectly supports around 40,000 families in regional Australia.

The Australian industry now includes five large (>10 Mt per annum) bauxite mines, six alumina refineries and four aluminium smelters; in addition to

downstream processing such as extruders and distributors. It is the world’s largest producer of bauxite, collectively producing more than 100 Mt of bauxite per annum; the world’s largest exporter of alumina, exporting more than 17 Mt per year; and the sixth largest producer of aluminium.

Like the rest of the world, we watched in the first half of 2020, as aluminium prices collapsed because of COVID-19.

Demand for aluminium in cars, aeroplanes and construction plummeted. There was also concern that our operations would be faced with shutdown as a result of lockdown measures in each jurisdiction.

But while we have faced challenges of restricted regional movement, all operations remained open throughout the year and production from Australia’s bauxite mines and alumina refineries has

actually increased. While aluminium prices have now largely recovered, we know the longer-term future of industry will depend on the rate of recovery of the global manufacturing sector and the impact this has on international demand.

The pandemic has underscored the importance of manufacturing in Australia, and how it can support a productive and resilient economy. The crisis reinforced the advantages economic self-sufficiency—of being able to value-add within a domestic supply chain—from Australian bauxite, to Australian alumina, to Australian aluminium and on to Australian extruders.

It also highlighted the importance of local industry which provides the underpinning market for a contracting and manufacturing sector. This sector was able to pivot to meet rapidly changing

*Marghanita Johnson has been Executive Director of the Australian Aluminium Council since late 2019. Prior to joining the Council, she worked in Australia’s mining and mineral processing sectors for more than 20 years, predominantly in the aluminium industry.

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domestic needs such as sanitiser, face shields and ventilators. Energy-intensive industry provides not only current regional jobs, but also supports the smart Australian jobs of the future.

The Australian Government recognised the value of this domestic supply chain resilience, announcing their Modern Manufacturing Strategy, to allow

AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM COUNCIL 47

membership. Australia’s manufacturing sector employs people with significant technical, operational and managerial skills, and the development of this skill base can support Australian jobs into the future.

Historically, the Council’s members were large vertically integrated producers, however, in recent years we have seen a shift in the Australian and global industries reflecting diversification of producers, particularly in bauxite mining. It was this

high-grade bauxite.

Australia is naturally blessed with some of the best wind and solar resources in the world, and a transformation is now in progress towards a renewable generation base that drives our country forward sustainably. But it’s not all smooth sailing.

The Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) is undergoing change at an unprecedented rate. It is estimated that around 16% of electricity consumed in the NEM in 2018-19 was generated by

3

2

Australia’s manufacturers to scale up, compete internationally and create more jobs. The Government supported this with the announcement of policies to increase the supply and affordability of gas, a critical enabler for both the alumina industry and electricity sector, as part of its Gas Fired Recovery platform. And the Government has made the aluminium industry one of its five priority low emissions technologies.

These priority technologies are where Australia has some of its biggest lowemission challenges, but also its biggest opportunities.

Throughout this year, the Council has renewed its focus on mine to market domestic supply chains, including renewed engagement with the downstream sector.

This resulted in the Council welcoming Capral Limited, Australia’s largest extruder and distributor of aluminium products, as its first new member in a decade. New members like Capral bring increased diversity to the Council’s downstream Aluminium International Today

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increased diversity of supply and wanting to share Australia’s more almost 60 years of experience of bauxite mining, which in 2018 prompted the Council to share our knowledge globally via the publication of the Sustainable Bauxite Mining Guidelines, a joint collaboration between ourselves, the International Aluminium Institute and the Brazilian Aluminium Association.

Reflecting further on this in 2020, the Council adopted a new membership category, enabling bauxite explorers and mine proponents to join the Council, before production commenced. In October, the Council welcomed VBX Limited as the first member in this exploration category. VBX is the proponent of the Wuudagu Bauxite Project on Wunambal Gaambera country, in the far north of Western Australia.

While the project is still undergoing final feasibility studies and approvals, membership of the Council enables VBX to engage with other members of the Australian bauxite industry during these planning phases, helping to ensure Australia maintains its reputation as a sustainable miner of increasingly scarce

variable renewables and this is forecast to increase rapidly, driven by falling technology costs, government support programs, and consumer preferences.

By 2022 the proportion is forecast to be around 27% and by 2030 above 40%. The volume and pace of transition places Australia in an international cohort including Ireland, California, Germany, Spain and Portugal; with one major difference – our grid is stand alone and not connected to other countries. This is causing major issues around system security and reliability, without which the electricity system can fail.

What is also uniquely Australian in this transition is the proportion of generation from residential and commercial solar photovoltaic (PV). At present this is about 5% of the generation output; by 2030 it is expected to be 10%. With this large and sustained increase in rooftop solar PV, the NEM has begun to struggle with the midday solar peak and the erosion of the minimum demand, making it more difficult to operate and manage. This challenge will only increase with time.

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48 AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM COUNCIL

All four smelters are located in this National Electricity Market and collectively comprise more than 10% of electricity demand. As the market undergoes this unique and challenging transition, there is growing need for a shock absorber in the electricity system. Australia’s aluminium smelters have been increasingly called upon to support grid stability and reliability to fill this role. Their large and fast-acting interruptibility helps secure and restore stability to the network, particularly on those hottest of hot days in summer when the demands of the network are pushed beyond their capability. Or when network conditions deteriorate, as a result of bushfires or other conditions and significant load shedding is required to restore its strength. Smelters also provide critical, stable demand all day, every day.

But each interruption presents a process risk to a smelter to safely restore their own stability as they resume production.

Electricity accounts for around 30-50% of Australian aluminium smelters’ total cost base and is a key determinant of their international competitiveness. The

delivered cost of electricity in Australia has, in recent times, been consistently priced in the highest (fourth) quartile of global prices. These system shocks have caused high volatility in spot prices over recent years, which has been a key driver in the increased cost of wholesale electricity

www.aluminiumtoday.com

contracts. Compounded by this volatile electricity market, the circumstances are now urgent for Australia’s four smelters.

Smelters seeking to recontract today are facing difficult decisions, especially under current economic conditions. But without Australia’s aluminium smelters, the challenge to manage the electricity market and reliably supply the 22 million Australians connected to it, is even harder.

As I look to my second year at the Council, I see that for Australia’s existing industries, surviving this transition will continue to be a challenge. But I also see a platform of national policy reforms is underway, directed at a future where Australia’s world-class energy resources once again provide internationally competitive, reliable energy and an invigorated mineral processing and manufacturing sector.

Aluminium has been clearly identified as a priority technology as part of these reforms. There is real opportunity on the horizon which could again see Australian mineral processing and manufacturing industries thrive on low-carbon, competitively priced electricity. �

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Aluminium International Today

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CONSTRUCTION 49

Aluminium: Combatting construction’s carbon footprint With the aim, laid out by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), to make all buildings Net Zero by 2050, the construction industry must make changes – starting with material choice. Here, Nick Cowley*, explains why aluminium plays an important role in making the construction industry more sustainable.

Innovation organisation InnovateUK states that construction, operation and maintenance of the built environment account for 45 per cent of total UK carbon emissions. By 2031, it’s predicted that the United Kingdom’s population will exceed 70 million. This, combined with an increasing need for buildings and homes, means it’s imperative that the industry takes action to reduce its carbon emissions.

Carbon construction Common building materials such as concrete and timber are harmful to the environment. Concrete is the most commonly used man-made material on Earth, but is responsible for up to eight per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – only coal, oil and gas are greater sources of greenhouse gases. The majority of CO2 emissions are produced during the making of cement clinker, which is ground up to a fine powder to produce cement.

Using wood as a building product does not directly emit greenhouse gases like the production of concrete, but deforestation is also detrimental to the environment.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to these materials that can support sustainable resource management while still delivering on quality.

Aluminium benefits Aluminium possesses many benefits that

make it an ideal building material such as high ductility that allows it to be formed into different profiles, without weakening.

In addition, aluminium is nearly as strong as and is lighter than steel, which makes it more manageable on site and its natural corrosion resistance that reduces the frequency of building maintenance.

Perhaps the most significant benefit of using aluminium lies with its recyclable and sustainable possibilities. Although there are sustainable options such as timber, straw and compressed earth, which can be used in the construction industry, these materials do not offer the required strength needed for a buildings structure.

Sustainable construction Like all metals, aluminium production is not a hazard free process. Aluminium is chemically extracted from bauxite, an ore that must be mined. This is known as alumina, which is then smelted to form pure aluminium. While aluminium production is still impactful on the environment, these affects can be counteracted by the metal’s circularity potential.

It’s thought that around 75 per cent of all aluminium produced remains in circulation, in some form or another.

Aluminium can be melted and reused without any impact on its mechanical properties, which means aluminium products can be manufactured over and

over again to the same high standard.

Aluminium applications The benefits of aluminium make it an ideal building material as it can be applied to different areas of a build including roofing, wall panels, windows and doors. Aluminium can also be used as an alternative material to replace concrete and timber exterior cladding and batten systems, which can enhance the appearance of a building, and as a structural reinforcement.

Depending on the design of the build, the aesthetic of aluminium is not always desired. Endurawood is available in a range of powder coat and woodgrain coatings, which replicate the look of natural wood. In addition, these coatings are volatile organic compound (VOC) and lead free, which also contributes to the environmental benefits of aluminium.

While there are a number of steps that must be taken to achieve Net Zero emissions in the construction industry, considering a material such as aluminium could make a significant impact. If the industry wants to reduce its carbon footprint, harnessing the benefits of a lighter weight, sustainable material could help to make this possible. � Contact www.endurawood.co.uk

*Managing Director at aluminium building product supplier Endurawood Aluminium International Today

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January/February 2021

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50 ROLLING

The ability to monitor performance and detect anomalies is an important weapon in a cold rolling mill (CRM) operator’s arsenal, helping to meet the challenges of the current market. But that is just the beginning of what advanced data analytics can offer aluminium producers, as Felix Lenders, Nuo Li, Dennis Janka and Andrew Cohen, ABB, explain.

Improving cold rolling mill performance with advanced data analytics Cold rolling mills play an important part in aluminium production, but with producers increasingly faced with challenges to stay competitive, meet customer demand for increased product quality, and cope with a widening variety of materials, how can they ensure that at the practical level, acceptable thickness and flatness tolerances decrease, while improving throughput and yield?

One response to these business and technical challenges is through greater use of digital technologies, such as advanced data analytics. The idea is simple: if CRM operators were able to observe the status of equipment and processes in near real time, they would gain crucial insight January/February 2021

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into performance – and particularly into deviations in product quality or problems with the process. This insight would allow operators to actively manage production to better meet the various demands on them.

But achieving this is more easily said than done. Despite the conceptual simplicity of the rolling process, in reality it is a complicated operation that depends on a multitude of factors. To fully exploit the full production potential of the CRM in today’s market therefore requires a connected and integrated approach to automation optimization, control, and decision-support tools.

The good news is that CRMs are often

already equipped with modern control systems that include multiple sensors to monitor and record vast amounts of data.

And with sampling times in the range of milliseconds, hundreds of sensor values are recorded – more than 3GB worth a day, during mill operation. This includes measurements of flatness, tension, speed, and strip thickness.

This data is routinely exploited by service engineers for commissioning and maintenance of rolling mill devices. But this valuable resource is rarely analyzed for performance purposes due to the difficulties of manual analysis and data pattern screening – a tedious and costly endeavour by any measure.

Aluminium International Today

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e

ROLLING 51

ABB ABILITYTM PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION SERVICE FOR COLD ROLLING MILLS ABB’s latest hybrid digital solution, ABB Ability™ Performance Optimization Service for cold rolling mills, offers all types of cold rolling operations unparalleled opportunities to optimize performance and profitability.

Alongside this, ABB experts are always on hand to recommend corrective actions, ensuring that mills maintain KPIs for productivity, thickness quality and thickness yield. At launch, the

ABB AbilityTM Data Analytics for Cold Rolling Mills analyzer overview

The new solution – part of ABB’s metals digital portfolio and Collaborative Operations for Metals suite combines continuous performance monitoring using ABB Ability™ Data Analytics for cold rolling mills digital technology, with real-time, 24-7 support from ABB experts.

Process-specific algorithms based on a century of metals industry experience analyze high frequency data from mill control systems to discover trends, benchmarks and other performance factors, sending alerts to operators when performance optimization opportunities arise.

CRM, while assessing productivity and product quality.

It does this by quickly guiding users to the relevant information and providing interactive diagrams and plots. Engineers area therefore easily able to focus on the information they need to make smarter and speedier decisions.

A lost opportunity?

To help CRM operators and maintenance engineers release the potential of their raw data and efficiently analyze the performance of their systems, a technology partner is required with deep domain knowledge and the ability to draw on the latest advances in neural networks and advanced data analytics applications for operational data. This combination of practical and digital expertise helps to create a digital service solution that addresses real-world challenges.

Digital Solutions for Industrial Processes (SODA) from ABB aims to do just that.

Key concepts from SODA have now been integrated into the ABB AbilityTM Data Analytics for cold rolling mills solution, which forms the basis for the new-released ABB AbilityTM Performance Optimization Service for cold rolling mills.

Notably, this includes the ability to detect and monitor problem signatures, as well as undertake basic root cause analysis of the issue. In this way, this new digital tool provides operators with the data they need to keep track of the status of their Aluminium International Today

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solution offers KPIs for thickness only, with KPIs for flatness quality to follow and additional KPIs to be developed in line with customer demand.

Monitoring CRM operation…

In the first step on the road to digital awareness, a ‘golden coil’ is synthesized from available historical data: this is a fictional coil that consists of time segments of varying lengths at points when product quality and mill productivity were at their peak. The golden coil thus represents the operating modes in which the highest quality and productivity values were attained.

With the golden coil as reference, deviations within the historical data can then be analyzed, effectively teaching the system the range of functional behaviours, which are classified from poor to excellent. Currently, up to 100 different performance indicators are extracted from sensor measurements to compute the productivity and quality key performance indicators (KPI).

Once the KPIs have been calculated, the user may assess the performance of the coil currently in production by comparing it with the calculated golden coil and with examples of historical coils from the specific device being evaluated.

Coils can then be clustered according to performance and the information

explored in depth via the graphical user interface.

Poor quality coils can then be assessed, and any patterns or deviations recognised, making future troubleshooting easier.

For example, the velocity profile of a poor-quality coil could be superficially compared to the golden coil. In fact, the operator is able to compare the selected coil with the golden coil for any KPI – and consequently ascertain the reasons for poor performance.

Another example would be roll geometry problems, which are particularly challenging to detect. But roll eccentricity can cause periodic variations in the roll gaps, leading to undesirable variations in the thickness of the rolled product.

Using spectral analysis, however, ABB’s digital solution for CRMs is able detect roll eccentricity in near real time. … and detecting problems SODA uses algorithms to detect various characteristics and common problem signatures in time series data: changing properties of incoming materials or measurement mismatches due to improper tuning of control loops. While some of these algorithms are based on conventional signal processing, others rely on an approach based on machine learning. This approach is especially suited to time series data analysis, due to its ability to model discrete time dynamic behaviour.

This article continues on page 54 January/February 2021

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52 ROLLING

Inspection solutions to support surface quality in aluminum cold rolling Aluminium cold rolling mill

CASE STUDY: INSPECTING IN A ROLLING MILL Cold rolling is an important stage in manufacturing thin, flat aluminum strip.

Effective monitoring of surface defects at this stage supports quality control, protects against customer complaints about quality, and helps to reduce costs throughout the production process.

Manual inspection is, to say the least, very difficult due to the speed of the mill, coolant spray, and fumes making visual inspection only really possible at the beginning and end of the coil.

While an automated surface inspection system is preferable, the same factors present similar challenges. However, it is possible to overcome these difficulties to deliver real-time defect detection, supported by a high-definition video stream that allows re-inspection without re-coiling.

The cold rolling process Cold rolling aluminum is a critical process used mainly for reducing the thickness of hot rolled strip to the final gauge required for its end-use, which in the case of household foil, can be as thin as 0.016mm.

The basic process involves squeezing strip material between a pair of driven rolls set to a gap less than the original strip thickness. The overall thickness reduction is achieved by repeatedly passing the strip material through the same rolling mill stand with the roll gap reduced for each pass, or by passing once through multiple rolling stands with each set of rolls successively set to a smaller gap.

January/February 2021

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AMETEK Surface Vision has applied the SmartView system to a cold rolling mill for Laminazione Sottile S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer of rolled aluminum products.

Among the items produced are rigid, semi-rigid and flexible packaging, HVAC-R, automotive parts, cookware, and general engineering components.

Laminazione was looking to meet increasing market demands and customer specifications with an inspection system that would provide an extended and objective overview of coil quality.

This system had to provide inspection in real time in order to quickly diagnose the root causes of relevant defects, delivering surface quality information to support the process.

It would also serve as a quality control gate for the direct sale of coils to the customer and for further processing by the Laminazione Sottile Group subsidiaries, providing continuous process and quality control.

The aim was to drastically reduce customer quality claims, both from

During cold rolling, the strip can workharden depending on the amount of thickness reduction on the particular alloy.

In some cases, this can be used to achieve

inside the group and from external customers.

Because of the line speeds – ranging from 200 meters per minute up to 800 meters per minute – human-eye inspection was not able to deliver the level of objectiveness and reliability required.

An automated inspection system was therefore essential and had to be able to inspect all the material, recording results so that appropriate decisions could be made. It also had to reliably detect relevant surface defects for immediate action without causing false defect alarms.

Inspecting aluminum surfaces that go on for further processing, such as coating, was important to prevent quality claims and prevent the expense of processing defective material.

It was also essential to detect physical damage, particularly for food packaging, which has very high customer requirements. Any defects that could cause damage to the containers after getting stamped are critical, since they could affect the quality of the packed goods.

the desired mechanical properties or if not required, returned to a more ductile, softer condition by thermal annealing.

Very high rolling loads and roll drive Aluminium International Today

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53

CASE STUDY: APPLYING THE SOLUTION

power is required to draw the strip through the roll gap which generates heat build-up in the strip and the rolls.

Complex rolling algorithms are used to control many process variables including roll gap, load, shape, speed, and coolant sprays to ensure high-quality strip is produced efficiently.

Producing strip of high surface finish quality, without defects and good overall flatness or shape is also critical to meet required specifications, and whilst shape defects can be rectified in post rolling operations, surface defects are not so easily removed or repaired. Therefore, it is important to detect emerging surface defects caused by upstream operations or from the cold rolling mill as early as possible at high rolling speeds.

Surface inspection at this stage is important to ensure that the metal meets the required quality. It can detect defects that may not emerge during the prior hot rolling process and allows action to be taken to deal with repeating defects.

This quality control helps to reduce scrap or downgraded product, improve productivity, and reduce costs by avoiding the further processing of substandard metal.

Challenges for surface inspection A typical cold rolling mill operates at around 1400 meters per minute or more, so visual inspection using manual techniques is impractical. This speed creates a further issue – if repeating defects are not spotted early, numerous Aluminium International Today

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AMETEK Surface Vision installed inspection systems on the critical surface treatment lines, ensuring that only inspected material was further processed and brought into the market.

The systems, installed over a fouryear period, used the SmartView® 7.0 system in a Brightfield configuration, including in-line inspection and Streaming Video.

This solution provided a proven capability to detect and correctly classify defects with sample studies.

Laminazione is now implementing an automatic defect information data transfer, using the open data transfer interfaces, and reporting solutions that SmartView is able to provide.

This means that inspected materials can be selected according to the end customer’s requirements. The process takes advantage of the knowledge about the current surface quality and provides the ability to correct any process upsets, so process improvements can be planned and measured based on objective data.

The SmartView system has enabled Laminazione to keep a high level of

coils may be produced before the issue can be rectified.

In addition, coolant spray and steam surround the process, not only making manual inspection even less practical, but also affecting electrical equipment and camera visibility.

Any automated surface inspection system must be able to distinguish between natural flatness issues and genuine dents, which can be particularly challenging on lighter, final pass gauges in the region of 200 microns.

A further challenge faced by an automated system is installation and positioning. In a typical cold rolling mill, space is extremely limited, with very little room between the last mill stand, turndown roll, and mandrel where the coil is wound. Finding the right point for effective, accurate surface inspection of the process requires precision equipment and a high level of applications knowledge and expertise.

A solution for surface inspection Quality inspection at the cold rolling mill not only detects the defects that do not emerge under hot rolling, but also allows a data-driven decision about whether or not to send the aluminum for further, costly processing.

While inspection at the end of the

materials quality, which is key for the market. By using a “goalkeeper” system, final customer satisfaction has improved, resulting in significantly reduced customer quality claims.

In addition, training provided by the AMETEK Surface Vision team in Karlsruhe allowed effective administration of the system by Laminazione’s own technicians, minimizing the need for on-site assistance.

Stefano Mauro, Process Manager at Laminazione Sottile S.p.A., said: “We were highly satisfied with the commissioning service from AMETEK Surface Vision. Any issues were quickly resolved by AMETEK in a productive way, through remote or on-site support.”

His colleague Pierpaolo Panza, Finishing Department Manager, added: “The software is easily used by the operators, and the SmartView system is very reliable and maintenance-friendly. Our cooperation with the AMETEK Surface Vision team has proven to be a highly beneficial partnership.”

manufacturing process accurately determines the final product quality, it comes after significant investment has been put into production. Monitoring quality at the cold rolling mill lessens the chance that this investment will go to waste.

AMETEK Surface Vision’s solution for this key decision point is SmartView®, a customizable, modular inspection system equipped with advanced LED illumination, highly sensitive line scan cameras, data capture computers and associated process control equipment, with powerful algorithms for detection and classification.

The compact LED lighting illuminates the material for inspection and also helps compensate for the influence of the surface flatness issues, while remaining sensitive to the real defects. This allows the line scan cameras to obtain highresolution images for the best detection and classification of defects.

Because AMETEK Surface Vision has significant experience with the cold mill application, its team can evaluate alternate camera focal points to find the optimum positions. Positioning the highintensity lights correctly is also an essential part of the installation process.

The addition of Streaming Video significantly enhances inspection for this application; photo-quality visualization January/February 2021

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ROLLING

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Aluminium surface inspection Smart view system layout

of the metal surface allows the process engineer to inspect the product without having to manually reinspect the aluminum on another process line.

SmartView’s video is recorded at a resolution unmatched in the surface inspection industry. This same video is capable of being archived and then run back through the inspection system to produce an alternative inspection based on modified rules, thresholds, and classification.

While the system can be installed to scan both sides of the metal, the space constraints and decision to focus on a prime side mean that many customers find it more practical to scan a single side.

This is a more compact solution and, since dents on one side are also visible on the other side, provides an effective inspection system.

SmartView also allows customers to manage their data in an open SQL database, which can be used to port to their own process control and quality control management systems.

Summary The cold rolling mill is a key decision point for quality inspection, offering several advantages, including the ability to detect

defects that are not apparent at earlier stages. It also means an informed decision can be made before the metal is sent for further processing, saving costs.

However, because line speeds are so fast, and the environment makes manual observation difficult, an automated inspection system is essential.

AMETEK Surface Vision’s SmartView system provides the effective solution required to overcome the challenges of the cold rolling process, delivering the defect detection accuracy necessary to support quality control. �

processing methods. To counter this, ABB has developed an approach that can learn arbitrary patterns in time series data.

During the analysis, the engineer tags patterns of interest, such as overshoots, which are then used to train a classifier, based on recurrent neural networks.

The process follows a conventional machine-learning approach.

Firstly, a model is created during a training phase, when the pattern of interest is characterized by examples as determined by a domain expert, which are then used to teach the model. The model can then locate patterns within the time series data that are similar to the examples it has previously learned.

Maintenance and process experts are also able to use the system to swiftly detect improperly-tuned control loops – an undesirable state that leads to productivity losses. By detecting such problem signatures, any decline in performance or January/February 2021

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productivity can be explained and service engineers dispatched to resolve the issue.

Going forward, artificial intelligence (AI) is another concept with radical potential for CRMs. Although conventional signal processing is effective and efficient for certain use cases, they are not able to detect many relevant problems encountered by CRM operators.

For example, overshoot is an important characteristic of a control system that relates to step change. Common in CRMs, measured overshoots all have similar visual appearances, but their shapes, waveforms, and duration vary, making them hard to detect with classical signal

Conclusion The ability to track and analyze deviations in the performance of CRMs with ABB AbilityTM Data Analytics for cold rolling mills is an important step in equipping CRM operators for the challenging market conditions they face, and is the basis for collaborative solutions, such as ABB AbilityTM Performance Optimization Service for cold rolling mills, combining continuous remote monitoring with process-specific data analytics and remote, expert support from ABB. These advanced digital solutions and services are only made possible through the combination of deep domain experience and digital expertise that partners, such as ABB, can bring to the table. It is the operational knowledge that empowers digital change, making sure the insights gained from digital solutions are meaningful and applicable to realworld situations in a way that informs decisions and provides real value in the form of improved mill uptime, production speed, and yield. � Aluminium International Today

19/01/2021 15:32:17

World class manufacturer of High Quartz Bricks World-knowned key partner for electrolysis cells of aluminium smelters

Our BRO HQB have an outstanding resistance to corrosion by cryolite 33 route de Castres 31250 Revel France ď&#x20AC;¨ +33(5) 62 71 32 32 ď&#x20AC;Ş info@fontes-refractories.com

56 REFRACTORIES

FONTES REFRACTORIES remains a key player of BRO bricks Located in Revel, a small town in the South-West of France, Fontes Refractories is the only french company to produce Ordinary Refractory Bricks with High Quartz content: BRO HQB. The company’s origins stretch back to 1810. The company was a family-owned company, specialising in the production of heavy clay products for construction.

Quarries in the surroundings villages succesfully supplied raw materials to the production plant. This business lasted right through to the late 1950s.

In the 1960’s, researchers found a new quarry and significant raw silicoalumina deposits have been discovered in Vaudreuille, nearby Saint-Ferreol lake.

Then, the company started to specialise in the manufacture of refractory products intended for various industries and the housing sector.

Thanks to specific natural raw materials extracted from its own quarry, Fontes’ BRO HQB bricks have very interesting physicochemical properties, such as an intrinsic resistance to corrosion by cryolite and liquid aluminium. Thanks to these specific caracteristics, Fontes’ BRO HQB bricks are high-end products for electrolysis cells linings in primary aluminium sector.

In only a few years, Fontes Refractories products showed their really good qualities in electrolysis cells linings from Aluminium Pechiney (AP) technology.

Fontes Refractories’ BRO HQB Bricks have been receiving AP accreditation for 25 years, and renowned by multiple aluminium producers worldwide.

That’s why Fontes Refractories products were used in numerous smelter constructions projects around the world, January/February 2021

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such as Aluminium Dunkerque in 1983, Aluminio Argentino in 1998, Aluminium Bahrain in 2003, or more recently, Ma’aden in 2011-2012. Since the construction of these smelters, Fontes Refractories has supplied BRO HQB bricks for maintenance of the facilities.

In seeking to provide the best possible products to meet the most stringent specifications, Fontes Refractories has developed an embedded computerised quality control system from quarried raw materials through to the finished product.

The quality control system at each stage in the manufacturing process provide a guarantee of the level of quality required by its customers.

All manufacturing and quality datas are computerised directly on the production line in order to provide customers with full traceability of their products.

Thanks to all these manufacturing and quality controls, and with a production capacity of 18,000 tons per year, Fontes Refractories is able to supply electrolysis lining bricks for new plants, as well as regular and ad hoc maintenance of refractory lining in existing facilities.

Thanks to its strong organisation foused on customer’s satisfaction, and also because Fontes Refractories relies only on its own raw materials, the company has crossed the sanitary crisis relatively well.

Despite the lock-down in France during March and April and again in November, the plant ran all year long. All sanitary measures were put in place in the plant, and all our employees remained in good health and in a safe work environment.

Fontes Refractories has also been able to work thanks to its long-term relationships

with all its customers. Almost all of them maintained their orders, and all deliveries were made, despite a really difficult period for international transport too.

Obviously, since the 60’s; Fontes Refractories has been able to gain the confidence of its customers, and is today a key partner for them. This strong partnership is based on company’s strong value proposition: Quality and availability of the products, large range of available sizes, respect of delivery times, and also a high level of service like reactivity in case of short delay, and a fully dedicated commercial staff.

Currently, the company is working on many development projects, the main one being the upgrade of our production tools with new robots. Our second main focus in the reinforcement of health and safety in our factory, mostly to protect our workers from silica dust. We are also working on new formulations and larger bricks sizes to meet new challenges smelters are asking for: Longer lifetime of pots, higher voltage, faster maintenance and lining construction… With all these projects, Fontes Refractories will remain a long-term partner for smelters all around the world for many years.

Fontes Refractories is not alone to conduct all these projects. The company belongs to SGI group, located in Mons (Belgium). Since 30 years, SGI has been developping a refractory branch, regrouping four companies: Fontes Refractories, Belref, Fusiref and Pousseur.

All these companies are well-known in the aluminium sector, supplying high-grade products and level of service to smelters around the world. � Aluminium International Today

19/01/2021 15:31:54

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