Australia's MajorFurnace Aluminum Water Automatic Siphon System

[China Aluminum Network] Siphoning has long been considered as an important method for transporting aluminum water from the reduction crucible to the stationary furnace in the foundry. Using this method to produce less aluminum ash, Australia's Major-Furnace Corporation uses the automatic aluminum water siphoning system for large-scale electrolytic aluminum plants. Siphon has been used for more than 40 years in the transfer of aluminum water from the crucible to the furnace. It began as a manual system designed by Alcan and operated by skilled operators, but lacked the accuracy of operation. In order to reduce the production of aluminum ash, Comalco Aluminum Corporation conducted a siphon test at its subsidiary NZAS Electrolytic Aluminum Plant in 1992, comparing the aluminum ash produced by siphon transport and the aluminum ash produced directly by the step flow injection. The test results show that the aluminum ash generated by the two methods has large differences, and the weight of aluminum ash was measured to be 0.73% at the time of pouring, while the weight of aluminum ash measured by siphon transport of aluminum water was 0.22%. In 1994, Rio Tinto Alcan (then Comalco) adopted an aluminum water automatic siphoning system for the continuous powdering process at the aluminum powder plant in Bell Bay, Tasmania, Australia, thereby incentivizing Rio Tinto Alcan Development. A special engineering designed aluminum water pipeline transportation system with automatic siphon. The automatic siphon system designed by Major-Furnace for the third electrolytic production line at Boyne Electrolytic Aluminium Plant in Queensland, Australia, was commissioned in 1997 and included the conversion of 12 existing stationary furnaces from laminar pouring to siphoning. After the completion of the renovation project, the results showed that the production of aluminum ash was reduced from the projected reduction of 1.2%, and the aluminum ash was reduced to .054% after siphoning. Boyne electrolytic aluminum plant siphons 550,000 tons of aluminum water every year on 14 furnaces. In 2007, four automatic siphon systems were installed at Sohar Aluminium in Oman, so it can be concluded that the amount of aluminum ash from decantation to siphon reduction is between 0.51% and 0.75%, and that for 550,000 tons of aluminum An electrolytic aluminum plant, which is equivalent to 1,375 tons of aluminum, can be expressed as today's energy equivalent to 109 trillion joules (TJ/year)/year, or directly as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. After 13 years of operational experience accumulation and refinement, Rio Tinto Alcan and Major-Furnace's aluminum water automatic siphon systems have demonstrated proven reliability and durability. Aluminum water automatic siphon system is safer than other aluminum water transport methods in terms of internal factors. It is mainly because the flow of aluminum water can be stopped immediately if there is a fault. Aluminum Water Siphon Automation provides a closed circuit TV system that includes a control interface and design to notify the operator of the system's status and the location of the problem at the time the problem occurred. The functional components of the aluminum water automatic siphon system are the siphon transfer and preheating system siphon vacuum control system, operator interface, pipeline transportation and maintenance equipment, and the chain mechanism of the furnace. Rio Tinto Alcan and Major-Furnace's siphon line delivery systems have been successfully designed and adapted to the typical electrolytic aluminum foundry with static furnaces for hot metal release channels. When the siphon system is stopped and not used, the gas-fired preheat burner maintains the pipeline at a certain temperature to eliminate moisture, reducing the aluminum water chill and making the thermal shock to the cast iron siphon tube less. A key feature of the furnace-independent siphon system is that it can approach the siphon system when the furnace is in the cast state. When a piece of aluminum water is loaded into the hot metal transporter, the siphon tube descends into the crucible at the same time, and the stationary furnace adopts the simple operation of the button. The crucible tilts about 50 degrees to concentrate the aluminum water in the tube inlet, so that residual aluminum water in the crucible less. Once the siphon is in place, the siphon vacuum process is started and the pod is automatically emptied at the controlled speed. When the cassette is empty, the vacuum is automatically released to the park position. The aluminum water automatic siphon system provides the operator with a closed-circuit TV video system to monitor the helium-aluminum water level. This video back lock also has a real-time display device to display process parameter variables and alarm information to ensure that the operation has been informed of the process. Status, this information comes from the operator console. Compared with the manual control system at an earlier time, this automated system is safe and easy to operate. The aluminum water in Suizhong changes, the aluminum water change in the furnace and the change in the siphon cleanliness level are eliminated through the PLC process control parameters. Regular cleaning and maintenance of the siphon is important for reliable operation of the siphon system. In conclusion, injecting aluminum water into a furnace is energy efficient and safe when using an automatic siphon system, and the use of this effective automated siphon system will become an industry standard for a modern, energy-efficient casting workshop.