Bahrain with Bechtel Adds $1.7 Billion Line To Aluminum Smelter

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Work is under way on Aluminum Bahrain's (Alba) new Line 5 smelter project. Bechtel (San Francisco, California) is the appointed engineering, procurement, construction, and management contractor for the $1.7 billion project, which is due for completion in 2005 and will expand Alba's production by 307,000 tons per annum. This additional output will the l facilities annual total to over 800,000 tons and making Alba the third largest aluminum smelter in the world.

The expansion will create 500 new jobs and will include a new 1,500 MW power station and carbon plant, casthouse, and other facilities. Alba's five year business plan will increase the company's 450,000 tons per annum coke calcining plant capacity, upgrade casting facilities, and introduce a new pot removal crane system for lines 1 - 3, and automate the monitoring of environmental emissions from the reduction lines. The high energy requirements of the aluminum production plant are met with the supply of gas from the Khuff field.

A license agreement has been signed with Aluminum Pechiney to provide AP30 technology for the new potline, the same technology used for line 4. The new potline will have 336 cells, 48 more than line 4, making line 5 the longest potline in the world with a length of over one kilometer.

The coke calcining plant will meet Alba's current requirements of 250,000 tons per annum with the balance of 200,000 tons for export. Calcined coke is the key element in the production of carbon anodes. The calcined coke is mixed with coal tar pitch at Alba's carbon plant and baked in kilns at 1,250C to form carbon anodes. The carbon anodes are then attached to aluminum rods and delivered to the reduction lines where they are used in the electrolytic process for producing aluminum. 475,000 anodes per year are consumed in the process.

Coke imports run second only to alumina. Until the coke calciner was commissioned Alba imported 250,000 tons of calciner coke. Now the company imports green coke from refineries. That has the twin effects of reducing costs and gives greater control on the quality of the calcined coke for anode manufacturing.

As part of the project, a seawater desalination plant will utilize waste heat from the calcining process to supply 41,000 cubic meters per day of desalinated water to the ministry of Electricity and Water to contribute to the country's water demands.

Around 50% of Alba's production goes to meeting the needs of Bahrain's downstream aluminum industry. These users include: Garmco, the Gulf Aluminum Rolling Mill which produces rolled aluminum products, foilstock, aluminum coils, and foil; Balexco, the Bahrain Aluminum Extrusion Company which produces a wide range of aluminum profiles and sections; Midal Cables producing a range of aluminum and aluminum alloy and steel reinforced bare conductors for overhead power distribution and transmission and BAI, Bahrain Atomisers International, producing aluminum powder and pellets for use in paint and automotive applications and the chemical industry.

The 50% balance of production is exported.