The pilot project, which uses steam from the DUBAL Power Plant saves 626,800 kWh per year in energy consumption and is the first in the UAE to be built in a power plant

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: On Wednesday 24 April 2013, the Board of Directors of Dubai Aluminium ("DUBAL"), headed by his Excellency, Saeed Al Tayer (Vice Chairman of DUBAL) visited a novel an innovative pilot energy-saving project at the DUBAL site in Jebel Ali. The project comprises an absorption chiller, built on the rooftop of DUBAL's Desalination Plant Control Building, which  has assumed the functions formerly fulfilled by the electrically-driven vapour compression air-conditioning chillers used for comfort cooling of the building. The installation is UAE's first-ever absorption chiller using waste heat and the first such application in a power plant.
 
A nominal volume of the steam produced by the captive cogeneration and combined cycle DUBAL Power Station is used (about 0.6 tonnes of steam per hour); and the absorption chiller process uses just 40 per cent of the electricity consumed by the conventional electrically-driven chillers to produce sufficient cooling for the same purpose. This means that the absorption chiller has the capacity to reduce DUBAL's energy consumption by approximately 626,800 kWh per year. This equates to a reduction in carbon dioxide generation by about 350 tonnes per year, which is equivalent to an estimated 180 cars off the road per year. The concept can also be used for other applications where energy-efficient cooling is required - such as equipment cooling. The board members were received by Abdulla Jassim bin Kalban (President and CEO of DUBAL) and members of DUBAL's senior management team.

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About DUBAL
An entirely state-owned enterprise, DUBAL owns and operates a one million metric tonne per annum primary aluminium smelter at Jebel Ali, Dubai -- the world's largest single-site primary aluminium smelter using pre-bake anode technology. Since its commissioning in 1979, DUBAL has been renowned internationally for its premium purity, high quality products and services; as well as its commitment to sustainable development through conscious efforts to maximise the health and safety people, reduce the impact of its operations on the environment, and invest in the social and economic development of the community. Dedicated programmes support the Emiratization goals of the UAE, including targeted recruitment, skills development, management training and strategic career planning.

High quality products are made in three main forms: foundry alloy; extrusion billet; and high purity. More than 300 customers are served in 50-plus countries. Approximately 88 per cent of DUBAL's annual production is exported globally, the company's key markets being Asia, Europe, the Middle East North Africa ("MENA") region and the Americas.

DUBAL owns 50 per cent of Emirates Aluminium ("EMAL") in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi. The company also has investments in upstream development alumina/bauxite joint venture projects in Brazil, Cameroon and Republic of Guinea; and in a calcined petroleum coke joint venture development project in China.

Aiming for continuous improvement through innovation, DUBAL has invested substantially in developing advanced reduction cell technologies that not only improve productivity but also reduce the operations' impact on the environment through improved energy efficiency and minimized emission levels. This has culminated in proprietary DUBAL DX and DX+ Technologies -- both of which operate at high amperage levels and rank among the best reduction technologies available. DUBAL's DX Technology is operational in a 40-cell potline at DUBAL and the 756-cell EMAL Phase I.  DX+ Technology has been licensed to EMAL Phase II (444 cells), currently under construction; and has been selected by Aluminium Bahrain ("Alba") for its Line 6 Bankable Feasibility study.

For more information, visit www.dubal.ae

© Press Release 2013