EGA completes major periodic refurbishment of Al Taweelah Potline 3, one of the longest potlines in the world

Periodic refurbishment completed with average turnaround time of 50 hours per pot

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, has completed a major periodic refurbishment of its Potline 3 at Al Taweelah, one of the longest and most productive potlines in the world.

The reduction cells (or ‘pots’) in which aluminium is smelted require re-lining after several years of production.

During the refurbishment of the 444 reduction cells in Potline 3, EGA installed steel collector bars with copper inserts, designed within the company to improve performance.

Copper is highly conductive of electricity. Its use in the collector bars reduces power consumption and unit greenhouse gas emissions, and enables increased productivity as the reduction cells can be run at a higher amperage. As extra voltage becomes available in the power-supply system, this will also open opportunities to install additional pots in the same circuit.

Reduction cells elsewhere across EGA’s sites at Al Taweelah and Jebel Ali are also being upgraded as part of their potlines’ ongoing re-lining processes.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, EGA’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Aluminium is one of the most essential materials needed to build a more sustainable future. At EGA, we are committed to finding every way to enhance the sustainability, energy efficiency and safety of our aluminium production process. We will leave no stone unturned and take every opportunity to make even small improvements like this.”

EGA’s safety performance throughout the three-year potline refurbishment compares favourably to global industry benchmarks. From 2018 to 2020, EGA recorded zero lost-time injuries on the project. There were no injuries leading to time off work anywhere in EGA last year, and EGA’s overall incident rate was 66 per cent lower than the global industry average according to the most recent figures issues for 2019 by the International Aluminium Institute..

First commissioned in 2014, EGA’s Al Taweelah Potline 3 was built using the company’s UAE-developed DX+ technology, which is among the most efficient aluminium-smelting technologies in the world.

DX+ reduction cells are large, which makes them efficient to operate. Some 0.81 work hours are required to produce each tonne of aluminium using DX+ technology, compared to 1.33 work-hours required when using CD20, EGA’s oldest technology currently still in operation.

EGA has used its own technologies for every smelter expansion since the 1990s, including the development of the Al Taweelah smelter. The company’s older production lines have also been retrofitted with its homegrown technologies.

In 2016, EGA’s smelting technology, DX+ Ultra, became the first UAE-developed industrial core-process technology to be licensed internationally. The technology was used for the expansion of Aluminium Bahrain’s Potline 6, marking a milestone in the development of a UAE knowledge economy.

Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk sbuerk@ega.ae

About EGA

Emirates Global Aluminium is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

It is the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry, and the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.

EGA is an integrated aluminium producer, with operations from bauxite mining to the production of cast primary aluminium. EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea.

EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2019, EGA sold 2.6 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.

EGA has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. Over 80 per cent of EGA’s production is value added products, one of the highest proportions of any aluminium company in the world.

EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.

Over 10 per cent of EGA’s aluminium production is sold in the UAE to around 26 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports 60,950 jobs. EGA itself employs over 7,000 of these people including almost 1,200 UAE Nationals.

EGA has focused on technology development for over 25 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.

As a corporate citizen of the UAE, EGA aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered

company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry. In 2019, EGA’s Al Taweelah site became the first in the Middle East to receive certification from ASI for its sustainability practices and performance. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.

EGA’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production as DUBAL in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, this site is five times bigger than Dubai Mall.

EMAL started production in 2009 and its Al Taweelah aluminium smelter was the largest single-site aluminium smelter in the world when completed. EGA’s Al Taweelah site is five times bigger than Al Maryah Island at six square kilometres.

EGA has its own power stations at both sites, producing electricity to meet its needs. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 5,850 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai and Abu Dhabi utilities. EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants.

EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery in April 2019. EGA’s alumina refinery is the first in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East. The project reduces the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and will supply 40 per cent of EGA’s needs once fully ramped-up.

Bauxite exports from Guinea Alumina Corporation, EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Guinea, began in August 2019. The GAC project is one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in over 40 years.

For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae. 

© Press Release 2021