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Emal’s phase II expansion launched

The first structural steel for Emirates Aluminium’s (Emal) Phase II expansion was erected, a milestone that brings it to becoming one of the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelters.

Once completed in 2014, the potline at the Al Taweelah site will be the longest in the world at 1.7 kilometres. In total, it will take 120 of the specially designed structures to facilitate the additional 444 reductions pots required to expand production to 1.3 million metric tonnes per year. It will take around one year to complete the installation of all 120 structures.

Saeed Al Mazrooei, Emal president and CEO, expressed his confidence on phase II progressing on schedule. “This milestone which was achieved as per plan is very critical to our first hot metal date,” he said. Emal’s vice president Yousuf Bastaki said: “The special steel structures are the first visible signs of our Phase II expansion and brings us yet another step closer to meeting the ambitious targets we have set ourselves.”

Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Steel supplied the steel required for its expansion work. Emal is a state-of-the-art aluminium smelter complex supplying the world with high quality metal. The advanced smelter in Al Taweelah currently uses DX Reduction Cell Technology to produce 750,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. This will increase to 1.3 metric million tonnes by the end of 2014 upon completion of Phase II and the installation of the new generation DX+ Reduction Cell Technology to an additional 444 reduction cells, making it one of the largest single site smelters in the world. — haseeb@khaleejtimes.com