Alcan Celebrates 100 Kilometres of Success
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GARDANNE, France, August 28/ -
- Over 100 Kilometres of the Company's Innovative Alumina Handling Technology Now in Use Around the World
Alcan celebrated today the installation of the 100th kilometre of its
unique alumina handling technology, HyperDense Phase System (HDPS), at the
Sohar Aluminium Smelter in the Sultanate of Oman.
"This ground-breaking air-injection alumina handling technology is now
leading the market for aluminum smelters around the globe," said Jean-Michel
Philbert, General Manager of Alcan Engineering in Gardanne. "Thanks to this
reliable technology, alumina-feeding breakdown is virtually eliminated, which
leads to improved efficiency and significant reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions," he concluded.
HDPS, which is based on the fluidisation principle, is a technology used
to feed aluminum smelting cells with alumina. Alumina is normally dense and
difficult to handle; however, it flows very easily as a result of the air
injection used during the HDPS process.
"HDPS, which is patented by Alcan, is acknowledged as a benchmark for the
aluminum industry, successfully feeding more than 5,300 aluminum smelting
cells around the world," said David Holmyard, Managing Director of Alcan
Engineering, Brisbane, Australia.
Mr. Holmyard presented the '100th kilometre' trophy to Tony Kinsman, CEO
of the Sohar Aluminium Company, during a ceremony in Muscat, Sultanate of
Oman. Representatives from Sohar Aluminium shareholders - Oman Oil Company
(OOC), Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Alcan - as well
as Bechtel (the smelter's engineering, procurement, construction, and project
management contractor) were present as well as other local personalities.
In February 2005, Alcan, OOC and ADWEA signed the Sohar Aluminium Company
shareholder agreement for construction of the US$2.4 billion Sohar smelter
and power facility. Alcan has taken a 20 percent stake and a management and
operational assistance role in this 350 thousand tonne per year smelter that
will utilize the Company's proprietary AP35 smelting technology. The smelter
will be the most technologically advanced smelter in the world and is
expected to operate in the lowest quartile of the global cost curve. It is
expected to begin production in the third quarter of 2008.
Alcan, through its Alcan Engineering and Alesa businesses, designs and
implements projects related to the bauxite refining process and alumina
handling.
Alcan Inc. (NYSE: AL, TSX: AL) is a leading global materials company,
delivering high quality products, engineered solutions and services
worldwide. With world-class technology and operations in bauxite mining,
alumina processing, primary metal smelting, power generation, aluminum
fabrication, engineered solutions as well as flexible and specialty packaging
today's Alcan is well positioned to meet and exceed its customers' needs.
Alcan is represented by 68,000 employees, including its joint ventures, in 61
countries and regions, posted revenues of US$23.6 billion in 2006. The
Company has featured on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For more
information, please visit: www.alcan.com.
ALCAN ENGINEERING
ALCAN ENGINEERING (ALCENG), based in Brisbane, Australia and Gardanne,
France, is the engineering division of the Alcan Bauxite & Alumina group.
The ALCENG Gardanne office is located next to the Alcan Gardanne Alumina
Refinery along with the World Operations Technical Assistance Team and the
European R&D centre for metallurgical and speciality alumina.
What we do
ALCENG designs and implements projects related to the bauxite refining
process and alumina handling.
ALCENG are specialists in:
o Bauxite refining technology
o Process plant and minerals processing plant engineering
o Bulk materials handling (including equipment and process
optimisation)
o Tailings management incorporating dense slurry pumping and dry
residue stacking
o Maintenance and Reliability
o Instrumentation and sophisticated controls
In addition, the ALCENG Gardanne office specialises in:
o Dust free pneumatic and fluidised materials handing (ALCENG
is a world leader in HDPS technology)
Our main markets
o Metallurgical and speciality aluminas
o Handling and logistics for bauxite, bulk alumina and dusty
products. Experts in fluidisation techniques
o Mineral industries
o Process industries
o Uranium chemistry
ALCENG customers are located in France, Australia, Greece, Iceland,
Venezuela, Argentina, the Sultanate of Oman, Saudi Arabia and India among
others.
ALCENG Gardanne references
o Expansion of the Nalco Damandjodi plant and the Nalco Angul
Smelter: technology transfer and proprietary equipment delivery.
o Expansion of the CVG Bauxilum Alumina Refinery Venezuela:
contract with Technip as a partner.
o Expansion of the Mytilineos Alumina Refinery- AOG (Greece):
technology transfer.
o In August 2007, delivery of the 100th km of HDPS conveyor at the
Sohar Aluminium Refinery (Oman).
o Alumina handling equipment sale to Alouette (Canada), Alba
(Bahrain), Alcoa (Iceland) and Aluar (Argentina).
o New HF zone and enriched uranium conversion lines revamping in
FBFC Roman (France).
Key figures
ALCENG Gardanne: 55 full-time engineers/technicians, with more than 25
years experience in technology transfer.
ALCENG Australia (Brisbane, Gladstone and Gove): a network of more than
300 professionals with 10 years of engineering design experience.
Alcan Inc. (NYSE: AL, TSX: AL) is a leading global materials company,
delivering high quality products and services worldwide. With world-class
technology and operations in bauxite mining, alumina processing, primary
metal smelting, power generation, aluminum fabrication, engineered solutions
as well as flexible and specialty packaging today's Alcan is well positioned
to meet and exceed its customers' needs. Alcan is represented by 68,000
employees, including its joint-ventures, in 61 countries and regions, and
posted revenues of US$23.6 billion in 2006. The Company has featured on the
Dow Jones Sustainability World Index consecutively since 2003. For more
information, please visit: www.alcan.com.
Managers
David Holmyard, ALCENG Managing Director, Brisbane
Jean-Michel Philbert, ALCENG Gardanne General Manager
Source: Alcan Inc.
Contacts:
ALCENG Gardanne:
Raymond Roumieu
Environment Health Safety/Quality - Continuous Improvement
33-(0)-4-42-65-21-62
raymond.roumieu@alcan.com
Media Contact:
Chryst le Ivins
Tel.: +33-1-57-00-24-18
chrystele.ivins@alcan.com
Anik Michaud
Tel.: +1-514-848-8151
media.relations@alcan.com
