Discover how real-time particle sizing can drastically reduce aluminum smelting emissions

by Oliver Schmitt, Wednesday, 11th September 2024

Modern aluminum smelter in aluminum plant

Aluminum is a critical material for the energy transition. Its strengths as an electrical conductor make it crucial to many applications, ranging from electrical transmission lines to batteries. However, aluminum smelters are facing two challenges. First, lowering the carbon emissions of aluminum production itself, and second, improving their competitiveness amidst the quadrupling of the cost of carbon anodes, a core component consumed during the smelting process.

“The aluminum industry is very competitive, so we’re always looking for ways to improve our cost-effectiveness,” explains a Malvern Panalytical customer, from an aluminum smelting company with plants around the world. “Higher-quality carbon anodes are key to achieving this goal and reducing the industry’s emissions.”

Why ground pet coke particle size is key

Most aluminum smelters produce their own carbon anodes, including the graphite electrodes made with ground petroleum coke, needle coke, and coal tar. The quality of these electrodes is highly dependent on the particle size distributions of the petroleum coke grind. With higher-quality electrodes, the overall carbon footprint of aluminum production can be lowered thanks to the reduction of carbon anode consumption – simultaneously improving the profitability of the smelting process.

However, the room for error is very narrow where the particle size distributions of the petroleum coke grind are concerned. Indeed, pet coke particle size translates into not just one critical parameter for electrode quality, but six interrelated properties: CO2 reactivity, air permeability, electrical resistivity, flexural strength, baked density, and green dry density.

The search for a seamless, versatile screening solution

Accurate particle sizing therefore carries high stakes for anode quality and, by extension, aluminum smelting emissions and cost efficiency. Traditionally, smelters would sieve the grounds to separate different particle sizes. Sieving, however, is time-consuming, causes too much delay for modern high-throughput needs, and can only provide a single point on the particle size distribution curve.  

What smelters need is a solution that doesn’t involve interruptions to the production process, can handle high throughput, always provides reliable measurements, and delivers the entire distribution, revealing insights into the fine and coarse end tail and thus for the six properties affected by it.

Insitec: Real-time, on-line particle sizing

All these goals can be achieved with one instrument: the Insitec online particle size analyzer. Insitec leverages the strengths of laser diffraction, a particle sizing technique that can handle high throughput and for which sample preparation, measurements, and analysis can all be automated. As a result, Insitec is a near-plug-and-play solution: it can immediately identify particle size distribution anomalies and send that information to the plant’s control system.

Insitec for aluminum production analysis

Insitec never interrupts the overall process. It analyzes up to 20kg of ground pet coke per hour – whereas sieving methods struggle to measure just a few 100g per hour. With every step of the analysis automated, there’s no need for extensive operator training, and no sample preparation errors – guaranteeing representative results in real-time, every time.

Insitec therefore plays a crucial role in the modern aluminum smelting plant, and thanks to its robust build, it is an instrument that users can rely on. In addition, Its implementation requires minimal interruptions in production. In a recent case, the installation of a new Insitec system took just three days, with a further two days to interface with the plant control system.

“Insitec’s speed and precision are crucial for our emissions goals: by improving the quality of our carbon anodes, we can reduce the carbon emissions of the aluminum smelting process by as much as 20-25%!” adds the aforementioned customer.

Worldwide support for aluminum smelters

To further support users who rely on Insitec, Malvern Panalytical provides many services including maintenance training for on-site personnel and service contracts with built-in response times. Aluminum smelters around the world trust Malvern Panalytical with their particle sizing needs, with Insitec instruments operating globally, including plants in the United States, Austria, Spain, Germany, and Malaysia.

“Having a partner with global capabilities has been key”, one customer explains. “We’re able to set up instruments in plants across the world and access crucial support wherever our instruments can be.”

If you’d like to find out more, head to the Insitec product page and contact our experts!

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