Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) started up the biggest furnace in its company history with the first cold charge of Furnace 3 in its newly constructed Casthouse 4. The casthouse, which will have a total design capacity of 530,000 tonnes of value-added aluminum per year, is part of the recently commissioned Potline 6.
“We are pleased with this milestone, which is another turning point in Alba’s journey towards becoming the largest smelter in the world,” said Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa, chairman of Alba’s board of directors. “With this landmark, we are on track to cast final products from CH 4 — another success in the safe start-up of Line 6. I thank all teams for their commitment to achieve this milestone safely and on time.”
The furnaces for Casthouse 4 were supplied by Mechatherm, under a contract awarded by engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM), Bechtel. The full scope of the supply for Casthouse 4 includes three 165 tonne melting/holding furnaces, three 85 tonne melting/holding furnaces, two EMS systems, fully integrated launders, and degassing and filtration systems.
In addition to Alba’s chairman Shaikh Daij the first cold charge was also witnessed by Ali Al Baqali, deputy CEO of Alba, Alba’s executive management team, the Casthouse 4 start-Up team, Bechtel personnel, and other major contractors.