Production boost at Alro

At the end of 2002 the Alro smelter in Romania started an ambitious program to increase its smelter capacity through an amperage increase program that involved re-design of the anode and cathode configurations and substantially altering the cell heat balance. To manage the potential risks, a test section was established in order to test all the changes in preparation for industrial scale application to the potlines. Test section performance and results were presented in the TMS 2005 proceedings. Subsequently all the technical modifications perfected in the test section were implemented in the potlines that led to a 30% increase in smelter capacity at a capital cost of less than $500/ton. This paper reports on the industrial scale implementation of the project and the performance achieved as compared to the test section. The paper further alludes to the stage 2 smelter performance enhancement program currently being evaluated on the test section.