special - ALUMINIUM-Nachrichten – ALU-WEB.DE

ALUMINIUM SMELTING INDUSTRY
Meeting of the ISO Committee for analysis of
materials for primary aluminium in Switzerland
L. P. Lossius, Norsk Hydro; J.-C. Fischer, R&D Carbon
The Swiss standardisation authority SNV
and R&D Carbon Ltd hosted the 6 th Plenary
Meeting of ISO Technical Committee
226 ‘Materials for the production of
primary aluminium’ in Sierre early in October
2012. The participation was good,
with 16 delegates and eight of the twelve
P-member countries attending.
Highlights of the meeting were the progress on
four new alumina standards and the harmonisation
of three anode / cathode standards on
mechanical strength; details for each material
type below are given below.
Two new convenors were confirmed: Mr
Wu Lin of Do-Fluorides (China) for smelter
grade fluorides and Mr Jean-Claude Fischer
of R&D Carbon (Switzerland) for petroleum
coke.
The Technical Committee 226 is responsible
for 110 ISO standards on the sampling
and analysis of materials for the electrolytic
production of aluminium, covering the material
groups Smelter grade alumina, Smelter
grade fluorides, Pitch, Petroleum coke and
Carbon electrodes. The main work is maintenance
and development of standards, with a
dedicated work group (WG) for each material.
After the Sierre meeting, the Work Group
Convenors are:
• Nigel Turner of Koppers EU, UK; WG1 on
Pitch
• Professor Harald A. Øye of NTNU, Norway;
WG2 on Carbon electrodes
• Ray Brown of Alcoa, Australia; WG3 on
Smelter grade alumina
• Wu Lin of Do-Fluoride Chemicals Co., Ltd,
China; WG4 on Smelter grade fluorides
• Jean-Claude Fischer, R&D Carbon Ltd,
Switzerland; WG6 on Petroleum coke.
The Plenary Meeting reconfirmed 17 standards
and confirmed the development of 11
new standards. This makes a fairly large
number of standards, but current development
work mostly replaces out-of-date methods
with new and improved methods, and aims to
later withdraw the out-of-date standards.
For Smelter grade alumina there are four
standards in development, based on the muchused
Australian standards: elemental analysis
by XRF, bulk density, flow time, and α-alumina
content. In addition to the informal work
in WG3, the following ISO technical experts
are nominated for this work: Ray Brown (Alcoa
Australia, SA), Flor Campa (Alcoa, for
AENOR), Kjell Hamberg (Hydro, for SN) and
Josef Lovcican (Slovalco, for SUTN).
For Smelter grade fluorides the new standard
ISO 12926 for elemental analysis by XRF
From the tour of the R&D Carbon facilities in Sierre, from the left: Ray Brown (Alcoa, Convenor alumina),
in front Erwin Smits (Aluchemie), Petter Lossius (Hydro, Committee Chair), Nigel Turner (Koppers EU, Convenor
Pitch), Ma Cunzhen (SAC), Yu Yiru (JN Carbon), Xue Xujin (Do-Fluorides) and Jean-Claude Fischer
(R&D Carbon, Convenor Petroleum coke).
will be ready for publication in 2013. Work
is also on-going in the fluoride field to review
or replace several old fluoride methods; ISO
technical experts are Xujin Xue (Do-Fluorides,
for SAC); Wu Lin (Do-Fluorides, for SAC);
Oscar Pérez (Derivados del Flúor, for AENOR)
and L.P. Lossius (Hydro, for SN).
For Pitch, a critical issue today is the determination
of Quinoline insoluble. TC 226 expresses
high concern for the continued availability
of Quinoline because REACH regulations
could ban it, but Quinoline is vital and
critical to an important raw materials test. The
committee therefore recommends interested
organisations, if they are surveyed, to state
that they wish to retain Quinoline.
In the Solid carbon bodies the next published
standard will be the dynamic modulus
of elasticity by the resonance method, which
goes to the final vote this autumn. Work is also
on-going to harmonise existing standards, and
Andreas Schnittker (SGL Carbon, for DIN) has
harmonised the existing standards for 3-and
4-point flexural strength, as well as the crushing
strength standard; these will be republished
in 2013. ISO technical experts are Harald A.
Øye (NTNU, for SN), Jean-Claude Fischer
(R&D Carbon, for SNV), Erwin Smits (Aluchemie,
for NEN), Yu Yiru (JN Carbon, for SAC)
and Nigel Turner (Koppers EU, for BSI).
For Petroleum coke there is a revision to
specific electrical resistivity to add measurement
of the 1.4-1.0 mm fraction, harmonising
the sample preparation for the routine coke
analysis.
For information on the work in TC226,
please contact the Secretary Knut Aune at
kau@standard.no or the Committee Chair
Lorentz Petter Lossius, Hydro Aluminium,
Norway at lorentz.petter.lossius@hydro.com.
Stéphane Sauvage is the Technical Programme
manager for TC226 on behalf of the
ISO Central Secretariat, Geneva. Note that
the standards in the TC226 programme are
available in the ISO Store as a CD made specifically
for ‘Materials for the production of
primary aluminium’.
The Committee thanks R&D Carbon, Hydro
Aluminium and Sør-Norge Aluminium
for sponsoring the 2012 Plenary Meeting and
TC226. The plenary meetings are held every
18 months, and the next plenary meeting will
be hosted by DIN and SGL Carbon, in Wiesbaden,
Germany, on 8-9 May 2014. In September
2015, a plenary meeting will be hosted
by SAC and Do-Fluorides Chemicals, in China.
Authors
Dr.-Ing. Lorentz Petter Lossius is principal engineer
for primary metal technology at Norsk Hydro ASA,
based in Øvre Årdal, Norway.
Jean-Claude Fischer is director of R&D Carbon Ltd,
based in Chalais, Switzerland.
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