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NEWS IN BRIEF
Rusal
Rusal on track
with Bemo project
In a 50-50 joint venture with Russia’s power
generating group RusHydro, UC Rusal is constructing
a massive energy and metals complex
at Tayozhny on the Angara River in the
Krasnoyarsk region of Eastern Siberia. The
Boguchansky complex (Bemo), to include a
Rusal BoAZ Phase 1 smelter potroom progress
600,000 tpy capacity smelter (BoAZ) and a
3,000 MW hydropower plant, is said to be
currently the world’s largest energy and metals
project, expected to cost a total of some
USD5 billion.
Rusal has reported on the latest progress
of the Bemo project overall: the first of nine
turbine generators for the Boguchanskaya
generating station was installed in August,
and initial pre-launch trials of the equipment
carried out. Operational testing of the turbines
is continuing and the first electricity has been
generated. Five of the 333 MW turbines are
now in place and 58% of hydraulic equipment
is installed. Steel work and installation
of cranage and hydro mechanical equipment
is 98% complete.
Currently, the initial hydro-units are ready
to go into operation. By the end of 2012, trials
of further units will be completed, and in
2013 the HEP plant will be put into
full operation to reach its 3,000 MW
capacity, placing it in Russia’s top five
largest hydroelectric stations. At its full
aluminium production capacity, the new
smelter alone will consume 9.8 billion
kWt/hr of electricity per annum.
Smelter construction on course
In the BoAZ project, Rusal says that installation
of the pot shells is now underway,
and the company expects to have in place
all 168 shells required to complete Potroom
No. 1 in Phase 1 of the project by the end of
2012. Overall, construction is currently underway
at 43 primary and auxiliary facilities of
the project: the potrooms are 58% complete,
the casthouse is 75% finished, and a holding
furnace is presently being installed.
The steel pot shell, serving as the cathode
and structural base outer lining component
for the electrolytic cells, will next have the refractory
and carbon linings installed. Each pot
shell weighs 38 tonnes, while a complete installed
pot weighs 277 tonnes. 168 cuttingedge
RA-300 pots are needed to generate
147kt/yr of aluminium output to meet the
project nameplate capacity of potroom No.1.
The installation of the first pot was initially
scheduled for February 2013, with the first
metal expected during 2013.
The electrolytic cells, all featuring Rusal’s
own in house developed RA-300 technology,
each deliver 2,442 kg per day aluminium production
capacity.
The BEMO aluminium smelter is being
elaborated in two phases, both with an eventual
total capacity of 296kt/yr and each phase
includes two potrooms, housing a total of
672 pots. The project also includes two dry
gas cleaning systems, in-plant water recycling
system – the first to be used in the Russian
aluminium industry, and state of the art equipment
supplied by leading companies in the US,
France, Australia and Germany.
The construction of Phase 1 of the project is
being financed via a USD1.5 billion loan facility
provided by Vnesheconombank (VEB).
Ken Stanford, contributing editor
Aleris to provide aluminium
for Chinese prototype aircraft
Land Rover
World’s first aluminium monocoque Land Rover
The all-new Range Rover is the most capable
and most luxurious Land Rover yet. Lighter,
stronger and with new levels of refinement,
the Range Rover reinforces its position as one
of the world’s finest luxury SUV. The fourth
generation of the Range Rover line has been
developed from the ground up.
The world’s first SUV with a lightweight allaluminium
monocoque body structure is 39
percent lighter than the steel body in the outgoing
model enabling total vehicle weight savings
of up to 420 kg. The aluminium platform
has delivered significant enhancements in performance
and agility, along with a transformation
in fuel economy and CO 2 emissions.
In addition to the strong and rigid
lightweight body, a new aluminium front
and rear chassis architecture has been developed
with completely re-engineered
four-corner air suspension. The new
suspension architecture delivers flatter,
more confident cornering, with natural
and intuitive steering feel.
Designed and engineered at Land
Rover’s development centres in the UK,
the new Range Rover will be produced in
a new manufacturing facility at Solihull,
UK – employing the latest low-energy aluminium
body construction technologies, says
the car maker. The model has been on sale
since September 2012; customer deliveries
are scheduled to start from early 2013.
Aleris has received orders to provide aluminium
to Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing,
a manufacturing subsidiary of Commercial
Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac), for the
production of multiple sets of Comac’s C919
test planes. Aleris will provide conventional
aluminium alloys as well as an advanced
aluminium alloy with high-damage tolerance
to be used on the lower wing covers for a
single-aisle commercial aircraft as part of the
Comac C919 programme.
Initially the material for the Comac test
planes will be delivered from the Aleris plant
in Koblenz, Germany. Long-term Aleris plans
to supply the aluminium for production
from its new rolling mill that is currently
under construction in Zhenjiang, China, a
USD350m facility designed to meet regional
and global aerospace and other commercial
plate demand. The company plans to begin
non-aerospace commercial plate production
at Zhenjiang in Q1 2013, while it establishes
qualification programmes for global customers
to begin selling aerospace material in 2014.
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