"Due to the soaring water level of the river, the wall collapsed and water entered the plant"

Many aluminium plants are at a disadvantage due to their location when a natural disaster occurs. Here is a recent incident highlighting the need for natural disaster preparation:

At 6 o'clock this morning (July 20, 2021), an explosion occurred in Dengdian Group Aluminum Alloy Co., Ltd. in Quhe Village, Gaocheng Town, Dengfeng City. The main leaders of the Dengfeng Municipal Party Committee and City Government rushed to the scene as soon as possible to organize on-site disposal and evacuate the people around the factory. At present, there are no casualties. At the same time, the city is carrying out large-scale safety inspections and rectifications during the flood season. 

At around 4:00 this morning, the water level of the Yinghe River near the company Dengdian Group Aluminum Alloy Co., Ltd. soared and exceeded the warning level. Due to the soaring water level of the river, the wall collapsed and water entered the plant. The company immediately cut off power and organized a safe evacuation of personnel. At about 6 o'clock, the high temperature solution exploded in the alloy tank in the factory area due to flooding, and the aftermath disposal work was proceeding in an orderly manner.

A news article added this:

At present, the entire plant has stopped production, involving an operating capacity of more than 40,000 tons.

Over the past decade the aluminium plant safety blog has posted numerous incidents involving natural disasters. Though this post involves flooding, dust storms, typhoons, tornados, earthquakes, etc. have all affected aluminium plants in our industry. Aluminium plants are at a disadvantage because the vast majority of them are in location susceptible to a natural disaster. Specifically, many plants are prone to flooding. We are not necessarily complaining but pointing out the obvious. 

We are ecstatic no one died in this incident. At this time, no injuries or fatalities have been reported. That is because the surrounding area was ordered to evacuate and the plant evacuated. We pray that in the following days we hear of no injuries or deaths regarding this incident.

Multiple government reports state that the river overflowed and the company evacuated at 4:00. Two hours later the furnace(s) were breached an explosion occurred. From the videos showing multiple explosions. We would assume that the casthouse had multiple furnaces. As we have learned from past incidents flooding water into a casthouse will generate an unbelievable explosions. From past experience we would assume that the explosion created an earthquake that radiated out about 40-50 kilometers. The question that we are interested is what did the plant do upon evacuating?

No doubt they turned off the power, but what did they do with the molten metal in the furnaces?

The argument is keep the molten metal be left in the furnace or emptied the furnace on the floor or into a casting pit. What would your workplace do?

We would tend to let the molten metal flow onto the floor then keep it in the furnace.  

Aluminium International Today had an article on this very topic. It can be downloaded here.

 

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