"molten aluminum....the origin of the fire"

Companies who handle molten metal work diligently to prevent it from it escaping it holding spot (e.g., furnace, trough, crucible, casting equipment). Here is a recent story of what can occur when molten metal escapes.

fire under control in an aluminum smelting company

One morning during the week of July 18, 2021 a fire broke out in an aluminium company, in Europe. 25 firefighters were mobilized to bring the disaster under control.

 

A fire mobilized 25 firefighters in (nearby town). The fire was declared around 11 a.m. in the aluminium company. It produces and markets aluminum alloys in the form of ingots for automotive and aeronautic industries, etc.

According to the report of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service, it is precisely molten aluminum which is at the origin of the fire . The fire department said a 25 m² cell, itself in a 4000 m² warehouse. Then it spread to a conveyor belt. The roof was also affected.

No injuries

The 25 firefighters involved managed to stop the spread of the disaster to other compartments. In addition to the action of a variable flow lance, the molten aluminum was transported to a mud basin using a backhoe loader to be extinguished. Drone reconnaissance was also carried out to monitor the roof.

Fortunately, the fire did not injure anybody. Another good news is that the company was able to continue its activity. 

We are ecstatic that the fire was able to be safely extinguished. This is an interesting incident. We have reached out to the company for further information. From the news media article we assume that the ingot casting line had an issue. Whatever happened a “conveyor” caught fire. We wonder if the conveyor was carrying the finished ingots or was the conveyor the casting line. Either way we will ask the company and pray that they respond.

Next up is the “the molten aluminum was transported to a mud basin using a backhoe loader”. We have never heard of that before. We are not saying that it has not be done, but we simply never heard of that. We would love to ask them why the decision was made to use a backhoe loader to scoop up the molten metal and dispose it in to a cell (concrete walled area) with a “mud” basin. We would rather recommend leaving it in place. Contain it by making dams with sand, other ingots etc. Let is solidify in on a concrete floor. Regardless, no one got hurt and for that we are very happy. The equipment damage was minimal and the facility damage was a hole burned through the roof.

A simple question to be asked by every reader is can this incident be reproduced at my workplace? Ask you personnel if molten metal would escape where would it escape from and where would it go. The topic of how to handle molten metal spills is one of the most requested seminars the editors of the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog gives. Why? Because it happens with some frequency in our industry. Understanding what to do when (not if) a molten metal spill occurs beforehand will make it much much easier to handle it when it occurs.

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