"led to the explosion, destroying 10% of the building..."

 

Molten metal safety in the potline departments is a priority for all smelters. Here is a recent incident highlighting this and what can go wrong when all hell breaks loose.

The fire at the (aluminium company’s smelter) plant in (location omitted) here on Monday involved its Phase (# omitted) smelter.

In a statement today, (aluminium company) said the fire broke out shortly after 11pm and has since been extinguished.

“The fire affected 100 out of the 300 pots in Phase 3 of the smelter.

“Fortunately, Phases (# omitted) and (# omitted) were not impacted. Thanks to swift evacuation procedures, there were no injuries or fatalities reported,” said the company.

The smelter is managed by (aluminium company name).

The incident impacted approximately 9 per cent of the company’s total smelting capacity across its (name omitted) and (name omitted) operations, said the statement.

“It is estimated that it will take around four months to restore the damaged pots, which will impact about 3 per cent of the company’s annual smelting capacity on a full-year basis. The affected assets are adequately insured,” the company added.

Another news media article

Upon arriving at the scene, the operations commander reported that a leak had occurred during the aluminum melting process, where the material could not react with water. During the incident, it was raining and an explosion occurred," the Fire Department said.

However, rain fell at the time of the incident which led to the explosion, destroying 10 percent of the building involving an area of 120x60x120 square feet.

The authorities have ordered all workers to vacate the area. It is understood that no casualties were reported as all 61 workers were evacuated safely.

Firefighters have to wait for cold melted aluminum

The firefighters added that firefighting operations had to be postponed because the molten aluminium had to cool down before firefighters could start their work. The rain also made things difficult as it prevented the use of fire extinguishing powder, the Bomba added.

It took several hours before firefighters were able to disperse alumina powder to extinguish and control the fire. However, at 6.20 am, the Fire Department reported that the fire had been completely extinguished.

We are thankful that all workers safely evacuated the potline department when the incident occurred. It appears to us that a pot lining failed and molten metal leaked into the basement area.

As we have toured countless basements below potlines, most had moisture. Any leakage of molten aluminium from above would result in the potential of molten aluminium water explosions. That is what we think happened here. We will update this policy as more information becomes known.

 

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