Vedanta Smelter Expansion Project

Outotec GmbH, Cologne Office, Germany, was awarded the contract by BALCO, a division of VEDANTA Resources PLC, to supply Process and Basic Engineering, Detail Engineering for critical areas, site supervision and commissioning, as well as proprietary process equipment for the new Green Anode Plant, as part of the Korba Smelter Expansion Project.

Balco operated an alumina plant and a 110,000 tpy 100 kA Soederberg smelter with a thermal power plant at Korba since 1975. The smelter has now been expanded with the installation of a high amperage prebaked anode potline of 245,000 tpy rated capacity (GAMI technology from China).

The target was to increase

• smelting capacity from 100,000 to 350,000 tpy
• production of prebaked anodes of 150,000 tpy
• captive power generation of an additional 540 MW

Highlights of the Green Anode Plant Project

Coke and Butts Processing

Separate processing of calcined coke and recycled butts, on multiple-deck, high-efficiency screens.

Liquid Pitch Supply by Tanker Trucks

Receipt of liquid pitch at site by tanker trucks, two 1,000 to liquid Pitch Storage Tanks at site.HTM System
Electrical HTM heaters of 2 x 1,400 kW in separate building.

Ball Mill System

Fully air-swept ball mill system for 12 t/h with dynamic classifier and impact-plate flow meter for oversize return.

Proportioning System

Loss-in-weight feeders for anode dry aggregate fractions and Coriolis flow meter for liquid pitch.

Preheater

Outotec "Holoflite" type screw preheater for heating of anode dry aggregate.

Paste Mixing

Co-kneader / intensive mixer combination for paste mixing / homogenizing / paste cooling rated for 35 t/h capacity.

Anode Forming

Two Outotec Tandem Sliding Table type Anode Vibrocompactors with Vacuum System.

Anode Cooling Conveyor

Power & Free conveyor type anode cooling system for submersion cooling.

Automation System

PLC based automation system with SCADA supervisory system.

Commissioning

Successfully completed within 4 months.
Performance Test of 18 shifts successfully run in 1st week July 2005 with exceptional results.

Features of the Contract

Contract start August 2003.
First anode was produced within 19 months.
Performance test successfully run within 23 months, until then more than 12,000 good anodes produced.
Fast track project with no eng. consultant involved.

Local Contractor

MBE - McNally Bharat Eng. Ltd., Kolkata for:

• detailed design
• procurement and supply of locally made equipment
• construction and erection of the plant