Aluminium producer Qatalum has completed a “groundbreaking” project to install semi-automatic cover handling units on all smelter pots that will “lower” harmful emissions and “increase” safety. The “ultra-modern” new pot cover units result in shorter periods of atmospheric exposure during smelting process anode changes than traditional mechanised covering methods. Qatalum is the “only smelter in the world” practising semi-automatic cover handling. Qatalum reduction manager Hans Petter Lange said, “Qatalum takes its commitment to the environment and to our staff very seriously. Safety is at the heart of everything we do and we expect the installation of the semi-automatic cover handling units to dramatically reduce workplace risk and harmful emissions. At Qatalum, we take pride in our track record of international industry leadership in efforts to embrace technology and to raise standards of quality.” Covering of pots during the smelting process is done to reduce emissions. Traditional methods of pot cover removal, to facilitate anode changes, have seen workers exposed to harmful gases at plants all over the world. From now on, pot cover removal at Qatalum’s plant will be done remotely, from a safe distance. Emissions from Qatalum’s plant are recorded at 0.15kg of fluoride per tonne of aluminium produced, which the Qatar-based aluminium producer said, is the “lowest in the world.”
