About DBL Emirates - Global Aluminium Smelter Projects & Refractory Services
Established in 2001, DBL is a strategic alliance of three leading international mechanical and refractory turnkey project and maintenance service companies; Dickinson of South Africa, Africa’s leading turnkey refractory projects and services company, Boreal of Canada, specializing in the construction and maintenance of aluminium smelters in North & South America and Lizmontagens of Portugal, a leading company in Europe specializing in turnkey refractory projects and maintenance, renders service to all major refractory consuming industries throughout Europe and South America.
DBL Aluminium Services and alliance companies have executed aluminium smelter projects and supplied products and services to numerous countries around the globe including; South Africa, Mozambique, U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Iceland.
At the forefront of technology, DBL collaborates with leading process and furnace engineering companies, procuring, manufacturing and installing refractory materials, which comply with stringent quality specifications, safety standards and are cost effective for the application.
With more than 100 years combined experience in the specialized field of refractories, the company renders a professional service, with dynamic management, experienced supervision and highly skilled and motivated personnel, modern equipment and operations methods, with a high regard for safety and quality, to offer clients cost-effective and tailor-made solutions and supply a professional turnkey service to the mineral processing and metallurgical refractory consuming industries.
DBL has extensive business experience in the execution of green-field and brown-field aluminium smelter projects in North & South America, Europe, Southern Africa and Middle East, with proven know-how and resources to render turnkey refractory projects including reduction, casthouse and carbon as well as electrolysis mechanical project and maintenance service to primary aluminium smelters throughout the world, rendering the following services:
Delining and Potlining of Potlines;
Cathode Sealing Operations;
Potshell removal and installation;
Manufacture, repair and installation of aluminium busbars, potshells & superstructures;
Electrolysis / potroom mechanical projects;
Anode Bake Furnace construction and maintenance;
Holding & Melting Furnace construction and maintenance;
Metal & Bath ladle delining, shell maintenance and relining;
Casthouse launder construction and maintenance.
DBL has lined in excess of 3600 electrolysis pots, 107 000 cathodes sealed and installed in excess of 10,5 million bricks on 8 anode baking furnace projects. DBL gained its first experience in 1984 with the sealing of 3000 AP18 cathode for Alcoa in Canada and in the past two decades, to name but a few, have been involved in numerous major aluminium smelter projects.
In 1995, with the green-field construction of BHP Billiton’s Hillside smelter in South Africa, DBL’s initial structure was awarded by SNC Lavalin-EMS the contract for the sealing of 12000 cathodes, the lining of 579 Aluminium Pechiney AP30 electrolysis pots, installation of refractories to 8 holding furnaces and supply & installation of refractories to 42 metal and 14 bath ladles.
Dickinsons, one of DBL’s shareholder companies, have since the production of first metal, been rendering a turnkey refractory maintenance service to Hillside and Mozal Smelters, having completed the delining and relining of 1014 pots, pot preparation and re-energizing of 220 pots frozen-in, sealed in excess of 20660 cathodes and carried out refractory maintenance to the smelters two Pechiney anode baking furnaces.
DBL gained expertise when in 1999 it was awarded by SNC Lavalin-Murray & Roberts contracts for BHP Billiton’s initially constructed capacity of 253 000 tons p.a. Mozal smelter in Mozambique and in 2002 awarded contracts for the smelter’s increased capacity to 506 000 tons p.a., involving the sealing of 11728 graphite cathodes, lining of 579 AP30 electrolysis pots and installation of refractories to ladles. DBL’s management team were also involved in the potroom mechanical works on the Mozal Phase 2 Expansion Project, including the fabrication & installation of aluminium busbars plus installation of potshells and superstructures for 288 AP30 pots. In 2000, contracts awarded by Bechtel to DBL included, the sealing of 9000 cathodes and the installation of refractories to two Alesa anode baking furnaces on Alcan’s 400,000 tons per year Alma smelter in Canada.
DBL in 2003 was awarded the contracts involving the sealing of 2900 graphite cathodes, lining of 144 AP-30 pots and refractory lining the metal and bath ladles and the casthouse launder system on the Hillside Phase 3 Expansion Project. DBL on the same project was awarded the contract for the potroom mechanical works, including the fabrication & installation of aluminium busbars, installation of potshells and superstructures for 144 AP30 pots, installation of compressed airlines, potable water piping, erection, load testing, commissioning and dismantling of 6 EOT cranes and installation of baffle plates and claustra walls to control air flow through the pot rooms.
DBL in 2004 was awarded the contract on the Alouette smelter expansion project in Canada for the installation of refractories to two Pechiney technology anode baking furnaces. DBL was furthermore in 2004 awarded by Dubai Aluminium Company the contract for the installation of refractories on the Kestrel Project, for the extension of Baking Furnace No.4 and the raising of the existing tubs in Baking Furnaces No.3 and 4.
The company has gained extensive knowledge and experience in the execution of green-field and brown-field aluminium smelter projects and mechanical & refractory maintenance services to the electrolysis, carbon and casthouse departments of smelters around the world. Numerous of DBL’s aluminium smelter projects have been executed under extreme weather conditions, with temperatures on the Canadian projects ranging from -10 to -40 deg C outside the construction buildings and -5 to -20 deg C inside the construction buildings, requiring specialized heating measures in excess on 7 million BTU’s and with temperatures on the Dubai projects exceeding 40 deg C.
DBL’s global experience also includes refractory maintenance of anode baking furnaces involving flue wall replacements, manufacture & installation of precast top blocks and relining of anode rodding induction furnaces. DBL furthermore renders refractory maintenance services to holding and melting furnaces, manufacture & installation of precast launder blocks, supply & installation of refractories to metal & bath ladles as well as repairs and vacuum testing of the ladle shells.
DBL has developed extensive experience in pot line operations to provide a complete electrolysis maintenance service including; removal and re-installation pots, pot change-out, removal & refurbishment of superstructures, installation of booster section busbars, manufacture, repair & installation of busbars sections from sub-station to pots and associated switch linking, installation of emergency interlink, installation of busbar bridge between rectifier banks, maintenance & repair of riser flexibles, re-facing & machining of short circuit wedges, oxy-lancing or pneumatic cutting of metal spillages, aluminium welding in the magnetic field, pot delining, cathode sealing, potlining, potshell installation, pot preparation & start-up.
BHP Billiton’s Hillside and Bayside Aluminium Smelter in 2002 and 2005 respectively experienced power outages, resulting in 102 pots freezing in at Hillside and 240 pots freezing in at Bayside’s Potline A. DBL Aluminium Services’ affiliated company provided the following services to re-start the pots:
Cleaning of the cathode surface with descalers and abrasive blasting.
Repairs of erosion of the cathode by the installation of carbon paste.
Coating of cathode surface with graphite paste.
Removal of eroded SiC side slabs and big joint carbon materials.
Installation of new side slabs, side wall refractory materials and carbon ramming material to repair the damaged side walls.
Removal of individual cathodes that were damaged beyond repair and installation of new cathodes and refractory materials.
Extension of Baking Furnace No.4 and Demolition, Rebuild and Height Increase of Baking Furnaces No.3 and No.4
The company was in 2004 awarded by Dubai Aluminium Company a major contract for the installation of refractories on the Kestrel Project, for the extension of the Alesa Baking Furnace No.4 and the raising of the existing tubs in Baking Furnaces No.3 and 4. The raising of the existing tubs on the Baking Furnace project was the first of its kind at Dubai Aluminium Company and was carried out over a period of two years after having been completed at the end of 2005.
DBL successfully completed Phase 1 during 2004, Phase 2 during the first quarter of 2005 and Phase 3 during the fourth quarter of 2005. Phase 1 involved the installation of refractory and insulating bricks including castables material and steel hardware associated with the extension of Bake Furnace No.4 to the new height, which is higher than the existing tub. The works comprised the installation of 912,300 bricks representing 4,360 tones of refractory and miscellaneous materials to form a total of 16 new sections (128 pits) plus the rebuild of 2 sections at the north end of the existing tub.
Phase 2 involved the removal of refractory brickwork of the Flue Walls of 32 sections of the existing tub to Bake Furnace No.3. The installation of refractory and insulating bricks including castables material and steel hardware associated with the rebuild and height Increase of Bake Furnace No.4, to the new height of 260 mm higher than the existing tub. The works comprised the installation of 830,000 bricks representing 5,450 tones of refractory and miscellaneous material.
Phase 3 involved the removal of refractory brickwork of the Flue Walls of 30 sections of the existing tub to Bake Furnace No.4. The installation of refractory and insulating bricks including castables material and steel hardware associated with the rebuild and height Increase of Bake Furnace No.4, to the new height of 260 mm higher than the existing tub.
The works comprised the installation of 775,000 bricks representing 5,100 tones of refractory and miscellaneous material. Phase 2 Baking Furnace No.3 and Phase 3 Baking Furnace No.4 rebuild involved DBL working on sections of 32 chambers in a continuous pattern coordinated with a single fire cycle. The fire cycle was reduced to 32 hours, during which time DBL completed one chamber per day, involving the demolition and rebuilding of the flue walls, top of the headwalls and the refractory floor, with little replacement of the insulation being undertaken.
DBL Aluminium Services has recently been awarded by Bechtel International a contract for the supply of a technical team to undertake the cathode rodding on the Fjardaal Smelter Project in Iceland from February 2006 to April 2007.
The scope of work was to supply the supervision personnel and foundry skilled personnel to prepare and melt the cast iron with the use of an Inductotherm furnace and proceed to the sealing by using a Sermas semi-automated system. The team was assisted by personnel from Poland, supplied by Bechtel.
The mandate started in February with the assistance of DBL for preoperational testing and the sealing operation will started in march at a rate of 132 cathodes per week. The process technology was supplied by Pechiney technology.
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