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Iran International Aluminium Conference 2009 (IIAC2009)

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The first official International Aluminium Conference in Iran (IIAC 2009) took place on
22nd – 23rd Of April 2009 in Olympic hotel situated in Tehran.

The event hosted by Iran aluminium research center (IARC) and IMIDRO (Iranian Mines and Mineral Industries Development and Renovation Organization), attracted 650 delegates from across the globe. Also 51 exhibitors including regional and international producers supported the event.

The ceremony was officially opened on Wednesday 22nd of April in the Olympic hotel conference hall by Dr.M.T.Salehi chairman of the conference and head of Iran aluminium research center. Salehi took the stand and welcomed everyone in the conference and exhibition. Mohammad Taghi salehi named Iran aluminum research center as the only specialized research center working in the field of this metal with a 15 years working experience. He also thanked IMIDRO as the coorganizer of the conference. As one of the speakers, Mohammad masoud saminejad, deputy minister in mines affairs and mining industry, stated that a hopeful two day conference is underway for the aluminium industry so it can take advantage of new innovation in order to eliminate various obstacles in this field. Saminejad pointed out the unique specification of aluminium and said "the rivalry in the global primary aluminium market isn’t based on a new product but is mainly dependent on production expense efficiency." "Today more than 80 percent of the primary aluminium end price is subjected to alumina, power supply and carbonic materials and the rest of the expenses include human resources, additive materials and maintenance. On this base, countries and regions which have lower economic priorities in the field of aluminium will eventually settle back from the cycle of production and all investments and production growths will be pointed to countries with economic advantages. For example countries situated in the Persian Gulf region would be a perfect spot for this matter."

About Iran’s aluminium production Saminejad said: “In 2008, Iran's aluminium production reached to more than 248 thousand tons in Iralco (Iran aluminium Co.) and Almahdi, the two main aluminium producers in Iran, which will reach 360000 tpy by a 45 percent increase in 2009. It is also scheduled by the ministry of mines & industries to reach a 1.5 million ton capacity by 2025. As announced by Saminejad, in 2008 aluminium production and consumption reached 39 million tons of which 2 million was produced in the Persian Gulf region. Iran has a 12 percent share in the regional production.

Conference and Exhibition Attendances

More than 600 participants took part in the two day conference which 63 attendances were from foreign districts such as Germany, France, Britain, China, Turkey, Poland, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

 

The participants were from various parts of the industry and also universities around the globe. The exhibition which was organized alongside the conference challenged many booth owners, national and international participants. 51 companies had the chance to promote their presence in the field of aluminium of which 15 were foreign companies from Germany, Turkey, Italy, China, Spain and Poland.

A total of 149 papers were received in the conference of which the accepted papers mount up to 110. Of the 110 papers accepted 44 were presented orally and 57 presented as posters. Both regional and international speakers made presentations as well as representatives of key customer industries. 9 keynote speakers also took the stand in the conference. Mr. Zarghami, leader of casting process team in SAPCO (Supplying Automotive Parts Co.), presented his paper on “Iran Automotive Industry”. He started with aluminium profits in automotive: “Aluminum can absorb crash energy nearly twice as much as steel. Also, 90% of aluminum in automotive is recovered and recycled which saves 95% of CO2 emissions and consumes only 10% of the energy required to produce same amount of primary aluminium. Thus, the main advantages of using aluminium in automotives can be summarized as:

  • Reduction of energy consumption
  • Naturally corrosion resistant
  • Reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution
  • Gaining maximum efficiency while reducing emissions
  • Mr. Zarghami also reviewed the content of aluminum in vehicles made in
    North America, Europe and Japan within 1990-2006 and then switched to
    the situation of Iran’s automotive industry:


“The main excellences of Iran automotive industry are:

  • Fastest growing industry in Iran
  • Average annual growth rate during last 10 years = 21%
  • 18 automakers (Public & Private)
  • 1200 automotive parts manufacturers
  • 500,000 direct & indirect employment

 

He highlighted several important points on it; “Iran automotive production started in 1966 by producing Paykan. In 2007, Iran was ranked 16 among top 20 car maker countries with 1.1 million units which exceeded 1.4 million in 2008. Currently, main car makers in Iran are Iran Khodro Group (IKCO) and SAIPA Group each has an almost equal share in car manufacturing”.He described the IKCO as; “IKCO is the largest vehicle manufacturing company in Iran with production volume over 600,000 passenger cars which was ranked No.24 among 30 auto makers in the world based on production volume. It was also ranked No.1 among top 100 Iranian companies based on sales value in 2008”. He continued with aluminium situation in IKCO; “The total consumption of aluminum alloys in IKCO has been around 40,000 tons in current year.Aluminium had a rising trend within last 20 years in IKCO because of remarkable increasing in production volume and developing aluminum wheels in new and luxury cars. Major form of aluminum used in IKCO vehicles is cast aluminum (except radiators) and mainly as Al - Si alloys”.Trend of Aluminium usage in IKCO.

 

Prof. Halvor Kvande from Hydro aluminium as one of the keynote speakers presented his speech on “Pleasures and Pitfalls in Amperage Increase, Projects on Aluminium Electrolysis Cells”. Firstly, he had a review on conditions of an ideal objective for cell operation, i.e., “Stable Cell Operation”. Then, he pointed out that themain aim of amperage increase is economical saving which originates from increasing power prices and high man-hour cost.“Amperage increase bear two main benefits: reduced operating cost level and increased aluminium production at low investment costs” said Kvande and comprehensively described how these benefits are achieved using amperage increase. He also named Su3 and Å II as successful projects of Hydro in amperage increase currently working in 203 KA and 220 KA, respectively and indicated corresponding diagrams for energy consumption, Al production and average cell lifetime for these new cells within years of amperage increase.Kvande also reviewed main challenges of amperage increase in a potline and firstly discussed on possibilities on reducing extra heat generation due to amperage increase. “How to maintain acceptable cathode life when increasing the amperage?” was the second issue that was dealt with by him and followed by the third challenge as “how to dissolve and maintain good distribution of alumina in the electrolyte?”Then, he discussed on how to increase the anode size and the related advantages and disadvantages and continued with possibilities in avoiding current efficiency decrease.

Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony took place on the 23rd of April. Mr. Torkan, Deputy of petroleum Minister, had a presentation on “Natural Gas and Aluminium” in the closing ceremony. After a review on prospect of natural gas in the world and its role on economy of Iran and world, he described various utilizations of natural gas and added: “Iran with 27.8 trillion square meters of natural gas forming 15.7% of total world gas reservoirs has the second rank after Russia in natural gas reservoirs. It has also the forth rank among natural gas producers with 111.9 trillion square meters forming 3.8% of the total. With a consumption of 111.8 trillion square meters and a share of 3.8% it is in the third rank of natural gas consumers”.

He continued with a review on the amount of global aluminium production and consumption within the last four years in terms of different regions pointing out that the Middle East region with predicted aluminium production amount of more than 2,600,000 ton for 2009 will experience an increase of more than 37% since 2006 till the end of 2009 while the volume of aluminium consumption in the same period will exceed 1,230,000 ton which indicates a 10% rise in comparison with 2006.Then he alluded to Iran’s privilege on using natural gas to produce aluminium; “To produce 1 million tpy of aluminium, around 2000 MWh of electricity is needed which can be produced by 4 billion square meter of natural gas in a year indicating that Iran’s natural gas reservoirs can be relied on as a stable source of energy for aluminium production for long years”.

Mr. Torkan also reported that the amount of energy consumed for production of aluminium in Iran is about 18.5 KWh/Kg while the international average figure is around 15.1 KWh/Kg implying that the production efficiency has to be improved to decrease the consumption. However, the recently established pot rooms act well and consume max. 13.5 KWh/Kg.Prof. John.Cambell from the University of Birmingham added the finishing touch to the closing ceremony. Prof. Campbell started by pointing out the unique specifications of Iran's aluminium industry and the hidden potentials which lies in the core of this industry." Iran has many natural resources which upgrades the potentials in the industry&Campbell said.Campbell referred to the previous conference implying that the former conference taking place in Iran shows a vast pace of growth in this field. Campbell finished the conference by hoping a better and prosperous future for the aluminium industry around the globe and in Iran.CoursesSeveral courses were held on the 20th-21st of April 2009. The aim of organizing such courses was to motivate the enhancements in the aluminium industry. The courses were in the fields of Aluminium Smelting Technology, Aluminium Extrusion – High Technologies at Affordable Costs, Aluminium Low Pressure Die Casting Technology, Aluminium Anodizing

Defect & Solutions and Production of High Performance Al Casting. The former categories were taught by experienced masters of these fields worldwide.Prof. Herald Oye, Prof. James Metson , Prof. John Campbell, Prof. Halvor Kvande, Dr. Akar Norouzi, Dr. Walter Della Barba and Eng. Mauro Spizzo were the main lecturers in these courses.

For more information: <link http: www.iiac2009.ir>

www.iiac2009.ir

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