The restart of two idled pot lines at ormet primary aluminum

Abstract

In November 2010, Ormet Primary Aluminum Corporation announced an aggressive plan of restarting two potlines before the end of the 1st quarter of 2011. In order to accomplish this goal several key factors were utilized including the experience of the plant personnel, management of anodes and bath generation at startup, initial power and chemistry control of the pots, and the fact that the shutdown of the lines was efficient and controlled. The total time from the restart announcement until all 344 pots were brought on took only 92 days, and the time from when the first line was energized until the final pot was cut in on the second line took only 71 days. This paper will discuss the key factors and obstacles that had to be overcome to allow Ormet to achieve this goal while also striving for safety as no recordable accidents occurred during the restart.