Smelting 4.0: Digital Strategy for Aluminum Production

Hall-Héroult (in smelting plant) has been the key process for aluminumAluminum production since 1886, and it has gone through several improvements in the past. However, challenges like low efficiency, premature cellCell failure, and sustainabilitySustainability-related issues persist even today and the industry is working to overcome them. Industries have significantly benefited by adopting the fourth industrial revolution (I4.0) concepts such as digital twinDigital twins, remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, data & analytics, etc. They have helped industries to achieve their objectives. The same concepts will also help aluminumAluminum industry to address their challenges. This paper describes specific challenges related to aluminumAluminum production and defines a roadmap for adopting I4.0 concepts to help solve problems. This paper introduces a structured approach for the digital transformationDigital transformation of complex smelting plants and recommends a roadmap for this industry.