Sardinia: a fresh look
Antonello Murgia, Federico Strina (front),
Pierre Champoux and Giovanni Perseu (rear) of Alcoa's Portovesme smelter put new paint on
the walls of a 100-year-old house that serves as a local community center in this small town
on the Italian island of Sardinia. Thirty Alcoans participated in this one-day cleanup project, funded by an Alcoa grant.
Innovations
Update: Inert Anode
Work is proceeding on schedule to test and improve Alcoa’s revolutionary smelting technology that uses inert anodes instead of carbon anodes. If it proves to be feasible on a commercial scale, the new process promises to increase smelter capacity and lower production costs. It also would benefit the environment, because the principal emission is oxygen rather than carbon dioxide and sulfur derivatives. Test cells are now operating in North America.
High Yield Melting Project
In alliance with Praxair, a leader in industrial gases, Alcoa is testing High Yield Melting. This R&D project involved constructing and operating a commercial scale aluminum-melting furnace in Alcoa’s Warrick (Ind.) Operations’ ingot plant. Benefits are improved environmental performance, safer work environment, reduction in natural gas usage, and significant waste elimination. The project received the Indiana Governor’s Award for Excellence in Pollution Prevention in 2001.
Productive Casters
A new caster tip design will enable Alcoa’s more than 30 twin-roll casters to increase production 5% to 10% annually by improving the distribution and uniformity of molten metal into the roll bite. The tip has been installed on 15 casters; technology transfer will continue until all casters are outfitted.
Top of the Line
Shibazaki Seisakusho Ltd. of Japan, part of Alcoa CSI, jointly developed a servo-capping machine with Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Co. (MHI), a major filling line supplier. Combining MHI’s electronic technology and Shibazaki’s capping technology, the machine detects application angle, torque and speed, and monitors bottling abnormalities, enabling bottlers to prevent problems and improve productivity.
Shibazaki also played a key role in resolving the technical issues of applying caps at high speed to aluminum bottles. Nine aluminum bottling lines were in use in 2001, and seven more lines will be operating in 2002.
Breaking the Cost Barrier
Under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense, an Alcoa-led team, including Boeing and Lockheed, completed the first phase of an initiative to dramatically reduce the cost of airframes. The project will apply collaborative design methods Alcoa developed in its work with automakers. During this phase, analyses were performed on selected parts of three military aircraft. Teams have begun developing lower-cost, conceptually advanced aluminum-based designs for wing structures and for primary fuselage structures.
Solutions for Communications
AFL Telecommunications introduced two new products in 2001. Its MicroCore™ fiber optic cabling system uses stainless steel laser welding technology, which allows bandwidth providers to add fiber to their systems in increments, reducing up-front capital costs. Xpress Fiber Management™ meets demanding needs for high-density, cross-connect uses.
Improved Sheet Quality
Alcoa developed a control system for single-stand hot reversing mills capable of adapting to multiple operating conditions. The new software eliminates aluminum sheet variability by controlling mill temperature and product thickness, which are especially important with multiple product changeovers. The system is now an Alcoa standard and will be installed on 15 Alcoa mills worldwide.
Innovations for Safety
Alcoa is selling an easy-to-install way to prevent pedestrian accidents with in-plant railing systems. Alcoa has applied to patent the Alcoa Guide Rail System™, developed at Engineered Products’ Cressona (Pa.) Operations, and now available to Alcoa locations and other industrial facilities. Guide Rail costs less than similar steel systems and includes features developed in response to users’ feedback. R&B Wagner Inc., which specializes in architectural and industrial railing systems, is the first company to market it.
High-Tech Prototyping
Alcoa Automotive’s Modena Assembly and Fabricating Center in Italy introduced a unique prototyping capability. The facility can convert dimensional drawings and computer-generated data directly into prototypes of aluminum and multi-material automotive components, ranging from large substructures to full-body structural elements. It also can integrate fixture design with dimensional variations occurring during joining and forming while developing the prototype.
Eye-Catchers
Scientists at Alcoa Technical Center developed a family of ultrafine aluminum powder products for Alcoa Specialty Metals. Dubbed Alcoa SuperFlec™ powders, the products will be used in metallic pigments for coatings, plastics, and inks. Because they are available in finer grades than other aluminum powders, they offer customers a wider range of special effects, while saving processing costs.
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Rick Russell, Livonia, Michigan, USA
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