On May 20, the first batch of products from the Guangxi Investment Beihai Green Ecological Aluminum Phase I Alumina Project, which was master-planned by Guiyang Aluminum Magnesium Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. of Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHALCO), was successfully shipped. This milestone marks the project's entry into the trial operation phase, injecting new momentum into the intelligent, green, and integrated transformation and upgrading of China's aluminum industry.
During the construction process, the institute leveraged its accumulated 68 years of technical expertise in aluminum smelting to achieve multiple breakthroughs in equipment and process layout. According to Ni Yang, Chief Engineer of the Alumina Business Department at the institute, the project innovatively deployed China's first and the world's largest single 30-meter diameter high-efficiency deep cone thickener in the alumina industry. "We boldly pursued a scale-up breakthrough in the design, replacing the traditional layout of two sets of thickeners with a single set of large, high-efficiency deep cone thickeners. This change not only effectively saves 15% of the footprint but also reduces investment and operating costs by over 10%," Ni Yang stated.
In terms of core process optimization, the project also demonstrated robust technical capabilities. The team successfully applied a self-developed new process of pre-purification two-stage decomposition. "By precisely calibrating production parameters and optimizing process configuration, we have not only achieved significant cost reduction and efficiency improvement but also firmly maintained product quality control. This ensures the product purity steadily meets the highest national standard grade AO-G requirements, with core indicators such as particle size and strength fully benchmarked against international standards," Ni Yang explained.
Simultaneously, adhering to the concept of green and low-carbon development, the institute innovatively applied advanced processes including low-power ore crushing and grinding, high-solids desilication, pre-purification two-stage decomposition, seven-effect evaporation, and side-stream crystallization for organic matter removal. These measures systematically optimized the entire production process design, establishing China's first green alumina plant with a fully non-nuclear instrument process flow, setting a benchmark for the green transformation of the aluminum industry.
Regarding intelligent transformation, the institute established an intelligent production system featuring high-level information interconnectivity and deep integration of virtual and physical spaces. This system enables comprehensive collaborative operations among humans and machines, between machines, and among personnel, helping the project become the first alumina enterprise in the industry to receive an advanced-level smart factory certification upon completion.
Currently, driven by emerging industries such as new energy and energy storage, China's aluminum industry chain demonstrates notable resilience and steady quality improvement. Against this backdrop, the institute will continue to deepen its research and development in core aluminum smelting technologies, continuously address technical challenges in industrial development, lead the industry's transformation and upgrading with robust scientific and technological innovation, and solidify the technical foundation for the high-quality development of China's aluminum industry.