" With technical audits, optimizations and specific training courses, we bring the knowledge into your plant to increase the performance of your carbon products. "

Markus W. Meier

Technical Assistance Vice President

Providing outstanding technical services to our customers is an important concern to us, and in fact one of our core businesses. Often we are challenged by our customers to increase the production rate or improve product quality with minimal or no investment. Our services range from technical support for the production of all carbon materials, to plant audits and process optimizations. In our technology center we conduct pilot or bench scale trials and any kind of laboratory analysis with detailed evaluations. We analyze shipment samples according to standardized ISO methods for certification of the specifications or for arbitration purposes.
 

" With furnace audits and optimizations, we help you to cope with today's aggravated boundary conditions such as increased cost pressure, stricter emissions regulations and deteriorated raw material quality. "

Peter Sulger
Process, Development and Data Analysis Vice President

Anode Bake Furnace

Anodes are a vital material for aluminum smelters, and anode baking is a crucial step in making them. Every modern smelter is focused on maximizing its profit by constantly optimizing its productivity at minimal capital and operating cost. Higher amperage and longer anode setting cycle are postulated which require baked anodes of superior quality and consistency. Parallel to that, local authorities define more stringent environmental restrictions for plant emissions. With today’s trend of decreasing anode raw material quality, this is a major challenge for the carbon plant manager to cope with all these requirements.

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It is part of our core business to give active assistance to detect deficiencies and potential for improvement. All services are provided regardless of any applied technology and control system. In the over 30-year old history of RDC, we have accomplished major improvements in plants all over the world. In the straightforward approach, a furnace audit is conducted first to evaluate the potential for improvements. Then systematic optimization steps with defined targets are performed.

Our worldwide activities on furnaces of any design and any firing control system allow us improving substantially the furnace operation and the anode quality. As a consequence R&D Carbon contributes considerably to reduce the overall metal production costs and to lower capital investment for production plants.

Bake furnace operation and achieved anode quality are strongly interlinked with the furnace design. Therefore, in recent years RDC has conducted numerous studies and analyzes on design and dimensioning of anode bake furnaces. Always with the aim of optimizing the furnace design with respect to the cost impact, achieving the highest anode quality, reducing emissions and achieving best-operating behavior.