Emirates Aluminium has placed an order with Hertwich Engineering of Austria a company of the SMS group for the supply and commissioning of a continuous homogenizing and sawing plant for their phase 1 of the project, earmarked to be one of the largest single site aluminum smelter projects worldwide.

The scope of supply includes an ultrasonic inspection station, continuous homogenizer and cooler, two billet saws with downstream packing plant, besides full automation and process integration. The design capacity of the plant in phase 1 is 165.000 tonne per year. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2010.

The project will be built in two phases and utilize Emirati-developed technology. At the end of phase 1 in 2010, EMAL will produce 700,000 tonne of aluminum per annum and 1.4 million tonne annually at the end of phase 2.

The aluminum complex, a 6 square kilometer site in the Khalifa Port Industrial Zone in Taweelah, halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, will produce primary aluminum with a product mix of sow, standard ingot, billet, tee ingots and sheet ingot.

Being the largest industrial project in the UAE outside the oil and gas industry, the project will encourage economic diversification, creating downstream opportunities. This development will benefit the UAE economy, employing more than 14,000 local and international contractors/ staff during construction and 2000 people in future production.

EMAL adheres to strict environmental standards set by the Abu Dhabi Environmental Agency, with state-of-the-art emission control equipment including sulfur-dioxide scrubbers, the latest potroom gas treatment technology, the best-available gas turbine systems and cooling towers to eliminate thermal stress on local marine life.