Efficient dross cooler from Hertwich Engineering successfully in operation at Stena Aluminium

Stena Aluminium has successfully commissioned the high-speed slag cooler HSC^® supplied by Hertwich Engineering, an SMS group company, at its Ålmhult works in Sweden. The new plant allows Stena to recovery up to 10 percent of the metallic aluminum contained in the dross.

The HSC^® developed by Stena Aluminium and Hertwich Engineering, based in Braunau, Austria, has the capacity to cool up to 5 tons of dross to below 450 degrees Celsius in less than 15 minutes. In other, conventional, processes this takes several hours. The recovered aluminum is directly recirculated into the smelting process.

At dross temperatures above 450 degrees Celcius, aluminum contained in dross reacts with the oxygen in the ambient air and will “burn”. The resulting loss of aluminum would be significant. The new cooler in operation at Stena will markedly reduce the amount of lost aluminum.

The cooler has been successfully in operation since August 2015.

Based on SMS group information