TABLE OF CONTENTS Given the overall aims (economic, environmental, safety) of an industrial operation, the most important decisions when formulating the maintenance strategy are likely to be those regarding the amount and type of preventive maintenance that should be undertaken. This case study will focus on some of the principles involved and will demonstrate the importance of the relationship between the maintenance strategy and the workload it generates (see the methodology diagram, Figure 10-3). There is no point in selecting a maintenance strategy that cannot be resourced!
Smeltall Ltd ran one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world. The plant layout is shown in Figure 10-1 and the process flow outlined in Figure 10-2. The heart of the process involved the electrolytic reduction of alumina (aluminium oxide) in three series of large cells the Potlines. A schematic of a cell (or pot ) is shown in Figure 10-3. In order to operate the cells (some 1080 in this case) a continuous supply of carbon anodes was required. These were manufactured in the Carbon plant and, after use, each spent anode was returned for renewal. The molten aluminium was collected from the cells for transport to the Casting and Finishing area.
The smelter organization was built around manufacturing units in the Carbon Plant, Potlines and Casting areas. Thus, the Carbon Plant had its own Maintenance Engineer and staff, and a resource group for...
