PHD, Inc.

Cylinders are used in the aluminum smelting process to feed alumina to the reduction pot.

An aluminum smelter was using a competitor's cylinder to feed the alumina into the reduction pots for the smelting process. Due to the high temperature environment and exposure to alumina dust, the cylinders were failing often, causing downtime in an otherwise continuous operation. In addition, the customer incurred excessive labor and material costs to replace the failing units. With 3,000 of these in operation, the customer needed a longer lasting, rebuildable feeder cylinder to replace the current unreliable one.

PHD’s Custom Solutions team worked together with the customer to develop a drop-in replacement feeder cylinder. PHD improved upon the OEM design, making a rebuildable cylinder with long-lasting bushings and improved wiper seals to extend the life of the cylinder.

Results

Increased Uptime and Reduced Operating Costs

PHD’s field-proven drop-in replacement provides longer cylinder life in the challenging operating environment, resulting in reduced downtime and cost for the customer for optimal return on investment. The ability to rebuild the PHD cylinders further increased the total value to the customer.