The impact of the firing and control system on the efficiency of the baking process

Based on the recent conversion of two existing anode baking furnaces at ALBA, Bahrain, the paper will demonstrate the improvements that can be achieved by using new features of firing and control system for baking furnaces. The evaluation covers the most relevant parameters of the baking process such as baking level, quality consistency, fuel efficiency and the combustion of volatiles. In addition to the advanced built-in features of the new system, which already offered a distinct improvement over the existing one, fine tuning of the system by the carbon plant management in close co-operation with the system designer enabled the team to adapt further advanced features to the new system and modify the furnace operation for further improvement of the furnace performance and to unleash the full potential of the system.