Net Carbon Reduction through Steam Consumption Optimisation at

Hindalco Muri Refinery

Debashis Tripathy1 and Ravi Kiran Das2
1
Assistant Manager, Alumina Operations
2
Deputy Manager, R&D -Quality
Hindalco Industries Limited, Muri, Jharkhand, India
Corresponding author Email: Debashis.tripathy@adityabirla.com

ABSTRACT
Bayer Process is a highly energy intensive process involving energy for dissolution of
alumina phases (Trihydrate Alumina (THA) or Monohydrate Alumina (MHA)). Steam
is the major source of energy that is required for digestion of alumina present in
bauxite. The refineries that process boehmitic bauxites are using high temperature
digestion technology, which consumes superheated high-pressure steam for achieving
the target digestion temperature of 245°C as against low temperature digestion
temperature of 145°C. Hence, the energy consumption for a double digestion refinery is
higher.
Carbon footprint reduction has gained a strategic importance presently for all
industries and it is a mandatory regulation along with sustainability guidelines.
This project is about identification of debottlenecks in the double digestion refinery at
Muri, Jharkhand wherein steam consumption can be reduced thereby resulting in
reduction of net carbon. Two such projects were identified and executed, namely cross
flow enhancement and miscellaneous ring header size reduction, which resulted in
reduction of overall steam consumption by 11% (from 3.21T/T to 2.86T/T) and CO 2
emissions have been reduced by 15%.
This paper presents a brief overview of the concept, application, and results from the
two projects executed at the refinery.
Keywords: Boehmite, Carbon, Digestion, Energy, Footprint, Steam.
1. INTRODUCTION
The alumina refining industry, a linchpin of the Indian economy, plays a pivotal role in
shaping the global aluminum landscape. However, it is no secret that this industry, vital
as it is, grapples with the challenge of emissions intensity. In the dynamic milieu of
today's market, the imperative to reduce emissions stands as a cardinal principle for
every manufacturing sector. Recognizing the criticality of this mission, we turn our
attention to the heart of alumina production—the Bayer Process.
The Bayer Process is the cornerstone, the lifeblood of the global aluminum industry, yet
it is an enterprise of voracious energy appetite, especially in the dissolution of alumina
phases, whether it be the Trihydrate Alumina (THA) or the Monohydrate Alumina
(MHA). Within the precincts of the Muri Alumina refinery, where the feed bauxite
bears 8 to 12% boehmite, double digestion technology reigns supreme[1]. The crucible
of this pursuit is the judicious employment of steam, a primary energy of an Alumina
refinery
In the refineries that process boehmitic bauxites, the ascendancy of high-temperature
digestion technology is manifest. This method mandates the consumption of
superheated, high-pressure steam to attain the requisite digestion temperature of 245
degrees Celsius, in stark contrast to the Gibbsite digestion temperature of 145 degrees
Celsius. Therefore the energy outlay for a double digestion refinery stands as a
distinctive mark.
The boundary of our study lies within the double digestion refinery nestled in the
bosom of Muri, Jharkhand—an integral bastion in the operations of Hindalco
Industries Limited. The Muri alumina refinery, for the fiscal year 2023, manifested a
total carbon emission of 1.38 tCO2 per ton of alumina. This allocation was delineated
thus: Steam-0.83, Power-0.26, Auxiliary power-0.09, and calciner-0.2. The energy
consumption quotient for the Muri alumina refinery is set at 12 GJ per ton. This
allocation comprises Steam-7.8 GJ per ton, Hydrate electricity-1 GJ per ton, HFO-2.9 GJ
per ton, Calciner electrical energy-0.1 GJ per ton, and Other Miscellaneous-0.2 GJ per
ton.
In the contemporary industrial landscape, the mandate to curb carbon footprints is a
clarion call. This is not a discretionary pursuit, but rather a regulatory directive deeply
enshrined within sustainability guidelines. Industries stand compelled to explore every
avenue for net carbon reduction as an integral part of their operational ethos.
Within this backdrop, there emerge two salient pathways for reducing carbon emissions
in an alumina refinery. The first involves a technological shift, incorporating
innovations such as Mechanical Vapor Recompression, Electric boilers, Hydrogen
calciners, and Electric calciners—a trajectory mapped out in the industry's long-term
roadmap. The second, which forms the crux of our inquiry, is the identification of
bottlenecks and opportunities within the existing system, optimizing and acting upon
these segments.
We identified two critical focal points: Cross Flow Enhancement and Miscellaneous
Ring Header Size Reduction. These interventions yielded a substantial 11% reduction in
overall steam consumption—from 3.21T/T to 2.86T/T. This tangible achievement
translated to a notable curtailment of CO2 emissions, estimated at 15%.
This paper stands poised to offer a comprehensive panorama—an exposition of the
foundational concept, its pragmatic application, and the laudable results culled from
the implementation of these two pivotal projects within the refinery's operational
canvas. In doing so, it bequeaths to the wider industry a blueprint, a lodestar guiding
the way toward a sustainable future, where net carbon reduction harmoniously coexists
with operational efficacy and economic viability.
2. Historical Background
Muri Alumina Refinery is the first refinery in Asia Commissioned way back in 1948 with
4KTPA capacity. Over the years, the refinery witnessed successive expansions,
culminating in a remarkable increase in capacity to 450 KTPA by the year 2009.
This monumental growth was facilitated by strategic initiatives and technological
advancements, allowing the refinery to continually push the boundaries of alumina
production. Central to its operations, The raw bauxite is sourced from the rich deposits
of Lohardaga mines. A pivotal turning point in the refinery's evolution was the
recognition of an impending shift in bauxite composition. As the Boehmite content in
the raw material surged to 10 to 12% and a reduction in Gibbsite content from 38% to
34%, the need for an innovative processing approach became evident. Thus, the
visionary decision was made to integrate the Double Digestion Process into the
refinery's expansion plan, commencing in the fiscal year 2009. Presently the plant is
running at a capacity of 350KTPA based on its red mud evacuation plan.
The Double Digestion Process, a hallmark of modern alumina refining, involves a
meticulous two-step extraction procedure. It comprises of extracting first the gibbsite
from Bauxite at 145 deg C in the Bayer liquor, separate the residue in specially designed
equipment “Pressure Decanter” and then treat the thickened residue at 245 deg C to
extract the boehmite. Co-current double digestion is followed at Muri refinery. It
consists of heating two test liquor streams separately across two separate trains of heat
exchangers at Low Temperature Digestion(LTD) and High Temperature
Digestion(HTD) areas. The partially heated bauxite slurry is injected to LT digestors
operating at 145 deg C to extract gibbsite. The LT blow off slurry is fed to a separator
called “Pressure Decanter” to separate the solids residue under LTD conditions that
contains the unextracted boehmitic alumina constituent of the original bauxite as well
as some of the reverted gibbsite. The pressure decanter overflow is flashed across four
stages to generate Pregnant Liquor(PGL) stream. The thickened underflow is mixed
with heated test tank stream and injected into HT digestors to extract the boehmitic
alumina at 245 deg C. The HT blow off slurry is flashed in seven stages to around
atmospheric pressure and fed to High Rate Decanter along with cooled pressure
decanter overflow for separating the final residue and the Pregnant liquor. Thus the
combined streams ultimately form the final pregnant liquor feed to the precipitators
after going through the security filtration area. To optimize the heat recovery across the
LT and HT digestion areas, a part of the test tank liquor stream from HT is transferred
to LTD. This stream is called as cross flow stream. The process flow diagram of the
double digestion system along with the flow of liquor stream and slurry stream is
illustrated below.
Fig 1. Process flow diagram of Double digestion system at Muri

3. INITIATIVES FOR CARBON REDUCTION

The carbon emissions at the Muri refinery predominantly arise by the combustion of
various fossil fuels, including furnace oil at the calciner, coal at the cogenerative power
plant, and diesel oil for automotive and machinery operations within the refinery.
Among these, coal combustion constitutes the largest contributor to the overall carbon
footprint. Thus, a strategic approach was undertaken to mitigate this impact by
implementing initiatives aimed at reducing coal consumption. Coal serves as the
primary raw material employed in boilers for the simultaneous generation of power and
steam essential for alumina refining processes at the Muri facility. The generated steam
is classified into four distinct categories based on its designated utility: High-pressure
steam (48 BAR), medium-pressure steam (11 BAR), and Low-pressure steam (6 BAR) are
primarily allocated for the process of evaporation. And Low-pressure steam (6 BAR) is
channeled for miscellaneous uses via the ring header system. The optimization efforts
initially concentrated on two specific steam categories where potential improvements
were identified, and implementation costs were minimum. The dedicated team
embarked on a focused endeavor to reduce steam consumption in the 11BAR category
through the enhancement of cross flow dynamics. Simultaneously, actions were taken
to reduce steam usage in the 6BAR ring header system by optimizing the line size. The
plot of carbon emission over the years and steam consumption over the years at Muri
refinery are given below.

CO2 emission(T/T) Steam(T/T)

2.50 4.50 3.90
2.01 4.00 3.64
2.00 1.86 3.50 3.13 3.21 3.22
1.44 2.89 2.86
1.32 3.00
1.50 2.50
1.56 1.56
1.38 2.00
1.00
1.50
0.50 1.00
0.50
0.00 0.00
FY13 FY19 FY 20 FY 21 FY 22 FY 23 FY FY13 FY19 FY 20 FY 21 FY 22 FY 23 FY
24(H1) 24(H1)
Fig 2. CO2 emissions over the years at Muri Fig 3. Steam consumption over
the years at Muri
 Steam classification (t/t)
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

48ATA 11 ATA 6ATA Misc

Fig 4. Classification of Steam Consumption at Muri Refinery
3.1 CROSS FLOW OPTIMIZATION
The double digestion process at Muri Refinery incorporates two types of heaters i.e.
regenerative heat exchangers and live steam heaters. Regenerative heat exchangers
utilize flash vapors to preheat the test liquor. Live steam heaters operate at 11 BAR
pressure. To achieve the necessary 145°C temperature at the LT digestor, the test liquor
undergoes sequential heating through regenerative heaters, utilizing vapors from
respective LT flash tanks. It then proceeds through a live steam heater before injection
into the LT digestor. Similarly, another stream of test liquor undergoes heating via
regenerative HT heat exchangers, utilizing vapors from respective HT flash tanks. The
heated liquor is then injected into the HT digestor along with direct steam at 48 BAR
pressure and 257°C. This steam injection ensures the required temperature and
pressure in the HT digestor. A portion of the test tank liquor stream from HTD is
transferred to LTD, optimizing heat recovery across LT and HT digestion areas. This
integrated approach significantly enhances overall energy efficiency in the digestion
process.
The pivotal role of heaters, the efficiency of flash tanks, and the optimization of cross
flow are fundamental to achieving desired parameters in the digestors. The
optimization of these three parameters holds the key to substantial reduction in steam
consumption.
To achieve nearly complete extraction of gibbsitic alumina, a target LT digestor
temperature of 145°C with a residence time of 30 minutes is set. This is predominantly
realized through a combination of Medium-Pressure (MP) steam (11 BAR) heating at
the Live Steam Heater (LSH), addition of heated cross flow stream, and the heating of
test liquor using regenerative heat sourced from flash tanks. The interrelation of these
parameters was examined, leading to the formulation of the following relationship after
conducting a heat balance across the LT digestor.

TLTD=
(mCpT ) RG heater

- t
 (1)
Where
m Mass flow rate, kg/hr
Cp Specific heat, J/KgC
T Temperature, deg C
ρ Density, Kg/m3
F Volumetric flow rate, m3/hr
H Enthalpy, J/Kg
t Temperature lost due to heat of digestion, deg C

The temperature of the LT digestor is meticulously maintained at 145°C. To optimize

steam consumption at the Live Steam Heater (LSH), an exploration of parameters
beyond steam was undertaken, leading to the identification and implementation of
various improvement opportunities within the Digestion section. The following table
describes the major initiatives undertaken in this regard.

Table1. The improvement opportunities, action plan and result in Digestion

section
SL Opportunities Actions Taken Result Impact
No
1 Performance 1. Vapour line Modifications Increase in Reduction in
and Reliability by eliminating multiple Regenerative Average LSH
Improvement of bends. heater outlet steam(11
Regenerative 2. Initiated MAX HT temperature BAR)
Heaters. chemical dosing in LT by 6 deg C. consumption
heaters. Increase in by 3.7 ton/hr
3. Mechanical cleaning of cross flow
Heater tubes temperature
4. Heaters and Flash Tanks by 3 deg C
turnaround time reduced Increase in
and switch over frequency cross flow
increased. stream by
5. Heater partition plate 19m3/hr
inspection and replacement
and Heaters’ chest cleaning
done.
4 Performance Flash tank operation SOP
and Reliability was changed. FT levels are
Improvement of now maintained at 15%
Flash Tanks which was initially
maintained at 25% resulting
proper vapour separation
and minimised slurry carry
over and reduced line
 blockages.
6 Higher Complete cross flow stream
utilization of pipeline rerouted.
cross flow
stream.

3.2 Optimization of Misc Steam

Steam, a pivotal utility in Alumina refining, serves as the primary medium for heating
various processes within the refinery. Notably, it is employed in different heaters across
the plant i.e. Agglomeration, New Growth (NG), Fine Seed Filtration, Security
Filtration, TCA, and causticization etc. Furthermore, steam is utilized in drying
processes at the Pan Filter and Calciner. This essential utility is instrumental in heating
caustic cleaning liquor and other miscellaneous liquors, catering to diverse operational
needs.
To meet the varied steam requirements across different refinery areas, a 6 BAR
miscellaneous steam ring header is strategically distributed throughout the facility. The
initial design of the ring header featured a 20" diameter, intended to accommodate the
diverse requirements, particularly addressing the historically high steam consumption
during precipitation tank caustic cleaning. Over time, as steam usage patterns evolved
and instances of precipitation tank caustic cleaning became infrequent, the oversized
diameter of the steam ring header led to a reduction in steam pressure. This resulted in
significant losses due to condensation and increased steam usage at low pressure.
In response to this operational challenge, a decision was made to optimize the steam
ring header by reducing its pipeline size to a more fitting 6". This modification was
undertaken with careful consideration of fulfilling the maximum demand of 12 TPH.
The gradual optimization of steam consumption became evident, showcasing a tangible
impact on the overall reduction in steam consumption. On an average 4 ton/hr or 30%
steam reduction achieved which translates into 0.13 t/t. The following chart shows the
trend of reduction in miscellaneous steam consumption.

Misc Steam Consumption

16.00 0.40
14.00 0.35
12.00 0.30
10.00 0.25
8.00 0.20
6.00 0.15
4.00 0.10
2.00 0.05
0.00 0.00

r-2
1 21 21 t-2
1 21 22 r-2
2 22 22 t-2
2 22 23 r-2
3 23 23
n- g- c- b- n- g- c- b- n- g-
Ap Ju Au Oc De Fe Ap Ju Au Oc De Fe Ap Ju Au

Misc Steam abs Misc(T/T)

Fig 5. Miscellaneous Steam Consumption at Muri Refinery

4. Results
In our pursuit of net carbon reduction through steam consumption optimization at
Hindalco Muri Refinery, two key initiatives were undertaken: Cross Flow Enhancement
and Miscellaneous Ring Header Size Reduction. The implementation of these projects
yielded significant results, demonstrating a commendable reduction in overall steam
consumption and associated carbon emissions. The primary focus was on optimizing
the cross flow dynamics and utilisation of regenerative heat efficiently to achieve a
substantial reduction of average 3.7 T/hr in 11 BAR steam consumption. Several
improvement opportunities were identified and addressed, leading to tangible
outcomes. The following table depicts the average data of major digestion parameters
before and after the projects implemented.
Table2. LTD parameters before and after implementation
Parameters Unit Before After
Temp of RG heater out-
let temp deg C 115 121
Cross Flow m3/hr 126 145
Cross flow temperature deg C 176 179
Ton/
Steam flow hr 30 26.3
LT Digestor Temperat-
ure deg C 145 145
The optimization of the 6 BAR miscellaneous steam ring header involved a reduction in
pipeline size from 20" to 6". This strategic adjustment, considering the evolving steam
usage patterns, resulted in a 30% reduction or 0.13 t/t in steam pressure losses and
consumption.
5. Conclusion
The implementation of Cross Flow Enhancement and Miscellaneous Ring Header Size
Reduction at Hindalco Muri Refinery underscores the feasibility and effectiveness of
targeted initiatives for net carbon reduction. The achieved reduction of 11% in overall
steam consumption (from 3.21T/T to 2.86T/T) and a corresponding 15% reduction in
CO2 emissions validate the success of these small projects. This paper serves not only as
a documentation of the undertaken projects but also as a blueprint for alumina
refineries seeking sustainable practices. By emphasizing the optimization of existing
systems and identifying bottlenecks, refineries can align with regulatory directives on
carbon footprint reduction. The commitment to continuous improvement in steam
utilization, as demonstrated in this study, aligns with the broader industry's
responsibility to curb carbon emissions. As we navigate the intricate balance between
operational efficiency and environmental sustainability, these initiatives at Hindalco
Muri Refinery stand as a testament to the industry's capacity for innovation and
positive environmental impact.
6. References
1. Kumaresan T. et al.(2015), Assessment of flow pattern & mixing phenomena in
alumina digesters, 33rd International conference & Exhibition of ICSOBA, 29th Nov to 1st
Dec 2015, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.