Abstract Scope |
In Quebec, Canada, several major anodes baking furnace (ABF) projects are either underway or being engineered and planned. This results in a shortage of specialized labor to perform refractory maintenance. Alcoa Deschambault’s anode baking furnace is aging and has reached more than 200 fire cycles. To maintain a healthy furnace and a proper anode production, it is imperative to have an excellent preventive maintenance process. The retirement of experienced people over the recent years added another challenge. The training and expertise of Deschambault people become important assets to overcome the lack of specialized refractory labor. It contributes to the team motivation, engagement, and productivity. It also helps to promote and maintain the good practices in place. This paper will elaborate on the approach taken to train the new ADQ refractory team and how they manage to do complex repairs such as over the replacement of the cross over insulating wall. |