At the "two sessions" this year in the country, Premier Li Keqiang first proposed in the government work report that "the "Internet +" action plan will be formulated to promote the integration of mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, and modern manufacturing industries." The "Internet +" concept has created a great discussion of Internet ideas in all walks of life. The aluminum industry is no exception. Some companies are actively setting up a company's WeChat platform, and some companies understand it as an e-commerce platform.... Then the Internet + Aluminum Industry What kind of form is this? What does it mean for the aluminum industry?

On the 8th of July, the 11th China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition opened in Shanghai. Prof. Zhongnan University and Dean of School of Metallurgical Design and Research Liang Xuemin were invited to attend the exhibition and participated in the “Alumina Electrolytic Aluminium Industry Development Forum. Liang Xuemin elaborated on the impact of “Internet+” on electrolytic aluminum production process and equipment.

What is the Internet + Aluminum Industry

What is "Internet+"? In layman's terms, the Internet + various traditional industries, but this is not a simple sum of both, but the use of information and communication technologies and Internet platforms, so that the Internet and traditional industries in-depth integration, creating a new development ecology. "Internet+" is a further practical result of Internet thinking. It represents an advanced productive force and promotes the continuous evolution of economic patterns.

"Internet+Industry" means that traditional manufacturing companies adopt information and communication technologies such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things to transform existing products and R&D production methods.

Liang Xuemin said that "Internet +" has an impact on China's aluminum industry, just as Ma Huateng said, "Internet +" is like the impact of electricity on all walks of life. "Internet +" will bring revolutionary changes to the aluminum industry.

So how does the "Internet +" reflect its role in the aluminum industry? Liang Xuemin said that “Internet+Aluminum Industry” is to realize a highly intelligent aluminum production and realize an unmanned production workshop. To put it plainly, the “Internet+” aluminum industry is also an industry upgrade of the aluminum industry.

Liang Xuemin said: “Our country is a big country in the aluminum industry, and even in the electrolytic aluminum technology field, we have already been at the forefront of the world aluminum industry. But this does not mean that we have no articles to do in the field of production indicators. We need to be in the “Internet+”. Accelerate the realization of the intelligence of the aluminum industry under the guidance of the concept, effectively use a large amount of information and data, and better accelerate the development of the aluminum industry, but if you want to truly realize information, data, and intelligence on the basis of the existing electrolytic aluminum technology , may need to be faced with comprehensive technological innovation in every corner, every small technical field, and even the corners."

Liang Xuemin was once puzzled by this, and he seriously thought about the development direction of the electrolytic aluminum ecology and intelligence for his research team two years ago. After two years of research and demonstration by the team, Liang Xuemin firmly believed that “Internet+” will Will bring a revolutionary change to the aluminum industry.

Electrolytic aluminum industry more easily integrated with "Internet +"

“The electrolytic aluminium industry is a sector with a high level of modularity and standardization, and it is easier to realize intelligent operation. Several electrolysis tanks of the same type are placed in one workshop. Each electrolytic cell is engaged in the same production process, and the staff is almost repeating the same. The operation of the same type of equipment, homogenized production, is more conducive to intelligent control, information management, big data collection and big data analysis." Therefore, Liang Xuemin believes that the electrolytic aluminum industry is more easily integrated with the “Internet+”.

Liang Xuemin said that the strength of the electrolytic aluminum companies is different, and the effectiveness of the electrolytic cells is not the same. For different companies, the same type of electrolytic cell is also very different in the internal design, this difference as a peer and experts often do not know where the difference. Some problems are very serious, such as the service life of the electrolytic cell. Some companies use electrolytic cells for many years, while others do not. What's more important is that electrolysis tanks use major accidents. Why do the same types of electrolyzers operate safely in some enterprises, and accidents occur in other companies? Even the accidents in different workshops in the same company are different. These common problems have not been solved, but it seems that it will become feasible to switch to thinking about solutions under the concept of "Internet Plus." For example, there is a professional data acquisition system that collects and summarizes these production data and then analyzes the data to find out the key issues before resolving them. As a result, the problems that have plagued the industry for many years will be easily solved. Therefore, the data collection work at every stage of the production process is also very important. This is the application of big data and data analysis in the “Internet+” field in the aluminum industry. .

Recently, Liang Xuemin has been thinking about applying the “Internet+” concept to solve the safety problems in the production process of the electrolytic aluminum industry. Liang Xuemin said that if the "Internet +" thinking to solve the safety problem of electrolytic aluminum production may be a new breakthrough. Liang Xuemin cited four aspects.

First of all, the problem is located. In the past, an accident occurred in an electrolytic cell. On the surface, it may be due to an accidental factor, such as misoperation of the electrolytic cell or insufficient risk control. However, there are many possible causes of the electrolytic aluminum accident, for example, In the design stage, due to the slight difference in the material of the tank or the inherent irrationality of the electrolytic tank design, hidden dangers may have been buried for safety accidents. It is difficult to determine the exact reason for the specific reason. It is difficult to know even how many sets of equipment or factories have similar or identical problems. The reason for this is very complicated, and it is difficult to achieve the cause through simple manual search. If you use data analysis and data mining methods, the problem is easily located. Second, run control. The operation management in the production process, the automatic control of the operating parameters, and the accidents that are likely to occur under any operating conditions, such as common leaks or short-circuit explosions, can be avoided. Third, accident prevention. It is not enough to prevent the occurrence of accidents in the electrolyzer. When the accident is not known, this involves the imperfection of our information collection system and insufficient data information in the production process. That is, our sensor system needs to be treated. After upgrading, the concept of “Internet Plus” needs to be introduced, and these problems will be solved. Fourth, to ensure security, enterprises must have a systematic guarantee. This, of course, is inseparable from the expansion of our scale and technological progress.

Liang Xuemin said that in the above four aspects, if combined with "Internet +" technology, the safety of electrolytic aluminum plants will be well controlled. This is also the focus of the recent Liang Xuemin team's research work.

Create electrolytic aluminum intelligent factory

The application of “Internet+” in the production of electrolytic aluminum is just one part of it. For the entire electrolytic aluminum industry, the significance of the “Internet+” application is to realize the intelligent aluminum electrolytic technology and intelligent aluminum electrolytic equipment, and ultimately to create electrolysis. Aluminum smart factory.

Recently, the research team consisting of Liang Xuemin and the School of Metallurgical and Environmental Science and Information Science and Engineering of Central South University has obtained preliminary research results. In the “Aluminum Electrolytic Aluminum Industry Sustainable Development Forum”, Liang Xuemin made a research report on “Eco-Intelligent Aluminum Electrolysis Technology” and proposed two major trends in the sustainable development of the aluminum industry in the future: namely, ecologicalization and intelligence.

Liang Xuemin said that the intelligentization of electrolytic aluminum includes intelligent equipment manufacturing and intelligent technologies, and the intelligentization of electrolytic aluminum is of great significance: the intelligentization of electrolytic aluminum is the need to optimize technological operations and upgrade technical indicators; the intelligentization of electrolytic aluminum is a reduction in staff efficiency and reduction. The need for cost; the intelligentization of electrolytic aluminum is a need to improve the safety and security of the enterprise's production process; the intelligentization of electrolytic aluminum is needed to improve the management level of electrolytic aluminum. Therefore, we must use the "Internet+" industrial process to build an electrolytic aluminum intelligent factory.

Since the construction of an aluminum electrolysis smart factory is so important, what does the ideal aluminum electrolysis smart factory look like? In Liang Xuemin's research, the aluminum electrolysis smart factory has a general plan.

Liang Xuemin said that the system structure of a smart aluminum electrolytic plant based on cloud architecture is divided into a group level and a branch level. Its most notable features are big data, unattended, mobile control, and remote monitoring.

Liang Xuemin concluded that the specific work to be carried out in the future mainly includes the following four aspects.

First, deep processing of data under big data conditions: Develop intelligent data fusion methods for the massive data collected by the two fusion networks to eliminate possible redundancy and conflicts among multi-sensor information, and build various types of aluminum electrolytic data warehouses. .

Second, decision-making and control based on knowledge automatization: An intelligent integrated optimization model with optimized controllable operating parameters in each production link is studied.

Third, based on the knowledge of the robot: Based on the aluminum electrolysis process and characteristics, developed interactive automatic pole-changing robots and aluminum robots.

Fourth, the full realization of the intelligent aluminum electrolysis plant: to realize all the intelligence, control, decision-making and logistics of the electrolytic aluminum plant.

Promote the "Internet + Aluminum Industry"

Listening to Dean Liang Xuemin's description, there seems to have been a picture of the future production of an electrolytic aluminum intelligent factory floor: the workshop is quiet, the workers are not seen, and the production processes are organized...

However, the ideal is very full and the reality is very skinny. In fact, the "Internet +" concept has not been implemented smoothly in the aluminum industry.

At present, more people simply do not understand the meaning of “Internet Plus” for traditional industries. In contrast, companies are more willing to believe that the changes in hardware can improve the effectiveness of enterprises and product quality. A set of equipment or some can see Something that comes out is very valuable. If some software systems or some analytical methods are difficult to be recognized and valued by companies, their value is far from being reflected. These problems make Liang Xuemin and his team feel difficult when they are working.

However, Liang Xuemin did not discourage him. He said that electrolytic baths are very important in the electrolytic aluminum industry, but there are few equipments that actually serve the electrolytic tanks, and the degree of automation is very low. This is an extremely extreme situation. In electrolytic aluminum plants, electrolysis The trough almost occupies more than 60% of the cost of an aluminum plant investment. The importance of such a high asset density can be imagined. The intelligence of its equipment is neglected. In the past, we mainly used manual management to ensure that it was very Difficult to achieve high efficiency, if replaced by the supporting automated system operation, it can better play its role.

On the other hand, the working conditions in some positions in the electrolytic aluminum industry are rather difficult and dangerous. If these problems are realized intelligently, they will be entirely replaced by robots. Remote operation will achieve revolutionary progress. Of course, it must be achieved without realizing it. It is also a long way to go and requires the joint efforts of industry colleagues.

Liang Xuemin strongly believes that ecologicalization and intelligence are the trend of survival and development of electrolytic aluminum companies in the future. The development of electrolytic aluminum ecological technology makes it possible to realize the recycling of electrolytic aluminum waste and harmless production. The "Internet +" will deepen all aspects of the design and production technology of electrolytic aluminum production and bring about a revolution in electrolytic aluminum. Based on the intelligence of electrolytic aluminum design, production and operation management, the establishment of an electrolytic aluminum intelligent plant will greatly increase the operating efficiency of electrolytic aluminum plants and the competitiveness of electrolytic aluminum enterprises.