Scott is a mechanical reliability engineer with 15 years’ experience across multiple industries.

Scott joined Alcoa in 2018 and during this time has been heavily involved in managing and resolving issues faced by the filter buildings in Kwinana and Pinjarra as well as ensuring the best practice design was transferred to the new filter building in Pocos (Brasil).

Scott has a master’s degree in maintenance and reliability from Monash University and is currently investigating the cake dropping issues experienced in the Kwinana/Pinjarra filter buildings through a master of philosophy with UWA.

Presentation Title: Operation of a Filtration Buildings in an Alumina Refinery

Abstract:

Some industry groups have designated filtered tailings as the best available technology for tailings storage as it offers significant benefits over traditional wet storage methods. The primary advantage relates to geotechnical risk, but there are a number of other benefits including water conservation, filtrate recovery, and a smaller footprint.

Alcoa have employed filtration for the red mud produced by its refineries at three locations to date (two in Australia and one in Brasil).

Due to the physical properties of the slurry (namely the small particle size), the filtration of red mud faces unique challenges in regard to both:

•              The mechanical design of the filters, and

•              Cake detachment (releasing filter cake from the filter)