Digital Initiatives in Carbon Plant to Drive Quality, Reliability, Safety and Innovation

Abstract

Carbon plant produces anodes for Aluminium Smelter as required in electrolysis process in Pot-room for Aluminium Production. In ADITYA Plant, anodes are supplied to both ADITYA and HIRAKUD Plants. A number of digital initiatives have been initiated to drive Quality, reliability, safety & innovation. These include: (i) Installation of Video Image Smoke & Fire Detection system (VISFD), (ii) Benchmarking study, (iii) Online Butt Weighing System in Aditya Rotary Shop (ARS), (iv) Anode Visual Monitoring System, (v) Online anode pallet temperature measurement, (vi) Digitization of logbooks, (vii) Development of VR (Virtual Reality) modules for critical equipment to improve skillset of manpower, and (viii) Wireless monitoring of Ball Mill in Green Anode Plant (GAP). This paper describes the benefits of these digital initiatives and how these have greatly improved reliability, greater monitoring, control & safety in carbon.

Introduction

The text describes the manufacturing process of carbon anodes used in aluminium smelters based on the Hall–Héroult process, where carbon anodes are consumed during electrolysis to produce aluminium. These anodes are manufactured in three stages: green anode production, baking at high temperature, and rodding for electrical connection. The process is critical because anodes directly affect aluminium production efficiency and are continuously consumed during operation.

The case study focuses on Aditya Aluminium (Hindalco Industries, Odisha), a large, technologically advanced smelter with a dedicated carbon plant that supplies anodes to multiple smelters. The carbon plant includes three sections: Green Anode Plant, Anode Baking Furnace, and Anode Rodding Shop. However, the Green Anode Plant is highly fire-prone due to flammable materials like coal tar pitch, high-temperature oil systems, and dense fumes, with several past fire incidents highlighting safety risks.

To address this critical safety issue, the company implemented a digital solution called a Video Image Smoke and Fire Detection (VISFD) system using AI-based infrared cameras. These systems continuously monitor plant conditions, detect smoke or fire patterns in real time, and send alerts to the control room for rapid response. This AI-driven approach was developed after benchmarking studies with industrial automation providers and is the first of its kind in the Green Anode Plant for proactive fire prevention.

Overall, the initiative demonstrates how digital monitoring and AI-based imaging can improve safety, reliability, and operational stability in high-risk industrial environments like carbon plants in aluminium smelters.

Conclusion

These digital initiatives have greatly improved Reliability, Greater monitoring & control & Safety in CARBON. In the above case study, all the possible and proven technologies were discussed which is being followed to enhance the overall metrics of CARBON Plant.

References

[1] Back 2 school (Fives Solios) 2022/2023. [2] Industry 4.0 by Jesus Hamilton Ortiz [3] Manish Shaw, Bhupendra Dewangan, Anamit Deb Gupta, Suryakanta Nayak (2022/23): Regulation & Management of Digital Practices, The Digital Outlook (2022),

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Anamit Deb Gupta. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.