Statistical Life Expectancy - Modelling Pot Life in a Smelter Plant
André Augé, Statistics and Data Processing Section Manager, Rio Tinto
Olivier Brack, Entrepreneur, KSIC Consulting
• Rio Tinto is a leading global business delivering value at each step of mineral and metal production. Rio Tinto is the world leader of the aluminium industry.
• Aluminium is made using the Hall-Heroult electrolytic process. It is produced in pots from alumina dissolved in a molten fluoride containing bath at 950°C. The pot life expectancy is a major plant KPI.
• One plant asked us to help them understand their variation and to point out the causes of the pot life expectancy. After data extraction from database, JMP file edition (we have some files extracted from an SQL database to link together), variables selection, we have built a parametric life expectancy model.