Around 6am on 7th of September, Balco Aluminium in India had an explosion accident in their potrooms. There has been no loss of life. Some reports say 168 pots had been halted as a result of the accident, while other reports put the number at 86. But it seems the first number is the correct number, given the entire line was shut down.
The blast was on pot no. 1331 in the second potline at Balco. Molten metal escaped the pot as a result of the blast. Other pots could still work a few hours after the accident. Company officials tried to connect the power for the other pots to keep them working, but it was too difficult to do so. Eventually the whole potline was halted. Balco has two potlines at their plant in Chhattisgarh in India’s northeast. Each potline contains 168 pots. Balco is now owned by Vedanta.
Since lots of aluminium liquid was still in the pots at the time of the explosion, the company had a big loss from this accident. Some estimates put the damage bill at 4 billion Rupees (approximately US$60 million). It will take around 4-6 months for the company to repair this potline.
One former Balco staff member was reported as saying that one possible reason causing the accident was from the improper installment of anode. The company has not released any information about the accident. There is no English language information about the accident, but a local newspaper in India published the story in Hindi.
It was the second serious accident in Balco since the chimney accident in 2009 which killed 36 workers.
Experts are currently evaluating the accident and its causes.
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