The project in five facts.
Challenge, approach and results.
The title of the diploma thesis itself is a derivative of the overarching theme 'New Technologies in Construction', the use of BIM, and a selected project within the company. Since their company is already well established in the field of electrolysis (the facility, or 'Hall C', was built and commissioned in 1988), he wanted to find a construction project within this system that could be modernised and appropriately presented. He was considering the options of preparing a diploma thesis on the furnace for firing carbon anodes or on the construction of the cathode pot. As it turned out, lining with large blocks is cheaper compared to lining with conventional bricks.
Problem
The title of the diploma thesis itself is a derivative of the overarching theme 'New Technologies in Construction', the use of BIM, and a selected project within the company. Since their company is already well established in the field of electrolysis (the facility, or 'Hall C', was built and commissioned in 1988), he wanted to find a construction project within this system that could be modernised and appropriately presented.
Solution and Method
He was considering the options of preparing a diploma thesis on the furnace for firing carbon anodes or on the construction of the cathode pot. After brief research, he decided on the topic of pot lining and thus arrived at the idea that the lining of the pots in their ** electrolytic cells** could be modernised, thereby ** reducing the physical labour factor** and also saving on costs, which is most important for any company. He approached this by first obtaining the necessary material on electrolysis itself and, of course, on the professional aspect of lining.
He also had practical insight and was able to attend the actual lining of the pot with conventional bricks. He found that the work was slow and required a ** large number of workers, who spent most of their time in a bent position. When the author asked his mentor why the lining was still carried out manually, she said that the company had already had a ** vacuum lifter and large firebricks demonstrated, which were laid significantly faster, with fewer people and practically without physical effort.
Of course, everything is determined by cost, and so this vacuum lifter is, of course, too expensive to justify the expense. After all, far too few pots are lined annually for the machine to be utilised for this purpose. Regardless, he persisted with his theme and, using the Autodesk Revit 2019 programme, first created a 3D model of the cathode pot and began entering individual lining layers with conventional bricks into it.
He then also created a model of the pot lining with large blocks. From the floor plan of both linings, it was immediately apparent that conventional bricks are much more densely packed, as they are of smaller formats. In this context, we naturally ask whether it is not better if the lining is made from fewer individual bricks?
Certainly. Each brick has joints between them, which are 'critical' for irregularities and potential porosity. That is to say, by reducing the number of joints, they managed to achieve better quality, which is also one of the primary objectives.
Based on the models, he also prepared budget estimates for each pot lining. To prepare the budget, he used Microsoft Excel and described each item and its value in greater detail.
Results
As it turned out, lining with large blocks is cheaper compared to lining with conventional bricks.
Module, programme and stories.
Your diploma project for a real company.
A diploma thesis at Academia solves a challenge from a company – often the one where you do your 800 hours of placement. Read about the Gradbeništvo module or book a consultation.