personal profile
Darwin Del Aguila
Darwin has more than 22 years of alumina refinery experience working as a research scientist in areas of digestion, evaporation and precipitation. He joined the alumina industry in 1989 working in Queensland Alumina (QAL) as a research chemical engineer.
In 2001, at the closure of Alcan Corrosion Group in Bunbury (UK), he was transferred to Brisbane to initiate the Corrosion Group in QRDC Brisbane. Short before this, as part of the Alcan consultancy team, he visited Alunorte (Brasi) and Vaudreuil (Canada) to assess the existing online instrumentation for corrosion monitoring.
In 2009, he was rewarded by Rio Tinto for outstanding work on online corrosion monitoring system in areas of digestion and evaporation at Yarwun Alumina Refinery.
In 2013, he left Rio Tinto and established his own consultancy company to assist HEX tube suppliers with the manufacturing of tubes for alumina refineries.
In the last 5 years, working closely with steelmakers and tube manufacturers, he has developed a sound knowledge of the metallurgy of low carbon steel and determined the parameters that drive the corrosion behaviour in diluted sulphuric acid.
In mid-2017, he has made a breakthrough on the corrosion resistance of steel, where and ordinary ASTM 179/192 (standards for alumina refinery HEX tubes) is thermally converted into a high corrosion resistance material when exposed to sulphuric and hydrochloric acid environment.
In September 2018, Darwin and Joseph have presented the invention at The 11th AQW International Conference and received the Best Poster Award.
Joseph Del Aguila
Joseph has grown up in Nhulunbuy while his father was working in Gove Alumina Refinery. Since his young age, he developed a special interest in mineral processing and was explained about the chemistry of the Bayer Process.
Later on, and in several occasions, he has accompanied his father on trips to China to see the manufacturing of HEX tubes and has been a key member of the research work carried out to determine the parameters that govern the corrosion resistance of low carbon steel in sulphuric acid.
Joseph has currently his own jewellery shop and is developing heat treatment techniques of minerals and precious stones to change the crystal orientation consequently colouration and appearance.
Best Poster Award