Production of Quality Anodes in Aluminum Industry
A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 1820
Special Issue Editor
Interests: energy (in all aspects from recovery and valorization to renewable energy technologies); aluminium electrolysis; carbon and carbon technology (especially use in aluminum industry); heat transfer; fluid dynamics; mathematical modelling
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Aluminum is produced commercially based on the Hall–Héroult electrolytic process. Carbon anodes are an integral part of the electrolysis cell as they allow the passage of current and provide the carbon necessary to chemically remove oxygen produced by the electrochemical reaction in the form of carbon dioxide. Since they are consumed regularly, they have to be replaced approximately every three weeks. The quality of carbon anodes has an impact on a large number of operational and environmental issues in a smelter: greenhouse gas emissions, metal purity, energy consumption, stability of cell operation, and production cost.
Anode production starts with the preparation of anode paste by mixing dry aggregates and coal tar pitch as the binder. Dry aggregates are composed of fresh calcined petroleum coke and all recycled carbon materials in the anode plant (rejected green and baked anodes and butts, which are parts of the anodes that remain at the end of their life in the cell). The paste is compacted to form green anodes. The presence of pitch requires baking. Thus, green anodes are baked in large special furnaces to produce baked anodes. After rodding the baked anodes, the anode assemblies are used in the electrolytic cells for aluminum production.
The quality of an anode is defined by its physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties which are affected by raw material and operational parameters: coke and pitch properties which could vary significantly, the quality of recycled carbon materials, the operating conditions of the mixer, the compactor, the baking furnace, and the rodding shop. The quality control methods, which vary from plant to plant, have also have an impact on anode quality. To maintain and improve the anode quality, studies need to be carried out on all of these issues.
Prof. Dr. Yasar Kocaefe
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- carbon anodes
- quality control
- coke
- pitch
- anode baking
- anode rodding
- anode plant
- aluminum electrolysis
- energy consumption
- GHG emissions
