Cost effectiveness study for retrofitting American aluminum production plants with inert anode-cathode systems

Technical Report · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:7062976

Galambas, J W; Eitel, G L; Payne, J R

The present Hall-Heroult aluminum smelters utilize carbon anodes and cathodes to pass a current through an alumina/cryolite melt to produce elemental aluminum. Since about 1/2 kg of carbon is consumed for every kg of aluminum produced, the carbon anodes must be replaced about every eighteen days in the prebake cells. In addition the undulating surface to the molten aluminum, due to magnetic fields and escaping anode gas, requires that the anode-cathode distance (ACD) be greater than 4.0 cm. This large ACD causes the cell to be less energy efficient because the resistance heating in the electrolyte converts electrical energy to thermal energy without producing aluminum. The combination of a dimensionally stable anode with a drained and wetted cathode would permit reducing the ACD and produce a substantial increase in cell productivity at a lower specific electric energy consumption. The objective of this study is to determine the cost effectiveness of retrofitting American aluminum production plants with inert anode-cathode systems. 1 fig., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Stone and Webster Engineering Corp., Boston, MA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-87RL11313
• OSTI ID: 7062976
• Report Number(s): DOE/RL-88-25; ON: DE89002805
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360101* -- Metals & Alloys-- Preparation & Fabrication
42 ENGINEERING
420200 -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
ALUMINIUM
ANODES
CARBON
CATHODES
COST
DIAGRAMS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRODES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
FLOWSHEETS
METALS
NONMETALS
PERFORMANCE
RETROFITTING
SMELTERS
SMELTING