To main content

Cathode wear based on autopsy of a shutdown aluminium electrolysis cell

Abstract

To investigate cathode wear, an autopsy of a shutdown aluminium electrolysis cell was conducted. The original lining consisted of a fully impregnated and graphitized carbon block and the cell was shut down after 2461 days operation. The cell was cleaned down to the surface of the carbon cathode, revealing the profile of the cathode wear. Generally, the cathode wear was uneven across the cell with typical potholes. At a finer length scale, the wear was characterized by small “pitholes” resembling wide shallow pitting corrosion. Samples of the cell lining were obtained by drilling cylindrical samples at different locations in the cell. These samples were analysed with respect to phase composition and microstructure by a combination of X-ray computed tomography, optical and electron microscopy. The findings are discussed in relation to the current understanding of the underlying mechanism(s) for cathode wear.
Read the publication

Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Industry / Metal Production and Processing
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Year

2017

Published in

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series

ISSN

2367-1181

Volume

2017

Issue

210819

Page(s)

561 - 570

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository