Faster Anode Effect Kill

摘要

The current business management is based on tackling sustainable development and social responsibility. Alcoa, in line with this objective, is searching continuously for alternatives to eliminate or reduce the environmental impact caused by operations. Alumar, an Alcoa unit in Brazil has implemented a change in its Potroom Control System (QLC) so that it is now running the anode effect(AE) suppression routine at a one second interval. The new control has made it possible to detect, kill and recover from anode effects at a faster rate.The results have shown a significant improvement in both the anode effect duration and the time above eight volts. Pots running the one-second routine have also shown a drop in returning AE when compared with those pots running the ten-seconds routine. There has not been any increase in the number of jack-motor trips. The development team has also measured the sodium (Na) content on the anode butts and has found that the pots under test are operating at the same level as the comparison pots. So it was possible to reduce perfluorocarbon (PFC) emission focus on carbon exchange.