Management of Spent Pot Liner, a Hazardous Waste Material of Aluminum Smelter Plant-A Pilot Plant Study

摘要

All aluminum smelter plants discards large volume of spent pot liner (used carbon cathode blocks) which is heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals, like fluoride, cyanide, etc. Disposal of such toxic waste in an environmentally safe manner is a long standing challenge to scientists and engineers. IMMT-Bhubaneswar (Orissa) has developed a chemical process by which all the contaminants in spent pot liner can be removed in single step and its carbon value can be recovered simultaneously. The process has now been tested in pilot scale and the present paper depicts the results obtained in this pilot plant trial.