CONSTRUCTION OF ANODE UNIT OF HIGH-POWER SODERBERG ELECTROLYZERS WITH 'DRY' ANODES

摘要

One of the directions in improving the ecological safety in the aluminum industry, where the Soderberg electrolyzers are utilized, is the use of the so-called "dry" anodes. However this requires significant changes in the construction of the anode housings, particularly in the high-power electrolyzers with top current feeding. These changes concern primarily the transverse structural members - the counterforts - which give the anode housing the required stiffness. They must either be spread apart or raised as high as possible above the level of the anode in order to eliminate contact with the anode mass and free the space within the housing for the periodic trimming of the ledges - the anode paste that congeals around the periphery of the anode. The various measures used to avoid the forming of the ledges (heating of the upper part of the anode and replacing of the steel sidewalls with sidewalls having a "heat pump" that is made from aluminum alloys) have not had a positive effect. As a rule, the heating of the upper zone leads to increase of the height of the sintered anode and increase of the loads on the housing during its hoisting. With increase of the sinter cone, the height of the fins around the periphery of the baked part of the anode increases, which increases the crumbling tendency and the amount of scum.Attachments to the boom cranes or special machines are necessary to prevent the forming of the ribs by trimming the periphery of the anode.