| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2024 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Aluminum Reduction Technology
|
| Presentation Title |
Fundamental Loss of Current Efficiency During Aluminium Electrolysis and its Correlation With Sodium Content Dissolved in the Aluminium |
| Author(s) |
Lukas Dion, Paul Desclaux |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Lukas Dion |
| Abstract Scope |
Primary aluminium producers are inclined to maximize the cells’ current efficiency in order to enhance metal production and reduce production cost. For timely decisions, sodium content of the cathodic aluminium has been used as a performance indicator related to individual cell performances.
This paper pinpoints the straightforward quantitative theoretical relation which exists between sodium content and current efficiency. This relation is based on the fundamental thermodynamics of the changing bath composition in the boundary layers and on mass transfers at the anodic and cathodic interfaces. Few simplifying hypotheses are used to predict the cell’s optimal current efficiency under a specific set of operating conditions.
The proposed calculation methodology is described and a critical discussion is performed to highlight the impact of different factors on the current efficiency along with future considerations necessary to improve the current efficiency estimations. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Light Metals |
| Keywords |
Electrometallurgy, Process Technology, Pyrometallurgy |