Improvement of carbon anode quality in view of reducing energy consumption and environmental emissions in aluminum industry

全球目标是通过开发尚未用于工业的新技术来改进阳极，以减少能源消耗和温室气体(GHG)排放。它们在本质上是原创的和基本的。 项目1-石墨烯在阳极生产中的利用：能源消耗是铝生产成本的主要部分。提高阳极质量可降低成本、能源、碳消耗和温室气体排放。石墨烯有效地导电。它一直是许多创新的主题，但从未被用于阳极。用石墨烯代替少量焦炭可以降低阳极的电阻率，从而降低能耗。这项研究还旨在从废弃的阳极中生产石墨烯，以取代石墨，为工业废弃物增值。这是以前从未做过的。 项目2-阳极糊的流变行为：将开发一种新的工具来了解阳极糊的流变行为并将其与阳极性能相关联。这将使在阳极生产前从浆体质量来评估阳极质量成为可能。它还将允许确定最佳螺距数量，目前在工厂中通过反复试验进行调整。 项目3-高软化点沥青(HSPP)在阳极制造中的应用：低软化点沥青在阳极焙烧过程中释放含有多环芳烃的挥发物，增加温室气体排放。热泵具有较低的挥发分含量，这将减少温室气体排放。然而，挥发物提供了阳极焙烧所需能量的一半。挥发物的减少将增加燃料需求。目的是确定使用HSPP对阳极质量、成本和温室气体排放的影响。 项目4-不使用铸铁的阳极组件：将阳极与阳极组件配对并安装在电解槽中。阳极组件由装入阳极孔的钢短节、连接短节的横杆和连接到横杆的杆组成。将热铸铁浇注到残根和阳极碳之间的空间中，将它们粘合在一起。电池组件的电阻会影响能源消耗。在本项目中，将开发一种新的阳极组件，它将消除铸铁的使用，从而消除阳极/铸铁和铸铁/钢的界面电阻，从而降低能耗。此外，由于更大部分的阳极可用于电解，因此产生的阳极对接数量将会减少。

The global objective is to improve anodes by developing new technologies, which are not yet used in industry, in view of reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They are original and fundamental in nature. Project 1- Utilization of graphene in anode production: The energy consumption is a major part of the aluminum production cost. Improving anode quality decreases the cost, energy, carbon consumption, and GHG emissions. Graphene conducts electricity efficiently. It has been the subject of many innovations, but it was never used in anodes. Replacing a small part of coke with graphene could decrease the anode electrical resistivity, hence energy consumption. The study also aims to produce graphene from rejected anodes instead of graphite to add value to industrial rejects. This has never been done before. Project 2- Rheological behavior of anode paste: A new tool will be developed to understand the rheological behavior of anode paste and correlate this with anode properties. This will make the assessment of anode quality possible from the paste quality before anode production. It will also permit the determination of the optimum pitch quantity, which is currently adjusted by trial and error in plants. Project 3- Utilization of high softening-point pitch (HSPP) in anode making: The low softening-point pitches release volatiles containing PAHs during anode baking and increase the GHG emissions. HSPPs have lower volatile content, which would decrease the GHG emissions. However, the volatiles provide half of the energy needed for anode baking. A decrease in volatiles will increase the fuel requirement. The objective is to determine the impact of using HSPP on anode quality, cost, and GHG emissions. Project 4- Anode assembly without using cast iron: Anodes are paired with an anode assembly and installed in an electrolysis cell. The anode assembly consists of steel stubs that fit into anode holes, a crossbar that connects the stubs, and a rod that is attached to the crossbar. Hot cast iron at is poured into the space between the stubs and the anode carbon to hold them together. The electrical resistances of cell components affect energy consumption. In this project, a new anode assembly will be developed, which will eliminate the utilization of cast iron and hence anode/cast iron and cast iron/steel interface resistances, reducing the energy consumption. Also, the amount of anode butts produced will be reduced since a larger portion of the anodes can be used for the electrolysis.