US2593741A - Process for the electrolytic production of aluminum - Google Patents

Process for the electrolytic production of aluminum Download PDF

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Publication number
US2593741A
US2593741A US683902A US68390246A US2593741A US 2593741 A US2593741 A US 2593741A US 683902 A US683902 A US 683902A US 68390246 A US68390246 A US 68390246A US 2593741 A US2593741 A US 2593741A
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Prior art keywords
alumina
anode
methane
aluminum
gas
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Expired - Lifetime
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US683902A
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English (en)
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Ferrand Louis
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C3/00—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of melts
    • C25C3/06—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of melts of aluminium
    • C25C3/20—Automatic control or regulation of cells
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C3/00—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of melts
    • C25C3/06—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of melts of aluminium
    • C25C3/14—Devices for feeding or crust breaking

Definitions

  • a first-feature of the invention consistsiin corriinuously distributing the alumina into the anodic dissolution chambers and to convey it into the bath. with the aid of an auxiliary reducing gas fed at regulataole rate and pressure;
  • a characteristic modification of 'the invention consists indistributing the alumina continuously we :an intimate mixture with the auxiliary re .ducing gas; said mixture may advantageously be distributed through calibrated tubes and oifices.
  • A-characteristic of theinvention that is a ,con-
  • sequence of the preceding ones consists in using the pressure of the reducing gas (methane or any other gaseous hydrocarbon) in the dissolution'chambers, or the pressure of the-mixture-of dissolved material with reducing gas, as a means to regulate the interpolar distance.
  • the reducing gas methane or any other gaseous hydrocarbon
  • Figures 1 and 2 are diagrammatic sectional 4 views, drawn to different scal s, ofa first embodiment.
  • v Y
  • FiguresB and 4 are secticnalviews of a modi fication.
  • a reservoir T Secured in fluid-tight manner on top of said chamber g by a nipple f '(Fig. 2) with :the interposition-of an asbestos gasket 7' is a reservoir T, which is also circular in sectionandinto which the alumina to be dissolved in the bath is fed at regular intervals through a tube t1 branched oil from a 'manifold T1 through which the alumina is conveyed pneumaticallyin Well known manner.
  • nipple f carries a removable steel or gunmetal plate n drilled with one or more calibrated orifices such as 0 designed to 'let alumina flow therethrough at the desired rate.
  • nipple f carries a removable steel or gunmetal plate n drilled with one or more calibrated orifices such as 0 designed to 'let alumina flow therethrough at the desired rate.
  • the diameter of the hole or holes 0 should be ascertained experimentally with great care in order that with the mean head corresponding to the level difierential it between two successive loadings the rate of flow of the alumina shall be obtained in accordance with the load of theelectrolytic oven and the number of dissolution chambers available.
  • Said chambers-might have an oblong section or even'be replaced, in one'and thesame anode, by one single elongated and narrow chamber become too narrow A complementary arrangement is thus necessary.
  • Thesaidadditionalerrangement of the invention consists in the use of a tube t2 connected with a manifold T2 amid a narrow central tube throug'h all of which aneutral or preferably a reducing gas may be flowed into the chamberq, e. :g.':methane or "some other hydrocarbon gas.
  • Figure 5 illustrates applications to vScderberg :50 rcanbe secured is 'illustratcdrin Figs. 3 and 4.
  • the arrangement illustrated in .Fig. 1 is .designedmore especially for aluminum production taken as an example. It comprises a dissolution chamber q, circular in section, bored in the;
  • the :alumina fwhich first tis de gassed in 5a vacuum to strip it "from the air therein, is mixed intimately, 'prior'tozits being introduced into the oven with the. aid of an injector or ta :small .gas turbine orjsome other suitable apparatus that is not comprehended in the invention, with a reducing gas flowed at such rate that the atomic carbon resulting from its dissociation at the temperature of the electrolysis will be suiiicient instead of carbon from the anode to sustain the secondary reactions of anodic oxidization.
  • said methane gas of which natural sources are to be found only in Rumania and in the United States, can be produced most easily by availing ones self of the method for obtaining alumina from bauxites which consists in reducing the metal impurities therein with coal and then carburizing the alumina to obtain aluminum carbide according to a known method. Said carbide stripped from the metal impurities thus reduced, by its combination with water or steam, will give methane gas and alumina according to the known reaction:
  • Methane gas is thus obtained as a paying by-.
  • the methane gas is preparatorily re-heated if necessary by passing the same through sole or Wall tubes such as described in the French addition No. 46,398, dated Feb. 2 1935, to Patent No.
  • FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a Soderberg anode m provided with vertical aluminum tubes s' connected by screw-thread engagement at f with the tubes ii to be screwed in proportion as the anode is consumed and which are surrounded with carbon c maintained by the aluminum sheath of the anode. Said tubes ii are connected with the manifolds T4 through which the mixture of alumina with reducing gas is led down to the bath. It will be observed that with the anode equipment described hereinbefore and the cathode equipment described in the French patent filed by the applicant on the 11th of August 1943 under the proc. No. 482,247, for
  • the method of flushing or mixing the alumina with gas is advantageous in that light alumina varieties now become available that usually cannot be dealt with by hand-feed methods on account of the excessive amountsof dust raised.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Electrolytic Production Of Metals (AREA)
  • Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)
US683902A 1943-07-17 1946-07-16 Process for the electrolytic production of aluminum Expired - Lifetime US2593741A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR897487X 1943-07-17

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US2593741A true US2593741A (en) 1952-04-22

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DE (1) DE897487C (de)
FR (1) FR982568A (de)

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2825690A (en) * 1951-04-18 1958-03-04 Ferrand Louis Self-baked annular anode for melting furnaces
US2883708A (en) * 1955-03-09 1959-04-28 Elektrokemisk As Manufacture of carbon blocks for use as electrodes
US2900319A (en) * 1956-10-19 1959-08-18 Louis Ferrand Dissociable gaseous hydrocarbon anode for igneous electrolytic furnaces, particularly for aluminum-making
US2917441A (en) * 1955-12-28 1959-12-15 Reading Anthracite Company Self baking electrode construction
US2959528A (en) * 1957-01-31 1960-11-08 Montedison Spa Method of rapidly starting closed multicell electrolytic furnaces
US3006825A (en) * 1957-12-19 1961-10-31 Electrokemisk As Method of charging aluminium furnaces
US3016340A (en) * 1958-02-21 1962-01-09 Hygen Hans Fredrik Method in the electrolytical production of aluminum
US3060115A (en) * 1959-10-12 1962-10-23 Aluminum Co Of America Carbon anode
US3202600A (en) * 1951-05-04 1965-08-24 British Aluminium Co Ltd Current conducting element for aluminum reduction cells
US3207681A (en) * 1960-03-19 1965-09-21 Elektrokemisk As Process of exhausting gases from furnaces for production of aluminum by melt-electrolysis
US3216918A (en) * 1959-09-03 1965-11-09 Pechiney Prod Chimiques Sa Machine for picking and distributing aluminum oxide into electrolytic cells
US3243364A (en) * 1966-03-29 Apparatus for treating waste gases in aluminum cells
US4069115A (en) * 1977-04-27 1978-01-17 Maskin A/S K. Lund & Co. Method and arrangement for removing a gas cushion

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US527848A (en) * 1894-10-23 Process of reducing aluminium
GB190109676A (en) * 1901-05-09 1901-07-06 British Aluminium Co Ltd An Improved Electric Smelting Process and Apparatus to be Used therein.
CH115749A (fr) * 1924-04-10 1926-07-01 Aluminum Co Of America Procédé pour la production électrolytique d'aluminium.
GB318431A (en) * 1928-09-03 1929-09-05 Vaw Ver Aluminium Werke Ag Improvements in and relating to the electrolytic production of aluminium
US1837070A (en) * 1928-11-27 1931-12-15 Roth Ernst Apparatus for charging aluminum producing furnaces
US1851817A (en) * 1926-09-10 1932-03-29 Dow Chemical Co Electrolytic apparatus
GB511076A (en) * 1937-03-16 1939-08-14 Verwertung Chemisch Tech Verfa Improvements in or relating to processes for the manufacture of anodes for use in the production of aluminium, beryllium, magnesium, or alkali earth metals by electrolysis of fused starting materials
US2231030A (en) * 1937-04-24 1941-02-11 Sherman W Scofield Process of reducing aluminum sulphate to metallic aluminum

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US527848A (en) * 1894-10-23 Process of reducing aluminium
GB190109676A (en) * 1901-05-09 1901-07-06 British Aluminium Co Ltd An Improved Electric Smelting Process and Apparatus to be Used therein.
CH115749A (fr) * 1924-04-10 1926-07-01 Aluminum Co Of America Procédé pour la production électrolytique d'aluminium.
US1851817A (en) * 1926-09-10 1932-03-29 Dow Chemical Co Electrolytic apparatus
GB318431A (en) * 1928-09-03 1929-09-05 Vaw Ver Aluminium Werke Ag Improvements in and relating to the electrolytic production of aluminium
US1837070A (en) * 1928-11-27 1931-12-15 Roth Ernst Apparatus for charging aluminum producing furnaces
GB511076A (en) * 1937-03-16 1939-08-14 Verwertung Chemisch Tech Verfa Improvements in or relating to processes for the manufacture of anodes for use in the production of aluminium, beryllium, magnesium, or alkali earth metals by electrolysis of fused starting materials
US2231030A (en) * 1937-04-24 1941-02-11 Sherman W Scofield Process of reducing aluminum sulphate to metallic aluminum

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3243364A (en) * 1966-03-29 Apparatus for treating waste gases in aluminum cells
US2825690A (en) * 1951-04-18 1958-03-04 Ferrand Louis Self-baked annular anode for melting furnaces
US3202600A (en) * 1951-05-04 1965-08-24 British Aluminium Co Ltd Current conducting element for aluminum reduction cells
US2883708A (en) * 1955-03-09 1959-04-28 Elektrokemisk As Manufacture of carbon blocks for use as electrodes
US2917441A (en) * 1955-12-28 1959-12-15 Reading Anthracite Company Self baking electrode construction
US2900319A (en) * 1956-10-19 1959-08-18 Louis Ferrand Dissociable gaseous hydrocarbon anode for igneous electrolytic furnaces, particularly for aluminum-making
US2959528A (en) * 1957-01-31 1960-11-08 Montedison Spa Method of rapidly starting closed multicell electrolytic furnaces
US3006825A (en) * 1957-12-19 1961-10-31 Electrokemisk As Method of charging aluminium furnaces
US3016340A (en) * 1958-02-21 1962-01-09 Hygen Hans Fredrik Method in the electrolytical production of aluminum
US3216918A (en) * 1959-09-03 1965-11-09 Pechiney Prod Chimiques Sa Machine for picking and distributing aluminum oxide into electrolytic cells
US3060115A (en) * 1959-10-12 1962-10-23 Aluminum Co Of America Carbon anode
US3207681A (en) * 1960-03-19 1965-09-21 Elektrokemisk As Process of exhausting gases from furnaces for production of aluminum by melt-electrolysis
US4069115A (en) * 1977-04-27 1978-01-17 Maskin A/S K. Lund & Co. Method and arrangement for removing a gas cushion

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE897487C (de) 1953-11-23
FR982568A (fr) 1951-06-12

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