WO2010127401A1 - Système de contact à coincement - Google Patents

Système de contact à coincement Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2010127401A1
WO2010127401A1 PCT/AU2010/000526 AU2010000526W WO2010127401A1 WO 2010127401 A1 WO2010127401 A1 WO 2010127401A1 AU 2010000526 W AU2010000526 W AU 2010000526W WO 2010127401 A1 WO2010127401 A1 WO 2010127401A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
anode
contact means
contact
wedge
formations
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/AU2010/000526
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Christopher Peter Jones
Original Assignee
Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd filed Critical Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd
Publication of WO2010127401A1 publication Critical patent/WO2010127401A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • 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
    • C25C3/08—Cell construction, e.g. bottoms, walls, cathodes
    • C25C3/12—Anodes
    • C25C3/125—Anodes based on carbon
    • 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
    • C25C3/16—Electric current supply devices, e.g. bus bars

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an electrical contact system for rodless or continuous pre-baked anodes in an electrolytic cell by means of which electrical contact between a fixed electrical contact means and a continually consumed carbon anode is established.
  • a steel pin In a conventional reduction cell, a steel pin (stub) is fixed into a carbon anode by cast iron, which is poured into a gap formed between each stub and the hole into which it is inserted. The cast iron solidifies to form what is called a thimble.
  • a rodded anode When a rodded anode is placed in the reduction cell, the electrical circuit is completed and current passes through the rod, thimbles, and then into the block.
  • the voltage drop across the stub-to-carbon connection is typically 12O mV.
  • a rodless anode system will only be effective when the external clamping system can generate the conditions at the contact surface that lead to low electrical losses.
  • the electrical resistance across a contact surface is dependent on the contact pressure.
  • electrical resistance generally requires large applied stresses.
  • Suitably large applied stresses are obtained across the electrical contact between the carbon anode and the cast iron thimble in the conventional roded anode system because of the differential rates of thermal expansion between cast iron/steel and carbon.
  • the use of a flat metal plate, such as stainless steel, as the electrical contact means pressed against the carbon anode may not provide the necessary low resistance, which suggests that some form of alternative contact system needs to be devised.
  • the invention provides an electrical contact system for a rodless or continuous pre-baked anode and an electrical contact means for an electrolytic cell, comprising a plurality of co-operating formations in the anode and in the electrical contact means, said co-operating formations extending in the direction of feeding of the anodes in the cell, and being formed with contact surfaces having an increasing distance of separation in a direction perpendicular to and towards a face of the anode to increase the contact pressure between the shaped formations on the electrical contact means and the anode as clamping forces are applied between the contact means and the anode.
  • the contact means is formed with wedge-shaped projections and the anode is formed with grooves of complementary shape such that the inclined faces of the wedge- shaped projections engage the similarly inclined faces of the groove, without bottoming out in the groove, to increase contact pressure between the faces as the projection engages the groove when clamping forces are applied between the contact means and the anode.
  • the anode may alternatively be formed with the wedge-shaped projections for engagement with similarly shaped grooves or channels in the contact means.
  • the contact means carrying the shaped projections or channels are positioned on opposite sides of the anode and a clamping force applying means of any suitable type applies clamping forces to the respective contact means.
  • the contact system does not interfere with the feeding process and an operational rodless anode cell is able to be achieved.
  • electrical contact means having shaped projections/channels are provided for adjacent faces of the anodes in the cassette.
  • Figure 1 is an elevation of a multiple anode cassette employing the wedge contact system embodying the invention in combination with a simple mechanical clamping system.
  • Figure 2 is a section taking along the line A-A in figure 1 ;
  • Figure 3 is an enlarged view of detail B from figure 2;
  • Figure 4 is a sectional end elevation taken along the line D-D in figure 1 ;
  • Figure 5 is a perspective view from one end of the cassette arrangement of figure 1 ,
  • Figure 6 is an enlarged view of detail C from figure 5;
  • Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of a testing arrangement for assessing the effectiveness of the system
  • Figure 8 is a graph of voltage drop with respect to temperature
  • Figure 9 is a schematic illustration of alternative slotted wedge contact means.
  • FIGS. 1 and 5 illustrate a three anode cassette 1 incorporating an electrical contact system embodying the invention.
  • the cassette 1 includes three anodes 2, 3 and 4 including contact means 5 and 6 at the exposed side faces of the anodes 2 and 4 and intermediate contact means 7 and 8 extending between the adjacent faces of the anodes 2, 3 and 4.
  • the respective electrical contact means 5 to 8 are attached to a superstructure 9 including mounting rods 10 and carrying anode block jacking means 11. Since these aspects do not form part of the invention, they will not be further described.
  • the contact means 6 includes a contact plate 12 having a series of vertically extending wedge-shaped contact formations 13 which are either suitably attached to the plate or are integrally formed therewith.
  • the other end contact means 5 is similarly formed but not illustrated in Figure 2.
  • the formations 13 engage vertical grooves and/or slots 16 formed in the anodes 2 and 4.
  • each contact means 7 and 8 comprises a shaped contact plate 14, similar to a tine, as illustrated in figure 4, having a lower section formed with or carrying oppositely directed wedge formations 15, as clearly illustrated in Figure 3.
  • the tine-like formation allows flexing to facilitate alignment of the formations 15 with the slots 16.
  • Each of the wedge-shaped formations 13 and 15 engages similarly wedge-shaped or tapered groove or slots 16 formed in the vertical side faces of each anode block 2, 3 and 4, as illustrated in figures 2 and 3. It will be appreciated that as a result of the wedge-shape of the projections 13 and 15 and the grooves or slots 16, the contact pressure between the projections and the grooves or channels in the anode increases as the anodes in the cassette are clamped together by the clamping mechanism 17 as illustrated. The increased pressure across the faces of the grooves and projections ensures that the electrical resistance of the interface is reduced.
  • the clamping mechanism 17 is connected to either end of the end plate 6 and includes strap means 18 and a tensioning means 19, the strap means 18 passing around the end contact means 5 to apply clamping force to the anodes 2, 3 and 4 in the cassette and to force the wedge-shaped projections 13 and 15 into the complementary wedge-shaped grooves or slots 16 to apply the appropriate electrical contact pressure between these elements.
  • the included angle of the grooves or slots is about 40° but the angle could be sharper or blunter than this.
  • Figure 9 of the drawings illustrates two alternatives of a modification to the wedge-shaped contact means in which the tine-like formations are centrally divided by a slot to separately support the respective projections and introduce some compliance in the formation.
  • the wedge-shaped formations 20, 21 are separate with a contact point or fulcrum at the top of the slot 22 A between the formations, just below the connecting plates 23, 24.
  • the elasticity is provided in the connector plates 22, 23 above the wedge formations 20, 21.
  • One advantage in this arrangement is that the elasticity is provided in a section that is cooler and therefore less prone to creep.
  • the option also provides more movement than option B in figure 9, in which the opposing wedge-shaped formations 25, 26 are simply divided by a vertical slot 27, and the desired spring effect is provided by the elasticity in the connection 28 between the formations below the connecting plate 29.
  • the front wedge projection protrudes slightly above the top surface of the anode; the other wedges do not do this.
  • a new anode In the position of the anodes shown, a new anode must be glued to the top of the anode already in service.
  • the protrusions on the front wedges assist in the alignment of the new anode so that the tapered slots line up and the wedge contact can move to the new anode as anodes are consumed.
  • the contact system was tested by the application of a compressive force to a sample stack as shown schematically in Figure 7.
  • the applied force was such that the nominal contact stress, as calculated using the area of the carbon block, was about 364 kPa. This is magnified by the wedge contact system because the wedge sits proud of the surface of the lower carbon block and therefore the applied force is brought to bear only on the surfaces of the wedge.
  • the contact stresses on the sloping faces of the wedge in contact with the carbon were estimated to be 12 times the nominal contact stress.
  • a current was passed through the stack and the voltage drops were recorded across the interfaces between materials.
  • Two traces are shown in Figure 8 for the voltage drop between the wedge and the lower carbon block. The lower trace records low voltage drop across the range of temperatures encountered in the test. Significantly, the low temperature performance of this trace is better than earlier tests of stainless steel contact flat on a carbon surface..
  • the wedges can be designed to assist the alignment of a new anode on top of the in-service anode.
  • the tapered slots can be formed in the anodes prior to baking (near net shape forming) and only a relatively simple operation to machine the slots to final dimensions is required.
  • the wedge contact system offers the potential to enable a viable rodless anode process by providing a reliable low resistance interface between the contact system and the carbon, to increase the service life of the equipment simplify the rodless anode process at the whole-of-smelter level, reduce the energy consumption of the cell, and provide temporary support to the anodes upon failure of the strap to avoid a hazardous situation.

Landscapes

  • 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 Non-Metals, Compounds, Apparatuses Therefor (AREA)

Abstract

Cette invention concerne un système de contact électrique pour anode précuite sans tige ou continue (3, 4) et un dispositif de contact électrique (12, 14) pour cellule électrolytique, ledit système comprenant plusieurs formations coopérantes (13) dans l'anode et dans le dispositif de contact électrique, lesdites formations coopérantes (13) se prolongeant en direction de l'alimentation des anodes dans la cellule et étant formées avec des surfaces de contact (16) à distance de séparation croissante en direction perpendiculaire à une face de l'anode pour augmenter la pression de contact entre les formations façonnées (13) dans le dispositif de contact électrique et l'anode au fur et à mesure de l'application de forces de serrage entre le dispositif de contact et l'anode.
PCT/AU2010/000526 2009-05-07 2010-05-06 Système de contact à coincement WO2010127401A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US17621109P 2009-05-07 2009-05-07
US61/176,211 2009-05-07

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2010127401A1 true WO2010127401A1 (fr) 2010-11-11

Family

ID=43049848

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/AU2010/000526 WO2010127401A1 (fr) 2009-05-07 2010-05-06 Système de contact à coincement

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2010127401A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2012021924A1 (fr) * 2010-08-16 2012-02-23 Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd Cassette d'anodes sans tige
WO2012037611A1 (fr) * 2010-09-23 2012-03-29 Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd Système de levage d'anodes

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB426110A (en) * 1933-07-22 1935-03-27 Montedison Spa Improvements in or relating to anodes for electrolytic cells for the production of aluminium
US2758964A (en) * 1952-08-12 1956-08-14 Aluminum Co Of America Continuous electrode and method of making the same
WO2003006716A2 (fr) * 2001-07-13 2003-01-23 Moltech Invent S.A. Structures d'anodes a base d'alliage pour la production d'aluminium

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB426110A (en) * 1933-07-22 1935-03-27 Montedison Spa Improvements in or relating to anodes for electrolytic cells for the production of aluminium
US2758964A (en) * 1952-08-12 1956-08-14 Aluminum Co Of America Continuous electrode and method of making the same
WO2003006716A2 (fr) * 2001-07-13 2003-01-23 Moltech Invent S.A. Structures d'anodes a base d'alliage pour la production d'aluminium

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2012021924A1 (fr) * 2010-08-16 2012-02-23 Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd Cassette d'anodes sans tige
WO2012037611A1 (fr) * 2010-09-23 2012-03-29 Aluminium Smelter Developments Pty Ltd Système de levage d'anodes

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