“RUSAL Engineering and Technical Center”, Bratsk, Russia:

S. I. Nozhko, Head of Electrolysis Department, e-mail: Semen.Nozhko@rusal.com

Bratsk State University, Bratsk, Russia:

A. A. Blashkov, Post-Graduate Student

Aluminium electrolyzers are divided into 3 generations. The first generation of electrolyzers is with side shunt and selfbaking anode. Maximal intensity of a current is 100 kA. Because of bad caking of anode center further productivity increasing became impossible. The second generation of electrolyzers solve problem of bad caking of anode center by using upper shunt for self-baking anodes. As a result current intensity has increased till 175 kA. Gas-hydrodynamic problem of electrolyzers of the first and second generation has been solved when electrolyzers with prebaking anode appeared. Maximal current intensity of electrolyzers of the third generation increased till 500 kA. Limiting stage of the further increasing of current intensity on electrolyzers with pre-baking anode is magneto-hydrodynamic process. Magneto-hydrodynamic problem can be solved by creating the fourth generation of electrolyzers. There are three directions for creating aggregate of the fourth generation for aluminium production. Carbothermal redaction of aluminium implies using powerful ore-thermal furnace which is in 30–50 times more productivity then modern electrolyzers. This method can be used for processing low grade ores with high content of silicon. By this method obtained low-grade silumin (till 36% silicon). Low-quality silumin produced by this method makes it attractive only in midterm and long-term perspective. Electrolysis of aluminium chloride. Advantage of this method of aluminium production is lower decomposition voltage of aluminium chloride as compared with aluminium oxide. That may lead to essential reduction of power consumption. But anode product in this method is chlorine gas. That will lead to cost increase of gas-purifying station and costs on service. Creating of electrolyzer with bipolar electrodes. Similar method has realized in metallurgy of magnesium. Development of electrolyzer for aluminium production is in process. Advantage of that method is possibility of installing of next generation electrolyzers in existing construction without production stopping within the bounds of rebuilding. Installing of that type of electrolyzers will increase productivity and reduce power consumption. Problem of those electrolyzers is corrosiveness of cryolite-alumina melt. This problem can be solved by using inert materials, but searching of them is still in process.

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