The causes of cone formation on the face of carbon anodes in aluminum electrolyzers are examined. The mechanism of cone formation has not been studied well enough to reduce the coning frequency in practice. In addition, many scientists and experts believe that work on the development and implementation of measures for the prevention of cones is economically inefficient. Data on two fundamental mechanisms of cone formation have now been published: carbon reduction on the anode face and individual sections of the anode falling behind in oxidation. Electrolytic reduction can be secured by bringing carbon to the surface of the anode. As a result of the appearance electrophoresis, carbon particles can move in the direction of one of the electrodes, increasing or decreasing the carbon flux.
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Translated from Metallurg, No. 10, pp. 79–83, October, 2016.
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Polyakov, P.V., Vlasov, A.A., Mikhalev, Y.G. et al. On Cone Formation on Burnt Anode Face in Aluminum Electrolyzers. Metallurgist 60, 1087–1093 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11015-017-0411-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11015-017-0411-2