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Alumina solubility in molten salt systems of interest for aluminum electrolysis and related phase diagram data

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Abstract

The solubility of alumina in molten Na3AlF6 containing various amounts of AlF3, CaF2, and LiF was determined by measuring the weight loss of a rotating sintered corundum disc. The results were fitted to the following empirical expression:

$$ [Al_2 O_3 ]_{sat} = A\left( {\frac{t} {{1000}}} \right)^B $$
(1)

where

$$ \begin{gathered} A = 11.9 - 0.062[AlF_3 ] - 0.003[AlF_3 ]^2 - 0.50[LiF] \hfill \\ - 0.20[CaF_2 ] - 0.30[MgF_2 ] + \frac{{42[LiF] \cdot [AlF_3 ]}} {{2000 + [LiF] \cdot [AlF_3 ]}} \hfill \\ B = 4.8 - 0.048[AlF_3 ] + \frac{{2.2[LiF]^{1.5} }} {{10 + [LiF] + 0.001[AlF_3 ]^3 }} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$
(2)

where the square brackets denote weight percent of components in the system Na3AlF6-Al2O3 (sat)-AlF3-CaF2-MgF2-LiF and t is the temperature in degree Celsius. The standard deviation between the equation and the experimental points in the temperature range from 1050 °C to about 850 °C was found to be 0.29 wt pct Al2O3. A series of revised phase diagram data of interest for aluminum electrolysis was derived based on the present work and recently published data for primary crystallization of Na3AlF6 in the same systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SINTEF Materials Technology, N-7034, Trondheim, Norway

    Egil Skybakmoen (Research Scientist) & Asbjørn Solheim (Research Scientist)

  2. the Department of Electrochemistry, the Norwegian Institute of Technology, N-7034, Trondheim, Norway

    Åsmund Sterten (Professor)

Authors
  1. Egil Skybakmoen
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  2. Asbjørn Solheim
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  3. Åsmund Sterten
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Skybakmoen, E., Solheim, A. & Sterten, Å. Alumina solubility in molten salt systems of interest for aluminum electrolysis and related phase diagram data. Metall Mater Trans B 28, 81–86 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-997-0129-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-997-0129-9

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