Physical and mechanical characterizations of carbon anodes produced from different vibro-compactors

The aluminum industries in Quebec consume about 1.27 million tonnes per year of carbon for anode production. The anode quality is widely influenced by the quality of raw materials and the parameters of the manufacturing process which involves mixing, vibro-compacting, and baking. The anodes are regularly replaced at an interval of 20 to 30 days. This interval reduces when the anode quality is low. A better understanding of the vibro-compaction process would reduce the variation in the properties of formed anodes and thereby improve the anode performance during aluminum production. This, in turn, would reduce the cost and the greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of this work is to study the influence of vibro-compaction parameters on anode properties. The physical and mechanical characterization of anodes produced by different vibro-compactors was carried out. The article will present the results of this study