Electrolysis cell and refractory material therefor
AssigneeAlcan International Limited
InventorClaude Allaire
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Aluminum electrolysis cell having a refractory lining, said lining being produced by calcining red mud obtained as a byproduct of the Bayer process of producing alumina, grinding the calcined product to form particles of -4 Tyler mesh, mixing the ground product with a binder (e.g. colloidal silica, colloidal alumina, sodium silicate or sodium aluminate) and sufficient water to produce a formable mixture. The mixture is formed into a shaped product, fired and used, for example, as a monolithic lining, to form the internal surface of the aluminum electrolysis production cell.
Claims5
An aluminum electrolysis cell, comprising:
- a metal container including side walls and a bottom wall defining an enclosure for cell contents;
- and
- a refractory lining within said enclosure adjacent said side walls and bottom walls, said lining comprising at least one layer of refractory material;
- said at least one layer of refractory material being resistant to corrosion by alkaline materials and fluorides at high temperatures, and having been produced by:
- calcining red mud containing Bayer sodalite at a temperature in the range of about 900 to 1400.degree. C. for a time sufficient to remove combined water and to produce nepheline from said Bayer sodalite in said red mud;
- grinding the product following calcination to the -4 Tyler mesh range;
- mixing the ground product with a binder selected from the group consisting of silica-containing particulate materials or precursors thereof, alumina-containing particulate materials or precursors thereof, and mixtures thereof, in an amount sufficient to bind the ground product upon firing, and sufficient water to produce a formable mixture;
- forming the mixture into a shaped product;
- and
- firing the shaped product at a temperature in the range of about 900 to 1400.degree. C. to produce said refractory material.
The use of a refractory material for lining an aluminum production cell, wherein said refractory material is a product produced by
- calcining red mud containing Bayer sodalite at a temperature in the range of about 900 to 1400.degree. C. for a time sufficient to remove combined water and to produce nepheline from said Bayer sodalite in said red mud;
- grinding the product following calcination to the -4 Tyler mesh range;
- mixing the ground product with a binder selected from the group consisting of a silica-containing particulate materials or precursors thereof, alumina-containing particulate materials or precursors thereof, and mixtures thereof, in an amount sufficient to bind the ground product upon firing, and sufficient water to product a formable mixture;
- forming the mixture into a shaped product;
- and
- firing the shaped product at a temperature in the range of about 900 to 1400.degree. C. to produce said refractory material;
- and wherein said use comprises lining an internal surface of said cell with a plurality of shaped products, or lining said internal surface with said formable mixture to form said shaped product as a monolithic lining, followed by firing said lining in situ in said cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.