Testing and Characterization of Anode Current in Aluminum Reduction Cells

Abstract

Anode current is an important parameter in the aluminum reduction process, but to test the anode current accurately is difficult at present. This study tested the individual anode current using the fiber-optic current sensor. The testing results show that this method can effectively avoid the interference of the electromagnetic field, and the current is measured with high precision which error is less than 1 pct. In the paper, the test currents under different cell conditions, including anode changing, metal tapping, abnormal current, and anode effect, are investigated using the method of time-domain and frequency-domain analysis, and the simulation method is also combined to investigate the cell conditions. The results prove that different cell conditions will show different anode current characteristics, and the individual current can monitor the cell conditions, especially the localized cell conditions. Some abnormal cell conditions can be found through anode current rather than cell voltage. The anode current can also be used for early detection of anode effect.