Aluminum

Aluminum (melting point: 660 C, boiling point: 2494o C) is the most abundant metal in the world and makes up 7 to 10% by weight of the earth’s crust. Aluminum is manufactured by the electrolytic reduction of pure alumina(Al2O3) in a bath of fused cryolite (Na3AlF6). It is not possible to reduce alumina with carbon because aluminum carbide (A14C3) is formed and a back-reaction between aluminum vapor and carbon dioxide in the condenser quickly reforms the original aluminum oxide again. The electrolytic cells are large containers (usually steel), and each is a cathode compartment lined with either a mixture of pitch and anthracite coal or coke baked in place by the passage of electric current or prebaked cathode blocks cemented together. Two types of cells are used in the Hall-Heroult process: those with multiple prebaked anodes (Fig. 1), and those with a self-baking, or Soderberg, anode. In both types of cell, the anodes are suspended from above and are connected to a movable anode bus so that their vertical position can be adjusted. The prebaked anode blocks are manufactured from a mixture of low-ash calcined petroleum coke and pitch or tar formed in hydraulic presses, and baked at up to C.