The aluminium industry in Japan has faced the most serious problems since the oil crisis, especially by the steeply rising cost of electric power and carbon materials. Although smelters of our country hold fine techniques in the world with respect to pot operation and pot life, the shortage in resources has upset these predominances. Greater efforts, therefore, should be directed to energy conservation, material economization and labour saving.
This report describes the recent topics on anode materials for aluminium smelting, such as coal tar pitch, petroleum pitch, pitch coke and petroleum coke. Solvent refined coal, which is a possible new source for anode material, is also introduced. Recent reports on Soderberg paste are reviewed in terms of the modification of binder, the role of fine coke in formulation and the effect of carbon black as an additive. Influences of uneven baking temperature of prebake anodes in a ring furnace upon the electrolytic operations are also reviewed. Various properties required for cathode carbon block and deterioration phenomena of carbon lining of the pots are described.
