Investigation of Freeze-Linings in Aluminum Production Cells

The molten cryolite bath creates chemically a very aggressive environment in the Hall–Héroult cell, and thus, the formation of a protective solid layer (freeze-lining) on the cell wall is essential for the operation of the present cell designs. To provide further information on the formation of the freeze-lining deposit in this system, laboratory-based studies were undertaken using an air-cooled probe technique The effects of process conditions, i.e., time, bath agitation, and superheat on the microstructures, morphologies of the phases, and the phase assemblages adjacent to the deposit/bath interface were investigated. A detailed microstructural analysis of the steady-state deposits shows that a dense sealing primary-phase layer of cryolite solid solution was formed at the interface of the bath deposit for the process conditions examined. The formation of sealing primary-phase layer at the bath/deposit interface explicitly indicates that the deposit/liquid bath interface temperature is equal to that of the liquidus of the bulk bath. The experimentally investigated liquidus temperature and subliquidus equilibria differ significantly from those previously reported.