Infrared Monitoring And Control Of Temperature Cycling During The Manufacture Of Carbon Electrodes
C. M. Benton, Robert E. Buckley · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1983
In the manufacture of aluminum, an electrolytic process is used. Carbon anodes are used in the process (see Figure 1) to conduct electricity, and the carbon of the anode is consumed, forming carbon dioxide from oxygen in the ore (Al203). If the anodes are of uniform resistance, the current will be uniform and the anodes will be consumed evenly. The quality of the carbon anodes is a function of the temperature control during the baking process. Recently, infrared sensors have been used in a computer-aided process (Infracom System) that controls the baking cycle of the anodes.