Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.43, No.26, 8239-8243, 2004
Material balance of vanadium in aluminum reduction cells
The material balance of vanadium in the Slovalco a.s., related to the production of 1000 kg of aluminum, was performed and the distribution of vanadium between bath, aluminum, and anode gases was evaluated using statistical analysis. In the Slovalco a.s., the 230-kA pots with prebaked anodes, point feeding, and dry scrubber technology are used. The content of V2O5 in primary and secondary alumina, aluminum fluoride, and fresh and crushed bath as well as of the V content in prebaked anodes, anode butts, and the aluminum produced in the period 2001-2003 was followed. For every material, the average content of V2O5, or V, and its standard deviation were calculated for every year as well as for the whole investigated period. The total vanadium material balance (inputs - outputs) in all years is near zero, which refers to the right calculation of the material balance. It was found that the main sources of vanadium are primary alumina and prebaked anodes. Both materials participate on the input vanadium almost equally. On the other hand, almost the whole amount of vanadium introduced by raw materials leaves the process through aluminum. The effect of other materials on the vanadium transport is negligible.