Hadi Fanisalek - Corresponding Author* and Presenter of the Paper Department of Chemical Engineering, Payame-Noor University, Bandar Abbas, Iran

This paper describes a useful experience, which was conducted during start-up and potroom operation regarding a sick cell treatment in an aluminum smelter in Iran, which we will call smelter X in this paper. Different parameters in the potroom have influence on cell stability, which need to be considered all together. Metal pad stability is the main concern for a smooth operation in an aluminum smelter to reach a low noise level and a high current efficiency. One of smelter X’s aluminum reduction cells, which was started with good and smooth operating parameters, turned into a sick cell with a very high noise level two months after its start up. A special team started to monitor, test, analyze and try different strategies to bring the cell back to normal condition. This paper is a summary of the aforementioned challenge, team endeavor, possible solutions and final results to overcome this problematic issue.

Cathode Collector Bar, Cathode Current Distribution, Anode Current Distribution, ACD (Anode Cathode Distance), Finger