Improved Aluminum Reduction Technology to Exploit           Non-Consumable Anodes
{'Code': '15030000', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'TIP', 'LongName': 'Dir for Tech, Innovation, & Partnerships'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'TI', 'LongName': 'Translational Impacts'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Ritchie B. Coryell', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
Current production of aluminum in the United States is                          approximately 3.8 x 106 metric tons per year.  The presently used               system for the production of aluminum is the Hall-Herault cell.                 It is operated at 950> to 980>C and consists of a carbon cavity                 (lining) which conducts current from a molten aluminum cathode on               the bottom of the cathode cavity.  Consumable carbon anodes are                 suspended in a cryolite electrolyte (bath) which floats on the                  aluminum cathode (metal pad).  Alumina powder is fed periodically               or continuously, carbon anodes are consumed continuously (with                  periodic replacement in prebaked anode plants), and molten metal                product is siphoned approximately daily.  In this work the PI                   will examine new electrode materials and new concepts for                       electrochemical cell design and operation which could save energy               and lower operating costs on retrofit older plants, as well as                  decrease both capital and operating costs for new aluminum                      reduction plants.                                                                                                                                               The aluminum industry has for decades been pursuing a non-                      consumable anode that can be substituted for the consumable                     carbon anodes in the Hall-Herault cells.  The PI plans to test a                new alumina/carbon composite anode made of a Ni-Fe-Cu cermet                    material.  This composite anode technology utilizes the same                    reaction as the Hall-Herault technology but the alumina in the                  anode is dissolved at the anode-bath interface at exactly the                   location where oxide ions are discharged on the carbon matrix.                  The result is that high alumina solubility in the bath is not                   required, and low-temperature baths could be used.  The bath to                 be used in this research project is a mixture of sodium and                     lithium cryolites having a freezing point less than 670>C and                   operating at about 700>C Titanium diboride sleeves inside the                   crucible will serve as an alternate cathode to graphite.  The                   phase I objectives include:                                                                                                                                          o  Maintenance of slurry in suspension without formation of                        deposits.                                                                                                                                                    o  Limiting current density as a function of Al2O3 particle                        size in the feed and slurry density.                                                                                                                         o  Effect of bath temperature on limiting current density                          and other operating parameters in the range of 700> to                          800>C.                                                                                                                                                       o  Mixed fluoride-chloride bath performance compared to all-                       fluoride bath.                                                                                                                                               o  Potential distribution in respect to thermodynamic                              overpotentials and ohmic drops.                                                                                                                              o  Corrosion of cermet anode contamination of aluminum metal                       by cermet anode components.
{'FirstName': 'Theodore', 'LastName': 'Beck', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'R', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Theodore R Beck', 'EmailAddress': None, 'PI_PHON': None, 'NSF_ID': '000432904', 'StartDate': '01/01/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Electrochemical Technology Corporation', 'CityName': 'Seattle', 'ZipCode': '981093020', 'PhoneNumber': '2062857404', 'StreetAddress': '1601 Dexter Avenue North', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Washington', 'StateCode': 'WA', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '07', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'WA07', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': None, 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': None, 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
{'Name': None, 'CityName': None, 'StateCode': None, 'ZipCode': None, 'StreetAddress': None, 'CountryCode': None, 'CountryName': None, 'StateName': None, 'CountryFlag': None, 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': None, 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': '""'}
{'Code': '5371', 'Text': 'SBIR Phase I'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8861484.xml'}