Light Metals 2009 Edited by: Geoff Bearne

TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2009

ELECTROLYSIS POTS ANODE CHANGING AUTOMATION:

IMPACT ON PROCESS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCES.
Nicolas Dupas
ECL, 100 rue Chalant, 59790 Ronchin, France
Keywords: PTM, anode changing, levelling, pot hoods handling, automation, safety, environment, productivity
Abstract
The aluminium smelter potrooms are hazardous environments
with moving heavy machinery, high temperatures, and a corrosive
and potentially noxious atmosphere. The proximity of the floor
operator to open pots and spent anodes constitutes a considerable
health and safety issue in terms.

The anode changing on the electrolysis pots is a recurring

procedure in the aluminium smelter. Traditional methods involve
a floor operator and a Pot Tending Machine to conduct the task.
The precise vertical positioning of the new anode bottom surface
with respect to the molten aluminium is critical to the stability of
the electrolysis pot, to its overall performance, and therefore to the
productivity of the smelter. The anode changing process is a
determining factor in the safety and productivity of the potlines.

In order to minimize the risks on the pot floor, ECL has developed
the automation and mechanisation of the most critical tasks of the
PTMs and their operator.
Furthermore, the automation and mechanisation of several of the
anode changing procedure steps allows a more precise positioning
and repeatability of the tasks. This greatly minimizes risks for the
equipment but can also improve the efficiency of the production
process.

By developing unique technical solutions and implementing a

high level of automation in this process, it is possible to not only
greatly increase its precision and repeatability, but also to alleviate
the associated safety risks for pot floor operators. Such new
solutions have been implemented in a renowned North American
smelter, allowing a complete study of its benefits and progression
margin.

PTM Positioning and Potroom Operation control

Introduction
The first step of the crane operation is its positioning in front of
the pot, and more precisely, the anode that it is going to change. A
great deal of practice is necessary for the operator to place the
crane and its anode-changing tool where it can operate properly.

The Pot Tending Machine or PTM has become a key equipment

of modern aluminium smelters since its inception in 1962. Its
primary function is to change the 16 to 40 anodes on the
electrolysis pots in which metal is produced from alumina. During
the electrolysis process, the anodes, constituted of carbon blocks
assembled onto aluminium stems, are consumed. They have to be
replaced by precisely positioned fresh anodes to ensure a
continuous and efficient reduction process. Most modern
technologies employ a system of hooks and clamps to secure the
anodes onto the pots superstructures. The PTM has to unfasten
and subsequently fasten these clamps during the anode changing
process.

Using a combination of encoder and shape recognition

technology, ECL has devised a system whereby this crucial step is
performed automatically. All physical obstacles (pots, positive
risers, fume ducts, etc.) are taken into account and mapped so that
collisions are avoided. While saving time and allowing greater
precision, this system also reduces the risks of PTM tool
breakage, which often represent several hundred dollars a year for
parts alone.
To position the PTM in front of the anode needing to be changed,
the operator only has to type the number of the pot and the
number of the anode on its touch-screen (Figure 1).

Manual Operator Intervention Human Factor

While all these tasks are mostly conducted by the crane's operator
from its suspended cabin, a floor operator assistance has always
been necessary. He has to perform several tasks during the anode
changing sequence:

Anode changing initiation on the pot control unit,

Pot hoods removal,

Chalk line drawing for the anodes levelling,

PTM operator guidance for new anode positioning,

Deckplate hood sitting gutter cleaning,

Pot hoods repositioning,

515

The anode cover-handling device consists of a dedicated tool

including a hood gripping system, a motorized brush and two air
blowers (Figure 2). An automatic positioning system guides the
handling device to the selected anode covers. It has been designed
to:

Move under positive risers,

Handle 3 or 4 hoods at the same time according to the anode

number to be changed,

Handle standard hoods as well as starting hoods (heavier),

Clean the area where the hoods are put back on.

Figure 1.Entering the pot number on the PTM's panel view.

Communication between the operating PTMs and the operations

office can be implemented. Information such as PTM location and
operation state, or bath and metal tapping weights can be
collected. In conjunction with the pot's microcontrollers, this
allows better pot process control, and PTM operation
optimization. Operator's performance can be monitored, and the
PTMs trajectory can be fine tuned for increased efficiency.

Figure 2. The cover handling device removing hoods.

It is also now possible to implement a communication system

between the PTM cabin and the potroom's micropots. This allows
sending the anode change information to the microcontrollers,
taking this manual task away from the floor operator.

The device follows this cycle:

1.

The operator selects the pot and anode numbers he has to

work on,
2. The PTM automatically goes to the correct position,
3. The PTM operator launches the hood removal sequence,
4. The anode cover-handling device takes the hoods off,
5. The anode changing sequence takes place,
6. The PTM operator launches the hood repositioning sequence,
7. The PTM automatically goes back to its previous position,
8. The rotating brush cleans the deckplate hood sitting gutter,
9. The air blowers finish the cleaning sequence,
10. The hood manipulator automatically puts the hoods back on
the pot.

Pot Hoods Handling

Pot hood manipulation during anode changing operations is done
by floor operators. Most of the time, two pots are opened
simultaneously during the procedure. The PTM works on one of
them while the other is being opened. Before repositioning the pot
hoods, the operator sweeps the bottom drain to remove the dust
and lumps accumulated. Noxious gas emission is important during
this sequence and the floor operator is submitted to them.
The anode cover-handling device has been designed to replace the
operator for pot hoods handling duty, and is implemented on the
PTM's tools turret. Its role is to:

Remove the hoods before anode changing and bath covering

operations,

Safely take the hoods away during the operations,

Put the pot hoods back on after the anode changing has taken
place.

Anode cover handling solutions using mechanical hooks and

gripping tools to handle the hoods have failed in offering
repeatable and reliable results. Covers can often be damaged or
bent and a strictly mechanical gripping solution cannot cater for
the consequential discrepancies in the cover's hooks physical
locations.
A system using a proven air suction technology circumvents this
problem and ensures a tight and reliable handling of the pot
hoods. It also reduces the risks of damaging them with the PTM
handling tool.
Thanks to the anode cover-handling device, the operator's
exposure to noxious gas emissions, high temperature and dust is
avoided. Also, as only one pot is opened at a time instead of two,
pot emissions are reduced by at least 50%.

516

An early user of the system has pointed at a side effect of the

precise positioning of the hoods. Because the human factor is
taken out of this process, the hoods are always precisely set in
place. This ensures a tighter sealing of the pot with benefits in
terms of gas emission reduction and reduced cooling of the pot.

The anode changing procedure can then follow the sequence

hereafter:

1. At the beginning of the spent anode extraction, the position of

the top of the stem is recorded (Figure 4).

Anode Levelling System

When a spent anode is replaced in the pot by a new anode, a
precise vertical placement is necessary. The bottom of the anodes
needs to be accurately positioned at a precise distance from the
liquid aluminium layer below the bath.
A floor operator using the chalk line method traditionally does the
vertical positioning. A line is drawn on the anode stem with a
chalk while the anode is still clamped to the superstructure of the
pot. The spent anode is then taken out and placed on a purposemade rack where the chalk line position is recorded. The new
anode is subsequently positioned on this rack and the line position
located on its stem. It can then be clamped on the pot and
positioned using the new line.
With this method the floor operated is exposed to serious health
and safety risks. In order to draw the chalk lines, he has to go very
close to the pots (and sometimes climb on the pot hoods) but also
very near spent anodes, which emit large quantities of noxious
gases. Suspended heavy loads can constitute serious safety
hazards as well.

Figure 4. Recording the spent anode position.

2. Once the anode is taken out of the pot, the distance between the
bottom of the carbon block and the top of the stem is measured
(Figure 5-a). The possible tilting of the anode is taken into
account (Figure 5-b).

Automatic anode levelling systems replace the manual operations,

greatly reducing health hazard for floor operators. They have been
developed and installed by ECL for several years now. All of the
current working levelling systems use a ground reference that,
together with a vertical positioning encoder on the anodechanging tool, replaces the chalk line process. This step can now
be conducted while the anode is still in the air by creating a virtual
reference plane.

ECL solution for implementing an "on-the-fly" automatic anode

levelling system creates this plane with the use of infrared sensors
and laser encoders situated on retractable masts (Figure 3).

Figure 5. Recording the spent anode height.

Figure 3. "On-the-fly" automatic anode levelling system.

517

3. Once the new anode has been hung onto the PTM's extracting
tool, the position of the bottom of its carbon block is recorded
(Figure 6).

Spent anodes often carry large amounts of solidified and crushed

bath that make them to tilt when carried by their stem. The bottom
of some anodes can also be consumed in an irregular manner
leading to an unbalance of the anode assembly. Using several
sensors and a specifically developed algorithm, the PTM is able to
precisely position the new anodes, in spite of the potential tilting
of the spent anodes during their height measurement.
Thanks to these developments, the ECL anode positioning has a
precision of 3mm with a high level of repeatability. Additionally,
the floor operator doesn't have to come near suspended anodes or
spent anodes emitting large quantities of noxious gases.

Safety, Efficiency, Repeatability

By combining these new tools and functions, it is now for the first
time possible to conduct the anode changing process without the
intervention of a floor operator. This means that their exposure to
pot gas emissions, heat and dust is avoided, and that the risk of
collision between a PTM tool and a pot-floor operator is greatly
reduced.
By taking out the human factor of the various handling tasks, a
higher positioning precision can be reached, thereby improving
the efficiency of the primary aluminium process.

Figure 6. Measuring the new anode height.

4. These measurements allow the crane computer to determine the

height of the new anode stem to optimise the anode to molten
aluminium distance (Figure 7).

Towards a Fully Automated PTM Operations

Thanks to ECL's advances in PTM design, a new milestone
towards the fully automated PTM concept has been reached.
Remote control and communication technologies (between the
building and the PTM) have been identified. Using video
monitoring, it is now possible to imagine that in a few years time
cranes will work in the potroom's dangerous environment on their
own, and only require the global supervision of a remotely located
operator.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Franck Barrere, Elodie Desomer
and Etienne Tezenas for their help in writing this article.

Figure 7. Positionning the new anode.

Simpler systems using this methodology have been devised within

the industry but their inaccuracy, as far as vertical anode
positioning is concerned, has led the end-users to go back to the
traditional manual method. Contrary to these, ECL system takes
into account the tilting of the spent anodes during the
measurement phase.

518