Imaging Alumina Distribution Using Low-Voltage Anode Effect Detections in Anodic Current

From the experimental observations in continuous anodic currentsAnodic current of the various patterns associated with Low-Voltage Anode EffectsLow-voltage anode effect (LVAE) at the scale of single anodes, a mean of imaging Alumina distributionAlumina distribution anomalies is envisioned under the hypothesis that LVAEs are solely associated with a lack in Alumina. Spatial statistics of the observed LVAEs shape a kind of tomography for Alumina distributionAlumina distribution diagnostics. In the technology studied, characteristic and stable Alumina distributionAlumina distribution inhomogeneities are reported. A signal processingSignal processing approach is devised for automated LVAE detection in anodic time series. High precision and sensitivity are obtained from a training of the level-based change-point detection algorithm using evolutionary optimisation and data carefully screened from voltage, CF4 emissions, and anodic and line current time series. The possibility of detecting a wide range of LVAEs allows one for tracking cell zones recurrently lean. The developed tool is deployed in a private cloud at the scale of full smelters to automate diagnostics in the form of periodic automated reports of standardised LVAE metrics sent to a mailing list of employees involved in the electrolysis process management. The combination of plant data and LVAE distribution confirms the interpretation consensus that Alumina distributionAlumina distribution variability and anomaly is a factor of sub-optimality in the process. This novel capability to draw qualitative mapping of Alumina inhomogeneity paves the way to the development of enhanced feeding mechanisms with spatial intelligence to diminish Alumina variability and improve the process.