Direct Production of Aluminum Manganese and Silicon Alloys in Aluminum Reduction Cells: A Laboratory Test

Aluminum smelters produce pure aluminum in reduction cells by the Hall-Heroult process but supply a variety of alloys to their customers. The alloys are produced in the cast house, as master alloys containing the desired alloying elements are added to the primary aluminum from the potroom before casting. In this work, the concept of producing silicon- or manganesecontaining master alloys directly in the aluminum reduction cells, by feeding silicon or manganese oxides into the electrolyte, along with the alumina raw material was investigated. The results in this paper are obtained from a laboratory cell, and the current efficiency for the alloy deposition is estimated.