Classification of pores in prebake anodes using automated optical microscopy

Porosity is an effect from both the raw materials and the production process. A useful new development of our computerised analysis of anode porosity is classification of pores; particularly classification of calcination cracks and gas bubble pores in the petroleum coke to distinguish the porosity due to the raw materials from the porosity that develops during production. The classes of pores have been studied with regression to determine how they influence anode properties such as density and reactivity; the effect of porosity seems to be small. A more promising use of classification is to determine the porosity due to mixing and baking and use this to study the effect of production factors such as recipe, pitch level, vibration forming parameters and process temperatures on the pores.