Characterization of pre-baked carbon anode samples using x-ray computed tomography and porosity estimation

Abstract

Computed tomography has been used in recent years to gather information on carbon anodes which can be used to calibrate numerical models dedicated to simulate the anode forming process. To this end, samples with diameters varying from 50 mm up to 300 mm and cored from an industrial anode have been scanned in a Somatom Sensation 64. A correlation was established between the CT scan results and the apparent density. To validate the correlation, an extended campaign was performed on 50 mm diameter samples cored in 20 different anodes with the advantage of using possibly different raw materials. In addition to the CT scan results, the apparent and real densities have been experimentally measured to estimate the porosity level. Similarly to the apparent density, a correlation between the CT scans results and the porosity has been proposed.