A new material for collector bar sealing - LRM2

Abstract

The collector bar sealing is an important procedure for cathode construction. The material selection and the installation techniques have to be very well managed in order to obtain a high performance pot with low cathode voltage drop and long lifetime. A new cathode block-to collector bar sealing material has been developed in Novelis Ouro Preto, southern of Brazil, aiming to achieve better electrical resistance and handling during application. This material, so-called LRM2, contains iron powder instead of traditional carbonaceous paste. In this paper, a comprehensive study comparing the traditional carbonaceous with iron-powder gluing is presented. The collector bar-to cathode sealing showed that iron powder techniques do not show meaningful difference on pot voltage when compared with cast iron and can improve the handling procedures during operation.