Anode Carbon Aggregate Packing Description Compared to Relevant Industrial and Engineering Practises

The primary aluminium metal production carbon anode is a high volume product even on the global scale, which can benefit from optimising the aggregate packing. The general impression from literature is that the industry employs relatively simple methods for particle sizing, modified and enhanced by specific knowledge about the materials in question. The study lists examples of current and possible methods for measurement and control. A common approach is techniques based on sieving, like the Fuller curves: $$ Cumulative\,\% \,finer\, than = \sqrt {(particle \,diameter/maximum \,particle \,diameter)} \cdot 100\% $$ The packing of a given particle size distribution is substantially affected by surface roughness and particle shape, factors that normally is addressed only empirically if at all. The focus is on carbon anode production for aluminium metal reduction, but a comparison is made with other industries.