Nickel foam pin connections for inert anodes

• US 6,878,246 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2003
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alcoa Incorporated (Howmet Aerospace, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alcoa Incorporated (Howmet Aerospace, Inc.)
• Inventors: Latvaitis, J. Dean, Dunlap, Ronald M., Butcher, Kenneth
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KHIEM M
• Application Number:
  US10/405,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20040198103A1
• Time in Patent Office: 741 Days
• Field of Search: 204/279, 204/280, 204/286.1, 204/288.1, 204/288.2, 439/86, 439/179, 439/874, 439/930
• US Class Current: 204/280
• CPC Class Codes: C25C 3/12 Anodes
• CPC Class Codes: C25C 7/025 used in cells for the electrolysis of melts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/03 characterised by the material, e.g. plating, or coating materials

Abstract

An electrode assembly useful in manufacturing aluminum, contains a hollow inert electrode (12) containing a metal conductor (14) surrounded and held in place by at least one seal (16) and a mass of metal foam (26).

Claims

1. An electrode assembly comprising an inert electrode having a hollow interior with a top portion and interior bottom and side walls;

a metal pin conductor having bottom and side surfaces, disposed within the electrode interior but not contacting the electrode interior walls; and

a seal surrounding the metal pin conductor at the top portion of the electrode, providing a gap around the metal pin conductor bottom surface between the metal pin conductor and the electrode interior bottom and side walls, where a metal foam having a density of from 5% to 40% of the solid parent metal fills the bottom portion of the gap.

2. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the conductor has a circular cross-section and can have a bottom of varying geometries and discontinuous diameters.

3. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the foam has a reticulated, open cell network structure is sintered together, is compliant and has a conductivity of from about 1000 s/cm to about 26,000 s/cm.

4. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the metal pin conductor is selected from at least one of nickel and corrosion protected alloy steel and has a circular cross-section, and the inert electrode is a material selected from the group consisting of ceramic and cermet.

5. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the metal foam has a melting temperature over 1000°

C. and is compliant, providing a buffer between the metal pin conductor and the electrode interior bottom and side walls.

6. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the metal foam is selected from the group consisting of nickel foam, nickel alloy foam and copper alloy foam.